Mood Boosting Sampling

Help your shoppers get in a better mood. Recent research found that certain foods contain mood-enhancing abilities.

Happy shoppers are the best customers, and if not all of your customers walk through your door in a good mood, why not help them get there. A study presented at the National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society analyzed natural compounds in foods that are suggested to have mood-enhancing effects. Sampling specific foods in store for their mood enhancing effects can have a ripple effect. More of the foods sampled are purchased, and shoppers just might buy more overall – and not to mention they will associate visiting your store as a fun and positive experience. 

Researcher, Dr Karina Martinez-Mayorga, from the Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies, and her team compared various properties of flavor molecules with approved antidepressants – finding that many flavor compounds are similar to a widely used prescription mood-stabilizing compound. It’s important to know that people have long recognized the potentially mood-altering properties of various foods, Martinez-Mayorga commented. 

According to Martinez-Mayorga, the team believes many flavors have the potential to act as mood modulators: “Molecules in chocolate, a variety of berries and foods containing omega-3 fatty acids have shown positive effects on mood.” More specifically, chemicals in chocolate, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, teas and more could well be mood-enhancers.

Why not set up sampling stations for these mood-boosting foods? Get CPGs on board to provide samples and marketing materials while store employees can mention the mood boosting qualities of the foods. One day it’s chocolate, and the next it’s tea and berries. Why not help your customers get to a better mood?

The research continues as Martinez-Mayorga and her team are working to identify the chemical compounds that could moderate mood swings, help maintain cognitive health, improve mental alertness and maybe even delay the onset of memory loss