Reasons behind consumers' functional food choices

Introduction

Reasons behind consumers’ functional food choices Nina Urala and Liisa La¨hteenma¨ki

The authors Nina Urala is a Research Scientist and Liisa LaÈ hteenmaÈ ki is Group Manager, both at VTT Biotechnology, Espoo, Finland. Keywords Consumer behaviour, Food and drink, Product attributes Abstract The aim of this study was to examine what reasons consumers give for either choosing or not choosing functional foods. Laddering interviews were used to find out how consumers described their reasons for choosing functional food alternatives in different product categories and how these descriptions are linked with values. Yoghurt, spread, juice, carbonated soft drinks, sweets and ice cream were used as example product categories. In total, five central means-end chains, describing the product attributes, consequences and values behind respondents’ food choices, were found, which referred to healthiness, taste and pleasure, security and familiarity, convenience and price. They were found to be independent from each other and had different connotations depending on the product category. The results indicate that respondents did not see functional foods as one homogenous group over different product categories. Instead, consumers seemed to perceive functional products as a member of the general product category such as yoghurt or spread and only secondarily as a functional food. Electronic access The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/0034-6659.htm Nutrition & Food Science Volume 33 . Number 4 . 2003 . pp. 148-158 # MCB UP Limited . ISSN 0034-6659 DOI 10.1108/00346650310488499

So-called functional food products have allowed consumers to increasingly choose food products that may respond better to their individual needs. Despite the difficulties in determining the term functional food and the limitations on giving information on its possible health-related effects (Diplock et al., 1999), consumers have found these products interesting. The functional food world market was estimated to be with at least 32 billion US dollars in 1999 and it is steadily growing (New Nutrition, 2002). New functional products are frequently launched (Young, 2002). To gain success in the growing functional food market, manufacturers should know more about the reasons behind why the consumer chooses functional food. The factors that affect functional food choices may be the same as those of conventional food choices, although the importance of these factors may vary between conventional and functional foods. Although functional foods are becoming popular, we know relatively little about how consumers perceive functional foods as a category or, on the other hand, as single products within their own product categories. For product development and marketing, it is important to know how consumers explain their interest, how that interest is linked with their values and what are the broader life values behind their interest. The perceived value of a food product is based on the self-relevant consequences that can be achieved by consuming that particular product. A particular interview technique, laddering, has been developed to find out the links between the perceived product characteristics, their self-relevant consequences and values. These so-called means-end chains are usually presented as a model of the consumer’s cognitive structures, namely as a hierarchical value map (Grunert, 1995). From these hierarchical value maps, it is possible to clarify how product characteristics are linked with consequences and how these consequences are then linked with life values (Reynolds and Gutman, The authors would like to acknowledge TEKES (National Technology Agency of Finland), which partly funded this research. This study is part of a joint project: ‘‘Tools for consumer-oriented product development’’, and belongs to the Tailored Technologies for Future Foods programme at VTT Biotechnology.

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Reasons behind consumers’ functional food choices

