Companies that sell food online are using images of nature to manipulate consumers and boost sales, University of Newcastle researcher Tamara Bucher says.
Dr Bucher is leading a research team that will examine how the online environment can "influence food choices".
The team will also consider "how we can restructure online environments to promote better choices".
The three-year research project is titled, "Understanding the impact of nature imagery on healthy food choices".
The $353,000 study, funded by the Australian Research Council, aims to compile evidence to help improve the food sector.
"We need to be able to understand how things work. We need that knowledge to be public and also to regulate it," she said.
"If we find that fast food sales increase by x per cent by adding a specific image, you might want to regulate and forbid this kind of manipulation of consumers."
Data-mining companies like Google know what works to entice consumers to buy products. This same data could be used to regulate for a healthier world, rather than "increasing sales and manipulating consumers".
Dr Bucher said there had been a "shift in how we make food choices".
The pandemic boosted the trend of food being bought online, including takeaway and groceries. Consumers now buy more food and order more deliveries through websites and apps.
"The need for more convenience food has changed the food-choice environment," Dr Bucher said.
Another example in this new world is websites and apps that enable parents to pre-order meals and lunchbox contents for school kids.
Nonetheless, many factors influence food choices.
"When we make food choices, we often think we make them because we are hungry or this is what we like to eat," she said.
"But in the end, it comes down to what we have available and what's around us - what we can choose."
People often make quick decisions and don't think much about food choices.
The shift to online food sales had "changed which factors have an influence on what we choose and how these can be manipulated".
When people buy groceries online, for example, different factors influence how they navigate a website or app.
"It could be the font size, brightness of a picture, pop-ups or discounts. That all has an influence on how we make choices online," Dr Bucher said.
"We also know that background images have an influence in online shopping behaviours."
University of Newcastle research has shown that "nature imagery affects consumer trust on websites".
"Websites use this strategically to increase sales of their products," she said.
This typically includes images of things like water, greenery and plants.
"Nature has many different variables, if you think about the desert, a leaf or landscape," she said.
Different photo angles, vantage points and colours are also used in advertising to sell food.
"There are a lot of factors at play. There are some theories from psychology that say nature has an inherent link to sustenance and health."
Environmental images have also been shown to help calm people down. This could, theoretically, lead to more rational choices.
"We want to see how changing this environment affects food choices and product perception."
Furthermore, the research will examine how companies "greenwash" unhealthy products.
Greenwashing relates to misleading information being used to give a false impression that particular products or practices are environmentally sound.
"It's an interesting space because not much is known about this academically," she said.
"We see it happening, but we don't have the evidence."
A team of five people will conduct the research, including University of Newcastle nutrition and dietetics Laureate Professor Clare Collins and computer scientist, Associate Professor Marc Adam.
PhD and postdoctoral students will also work on the project.
Associate Professor Simone Dohle, a psychologist from the University of Cologne in Germany, is the project's international collaborator.
The team aims to collaborate with companies that make websites to "test this in realistic settings".
