Dealing with consumer uncertainty

My studies on the "uncertain consumer" began with a research project c- ducted by the Dr. Rainer Wild-Stiftung - Foundation for healthy nutrition - on the negative image of processed food. Ever since then I have been asked whether or not growing consumer uncertainty is linked to information po- cies of the food sector and if so, how. Intensive three-year research showed that industrial methods of food production are predestined to result in wayward fears and worry over its healthiness. This is due to the fact that during the process of industrialisation, we gradually passed responsibility for the quality of food into the producers' hands. This, in turn, has resulted in information gaps that we, as the addressees of diverse, often overwhelming and contrad- tory information supplied by varying sources, feel today. We exchanged the daily search for food for the daily search for information long ago. Con- quently, a practical concept for public relations stands at the end of my - search into the uncertain consumer. It accounts for uncertainty regarding processed food as a point of reference for public relations targeted towards various groups. Public relations oriented towards the future calls for the sharing of expert information with all interested consumers. It is the goal of businesses to actively build up trust among the consumers in order to be prepared for new causes for uncertainty appearing periodically. To this day the issue of consumer uncertainty has not lost its topicality.

This volume is the seventh publication within the framework of the scientific series of the Dr. Rainer Wild Foundation. The Foundation was inaugurated in 1991 on the initiative of Prof. Rainer Wild and actively promotes a balanced and healthy nutrition within our industrial society. An important concern of the Foundation is to view the topic "Healthy Nutrition" in terms of a holistic approach. It is not only what we eat that is relevant to our health but also how, where, why, and with whom we eat. The current practice of communication in the nutritional economy often produces significant uncertainty in a large fraction of the population. Efficient and comprehensive publicity by entrepreneurs on the industrial production of foodstuffs needs a new concept for communication between producers, processors, wholesalers, retailers, and end users. Without overgeneralizing, the author explains what makes the consumers uncertain and which consequences this uncertainty has for their nutritional behavior. The main aim of this book is the empirical explanation of the connection between the uncertainty concerning the health value of industrially produced foodstuffs and the behavior of consumers in relation to information. Based on a representative consumer survey, the book shows how consumers currently perceive the publicity activities of the food industry and what their needs are as far as information is concerned. The practical consequences derived from the empirical results are comprehensibly described and the practice-oriented approaches for entrepreneurial publicity activities are discussed.