Can Humana Influence Wal-Mart Shoppers to Make Healthier Choices?

Wal-Mart wants to help you figure out what foods are good for you to eat. Teaming up with health insurance giant, Humana, select foods in Wal-Mart’s new “Great for You” program willhealthy choices with the logo to the left and will be eligible for five percent off to Humana members.

• Will discounting healthy food choices influence American Wal-Mart shoppers?
• Are consumers really not buying as many fruits and vegetables because of higher costs? Or are these merely shopping preferences?
• Is a five percent discount enough to influence a consumers purchases?

The label is a good marketing technique and mildly health-conscious Wal-Mart shoppers may, indeed, respond to it. Criteria for what fits the “Great for You” profile  are listed on a Wal-Mart website. I find it amusing that featured on the page are canned vegetables with the “Great for You” logo — wouldn’t FRESH, in fact, be BETTER for you?

The people I know who are both very budget conscious shoppers and healthy food consumers don’t need such labeling. It’s kind of depressing to realize that ANYONE needs this kind of labeling.

It also begs for an overnight run with a sheet of “Great for You” stickers in hand, slapping them willy-nilly on boxes of Twinkies and Ho-Hos.

Who wants to go to Wal-Mart?