After the ice cream test, participants received a post-survey and another survey one month later.
The study results show that attending the nominal focus groups had a significant and positive effect on dairy product purchasing and consumption between the pre-survey and the one-month follow-up survey.
Clark elaborated, “Average dairy product purchasing increased to 4.4 servings per week, a 26% increase. Average consumption of each dairy product also increased—23% for cheese, 20% for ice cream, 26% for yogurt, and a staggering 53% increase for milk.”
In total, overall participant dairy consumption rose to eight servings per week, or a 35% jump.
“The result for milk consumption was the stand-out in our results, with every focus group seeing milk consumption go up by at least one serving per week.”
Despite these positive results, the research team was quick to point out that participants did not reach the recommended 21 servings of dairy per week. They stressed the importance of additional research to understand the long-term impacts of education on dairy in the diet, or if improvements to the educational materials or delivery might enhance their impact.
Overall, this study demonstrates that carefully constructed educational messages on the benefits and nutritional attributes of dairy foods can positively influence consumer behavior, leading to increased purchasing and consumption of dairy foods.
Notes for editors
The article is “Dairy nutrition educational messages help increase dairy product knowledge, purchasing, and consumption,” by Jack Myers, Derek Schweiger, and Stephanie Clark (https://doi.org/10.3168/jdsc.2023-0417(opens in new tab/window)). It appears in JDS Communications, volume 5, issue 1 (January/February 2024), published by the American Dairy Science Association and Elsevier.
The article is openly available at https://www.jdscommun.org/article/S2666-9102(23)00097-2/fulltext(opens in new tab/window), and the PDF version is available at https://www.jdscommun.org/action/showPdf?pii=S2666-9102%2823%2900097-2(opens in new tab/window).
For more information contact Jess Townsend, American Dairy Science Association®, at +1 217 239 3331 or [email protected](opens in new tab/window). Journalists wishing to interview the authors should contact the corresponding author, Stephanie Clark, PhD, formerly of the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Iowa State University, at [email protected](opens in new tab/window).
About JDS Communications
JDS Communications®, an official journal of the American Dairy Science Association® (ADSA), is co-published by Elsevier and ADSA. The journal publishes narrowly focused, hypothesis-driven original research studies designed to answer a specific question on the production or processing of milk or milk products intended for human consumption. In addition to short research articles, JDS Communications publishes mini reviews—unsolicited, concise review papers. Research published in this journal is broadly divided into the production of milk from food animals (nutrition, physiology, health, genetics, and management) and processing of milk for human consumption (dairy foods). JDS Communications aims for rapid turnaround and a short time to publication. www.jdscommun.org(opens in new tab/window)
About the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA®)
The American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) is an international organization of educators, scientists, and industry representatives who are committed to advancing the dairy industry and keenly aware of the vital role the dairy sciences play in fulfilling the economic, nutritive, and health requirements of the world’s population. It provides leadership in scientific and technical support to sustain and grow the global dairy industry through generation, dissemination, and exchange of information and services. Together, ADSA members have discovered new methods and technologies that have revolutionized the dairy industry.www.adsa.org(opens in new tab/window)
