In our study which looked at price promotions in stores, we found that people were more likely to purchase less-healthy food items on promotion, rather than healthier items, and that less deprived households were more likely to buy foods on promotion than more deprived households.
This evidence suggests that whilst policies targeting promotions on less healthy foods might help people to have healthier shopping baskets, they would have little effect on reducing health inequalities caused by deprivation.
Price promotions on healthier vs. less healthy foods: a hierarchical regression analysis of the impact on sales and social patterning of responses to promotions in Great Britain. Nakamura, Suhrcke, Jebb, Pechey, Almiron-Roig, Marteau, 2015.