Nutrition & Food Science Volume 33 . Number 4 . 2003 . 148-158

Nina Urala and Liisa LaÈhteenmaÈki

1988). The laddering interviews provide a useful tool for product development and marketing to study the structures behind consumers’ opinions or impressions. This method makes it possible for important information to be used when targeting consumers with the product information, advertisements or final products. Laddering has been used successfully in clarifying consumer perceptions of functional foods (Jonas and Beckmann, 1998), vegetable oils (Nielsen et al., 1998), food hazards (Miles and Frewer, 2001) gene modification in food products (Grunert et al., 2001), etc. Roininen et al. (2000) have used laddering to identify how consumers perceive health and hedonic aspects in food and Zanoli and Naspetti (2002) have studied consumers’ motivations in purchasing organic foods. When Jonas and Beckmann (1998) clarified consumer perceptions of functional foods in Denmark and England, health was mentioned as one reason for choosing functional yoghurt, juice and butter in Denmark and yoghurt, cereals and butter in England. Hierarchical value maps, one from each country, were constructed by combining interviews on these three different products. Both hierarchical value maps lacked the word taste. In Roininen et al. (2000), the respondents divided 32 foods into four groups according to their healthiness and hedonic characteristics. Laddering was used to elicit the dimensions of the perceived health and hedonic aspects. The means-end chains in the hierarchical value maps were mostly based on nutritional and other health-related properties of the products, although the health and hedonic means-end chains were linked together only in the category of the products that were healthy and pleasure-giving. These products were mostly fruit, berries and vegetables with one industrial product (xylitol chewing gum) belonging to this group. Health also linked with safety when purchasing organic food (Zanoli and Naspetti, 2002). The earlier studies show that hedonic and health-related aspects are important for the consumers’ perceptions of different food products; when choosing functional foods, however, the motivations may differ from those that are typical of other types of foods that are considered healthy. Functional foods are new products that have been produced with the help of food technology and that

offer targeted health-related benefits for consumers. The aim of this study was to find out what reasons consumers use for choosing functional food from the different product categories and how these reasons are linked with consumers’ life values.

Materials and methods In this study, respondents had to make a choice between functional foods and their conventional counterparts. Six product categories were selected for the study. In each category, there were different commercial functional foods that were available in Finland at the time of this study. These product categories were yoghurt, spread, juice, carbonated soft drinks, sweets and ice cream (Table I). In sweets, the products were pastilles and wine gums; no chocolate was included. Functional food products and Table I The product categories and the different product groups. Each product card (each row of this table) represented several items of the particular group Category

Groups

Yoghurt

Probiotic yoghurt (F) Fat-free yoghurt (C) Natural yoghurt (C) Fruit or berry-flavoured yoghurt (C)

Spread

Cholesterol-lowering spread (F) Light margarine (C) Conventional margarine (C) Butter-fat mixture (C)

Juice

Probiotic juice (F) Nutritionally fortified drink (C) Juice (juice content 100 per cent) Fruit drink (juice content 6-20 per cent)

Carbonated soft drinks

Nutritionally fortified drink (F) Unnaturally sweetened carbonated soft drink (C) Energy drink (C) Carbonated soft drink (C)

Sweets

Xylitol-sweetened sweets (F) Sugar-free sweets (C) Sweets (C)

Ice cream

Probiotic ice cream (F) Ice cream made with vegetable fat (C) Ice cream made with soy (C) Ice cream made with milk (C) Ice cream made with cream (C)

Note: F = functional products, C = conventional products

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conventional food products were presented to the consumers as a group of similar products on a set of product cards (laminated photos). The conventional products in each product category were divided into subgroups, so that similar products belonged to the same subgroup; for instance, the functional product card for yoghurt contained probiotic yoghurts. Conventional yoghurts were divided into three subcategories: fat-free yoghurts, natural yoghurts and fruit or berry-flavoured yoghurts; these three groups formed their own cards. Product groups were photographed and laminated product cards were made. Groups can be seen in Table I, where each row (group) represents one product card. Depending on the product category, there were from two to four conventional groups. As a description of the group, the name of the group (Table I) was printed on the card. During the interviews, in addition to the printed description, the term ‘‘probiotic’’ was explained to the respondents as meaning ‘‘stomach-friendly’’. Data collection For two days, two interviewers collected data from 50 Finnish-speaking consumers (19 men and 31 women), who volunteered to be interviewed, on a day ferry between Turku (in Finland) and Stockholm (in Sweden). On the ferry, travellers have a lot of free time on their hands and they willingly took part in the study. Two quiet meeting rooms on the upper deck were used for interviewing the respondents. After the interviews, the respondents filled out a background questionnaire in which the following questions were asked: gender, year of birth, education and profession. In addition, questions on what the respondents do for a living and what they have studied, e.g. the food or healthcare sector, were asked. The use frequency of the product groups used in the interviews was asked on a six-point scale (0 = never, 1 = 2-3 times per year, 2 = approximately once a month, 3 = 2-3 times per month, 4 = approximately once a week, 5 = 2-4 times per week or more often). In addition, impressions on the healthiness of these groups were evaluated according to a seven-point scale (1 = not at all healthy, 7 = extremely healthy). At the end of the questionnaire, respondents were asked to evaluate their own state of health on a five-point scale (5 = excellent, 4 = good, 3 = moderate, 2 = weak, 1 = very weak). Weight and height were also asked. The respondents’ motivation

in using functional foods was clarified by asking if they suffer from high blood pressure, stomach disorders, high cholesterol, caries, lactose intolerance, osteoporosis or other disorders (free description) (dichotomous scale: 1 = no and 2 = yes). Respondents Nearly half of the respondents were pensioners (20 people), 16 were employed and 14 were students or unemployed. The mean age was 47 years (range 15-74 years). According to their own description, 30 respondents claimed that their state of health was good or excellent and 20 said that it was moderate or weak. The respondents’ mean body mass index (BMI) was 25.5kg/m2 (range 18.8-43.7kg/m 2), 22 respondents were classified as normal weight (BMI 24.9kg/m2 or lower) and 27 overweight (BMI 25.0kg/m2 or over). The use frequencies of functional foods reported by the respondents varied between the product categories. Xylitol-sweetened sweets were used several times per week. The lowest use frequency was reported in cholesterol-lowering spread, 2-3 times per year (Figure 1). Use of one type of functional food did not necessarily mean that functional foods belonging to another product category were used as often. Correlation coefficients between the use frequencies of different functional food categories varied between r = 0.05-0.42 (Pearson’s correlation coefficient). The highest correlation was reported between the use frequency of probiotic yoghurt and probiotic juice. Functional food groups were perceived as being healthier or at least as equally healthy when compared to the conventional groups in carbonated soft drinks, juice, sweets, spread and yoghurt (Figure 2). The correlation coefficients between the evaluated healthiness of the functional products varied between r = 0.12-0.70 (Pearson’s correlation coefficient) for the products that were asked about. The highest correlation was between the healthiness evaluation of probiotic yoghurt and probiotic juice. Gender, age, state of health, disorders or BMI had no effect on the use frequencies or the evaluated healthiness of the functional products. Laddering interviews Laddering interviews were used to establish consumers’ reasons for choice of functional

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Figure 1 Reported use frequencies of the functional foods used in this study

foods. This technique can be applied for eliciting the structures and links of consumers’ impressions. Before the laddering interview started, the respondents were told that we were interested in the consumers’ reasons for food choices and their own opinions. Respondents were also told that the interview was being carried out using a particular method in which the same questions may be repeated several times and the interviewer will write down the answers. The respondents were encouraged to respond in their own words and expressions when describing their own opinions and impressions of the products. The interviews were done by using soft laddering since functional food products are quite new and the respondents may only have limited experiences with these kinds of products (Jonas and Beckmann, 1998). After the general instructions were given, the first product category was shown to the respondents. The cards were shown in pairs of

one functional card and one conventional card, e.g. probiotic yoghurt vs natural yoghurt, probiotic yoghurt vs fat-free yoghurt and probiotic yoghurt vs fruit or berry yoghurt. If the respondent said that he or she was not a user of that particular product category and could therefore not answer the questions, the category was replaced with another. The interview started by asking the respondent to pick up the product that he or she preferred more. If this was found to be difficult, the respondent was told to imagine that he or she was shopping as usual and that only these products were available in the grocery store. After picking up the preferred card, the reasons for this choice were asked: ‘‘Why did you choose these products?’’ In addition, the reasons for not choosing the other products were asked: ‘‘Why did you not choose these products?’’ After there were no more reasons, the following questions were asked. From attributes, (fat, sugar, berries, vitamins, etc.), consequences were asked: ‘‘Why is A (e.g. fat content) important to you?’’ When the

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Figure 2 Perceived healthiness of the functional and conventional product groups used in the study

respondent answered the question with consequence (C), for instance, the interviewer continued by asking: ‘‘Why is C (e.g. weight control) important to you?’’ As the interview progressed, the values related to the attributes and consequences were elicited. These ‘‘why’’questions were asked from every choice until no further answers could be produced by the respondent and the interviewer moved on to the next category. Conventional cards were consecutively shown as an alternative to the functional card. In total, each respondent was shown three product categories. Categories and cards within the category were shown in a randomised order. In addition, the order in the pair (functional card or conventional card) was randomised. The duration of the interviews required 30-50 minutes, on the whole. After the interview and the background form was filled in, the respondents received a gift voucher valid for the ship’s stores as a reward. Data analysis The content of the respondents’ answers was analysed and the responses that had the same meaning were categorised into common

categories of product attributes, consequences and values. During this process, it was found that the reasons for choosing a product varied between the different product categories. Thus, the hierarchical value maps were separately produced for each product category in order to meaningfully describe the links between values, the consequences and product attributes, i.e. the means-end chains, in the choices of functional foods. Hierarchical value maps were constructed with LadderMap software (Gengler and Thomas, 1993). The interviews were entered into LadderMap with the common word categories. The cut-off points used in the hierarchical value maps, i.e. the minimum frequency of mentions of a single link, were separately determined on the basis of the data from each category. Thus, the final cutoff points were selected when clear associations between attributes, consequences and values could be seen from the hierarchical value map.

Results Choices of functional products During the interviews, 447 choices were made between the functional and conventional 152




foods (product cards). The functional foods were chosen 230 times (51 per cent of the choices) and the conventional foods 208 times (47 per cent of the choices). In nine cases (2 per cent), the respondent could not choose. Most often, functional products were chosen in the carbonated soft drinks, juice and sweets categories (Figure 3). The frequency of functional choice was, however, dependent on the conventional counterpart in the choice task. Choosing a functional food in one product category did not necessarily correlate with choosing functional foods in other product categories (r = - 0.34-0.58; Pearson’s correlation coefficient). The highest correlation between the choice frequencies was found between functional probiotic yoghurts and functional cholesterol-lowering spreads. Gender, age, education, use frequency of functional foods and the reported occurrence of health-related disorders did not explain the number of functional choices. Most frequently, respondents mentioned attributes related to familiarity, price, better digestive function and package size as reasons

when choosing the products during the interview. The most frequently mentioned consequences were taste and sensory quality, economy stays balanced, healthiness, convenience, easier life, being a better person, long and healthy life, and individuality. When constructing the hierarchical value maps, a connection mentioned by each respondent was considered only once in each product category (Gengler and Reynolds, 1993). Means-end chains describing the choice reasons In almost all product categories, five central mean-end chains describing the respondents’ food choices were found (Figures 4-9). These means-end chains referred to healthiness, taste and pleasure, security and familiarity, convenience, and price. These chains, however, were found to be independent of each other and they were constructed differently for each product category. In the hierarchical value maps, the links mentioned the most often between attributes, consequences and values are marked with bold lines.

Figure 3 Choices of functional foods versus conventional foods. The functional product groups are named on the first line of the product category and their conventional counterparts afterwards

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Figure 4 Hierarchical value map of the reasons describing the choice of yoghurt (n = 26, cut-off = 3)

Figure 5 Hierarchical value map of the reasons describing the choice of spread (n = 24, cut-off = 3)

