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Segmenting Croatian university students and investigating their tendency to adopt innovative food products based on their food-related lifestyles

Ivan-Damir Anic (Department for Innovation, Business Economics and Business Sectors, The Institute of Economics, Zagreb, Croatia)
Natasa Kurnoga (Department of Statistics, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia)
Blazenka Knezevic (Department of Trade and International Business, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia)

British Food Journal

ISSN: 0007-070X

Article publication date: 16 January 2025

Issue publication date: 18 February 2025

18

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to detect the patterns of food-related lifestyles of university students, identify the groups of individuals based on these lifestyles and investigate their tendency to adopt innovative food products.

Design/methodology/approach

The data collected from university students in Croatia (n = 641) were analysed using factor and cluster analyses and a chi-squared test.

Findings

The findings revealed 11 food-related lifestyles and four groups of university students: “Convenience-oriented”, “Conscious consumers”, “Adventurous eaters” and “Family-oriented Cooks”. Adventurous eaters are the most interested in buying innovative food products, and many of them are food innovators (20%). Sampled individuals are open to new foods, and only a tiny percentage are reluctant to try new and unfamiliar foods.

Practical implications

The study provides recommendations on how marketers and food producers might target these consumers more efficiently and boost the sales of innovative food products.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature by (1) revealing food-related lifestyles among university students in Croatia, (2) developing the typology of consumers based on their lifestyles and (3) providing new knowledge of how food-related lifestyles affect the adoption of innovative food products.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This work was made as part of the project “Determinants of Strengthening Technological Capabilities of Different Sectors” at the Institute of Economics, Zagreb and funded/co-funded within the National Recovery and Resilience Plan 2021–2026 – NextGenerationEU.

Citation

Anic, I.-D., Kurnoga, N. and Knezevic, B. (2025), "Segmenting Croatian university students and investigating their tendency to adopt innovative food products based on their food-related lifestyles", British Food Journal, Vol. 127 No. 3, pp. 1114-1130. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-06-2024-0595

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited

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