Who really values healthy food?

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pilar Ester Arroyo ◽  
Javier Liñan ◽  
Jorge Vera Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Health ◽  
Food Choice ◽  
Food Preferences ◽  
Food Product ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Healthy Food ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Individual Traits ◽  
Health Related

PurposeWhen selecting manufactured foods, customers consider several product features. Given the contemporary trends of food consumption, the purpose of this paper is to determine the influence that some demographic and psychographic key variables have on the chances of a consumer belonging to a market segment characterised by health-related food preferences.Design/methodology/approachThe food choice scale is revised to develop a multidimensional measure of the factors underlying consumer food choices. Data of 288 sampled consumers were used to validate the scale and to group consumers into four segments based on the value assigned to several food-product meta-attributes. Depending on these food choice values, the study identified four dissimilar clusters: utilitarian, protecting, toning and highly demanding.FindingsConsumers use multiple attributes when choosing food products. However, emerging segments tend to prefer health-related attributes over utilitarian or conventional attributes, such as price, flavour or accessibility. The consumers of these segments tend to be older, more health conscious and more prone to psychological health risks.Originality/valueDemographic and psychographic traits tend to drive trade-offs between health- and non-health-related attributes when considering food products. Several multivariate methodologies were innovatively coupled to characterize consumers based on their healthy food preferences and individual traits.

The average Irish consumer a packaged food profile

2015 ◽  
Vol 117 (11) ◽  
pp. 2801-2813 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meave Broderick ◽  
Agnes Bouchier-Hayes ◽  
Tracey Larkin
Keyword(s):  
Food Choice ◽  
Food Preferences ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Nutrition Claims ◽  
Packaged Foods ◽  
The Republic ◽  
And Cluster Analysis ◽  
Packaged Food

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a profile of the average Irish consumer (AIC) of preferences that drive food choice and purchasing of packaged foods. Design/methodology/approach – A number of Irish consumer studies have been carried out and most notably by An Bord Bia. Purchasing and Eating in the Republic of Ireland (PERIscope) investigates Irish consumer food preferences from 2009-2013, based on data obtained from +1,000 people in Ireland. Frequency analysis of these data sets was used to generate majority findings and preference attributes from which to propose a profile of the AIC. Component and cluster analysis was applied to investigate potential relationships between preference attributes and the significance of these relationships. Findings – The AIC is a female to whom price is a priority in food choice and prefers foods that are quick and easy to prepare. The AIC checks foods labels, looks for the low-fat option, but has difficulty understanding nutrition claims and labels. The AIC buys local produce at least monthly, believes local food has less artificial/preservative ingredients and checks for the country of origin on food products. The AIC is conscious of environmental issues and prefers to buy from companies that are environmentally friendly. The AIC buys food in smaller packs as it means less waste, is possibly more convenient and lower priced. Originality/value – It is the aim of this publication to provide a profile of the AIC to assist food companies in understanding and targeting the consumers of their products when developing packaged food products.

Capturing qualitatively different healthfulness images of food products

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 605-622 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petteri Puska ◽  
Harri T. Luomala
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Support ◽  
Food Product ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Internet Survey ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Peripheral Cues ◽  
Health Related

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to establish whether food products carry qualitatively different healthfulness images in consumers’ minds. The images explored in this paper go beyond the conventional healthful vs unhealthful dichotomy. The limitations of mainstream healthfulness perception research were pinpointed and a multi-dimensional conception of food product healthfulness images was introduced in an attempt to extend current theorizing. Design/methodology/approach – A pilot test (n=17) was conducted to develop a tool for measuring multi-dimensional healthfulness images of food products. The main study (n=1,081) comprised of an internet survey exposing respondents to pictures of various commercial food products. Findings – Empirical support for the existence of qualitatively different healthfulness images in consumers’ minds for food products was found. First, a food product perceived in overall as more unhealthful than its counterpart was still viewed as more healthful in certain specific way. Second, respondents reported to yield dissimilar health benefits (e.g. energy and appearance vs emotional well-being and self-management) from consuming two food products that were in overall perceived as equally healthful. Practical implications – In their communication, food marketers should emphasize those healthfulness image dimensions that consumers strongly perceive to characterize their food product. Second, companies can learn from analyzing the role of their own and competitors’ branding and packaging solutions in shaping consumers’ food product healthfulness image experiences. Third, consumer target group understanding is helpful in managing these experiences. Social implications – The results can assist in the fight against obesity. It is possible that the wider use of more emotionally evocative and cognitively effortless food-related communication enabled by uncovering of qualitative healthfulness images can produce more healthy food choices in the long run due to their higher persuasive power in certain consumer groups. Originality/value – This study was the first to show that food products can carry qualitatively different healthfulness images in consumers’ minds. It developed and introduced an easy measuring technique, based on the health-related motive orientation theory, for capturing them. It propagated for a multi-dimensional conception of food product healthfulness images and for the need to acknowledge the role holistic information processing and peripheral cues in their genesis.

