Table 3 Responses towards the nine specifically asked pricing strategies.
| Pricing strategy | Positive (++) | Negative (--) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tax increase on unhealthy food items | - unhealthy food may become less attractive |
- may result in opposite effects - patronizing - is not effective, food remains attractive - is regressive |
| 2 | Subsidizing healthy foods |
- motivating - encouraging to buy more healthy food - direct effect - applies to whole population | - someone has to pay for the allowances |
| 3 | Allowance for low-income groups designed to purchase healthy food | - extra money may result in buying more healthy food |
- extra money may not be spent on healthy foods - indirect effect - restricted to low-income consumers |
| 4 | Insurance premium cutback when a healthy diet is comprised |
- motivating - encouraging to buy more healthy food |
- difficult to implement - unverifiable - indirect effect |
| 5 | Healthy food options being on offer more frequently |
- motivating - stimulating to buy more healthy food - direct effect | - saved money may not be spend on healthy foods |
| 6 | Prohibition of discounts on unhealthy food items |
- fair (especially involving children) - discouraging |
- patronizing - difficult to implement |
| 7 | Offering small presents, extras or saving stamps with healthy food items |
- motivating - encouraging to buy more healthy food (especially for children) | - none listed |
| 8 | Making healthy food items cheaper and unhealthy food items more expensive |
- fair - encouraging to buy more healthy food - more effective than only providing discounts on healthy foods | - difficult to implement |
| 9 | Healthy food items discount card exclusively for low-income groups |
- fair - encouraging to buy more healthy food - discount cards are heavily used and effective |
- indirectly, people have to pay for such allowances - restricted to low-income consumers |