Functional Food Market

Following the previous blog, this blog examines the functional food (FF) market, its target consumer segments and relevant issues. Indeed, despite the proven rapid increase in demand for FF (Goetzke and Spiller, 2014), the market is determined by various factors which make it highly dynamic. Evidently, Broring (2010, cited in Vicentini et al., 2016) identified three factors influencing consumers’ purchase decision-making: consumer characteristics, purchasing situation and product characteristics. To better understand these factors, further studies found that consumers are more likely to accept FF if there is valid and tangible evidence of consumer benefits (Frewer et al., 1999). This means it is crucial that FF suppliers can provide scientific data supporting their promotion of FF in order to have their consumers convinced, in which Di Pasquale et al. (2011) considered product labels and credible advertising campaigns as effective tools to influence consumers’ decision-making. 

However, there are factors relating to providing evidence that need consideration such as persuasiveness and consumers’ perspectives whether evidence providers are trustworthy. This means regardless of the amount of information provided, if it is seen as unreliable or misleading from the consumers’ perspective, the tendency to purchase FF would drastically decrease (Katan and De Roos, 2004). Therefore, FF suppliers need a strong focus on their due diligence to understand their target segments and which source of information they would use for their research.  

Regarding consumer characteristics, De Pasquale et al. (2011) identified four consumer profiles with specific characteristics that influence their decision to buy FF: health-concerned consumers who looking to involve food with relevant positive impacts on their diet; benefits-driven consumers who are conscious of real benefits of FF; “non health-conscious consumers” (Vicentini et al., 2016: 341) whose purchase is based on curiosity from exposure to FF advertisement; and uninformed consumers who have no interest and tendency to FF consumption. This means understanding consumer characteristics is critical for FF companies. Indeed, if a FF company’s target segment includes health-concerned consumers, the business can implement a suitable marketing strategy that involves health-driven data and promotes nutrient benefits from their product to increase their purchase rate. This example is in line with Quan et al. (2020) as they argued relevant benefits and risks are considered by consumers prior to their decision to purchase.  

Although research has identified four consumer profiles existing in the FF market, the fact that people change was taken into consideration. This means one profile could change into one of others were not considered, which might lead to missed opportunities for the business. Indeed, changes could be a result of effective educational advertisement that businesses can implement to raise awareness of the current life expectancy, which converts consumers to a healthier lifestyle. Implementing appropriate educational programmes is recommended by Topolska et al. (2021) as a solution to achieve FF acceptance, especially in consumers group with uninformed characteristics. Therefore, changing consumers’ perspectives in FF could be a task for FF businesses in this new era of dieting habits. However, to examine whether a FF business is ready to implement new educational strategy to minimise nutritional knowledge gap depends on individual business situation. This means FF business managers need to consider other factors such as product characteristics, finance and their position in the market that allows them for effective decision-making.