Motives Driving Functional Food Consumption among Portuguese Students

• Autor(a) principal: Nascimento, Jorge Pimentel
• Data de Publicação: 2007
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/667
• topic: Consumer motivation; Means-End Chain Theory; Food-Related Lifestyles; Functional Foods; Motivação do Consumidor; Teoria da Cadeia de Meios e Fins; Estilos de Vida Alimentares; Alimentos Funcionais

Although Functional Foods are the fastest growing segment of the global food market, motives driving consumption remain somewhat unexplored. Literature points towards personal values as a vital theoretical concept to consider in motivational research, but requiring a mediating construct for measurement, with lifestyle succesfully tested for this effect. Furthermore, authors suggest that individuals are motivated by the self-relevant consequences of consumption and the ability to link them with product attributes and personal values. Exploratory qualitative work has been undertaken to elicit such beliefs, concerning University students’ perception of functional foods. Laddering interviews and focus group were used, establishing whole grain cereals, antioxidant fruit juices and probiotic yoghurts as the most popular products. The conceptual framework was afterwards tested, via questionnaire submission to a sample of 596 students, examining Food-Related Lifestyles (FRL) and those product-related beliefs as possible consumption motives. Five FRL segments were identified, with empirical confirmation of segment membership being determinant only for cereal consumption. Conversely, findings indicate a strong association between beliefs and consumption frequency for all products. The study revealed that Portuguese students are only ready to adopt functional cereals and juices if both their well-being and pleasure needs are satisfied, as health claims alone do not seem enough to guarantee preference. For yoghurts, on the other hand, results suggest that loyal consumers strive for an independent lifestyle and look for convenient foods that can help them to take care of their own health. Implications for food companies, academic contributions and future directions are also offered.