UK Mothers’ Insights on Baby Food Pouches & Nutrition Choices

Client

A global producer of infant products

Service

Consumer Research – Online Diaries

Sector

Infant & Child Nutrition

Coverage

United Kingdom

Mothers play a decisive role in shaping consumer insights on infant nutrition choices, especially with baby food pouches. To better understand this audience, a leading infant product manufacturer partnered with us to explore how moms between the ages of 21 and 40, with children aged 6 to 15 months, choose and use baby food pouches. The focus was on uncovering the consumer journey in baby food purchases, including how baby feeding routines, product perceptions, and texture preferences in infant food research influence decisions.

The Challenge

For brands operating in infant nutrition, the challenge is to connect with a group that is highly selective and deeply protective. Mothers are guided by brand trust factors in baby product purchase, convenience, and the nutritional drivers of product suitability for their children’s developmental stages. Traditional surveys alone cannot capture the nuances of this parental decision-making in baby nutrition. The client needed an approach that revealed real-world shopping behavior of young mothers in the UK, along with insights into intimate, at-home feeding moments.

What We Did

We designed a three-day online diary method in consumer studies using the Recollective platform. Eighteen mothers were recruited and asked to log their daily interactions through structured activities lasting thirty minutes per day. The study culminated in an in-store packaging influence on baby food exercise, where participants photographed baby food shelves and uploaded digital ethnography video diaries sharing impressions and choices. By combining mother-driven product innovation insights with qualitative research on infant nutrition, the study captured authentic consumer voices and revealed decision triggers behind purchase behavior.

The Impact of the Research

The diary format offered the client infant nutrition insights into how mother preferences balance everyday routines shaping baby product use, baby food packaging cues, and emotional drivers in baby food selection. Findings showed how in-store influence like shelf placement builds initial appeal, while brand trust and product features drive final purchase. The study equipped the client with a clear view of parent behavior, providing direction for baby product innovation, refining messaging, and strengthening alignment with consumer journeys in infant food.

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