Food quality vs food patriotism

2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (2) ◽  
pp. 371-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirzobobo Yormirzoev ◽  
Ramona Teuber ◽  
Tongzhe Li
Keyword(s):  
Food Quality ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Russian Government ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Valuation Model ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Food Market ◽  
Imported Food ◽  
The Right ◽  
Domestic Food

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of perceived food quality and consumer ethnocentrism and potential trade-offs between these two concepts in Russian consumers’ food purchase decisions after the implementation of the Russian import ban. Design/methodology/approach Survey data were collected via in-person interviews in the City of Perm, which is one of the largest and most industrial cities in Russia. A double-bounded dichotomous-choice contingent valuation model is utilized to estimate willingness to pay (WTP) and to analyze factors that affect consumers’ choice. Findings The results suggest that most respondents do not consider domestically produced cheese as a risky product in terms of food safety but simply of lower quality than imported cheese. However, the average respondent’s WTP discount for domestic cheese compared to imported cheese is 8 percent, which is relatively small. This corresponds to participants’ opinion that buying domestic cheese is the right thing to do since it supports Russian farmers and producers. The results indicate further that with increasing education and income levels, individuals are less likely to prefer domestically produced cheese for either economic or quality reasons. This effect is stronger for the quality preference. Research limitations/implications The results indicate that if the Russian government aims at expanding the domestic food market further, more attention needs to be paid to ensuring the quality of domestic food products in order to increase consumer acceptance and WTP. Originality/value This is the first study providing empirical evidence on Russian consumers’ attitudes and perceptions of domestically vs imported food products after the implementation of the Russian import ban, which can be considered as an external policy shock.

scholarly journals Figuring the pecking order

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (12) ◽  
pp. 2334-2355
Author(s):  
Shona M. Bettany ◽  
Ben Kerrane
Keyword(s):  
Food Preference ◽  
Food Preferences ◽  
Food Product ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Animal Food ◽  
Interpretive Study ◽  
Full Compliance ◽  
The Family ◽  
Animal Food Products

PurposeUsing the family activity of hobby stock-keeping (“petstock”) as a context, this paper aims to extend singularization theory to model the negotiations, agencies and resistances of children, parents and petstock, as they work through how animals become food within the boundaries of the family home. In doing so, the authors present an articulation of this process, deciphering the cultural biographies of petstock and leading to an understanding of the emergent array of child animal food-product preferences.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from petstock-keeping parents through a mixture of ethnographic, in-depth interviewing and netnographic engagements in this qualitative, interpretive study; with parents offering experiential insights into animal meat and food-product socialization behaviours played out within the family environments.FindingsThe findings discuss the range of parental behaviours, motivations and activities vis-à-vis petstock, and their children’s responses, ranging from transgression to full compliance, in terms of eating home-raised animal food-products. The discussion illustrates that in the context of petstock, a precocious child food preference agency towards animal meat and food products is reported to emerge.Research limitations/implicationsThis research has empirical and theoretical implications for the understanding of the development of child food preference agency vis-à-vis animal food products in the context of family petstock keeping.Practical implicationsThe research has the potential to inform policy makers around child education and food in regard to how child food preferences emerge and can inform marketers developing food-based communications aimed at children and parents.Originality/valueTwo original contributions are presented: an analysis of the under-researched area of how children’s food preferences towards eating animal food products develop, taking a positive child food-choice agency perspective, and a novel extension of singularization theory, theorizing the radical transformation, from animal to food, encountered by children in the petstock context.

