Chinese consumers’ perceptions of immune health and immune-boosting remedies including functional foods

Abstract

To facilitate the successful design of functional foods designed to boost immunity and to guide the successful promotion of such products, to Chinese consumers, fundamental knowledge is required on how consumers perceive the concept of immunity, the steps they take to improve their immunity and what their general attitudes are toward new functional food products. To explore these issues, focus groups (n = 4) and inhome semi-structured interviews (n = 12) were conducted in Shanghai. Immunity was understood to be the defense system that protects the body, with perceived causes for poor immunity including irregular lifestyles, polluted air, and increased age. Participants believed that immunity could be changed by modifying their diet with either conventional or functional foods (including TCM-based foods), supplements (TCM or non-TCM containing), TCM medical gels, TCM patent medicine, and Western medicine all playing varying roles at enhancing immunity and protecting health at different stages of wellbeing.

Does social proof and herd behaviour drive food choices of consumers?

“…For example, health-conscious individuals may have prioritised the health benefits of the low-salt alternative, even if other options are more popular. Thus, it corroborates earlier studies that Chinese consumers, particularly those in urban areas are becoming increasingly aware of the benefits of healthier eating and are now placing importance on healthy diets (Cong et al ., 2020; Jiang et al. , 2023).…”

“…Specifically, the findings from this paper would inform strategies for promoting healthy eating habits at a population level and inform the design of effective interventions on public health strategy for healthy food. Considering the number of Chinese consumers, particularly those in urban areas that are aware of the benefits of healthier eating and place importance on health are gradually increasing (see Cong et al, 2020;Jiang et al, 2023), the paper would provide insights into avenues to influence consumption of healthy foods. Further, the empirical evidence from the paper could assist food manufacturers and businesses in harnessing social influences to develop effective marketing and pricing strategies to promote healthier and more sustainable food choices.…”

“If more people cut out gluten, the zombies would wake up”: the construction of health-related concerns by gluten-free food consumers

“…In the context of cereals, Bogue and Yu (2016) found that perceptions of health were associated with various product-level attributes such whether cereals helped with weight control, cholesterol, digestion and a had low glycaemic index, and whether they contained probiotics, soluble fibre, vitamins and minerals. Forbes et al (2016) showed that sugar, fat, additives, calories and sodium content were among the most important factors influencing the perceived health of snack food products, while Cong et al (2019, 2020) found that perceptions about the health of functional foods were associated with specific benefits such as lung moistening, micronutrients, and cough relief as well as more general benefits such as strengthening immune health.…”

Public Health Needs the Public Trust: A Pandemic Retrospective

“…Despite the economic pressures of the pandemic on consumers, a Romanian study demonstrated an increased consumption of organic food amongst those with some organic food consumption already, but not a significant adoption of organic food consumption from those indifferent prior to the pandemic [25]. Other studies have seen an increased consumption of organic food [26][27][28][29], and entertaining heterodox beliefs on COVID-19 was a significant predictor of support for organic food [30].…”