摘要：Objectives. We explored the role of price in the food purchasing patterns of Black adults and youths. Methods. We analyzed qualitative data from interviews and focus groups with socioeconomically diverse, primarily female, Black adults or parents (n = 75) and youths (n = 42) in 4 US cities. Interview protocols were locality specific, but all were designed to elicit broad discussion of food marketing variables. We performed a conventional qualitative content analysis by coding and analyzing data from each site to identify common salient themes. Results. Price emerged as a primary influence on food purchases across all sites. Other value considerations (e.g., convenience, food quality, healthfulness of product, and family preferences) were discussed, providing a more complex picture of how participants considered the price of a product. Conclusions. Food pricing strategies that encourage consumption of healthful foods may have high relevance for Black persons across income or education levels. Accounting for how price intersects with other value considerations may improve the effectiveness of these strategies. In recent years, increasing attention has been given to the role that the marketing of high-calorie, low-nutrient foods and beverages has in the development of obesity, especially childhood obesity. 1,2 Marketing is multifaceted, including the types of products available, where they are available, where and how they are promoted, and what they cost (the “marketing mix”). 3 Food marketing variables shape the environments in which food preferences develop and in which consumers make purchasing decisions. These variables must be understood to design policies and programs to facilitate calorically and nutritionally appropriate eating patterns. Although much of the concern about food marketing has focused on children, evidence suggests that food and beverage marketing practices contribute to the higher-than-average risk of obesity and other diet-related diseases in Black persons at all ages. 4,5 Black persons are more likely than White persons to be exposed to advertising and other promotions for high-calorie, low-nutrient foods and beverages, and less likely to encounter promotions for healthier alternatives. 6–9 In addition, on average, Black neighborhoods have relatively fewer retail food stores that offer a wide variety of foods and relatively more fast-food outlets than other types of restaurants compared with predominantly White neighborhoods. 10–15 A higher percentage of Black than White Americans have incomes near the poverty line 16 and are, therefore, also affected by the disproportionate promotion and availability of high-calorie, low-nutrient foods in lower-income neighborhoods. 10,13,15,17 However, the excess risks of obesity and other diet-related diseases in Black persons are not confined to the lower-income segment of the population. 18–21 The objective of this study was to explore the role of price in the food purchasing patterns of Black adults and youths. Price is among the strongest, if not the strongest, influences on food purchases (particularly among low-income consumers) and on caloric overconsumption. 22,23 Food price may affect caloric consumption through the types or quantities of foods purchased. For example, people may buy relatively inexpensive snack foods and convenience foods that are high in fat and sugar. 24 They also may feel less guilty about buying unhealthy foods if they are discounted and may eat relatively more of the products acquired at low cost or stockpiled because of quantity discounts. 22,23 Price is mentioned routinely as a major influence on food purchasing decisions by Black consumers and by consumers in general. 22,25–31 However, compared with other aspects of marketing, ways in which the price of products affects diet-related disparities experienced by Black adults and youths have been less well studied. Although the foods available and marketed in Black neighborhoods are relatively less healthful compared with foods marketed in White neighborhoods, available evidence does not support the hypothesis of systematic differences in food prices between Black and White neighborhoods. 9,32–35 Yet these price comparison studies have not adjusted for neighborhood differences in income, which would determine what prices residents might consider affordable. Nor have they considered several other factors such as the mix of retail outlets available, availability of time and transportation to shop in other neighborhoods, price discounts, consumer food preferences, or food-specific or more general shopping patterns, all of which might influence what people buy at a given cost. 22,36 This dearth of comprehensive inquiry calls for a deeper understanding of the role of food prices in purchasing behavior among Black consumers, which will inform potential marketing-related strategies for addressing obesity.
