“People who eat healthily don’t have that much more willpower. They have just engineered their environment to avoid having to resist temptation.”

Pierre Chandon, Professor of Marketing at INSEAD, challenges the idea that healthy eating is a matter of self-control. On the INSEAD Knowledge podcast, he explains how our surroundings – what we see, where we are and how food is framed – play a far greater role in shaping what we eat.

Chandon explains that there are four ways food products claim to be healthy. Some brands say it’s because they have improved the nutritional properties of the food. They use labels like “enriched” if they have added “good” vitamins and minerals or “diet” if they have removed “bad” sugar and fat. These are the traditional, nutrition-based ways to be healthy.

Other food products claim to be healthy “by nature”. These brands claim they have preserved the food's natural characteristics by either not adding anything “bad” (these includes claims such as “clean” or “free from” additives or hormones) or by not removing anything “good” (these includes claims such as “whole” or “organic”). 

“Consumers are less and less interested in the nutritional approach,” says Chandon. Rather, they now favour foods that are healthy by nature. 

In a series of studies with his co-author Maria Langlois, he found that nature itself can nudge people towards better choices. When participants walked in a park rather than through city streets, they picked fruit over unhealthy snacks. Even just looking at pictures of green landscapes had a similar effect. “A natural view makes people more willing to trade off taste and diet for natural healthy food,” he says.

He also points to a disconnect between how brands talk about health and what consumers actually want. For instance, his research with Romain Cadario shows that in France, labels on cereal packages align with local preferences. However, in the United States, companies miss key signals. “It’s not enough to say I’m healthy,” he says. “You have to be healthy in the right way.”

Further reading

Four Ways Foods Claim to Be “Healthy"

Green Views for Healthier Diets

Healthy in the Wrong Way: When Food Marketers Don’t Listen

What’s Up Front? The True Influence of Nutrition Labels in Real Life

How to Get More Value from Less Food

From Super-Sized to Superior Gratification: A New Path For the Food Industry