Investigating consumer knowledge and behaviour in the context of functional foods

The future of functional foods will depend on the extent to which they are accepted by consumers. Results are presented from a questionnaire that investigated consumers’ self-reported knowledge, behavioural intentions and purchasing behaviour regarding functional foods. Findings are that two thirds of UK respondents, just less than half of Danish respondents, almost two thirds of Spanish respondents, and 88% of Polish respondents say they buy one or two functional food items per week. Between 30-55% of respondents say they understand functional foods reasonably well (UK 55%; Denmark 30%; Spain 43%; Poland 49%). A number of factors were related to respondents’ stated intention to purchase probiotics. If someone in the household had suffered food poisoning in the previous 12 months or had children living at home, respondents were more likely to consider buying functional foods to help reduce the risk of food poisoning. Respondents who have never had any formal food safety training were more likely to consider buying functional foods. Further, knowledge of the correct food sources for a number of foodborne pathogens also affected the likelihood of respondents considering buying probiotic functional foods. The findings provide up-to-date information about consumers and the developing functional foods market.Consumers, knowledge, behaviour, functional foods, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

The acceptance of functional foods in Denmark, Finland and the United States: A study of consumers' conjoint evaluations of the qualities of functional foods and perceptions of general health factors and cultural values.

Functional foods is a relatively new concept covering food products enriched with various kinds of (natural) substances (eg vitamins, minerals or probiotic cultures) or modified so as to provide consumers with an additional physiological benefit presumed to prevent disease or promote health, without them having to change their eating habits fundamentally. 2. Health is one of the most important choice criteria, when consumers purchase food products. The fact that most health consequences of food are long term and therefore inaccessible at the time of purchase, the evaluation has to be based on nutritional information, eg health claims and other more accessible food qualities, eg taste, appearance, and processing method (when disclosed) which consumers may associate with health in one way or another. Consumers’ acceptance of functional foods therefore depends on the health information available as well as on their associations between wholesomeness and other qualities of functional foods. 3. Experience with functional foods introduced so far has disclosed national differences when it comes to consumer acceptance. One explanation may be that legislation on health claims varies across countries; another explanation may be differences in cultural values, which possibly lead to different associations between wholesomeness and other quality aspects, such as taste, convenience and method of processing. 4. Using conjoint analysis and survey questions (n=1500), the aim of the study presented in this paper is to investigate whether there are differences in the acceptance of functional foods in Denmark, Finland and the United States, and to which extent they are related to differences in consumers’ nutritional knowledge, health associations and cultural values. The general results of the study indicate that Finnish consumers accept functional foods more readily than do American and Danish consumers. In all three countries, however, the results also indicate that consumers are more positive towards enrichments with well-known nutritional effects and that the use of health claims, which are restricted by law in all three countries, has a potential, positive effect on the acceptance of functional foods.Consumer behaviour; evaluations; functional food; health factors; cultural values

Some like it healthy: demand for functional products in the Italian yogurt market

Despite the significant interest shown by academics as to investigating the market of functional foods, little empirical research has used market data to infer on the characteristics of functional foods’ consumers via demand analysis. Using a discrete choice (nested-logit) model and scanner data of yogurt purchases in the Italian market, this paper analyzes the demand for both conventional and functional yogurts assessing also the role of health-related demographics as shifters. The empirical results show that, in the category analyzed, while higher prices are still a deterrent for the success of some functional products, drinkable functional yogurts appear successfully differentiated, benefitting from a relatively low own-price elasticity of demand. The results suggest also that health-related consumers’ characteristics play an important role in shifting the demand for yogurts (both conventional and functional), indicating that, consistently with previous findings, consumers aiming to improve (or maintain) their health status are more inclined to buy functional products than conventional ones.Functional foods, health-conscious consumers, nested-logit, yogurt., Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

