Background
Over the past years, supermarkets have been very instrumental in influencing the way people eat because they employed unique strategies to market their products encouraging consumption (Glanz, & Mullis, 1998, p. 398). The aim of these stores has been to maximise sale and profits, a move that saw many supermarkets disregard the health concerns of their customers. In their endeavour to increase sales, supermarkets have conducted research on the buying behaviour of these customers and use the results to manipulate their purchase decisions (Tendai & Crispen, 2009, p. 103). This is evident in the manner in which supermarkets are currently utilizing their space for display of these products to motivate buying (Michon et al, 2005, p. 578). The research findings on customer behaviour seem to be guiding the ways food shelves are designed especially the layout and display.
There has also been a notable increase in the morbidity of diet-related medical conditions like obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and cardiovascular complications. This has been associated to increased consumption of more fats or unhealthy eating habits that are attributed to the way supermarkets do their market (Booth et al, 2001, p. 23), a strategy that is said to influence eating habits of clients (Marx & Erasmus, 2006, p. 46). This has elicited the need to combat the medical problems by a holistic approach. In order to achieve this, healthcare providers, private organisations and government have been actively involved to implement the 21st century measures to deal with the problem (Kristal et al, 2003, p. 422). This is why even the supermarket have been asked to embrace the 21st century guiding principles that support healthy eating for customers rather than focussing mainly on their need to make more profits. Supermarkets being the main food sellers in the new millennium are required to be on the forefront to support healthy eating (Kristal et al, 2003, p. 422). This means they have to stock more or organic foods like fruits and vegetables as opposed to fast foods (Bodor et al, 2008, p. 414).
Aims
This research will seek to explore the 21st century guiding principles for supermarkets regarding the idea of supporting health eating. Supermarkets are also required to take responsibility in the fight towards healthy eating especially in the way they design their store – display and layout of the food stuffs (Michon et al, 2005, p. 578). This is in response to the fact that there is increased prevalence of diet-related chronic diseases. The research shall therefore investigate the influence that the supermarkets’ layout and display of food stuffs have had on the consumption behaviour of their clients (Marx & Erasmus, 2006, p. 48; Reardon, 2002, 319).
Methodology
This research shall be basically a qualitative study (Angell & Dixon-Woods, 2009, p. 131). It will employ secondary study to methods where the researcher will seek relevant articles and research papers that deal with healthy eating and supermarket displays. The researcher will conduct a literature search to review the literature on the 21st century guiding principle for supermarkets to support healthy eating. All the recent and relevant information on the topic will be searched and summarised for analyses. Information will be collected from books and peer reviewed journals by logging the key words to internet search engines to get the sources relevant to this issue (Angell & Dixon-Woods, 2008, p. 131).
Current Status
In the wake of the 21st century policies of health and nutrition, there needs to be concrete policies and guidelines that need to be implemented for better health (Hill et al, 2003, p. 856). Consumers have become increasingly aware of their health needs especially on what they ought to be eating. Consequently, there is increasing access to healthy fresh foods (Lewis et al, 2003, p. 234). Many organisations have been lobbying for organic foods and together with the government, this seems to be a very good strategy that will educate the general population on health and giving supermarkets the responsibility of ensuring that the population has access to fresh foods (Scott et al, 2003, p. 51; Kristal et al, 2003, p. 422). This way, the cases of impulse consumption of fast food and sugary food stuffs will decreases (Zhou & Wong, 2004, p. 103).
Supermarkets are increasingly becoming sensitive to their customers and things like biscuits, sweets, candy and other junk foods are much reduced and instead, supermarkets are now displaying more fruits and vegetables (Scott et al, 2003, p. 52). These organic foods have been made affordable to the low income families (King et al, 2004, p. 121). Over the past, organic foods were expensive compared to fast foods but this is changing very gradually. There is increased campaigning and advocacy for healthy eating and making it more available to the people more than ever before (Susanne & Carolyn, 2005, p. 612).
Ethics
The submission to the National Health services will be done as per the research timeline. The US research ethics committee approves studies that deal with human health issues. In order for submission to be made to request approval to conduct the study, the researcher will prepare a letter of request with all the relevant details (Angell & Dixon-Woods, 2009, p. 134). There will also be a protocol study and another document for consent checklist. Documents like timeline, questionnaires and consent are very important for perusal by the ethics committee before the approval is made (Angell & Dixon-Woods, 2009, p. 136).
Expected Outcomes
This research anticipates collecting data on the principles that deal with healthy eating. Other researchers have revealed that there is increasing move towards healthy eating (Reger et al, 2000, p. 271). Consumers’ increased awareness of their own health and that the knowledge that the responsibility to stay healthy is in their own hands and the foods they eat play a big role in their health (Peterson, 2003, p. 6; Lewis et al, 2003, p. 234). Supermarkets are taking more responsible stances concerning health and are also in support of healthy food stuffs as it has been observed in the changing way they stock their products particularly the foods (Humphery, 1998, p. 56; Nestle, 2002, p. 97). This research will also expose the campaigns and advocacy activities that have been initiated by the government and the non-government organisations to rally for responsible corporate responsibility on the part of the supermarkets (Reger et al, 2000, p. 271).
The research will also show the initiatives that the government has put in place to ensure that healthy food stuffs are accessible to every citizen. This includes information on farming support initiatives, improving transport and banning exaggerated advertising of the junk foods (Peterson, 2003, p. 12).
Marketing and advertisement are very critical to the buyer behaviour and this research will seek to identify the ways in which these aspects could be regulated or influenced so that they promote healthy eating (Tendai & Crispen, 2009, p. 107).
Students-supervisor Interaction
The researcher will establish a mutual relationship with the supervisor in order to ensure a successful research. The supervisor plays a very big role in ensuring that the researcher obtains the most relevant information concerning this research and using professional plans to guide the study. The supervisor and the student will meet regularly on weekly basis for discussion, assessment and for guidance on the progress of the research work. The supervisor will provide advice to the student and even direct the scope of the thesis and standards that would likely increase publication of the research. The relationship will be built on open communication, shared dedication, understanding of their goals and mutual respect.
Reference List
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