Antecedents of consumer evaluation and consumption of functional food

Abstract

The overall aim of this dissertation is to improve the theoretical and empirical understanding of consumers’ behavioral tendencies toward functional food consumption. The main purpose is to provide a deeper understanding of antecedents that are relevant for explaining consumer evaluation of functional food and consumption behavior. Functional foods are food products that have been enriched to make them healthier or to prevent diseases. This thesis contributes to the existing literature on the explanation and understanding of individual differences in the evaluation and consumption of functional food by combining a variable- or construct-centered approach (SEM) with a person-centered approach (clustering technique). The present research enhances the understanding of the underlying motivations behind consumers’ evaluation of and behavior toward functional foods. Key findings include (a) the differential influence that hedonic and utilitarian eating values exert on attitude toward consuming functional food, (b) the differential effect of future- and immediate time perspectives on consumption of functional food, (c) the nature of the personality trait–time perspective–behavior relationship, and (d) how consumer profiles differ in their evaluations of and propensities to consume functional food. The results should be useful to better target functional food according to consumers’ motivational antecedents and personal features.