Learning

‘Learning’ as the third type in the typology refers to customers using the information provided by the Nutrition Code to increase their level of understanding about issues related to food and changing their behavior on the basis of this new knowledge. In other words, the information provided by the Nutrition Code offers customers additional resources that enhance customers’ understanding of their diets in general and of the nutritive substances of different grocery items in particular. This understanding is then used to make better decisions regarding food consumption; customers use the information in their own value-creating processes to enhance the quality of their diets and end up feeling better off.

First, ‘Learning’ is characterized by the information’s ability to open customers’ eyes to important issues regarding their food consumption and provide them with unexpected insight about food healthfulness. The information shook customers’ basic beliefs about their food diet.

It’s been totally shocking I mean to look at for example when you buy an innocent one-litre jar of yogurt and the figures and it shows and so and how they rise I mean the share of sugar and those. It’s been in a way kind of, it’s been really I mean really astonishing and enlightening.

- Aino, 42

It opens your eyes to what you tend to buy. [anonymous customer feedback]

It’s been really fascinating to keep track of my eating habits through the Nutrition Code service. Even though I’ve known that my diet is quite healthful, I’ve still been surprised by some of the things, for example the excess salt I get in the form of hidden salt. It’s revealing to see which individual products may raise the figures. In addition, the tips for improving your buying habits are useful.

As demonstrated by the above citations, the information was described as being astonishing, enlightening, surprising, interesting, and all in all; awakening. In other words, the information challenged customers’ current perception of their food consumption and resulted in new knowledge about food healthfulness. Reflecting upon the definition of information by Davenport and Prusak (1998), here the information provided by the Nutrition Code had an impact on customers’ judgment. As a result of the information, customers were surprised by, for example, the amount of sugar in yogurt or the saltiness of bread. In that respect, customers’ current understanding was found inadequate and the additional resources provided by the Nutrition Code as input to their value creation were used to fill this gap in knowledge.

Second, in addition to finding out interesting and thought-provoking things about their own diets, the information also helped customers learn new things about food- related health issues on a more general level:

If you look back a couple of years. And you more, like, follow that stuff. I mean especially the convenience foods and such, like what they contain and the carbohydrates, too. I didn’t do that much before, well I did know what carbohydrates are. But I didn’t have any clue about what is a big amount or a small amount in some specific food. And what should be there and what should not.

- Aino, 42

You can track your buying behaviour and learn from it. [anonymous customer feedback]

You get information about what you eat. And at the same time you can learn about a healthful lifestyle for your own body! Thank you for this innovation!

[anonymous customer feedback]

Moreover, the information could even motivate customers to search for more information about a certain nutritive substance, as told by Sofia:

Well, just to get information about many different foods. And then it’s a kind of a wake-up call if there’s something major there you’ll probably spot it. Well I don’t know, I haven’t kept track of the trace nutrients or such a lot. But then once it showed me that my selenium level or something was like 50 per cent below target or something. So that made me actually

look up this selenium like what that really is. What do I need that for and should I start paying attention to that and that sort of thing.

- Sofia, 21

Besides acting as a wake-up call and thus facilitating learning, the information provided by the Nutrition Code can also arouse interest to learn even more about food healthfulness. For example, as described by Sofia, she became interested in learning what selenium actually is and what is it used for. The information does not only provide customers with new knowledge within the boundaries of the Nutrition Code, but it can also encourage and motivate customers to learn new things about food healthfulness by themselves; to search for new resources that customers perceive as being relevant in their own value-creating processes respectively.

Third, a natural consequence of the two above discussed characteristics of ‘Learning’ is that customers use their increased understanding to make better choices regarding their food consumption in the future. After being provided with additional resources in the form of information about their groceries, customers are better equipped – i.e. they have more resources – to make decisions that better fit their own value creation. For example, customers can exclude certain grocery items that they have learned are unhealthful as well as concentrate more on products that have less salt or more fibers.

Well it has changed it, like with salt, even though I use very little salt, it has changed it so that I do think about how much I eat cheese because cheese is where I get a lot of salt. - Johanna, 30

I’ve become more interested in getting more information about what kind of an effect my purchases have. Like what I get too much of and what I lack and from where I might get what I’m missing and what I could, what I should give up because I’m getting something too much.

- Emilia, 61

Altogether, the information guides customers toward a more healthful life. In practice, this is achieved as customers switch from using a certain product to choosing a more healthful product within the same product category, as illustrated in the following excerpts:

This is an excellent, interesting and motivating thing. My sons (12 and 17) haven’t been too excited about healthful foods, but now that they’re into the Nutrition Code they have even accepted vegetables and fish.

[anonymous customer feedback]

This way you come to pay attention to how healthful your purchases are. This type of service has made me feel that I try to avoid red “dots” when shopping for my groceries. [anonymous customer feedback]

In conclusion, the role of the information provided by the Nutrition Code is not restricted to giving feedback about the customer’s current diet. Moreover, the customers stressed the information’s role in finding better and more suitable products to be included in their future value-creating processes. The increased understanding is converted into enhanced customer behavior. In other words, the additional resources generated through using the Nutrition Code are put into use when customers acquire resources (groceries) to be included in their value creation; customers are able to buy more appropriate grocery items to be used in their resource integration process driven by their subjectively-determined needs and wants. These resources are then regarded as serving customers’ value creation better as they result in a more healthful diet than the resources used before the Nutrition Code.