Attitudes and behaviour towards organic products: an exploratory study

2008 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Efthimia Tsakiridou ◽  
Christina Boutsouki ◽  
Yorgos Zotos ◽  
Kostantinos Mattas
Keyword(s):  
Organic Food ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Consumer Decision Making ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Actual Behaviour ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Organic Products

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to identify consumers' attitudes and behaviour towards organic products in Greece.Design/methodology/approachThis paper draws on a non‐probability quota sample of 660 respondents to explore the attitudes and behaviour of Greek consumers towards organic food products.FindingsGreek consumers seem to be informed about environmental and health issues. They seek information about the nutritional value of food and demand more products free from chemical residues. The results show that most consumers associate organic consumption mainly with fruit and vegetables. Although demographics seem to affect attitudes towards organics, their value in explaining actual behaviour is minimal.Research limitations/implicationsIt is recognized that the data gathered in this study focus on the metropolitan area of Thessaloniki, Greece. The specific area though, is considered to be representative of the total Greek population. The results confirm that health, concern for the environment, animal welfare and support of the local economy are drivers of organic consumption. However, there is an indication that the importance of motives and barriers may vary for different product categories and perhaps future research should focus on product segmentation.Practical implicationsAlthough certain similarities in consumers' attitudes towards organic food products have been identified, this paper records the variation in behaviour towards organics among the various consumer groups examined in Greece, and highlights the gap between attitudes and actual behaviour. Given the complexity of consumer decision making, future research should explore the other value trade‐offs that consumers make.Originality/valueThis paper attempts to provide evidence on the relatively under researched area of organics attitudes and behaviour in Greece.

Food choice motivations among Ardabil – Iran adults?

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 641-652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahsa Mohajeri ◽  
Shiva Hoojeghani ◽  
Azimeh Izadi ◽  
Mohammad Ghahremanzadeh ◽  
Farhad Pourfarzi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Food Intake ◽  
Food Choice ◽  
Vegetable Consumption ◽  
Food Prices ◽  
Healthy Food ◽  
Food Price ◽  
Focus Group Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Results

Purpose This study aims to investigate the food choice motivations and some healthy food intake among Ardabil adults with different socioeconomic status. Design/methodology/approach The analysis is based on a focus group study conducted in September 2018. Self-assessed other food choice motivations, healthy food intake and socioeconomic status were reported in questionnaires. The study data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA test and χ2 test in groups of study. Findings Price was a primary motivation of food choice for low-level socioeconomic status persons. The wealthiest people total vegetable consumption was 3.59Â ± 0.004 serving/day, whereas the total vegetable consumption of poorest participants was significantly less than them (p = 0.012). Of the socioeconomics category 1 (SEC1) group participants, 82 per cent said that they consider food price when they were purchasing for their households, while only 28 per cent of SEC4 group said that they consider food prices when food choosing. Only 1 per cent of this group participants pay attention to food label when they choose foods. Originality/value This is the first study that investigated the food choice motivations in Ardabil adults. The results indicated that food price is the most critical food choice motivation. Based on this study results, the food policymaker can change people food security and food choices with some programs like as healthy food subsidies and unhealthy food taxes.

Is Acrylamide really a food safety issue?

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Dal Castel Krein ◽  
Rafaela Julyana Barboza Devos ◽  
Luciane Maria Colla ◽  
Christian Oliveira Reinehr
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Human Exposure ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Safety Issue ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Healthy Food ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Safety Problem

Purpose Acrylamide is a compound found in several food products. Due to the toxicity of this compound, research also seeks strategies to modify industrial and homemade processes, impacting on the reduction of the compound. This paper aims to discuss the aspects surrounding the presence of acrylamide in foods. Design/methodology/approach Published literature on the presence of acrylamide in foods and on its effects has been reviewed. This paper explores the importance of this compound, summarizes the knowledge of its formation and gathers data on its incidence in food and the possibilities of mitigation. Special attention is given to an evaluation of the toxicological tests applied, to analyze whether acrylamide can be considered as a food safety problem. Findings Human exposure to food with high levels of acrylamide varies in their levels regarding the consumption of food in the diet and not only by the level of the compound present in them. Although the compound is well defined as toxic to humans, the association between its intake and most common cancers may not be directly related. Originality/value Depending on the approach of the researchers, contradictory results are obtained, showing the importance of this topic to the development of healthy food products. Further research is still needed to validate the potential effects of acrylamide on human health.

