Most people already know what healthy eating looks like. Yet, knowledge alone rarely changes what ends up in the shopping basket.

This gap between knowing what constitutes a healthy diet and making healthier purchasing decisions was the starting point of the GAMEHEALTH project. The project was officially launched on 23 January 2026 with a kick-off meeting bringing together researchers from the Faculty of Economics & Business, University of Zagreb. Over the next four years, our interdisciplinary team will explore how behavioural science, digital technologies and real-world shopping data can help people make healthier food choices.. 

Rather than relying on surveys or hypothetical scenarios, GAMEHEALTH will test interventions directly within the MultiPlus mobile application. Using randomized controlled experiments, we will examine whether personalised coupons, gamified challenges and timely recommendations can encourage healthier purchasing behaviour—and whether these effects last over time. 

What makes this project particularly exciting is its scale. By collaborating with MultiPlus and Konzum, we have the opportunity to study real purchasing decisions in a real retail environment, generating evidence that can inform both public health policies and business practice.

The kick-off meeting also marked the beginning of an exciting collaboration across marketing, consumer behaviour, communication, statistics, mathematics and digital transformation. Together, we are looking forward to translating research into practical solutions that make healthy choices a little easier in everyday life. 

This project is funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU under Call IIP-581-2025 (GAMEHEALTH).