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The aim of the paper is to present a preliminary study for the design of a new functional food by the incorporation of a collection of ingredients which are all based on an inexpensive by‐product of the food industries: apple pomace. The new product design was considered as a novel gelled dessert formulation which is functional, and totally nature‐based. In fact, the article reviews various raw materials obtainable from the source of apple pomace and gradually supports the hypothesis of such product design.

The current study was designed on the structural basis of paying attention to apple pomace as a byproduct and idea generation for product design, reviewing several ingredients based on apple pomace (available data from the literature) and discussing the suitability of such ingredients for a new functional product. Exclusive attention was made for the development of an apple‐pomace‐based gelled dessert targeting consumers on restricted diets such as diabetics and obese individuals. In these kinds of diets consumption of caloric sweeteners should be abandoned or decreased while increasing the amounts of dietary fibers and polyphenolic compounds can be health‐beneficial.

As an appropriate preliminary formula, amidated low methylester pectins were selected as gelling agents. High methylester pectins, phloridzin and quercetin were used as functional ingredients. Arabinose and fructose were considered as sweetening agents. Also, POPj (phloridzin oxidation product), which is a recently developed natural pigment, was offered as a colouring agent and citric acid for adjusting the pH. Apple specific flavours were also suggested to improve the consumer acceptance of the product. In each case, the evidences of functionalities considered for the target consumers (diabetics and obese individuals) were also discussed.

This fresh formula is novel and can attract both food industry and the consumers because of its natural and functional properties.

The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the impact of some labeling aspects on the consumer intent to purchase ready to drink orange juice and nectar.

The influence of label information on the consumer intent to purchase was evaluated by conjoint analysis using a convenience sample (n=149). A factorial design with four characteristics, price, brand, information about the product and kind of beverage, was used. Three levels were established for brand and product information, and two for price and kind of beverage.

Low price, product information and market leading brand had positive impact. “No preservatives/natural” was the information that most influenced consumer's purchase intent. The ideal label showed the leading brand, low price and information “no preservatives/natural”. These results could be useful for strategic planning of consumer instruction and have important implications for Brazilian orange juice manufactures.

Although the most widely consumed beverages in Brazil are ready to drink orange juice and nectar, it was unexpected that consumers did not know the differences between them and that kind of beverage was not an important factor for the purchase decision.

The goal of this paper is to explore the Croatian young consumers' perception of functional food, to investigate underlying attitudes and their willingness to buy functional food in the future.

Consumer survey was conducted using a self‐administered questionnaire on a sample of 1,035 young consumers aged between 14 and 30 years. Research questions focused on knowledge about functional food, attitudes and buying behaviour regarding functional food. Data were analysed using univariate statistics, bivariate correlations and factor analysis.

About 40 per cent of young consumers are familiar with the concept of functional food, and 27 per cent of them are regular buyers. The usual place where functional food is acquired is supermarkets and most commonly bought are functional dairy products. The most important functional food attributes are taste and price/quality ratio. Consumers are satisfied with functional food health enhancing characteristics and less satisfied with its appearance and durability. Three factors that explain young consumers' attitudes towards functional food are health awareness and confidence, lack of trust for functional food and its price and quality. More than half of respondents are willing to buy functional food in the future (51.8 per cent). Female consumers aged between 19 and 30, living in smaller households with higher income are more likely to be functional food consumers in the future.

A limitation of this study is the sample including only young consumers. Further research is needed to analyse other consumer groups, and to determine which segments are most appropriate for functional food products marketing.

Research results indicate a need to increase consumer familiarity with functional food and improvements in some of its characteristics. Overall positive attitudes toward functional food should be reinforced and young consumers can be influenced through targeted advertising.

This paper gives the first account of young consumers' perception of functional food in Croatia. The results of this research can be used to plan further marketing activities.

The purpose of this paper is to give some recommendations about how to design a low fat food aliment packaging.

A review of previous studies that have analysed food packaging decisions considering personal and product influences was done.

For low fat foods, a good or a poor performance is not sufficient; you have to perform better than those competitors whose competitive capacity is strong enough to influence strategic decision taking. Low fat products must be focused to a particular target. A product of these characteristics cannot be launched for all the markets at the same time, and under the same conditions. Some personal factors do really affect food buying process: socio-demographic characteristics (age, gender, income and education), involvement, time pressure or motivation. A possible recommended target for law fat aliments could be: an old/medium age women, with a medium/high economic position, educated, involved in food buying and worried about health. Some packaging factors also affect food buying process: colours, graphics, size, shape, typography. In this regard, a package for a low fat aliment could be designed including a picture on the label showing the benefits of the product (i.e. a healthy heart), with green colors, medium/small sizes and natural shapes, without sophistications. An umbrella brand for different firms acting in this market could be created, to facilitate their healthy products identification.

