Attitudes behind consumers' willingness to use functional foods

The best predictor for willingness to use functional foods was the perceived reward, while the health effects of functional foods vs. their taste were the best predictor of health effects.

Abstract

So-called functional foods are a new category of products that promise consumers improvements in targeted physiological functions. The objective of this study was to quantify the attitudes behind consumers' (n=1158) willingness to use these products. Functional food-related statements formed seven factors describing consumers' attitudes towards functional foods. These factors were as follows: perceived reward from using functional foods, confidence in functional foods, necessity for functional foods, functional foods as medicines, absence of nutritional risks in functional foods, functional foods as part of a healthy diet and the health effects of functional foods vs. their taste. These attitude subscales differentiated between consumers (n=1158) in their reported willingness to use functional foods. The best predictor for willingness to use functional foods was the perceived reward.