The Subject of Functional Foods: Accounts of Using Foods Containing Phytosterols

This paper explores the notion of the late modern or reflexive subject, for whom consumption, rationality, autonomy and a reflexive attitude to risk are said to be constitutive. Drawing on an example of \'ordinary\' health consumption (Gronow and Warde, 2001), the paper addresses what kinds of consumer identities emerge in people\'s talk about buying or eating foods containing phytosterols. These are \'functional foods\' which are marketed on the basis that they actively lower cholesterol. Based on interviews with people who say that they buy or eat these foods, the analysis focuses on participants\' reported trajectories relating to how this came about. Participants\' accounts contain a number of explicit and implicit reasons for buying or eating the foods, which I characterise as agential, contextual, or non-agential, depending on the degree to which they draw on the agency of the actual purchaser or eater. These different types of explanations can be ordered in terms of their appeals to rationality, risk consciousness and autonomy. In agential explanations, people talk, for example, of doing something good for themselves, or experimenting with the foods. These explanations explicitly position consumers as health conscious, autonomous and rational to varying degrees. Contextual explanations drew on, for example, the role of doctors or family history in alerting people to a potential problem. These suggest both a different sense of risk consciousness, which may be prompted or contextual, and a less autonomous kind of consumer who is connected to others through a set of family and other relationships. Non-agential explanations, for example, where people attributed their consumption to others or to habit, appeal neither to the rationality, the health consciousness nor the autonomy of the actual consumer. The analysis helps to reinforce the potentially contextual or fluctuating nature of risk consciousness, and the relational and non-instrumental aspects of daily practices.Functional Food; Ordinary Consumption; Phytosterol; Cholesterol; Consumer Subject; Agency; Reflexivity; Food Practices; Non-Instrumental Conduct

FUNCTIONAL FOODS: CONSUMER ISSUES AND FUTURE CHALLENGES

Scientific progress in understanding the relationship of diet to disease, along with increasing health-care costs and consumersÂ’' desires to make healthy lifestyle improvements, provides a significant impetus for the development of novel foods with health benefits (functional foods). Combining sound science, effective and balanced communication strategies, and changes in the regulatory environment, important benefits could be realized for the entire food system, including producers, food manufacturers, retailers, and consumers.Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Regulating Functional Foods: Pre- and Post-Market Strategy

As best we understand the government, its first argument runs along the following lines: that health claims lacking significant scientific agreement are inherently misleading because they have such an awesome impact on consumers as to make it virtually impossible for them to exercise any judgment at the point of sale. It would be as if the consumers were asked to buy something while hypnotized, and therefore they are bound to be misled. We think this contention is almost frivolous

THE OUTLOOK FOR NUTRACEUTICALS AND FUNCTIONAL FOODS

Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Consumers' behaviours and attitudes toward healthy food products: The case of organic and functional foods

Over the last decade consumers’ health consciousness is becoming an important factor driving the agrofood market. Healthier food products have entered the global markets with force in the past years and rapidly gained market share. Consequently, the food industry has reacted to this trend by developing a growing variety of new products with health-related claims and images, including organic and functional foods that are selected by consumers for their health-promoting properties. Currently, the healthy foods and drinks market is performing well, in terms of innovation and market penetration; healthy foods in Europe have a turnover of € 5.7 billion. Different researches conclude that a better understanding of consumers' perception of healthy foods and its determinants are key success factors for market orientation and development and for successfully negotiating market opportunities. The research proposes a survey of 300 Italian consumers in order to understand attitudes towards healthy foods, with particular reference to organic and functional products, through the implementation of a cluster analysis. The main aim of this paper is to derive indications that may contribute to better strategic and tactical marketing decisions. The findings of this study are also important for government bodies interested in designing public health programs.functional foods, organic products, cluster analysis, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics,

Modelling functional food choice and health care impacts: A literature review

The global market for functional foods is estimated to be worth about US$33 billion (Hilliam, 2000). Given the information asymmetry inherent in functional foods, labelling information plays a key role in allowing consumers to make informed choices. Understanding consumer choices with respect to functional foods is an important new area of research. Several potential consumer choice models are available to assess consumer choices for functional food. This paper provides an overview of key consumer research questions, and a review of several different models, including the Stated Preference Choice Model with Discrete Choice Analysis, Dependent Preference Model, and modified Protection Motivation Theory.information asymmetry, stated preference models, protection motivation, functional food, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Q13, I1, D12, D82,