Application of the Tayyib concept among Malaysian muslim consumers

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 819-840
Author(s):  
Zuraidah Zainol ◽  
Rusliza Yahaya ◽  
Juliana Osman ◽  
Nor Asiah Omar
Keyword(s):  
Food Choice ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Health Knowledge ◽  
Healthy Food ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Nutrition Label ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Healthy Food Choice ◽  
Label Use

Purpose This study aims to determine the effect of health knowledge on nutrition-label use and attitude, and consequently on healthy food choice among Malaysian Muslim consumers. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts the positivist, deductive and quantitative approach. A sample consisting of 257 Muslim consumers, at least 15 years old, were selected using systematic street-intercept sampling method. Data collected using a self-administered questionnaire were analysed using descriptive statistics and structural equation modelling (SEM). Findings The findings reveal the significant positive effect of health knowledge on nutrition-label use and attitude towards nutrition label, but only attitude towards nutrition label significantly predicts healthy food choice. Research limitations/implications Though the findings add to the existing literature, provide useful information on how nutrition label could guide the consumer to make healthier food choices and serve as a reference point that could stimulate and guide future researchers and other relevant parties, this study is limited by several factors that require replication in future research. Originality/value This research is perhaps one of the first attempts to consider the role of nutrition label as one of the ways to comply with the Tayyib principle.

scholarly journals Taste and Health Information on Fast Food Menus to Encourage Young Adults to Choose Healthy Food Products: An Experimental Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (19) ◽  
pp. 7139
Author(s):  
Frans Folkvord ◽  
Maud van der Zanden ◽  
Sara Pabian
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
Food Product ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Healthy Food ◽  
Moderating Factors ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Prevalence Of Obesity

Currently, a great number of people have an unhealthy dietary intake, leading to chronic diseases. Despite the high prevalence of obesity and people being overweight, only a few strategies to promote healthier food products have been proven effective. Therefore, the objective of this study was to test the effect of the presence of health information and its integration into a fast food menu context on young adults’ healthy food choices. An experimental between-subjects design consisting of three conditions—subtle, explicit, and no health information—was conducted among 142 participants aged 18 to 24 (Mage: 21.49, SD = 1.77). The results showed that when health information about healthy products was provided, the level of integration of the information into the menu context had an effect. More specifically, participants exposed to explicit health information about healthy products provided on the fast food menu were more likely to choose a healthy food product compared to participants exposed to subtle integrated health information. No interaction effect for moderating factors was found. In line with the healthy food promotion model, the findings suggest that the provision of explicit health information on healthy products stimulates healthy food choices in a fast food environment.

Fit or not? Bringing regulatory fit into the frame on health food preferences

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 1388-1404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuo-Shuan Kuo ◽  
Shih-Chieh Chuang ◽  
Molly Chien-jung Huang ◽  
Pei-ying Wu
Keyword(s):  
Goal Orientation ◽  
Regulatory Focus ◽  
Food Preference ◽  
Message Framing ◽  
Food Preferences ◽  
Framing Effect ◽  
Regulatory Fit ◽  
Healthy Food ◽  
Food Type ◽  
Content Type

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to facilitate the use of public communication in the development of healthy food plans for consumers. This research aims to investigate whether the influence of “fit” to individuals’ goal pursuit strategies on the effectiveness of advertisement frames can intensify persuasion to consume healthy (virtue) foods or restrain the consumption of unhealthy (vice) foods in health promotion.Design/methodology/approachTwo experiments were conducted to investigate how goal-framed messages for different food types affect consumer decision making by moderating regulatory focus.FindingsThe results demonstrate that the compatibility between the mere exposure to virtue (vice) food in a negative (positive) frame drives the effectiveness of a given goal framing. However, when additional regulatory focus is added, the fit in the vice/promotion and virtue/prevention condition causes the effect of framing to disappear. Moreover, the unfit in the virtue/promotion and vice/prevention condition suppresses the virtue (vice) preference in the positive (negative) frame.Research limitations/implicationsThese findings suggest that under different valence framing, advertising messages provide different amounts of persuasion in virtue/vice conditions and the moderation effect of regulatory fit on framing to influence virtue/vice food preference.Practical implicationsPublic policy executives and marketers can increase the likelihood that consumers will make healthy food choices by fitting goals to strengthen persuasion. The unfitted goal orientation between food and regulatory focus enhances the framing effect leading to food preference changes.Originality/valueThe framing effect disappears when additional regulatory fit the food type, but is enhanced when additional regulatory focus does not fit the food type. By bringing fit into the frame and the virtue/vice food type, this research extends the notion of regulatory fit into three pairs of given goal orientations on the persuasiveness of message framing to health-related communication. It provides a substantial explanation underlying persuasion to promote a greater understanding of virtue/vice food preferences.

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