Health effects, functionality and healthiness Healthiness as a reason was seen as two-sided. Health-related reasons were related to general well being then, prevention of disease. In addition, improved performance was linked with healthiness. Prevention of disease was mentioned as a choice reason in spread, carbonated soft drinks and sweets. General well being was, in turn, mentioned in yoghurt, spread, juice, carbonated soft drinks and ice cream. Improved performance was mentioned in both juice and carbonated soft drinks. There were health-related means-end chains in every product category. In most

product categories, it was an independent means-end chain, but healthiness was connected with pleasure and taste via general well being for yoghurt. For yoghurt, probiotics and stomach friendliness was connected to health effects, general well being, better digestion and healthiness. Exactly the same chain with probiotics-better digestion-general well being was found with juice. In ice cream, however, probiotics was not mentioned at all as the choice reason, even though the functional product category was labelled as probiotic ice cream. Ice cream was the only category where healthiness or functionality as such was not mentioned as the choice reason, but a link

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Figure 6 Hierarchical value map of the reasons describing the choice of juice (n = 23, cut-off = 3)

Figure 7 Hierarchical value map of the reasons describing the choice of carbonated soft drinks (n = 22, cut-off = 3)

between weight control and well being was found. Spread and carbonated soft drinks were the only categories were healthiness was connected to a social impression of oneself, namely the feeling of being a better person and fitting the ideals. Easier living was connected with preventing diseases when choosing functional sweets. In sweets the easier living linked to avoiding dentists and problems in teeth. Xylitol was strongly connected with good for teeth.

Taste and sensory quality Taste and sensory quality was one of the reasons mentioned the most for choosing ice cream, yoghurt, juice and sweets; among spreads and carbonated soft drinks taste and sensory quality was not mentioned. Pleasure had a strong link from taste and sensory quality in yoghurt, juice, sweets and ice cream. In yoghurt, taste and sensory quality was connected to the variety and freedom of choice, which made respondents feel that they

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Figure 8 Hierarchical value map of the reasons describing the choice of sweets (n = 27, cut-off = 3)

Figure 9 Hierarchical value map of the reasons describing the choice of ice cream (n = 27, cut-off = 4)

had control over (their) life. Respondents linked taste with sugar and fruit and berries. Taste led to general well being in yoghurt. In juice, the consequence of taste was economy stays balanced. This may be due to homemade juice, which was often mentioned during the interviews. Taste was seen as a consequence of using fruit and berries. In sweets, respondents linked suspiciousness with taste, but no ingredient was mentioned. This connection between suspiciousness and taste was, however, usually mentioned when sugar-free sweets were the alternative product group in the choice task. In ice cream, taste was seen as a consequence of cream. Taste and pleasure led to easier life in ice cream. Familiarity, convenience and price Familiarity was mentioned as one of the central reasons for choosing yoghurt, spread,

juice and ice cream. In addition, safety and feeling secure were mentioned for the carbonated soft drinks, although it was seen more as gaining worth for money than a secure feeling from familiarity as such. In the hierarchical value maps, the word familiarity was used as a shared term of familiarity of product, brand or manufacturer. In addition, reasons related to habit or routine were categorised as familiarity. Avoiding disappointments and security were the usual consequences from familiarity. In juice, safety and feeling secure led to easier life. In hierarchical value maps, knows what to get was used to describe the respondents’ choice reasons related to avoiding disappointments from paying too high a price when compared to product quality (taste or other quality properties); with yoghurt, familiar brand was connected to know what to get.

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With ice cream, this connection between familiar brand and know what to get was strong and it led to economy stays balanced and other price-related choice reasons. Price was not mentioned as a choice reason in sweets, but, in other product categories, it was connected to economy stays balanced. With spreads, price and economy stays balanced were also linked with convenience and practical reasons like package and selection. Convenience and practicality were used to describe the usefulness of the product in baking and frying, or the possibilities of other family members using it and possible leftovers. Package and practical factors were important reasons in choosing juice, sweets, spreads and ice cream. Convenience in spreads and ice cream and freedom of choice in sweets were the consequences of practical reasons.

