Positioning Candy & Snacks as the 'Better-to-You' Category

According to Thurman, understanding the psychological principles that drive consumer behavior to candy and snacks at each stage of a brand's growth is as essential as it is advantageous. 

While marketing teams often focus on distribution tactics and promotional calendars, brands that truly thrive are those that recognize and adapt to the distinct psychological drivers governing three critical growth stages, he said.

Stage 1: Trial

This initial stage — which is convincing a consumer to pick a product for the first time — is governed by a set of psychological principles that determine whether the product grabs consumers' attention and piques their interest to try the product.

As Thurman explained, Classical Conditioning is a psychological triggers marketers can employ to drive snack trial. He provided some ways Classical Conditioning can work on new product launches:

• Consistent messaging: The brand must convey the same meaning consistently across all consumer touchpoints.
• Pairing with existing pleasures: Position snacks alongside enjoyable activities, such as afterschool rides home, morning breaks or transitions between daily activities.
• Multisensory associations: Think satisfying pack-opening sounds, aromatic experiences or distinctive bite sounds like the "snap" of a KitKat bar.
• Distinctive branding elements: Consistent colors, shapes, sounds and messaging trigger thoughts about a product — for instance, Coca-Cola's distinctive bottle shape.

"The key is consistency and repetition, creating strong associations that make reaching for your brand automatic in certain situations," Thurman said.

Stage 2: Choice

The psychological landscape shifts dramatically once consumers have tried a product. Now, the product is battling for repeat purchase and preference patterns. To that end, the Endowment Effect is a psychological principle where people place higher value on things they already own vs. identical items they don't possess. 

"Once something becomes 'ours,' we tend to value it more highly and become reluctant to part with it," Thurman explained.

Stage 3: Routine 

In the final growth stage, a brand transitions from conscious choice to habitual purchase. Here, psychological principles related to routines and long-term behavior patterns dominate consumer decision-making. 

Once a brand has become part of a consumer's routine, decision-making transforms from conscious choices into automatic behaviors.

"When a snack becomes part of a routine — the afternoon energy boost, the commute treat, the movie night essential — it bypasses the normal decision process entirely. This explains why established brands focus heavily on consistency and occasion-based marketing: they're reinforcing the habit loops that drive automatic purchases," Thurman told attendees.

How to Win

Because Alpha-Diver's mission is to help brands and marketers drive interest and action, he left attendees with these final key insights and advice:

• Brands that help consumers feel/look good right now are winning. "Snacking is the world's best mood regulator. How it feels is just as — or more — important than what it does," he emphasized. "Ask yourself, what's the true benefit of better-for-you snacking, or is price really the key driver of choice?"
• Bring some sensory intrigue and discovery to the party. "Candy and snacks is a fun, craveable category that needs to be inspiring. Think of when you're on vacation and your mentality is exploratory and all about excitement. How can you get consumers to bring that mentality into a routine purchasing habit?"

The 2025 Sweets & Snacks Expo took place May 13-15 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis.