Alimentos orgânicos funcionais: um estudo da percepção do consumidor

Abstract

The development of organic processed food with functional properties consists on a strategy used by the food processing industry. However, studies concerning consumer knowledge and perception about organic processed food and organic functional food remain limited, especially in Brazil. In this context, an exploratory study was conducted considering two main objectives: i) to evaluate the knowledge and perception of Brazilian consumers about organic processed food, ii) to evaluate the perception of Brazilian consumers concerning the combination of organic and functional claims. Regarding the first objective, 1,619 participants answered an online questionnaire in which they were evaluated in terms of their ability to identify organic processed food and in terms of their knowledge of the organic legislation. Of the total number of participants, 58.5% stated that they knew organic processed food, although only 8.4% answered all the proposed questions correctly. The number of correct answers was positively influenced by demographic and socioeconomic factors, specifically age, education and income level, responsibility for domestic purchases, region of residency and whether the participant worked or knew someone who worked with organic processed food. In addition, participants were classified into three different clusters considering their perception about organic processed food: Idealists, Moderates, and, Skeptics. Significant differences between the clusters were found for age and frequency of consumption, so that Idealists included significantly older participants and Skeptics presented a significantly lower frequency of consumption than participants from the other clusters. These results highlighted that further efforts could be made by public and private policies in order to provide consumers with clear information, considering the informational asymmetry that characterizes the organic processed food category. Concerning the second objective, participants answered an online questionnaire in which the concepts of organic chocolate with functional properties and organic fermented milk with functional properties were compared to their conventional, organic and functional counterparts in terms of acceptance and emotional responses using the EsSense25 methodology. Results indicated that organic chocolate with functional properties was not characterized by any emotion term when compared to other chocolate products, while organic fermented milk with functional properties was mainly characterized by emotion terms 'adventurous' and 'interested' when compared to the remaining fermented milk products. However, neither of these food products presented significant differences in terms of liking or emotional response scores when compared to their organic or functional counterparts. These results showed that the combination of organic and functional claims should not be used indiscriminately by the food processing industry. Furthermore, results revealed that emotional response scores were dependent on vice and virtue distinction...