Study of Consumer Demographics, Awareness, Perceptions and beliefs as Determinants of Consumer Acceptance of Foods with Health Claims in India
Keywords:
Consumer Demographics, Consumer Awareness, Knowledge & Beliefs, Sources of Information, Consumer AttitudesAbstract
Globalization and urbanization have brought about considerable changes in the composition of human diets leading to the consumption of processed foods. The excessive consumption of such foods has resulted in damaging consequences in the form of lifestyle diseases which have grown in epidemic proportions worldwide imposing severe socio-economic costs. It is in such a scenario a category foods termed as “functional foods” have emerged having both nutritive as well as therapeutic properties. The functional foods claim to be the panacea for the consumers helping them achieve their nutritional as well as health objectives. However the consumer acceptance of functional foods is not unconditional. The central aim of this research paper is to analyse which factors drive the consumer acceptance of functional foods in the context of the Indian consumers specifically. The paper one of the first study in the context of the Indian consumer market attempts to investigate how demographic factors such as age, gender, income & educational levels account for the heterogeneity in consumer tastes and preferences that influence the acceptance of functional foods.
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