Discussion In our study, the consumers’ choice reasons were similar to those of previous food choice studies, although there were clear differences between the reasons for choosing the different product categories. Bech-Larsen et al. (2001) found that convenience, taste and wholesomeness most affected the consumers’ buying intentions for functional foods (spreads, orange juice and flavoured yoghurt) in Denmark, Finland and the USA. Taste and convenience were also among the most important choice reasons in our study. Most of the general choice factors found in earlier studies (Shepherd, 1990; Steptoe et al., 1995) were clearly established from the hierarchical value maps with the exception of ethical concern. Consumers easily say that ethical aspects are important when they make their product choices, even though ethical aspects do not affect their purchase behaviour that strongly (Carrigan and Attalla, 2001). According to a large EU study (Lappalainen et al., 1998), healthiness was one of the most important food choice factors mentioned by European consumers. Other important choice factors were quality, price, taste and family preferences. The lack of family preferences in our study may be due to the fact that we specifically asked the respondents’ for their personal reasons of why they chose what they chose. Furthermore, in Lappalainen et al. (1998), the importance of family preferences

was lowest in Finland when compared to other EU countries. In the latest studies in which means-end chains are used to elucidate food and food-related issues, health and health-related arguments seem to be one of the key factors in consumer perceptions (Jonas and Beckmann, 1998; Nielsen et al., 1998; Roininen et al., 2000; Zanoli and Naspetti, 2002). Our study indicates that healthiness in functional foods can be considered a multidimensional choice factor. In addition, it can perceived in various ways, depending on the product category and the health effect connected to the functional product; for example, with ice cream, healthiness was connected to general well being and with spreads, it was connected to prevention of disease. Because healthiness seems to be such a complex choice factor, the consumers’ personal motivations cannot be ignored. In our study, taste was the key issue for most product categories as in Nielsen et al. (1998) and Zanoli and Naspetti (2002). The role of taste and sensory quality in earlier studies varied a lot. In some of these studies, taste did not appear in the hierarchical value maps at all (Jonas and Beckmann, 1998), only some products lacked a mention of taste (Roininen et al., 2000) or taste was strongly linked to other choice factors (Nielsen et al., 1998; Zanoli and Naspetti, 2002). In the study of Poulsen (2000), taste was an irrelevant factor in a multiple regression model explaining the purchasing intention of Danish consumers for several functional dairy and bread products. In a study of Tepper and Trail (1998), consumers preferred taste and sensory quality to the healthiness of corn chips. Wardle (1993) found that taste motivated the choice of 31 food items more than health did. Shepherd and Farleigh (1986) recognised that better taste was a more important motivator for consumers than any possible health risks as a consequence of adding salt to a meal. However, in our study, there were some product categories in which taste was not mentioned. This may mean that taste is either so self-evident to consumers that they do not even think about it as a choice reason in these categories or taste has little relevance in why they choose what they do. Perhaps the respondents did not expect that the taste would differ so greatly between the alternatives that it would have affected their

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choice. This finding, however, does not mean that taste would be an irrelevant attribute in these two product categories. In several studies, taste has been the most important choice factor in consumers’ minds. One explanation may be that the fortified nutrient content in carbonated soft drinks and the cholesterol-lowering health effect in spreads dominated the choice reasons and respondents did not pay attention to taste. This can also be noticed from the hierarchical value maps, where the health-related means-end chains of these two product categories are more complex as compared to the health-related mean-end chains of other categories. Bech-Larsen et al. (2001) found that Finnish consumers accept functional foods more readily than their Danish or American counterparts. This does not, however, mean that consumers do not see functional foods as one homogenous group over different product categories. According to our study, they rather seem to perceive functional products as a part of the particular product category. Functional products are first considered to be members of a specific product category and only then as functional food. There may, however, be separate consumer groups whose motivation to choose functional foods is high compared to other consumer groups. Effects on performance, general well being or prevention of disease may motivate consumers’ choices differently. In future studies, it is important to quantify the different dimensions related to the willingness to choose functional foods and explore their importance.

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