Functional Foods: The New Secret of the Health Conscious Indian Women!!

Abstract

In India, with growing disposable income and increased urbanization and health consciousness among people, the demand for functional foods is emerging. Consumers are more proactive about their health and this in turn has stirred the global market for functional foods and beverages. This article attempts to segment consumers using cluster analysis on the basis of their health orientation and perception towards functional foods. Correlation has been employed to measure the relation between health orientation and functional foods perception. The research has been carried out using primary data collected from 150 women respondents in Delhi NCR. Data analysis showed there is low correlation between health orientation and functional foods perception. Gym instructors and nutritionists are found to be the most important source of information for functional foods. Women respondents have been segmented into three distinct groups showing varied attitudes towards functional foods and health orientation. Among demographic characteristics, age affects the attitude towards self-health and consumption of functional foods.

Health Consciousness and Its Effect on Perceived Knowledge, and Belief in the Purchase Intent of Liquid Milk: Consumer Insights from an Emerging Market

“…Global consumption and the market for functional foods pertain to, in large, consumers’ health consciousness [ 1 ] and their awareness, as well as knowledge [ 2 ]. As a result, studies that correlate between consumers’ knowledge in functional foods and their physical health are of great interest to researchers [ 3 ].…”

“…Consumers’ health consciousness and the necessity for functional foods are significantly correlated [ 1 ]. A recent study by Nahid [ 7 ] reported that health awareness is the only factor that influences the purchase intent of both processed and raw LM.…”

“…In Bangladesh, around seventy percent people suffer from ‘Anaemia’ [ 31 ], forty percent suffer from chronic energy deficiency and majority of women suffer from osteoporosis [ 32 ]. As a fortified functional food, milk with vitamin D reduces risk of ‘osteomalacia’ and ‘osteoporosis’ [ 1 ], and milk has a positive influence on cognitive behaviour of humans due to its high level of vitamin D [ 33 ]. Additionally, the need for nutritional and quality food puts stress on vendors to supply unadulterated food [ 27 ], since to reach our genetic potential we have to drink milk regularly [ 34 ].…”

Factors Affecting Consumers’ Purchase Behaviour for Health and Wellness Food Products in an Emerging Market

“…Kareklas, Carlson, and Muehling (2014) provided a theoretical assessment on the factors influencing consumer purchase behaviour for organic food products. Kapoor and Munjal (2017) segmented Indian Women consumers using cluster analysis based on their health orientation and perception towards functional foods. Azam, Othman, Musa, Fatah, and Awal (2012) analysed the factors affecting purchase intentions of the consumers for organic food products using primary consumer survey of 250 respondents in Malaysia.…”

“…Empirical studies provide sufficient evidences on implication of demographic variables on purchase decisions (Cranfield, Henson, & Masakure, 2011;Goetzke & Spiller, 2014;Kapoor & Munjal, 2017;Petrovičová, 2009). Product and market attributes are other set of variables affecting the purchase decisions for healthy food products (Azam et al, 2012;Suh, Eves, & Lumbers, 2012).…”