Personal variables and product characteristics are mixed together to give some recommendations of how an ideal low fat food package should be designed.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the most important characteristics of functional foods and the motives behind its consumption.

The data were collected in the direct interview. The sample (n=200) consisted of 137 women and 63 men at the age of 18-60 years. The research tool was a questionnaire divided into four sections. The first one included quality attributes. The second one included healthful properties, functional components and carriers. The third one concerned the motives for purchasing functional food and included the consequences and values. In the fourth section the participants were asked about gender, age and education.

Among the quality attributes the research reveals six principal components package of information on healthful properties and nutritional value of the product, attributes of taste, health and safety, practical packaging, freshness, purity and naturalness. In terms of health benefits, two components were distinguished prevention of health problems, strengthening of the body and improvement of its functions. Among functional components, the following were distinguished vitamins and minerals, dietary fibre and Omega-3 fatty acids. As the best carriers the following were recognized: cereal products, dairy products, meat products; mixtures of fruits and vegetables. As the most important consequences motivating people to consume functional food the following were recognized: the health effects of proper nutrition resulting from consciousness raising actions promoting health; and the joy of eating and improvement of the appearance. When it comes to the most important motivating factors, good health, long harmonious life and self-esteem were included. The means to achieve these goals are to be responsible for health.

The key factors determining the functional product and motivating for consumption of functional food may establish a basis for actions related to development and consumption of the food. The understanding of the factors that consumers take into account when choosing functional food will help in shaping the optimal strategies for product development. Learning about the basic motivating factors in consumption may be helpful in the development of healthy nutrition education and promotion programmes. The research may provide valuable support for actions related to food products promotion and marketing.

The concept of functional foods is not new to the Malaysian people. Functional foods as traditional medicine have made tremendous contributions over the past couple of centuries. The growth in the economy, coupled with a strong desire among the Malaysian consumers to maintain a healthy lifestyle has made functional foods an alternative medicine among the populace. Although the consumption of functional foods is increasing in Malaysia, relatively little is known about the factors which affect consumer purchase intention toward natural functional foods. The purpose of this paper is to determine Malaysian consumer intention to purchase natural functional foods.

A survey was conducted in the country where 2,004 household were interviewed using structured questionnaires. The theory of reasoned action (TRA) and health belief model were adopted and modified in this study. Descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling were used to analyze the collected data.

The results have shown that the data set was normal, valid and reliable. Attitude has a partial mediating effect on perceived barriers, perceived susceptibility and perceived benefits which influence consumer intention to purchase natural functional foods. Nevertheless attitude had no mediation effect on subjective norms for consumers to form their intention to purchase natural functional foods. In other word, subjective norms had a direct influence on consumer intention to purchase natural functional foods.

The main concern of this paper is about the factors which affect consumer purchase intention toward natural functional foods. However the results from this paper are limited in terms of determining consumer purchasing behavior for natural functional foods.

The paper expands on the TRA and health belief model to examine the factors which influence Malaysian consumer purchase intention toward natural functional foods.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to evaluate the claim that consumers are willing to compromise on taste in order to obtain the potential health benefits from functional snacks; and second, to investigate the effect of expectations for the snacks, blind tasting and product information on hedonic judgments and willingness to pay (WTP).

A sample of 160 subjects was recruited to participate in a lab experiment that combined hedonic evaluations and a series of non-hypothetical second-price Vickrey auctions, under blind or informed tasting conditions. Participants were also asked to complete a questionnaire about consumer preferences, purchasing habits and demographics.

Results indicate that tasting and information have economically and statistically significant effects on overall food assessment with respect to prior product expectations. Provision of information regarding functional food components shortly before consumption makes consumers less strict on their taste evaluation and increases their WTP. This indicates that consumers are willing to partly sacrifice the pleasure of taste in order to improve the healthfulness of their diet. When information is provided after taste, it only exerts influence with respect to the carob-based snack. Furthermore, blind tasting has a negative effect on liking, irrespective of the product being evaluated. Finally, the econometric results reveal that older respondents tend to bid higher for functional snacks.

This study contributes to the existing literature not only on the basis of the novelty of results but also on the methodological front, since it showcases the combined use of hedonic tests and auctions with real monetary incentives as a state of the art technique on eliciting consumers’ overall assessment for functional snacks. It also highlights important elements in the toolkit that marketers can use to influence products’ perceived health benefits, and thus consumption choices.

The purpose of this paper is to explore differences in consumers’ willingness to purchase functional foods (FFs) in southern Chile in terms of socio-demographic characteristics, consumer knowledge, and subjective well-being.

A survey was carried out among 400 people in southern Chile. The questionnaire measured willingness to buy FFs with 18 different benefits, knowledge about FFs, socio-demographic characteristics and satisfaction with life and with food-related life.

Two dimensions were found for benefits sought in FFs: disease prevention and improvement of bodily functions. Cluster analysis was used to distinguish three types of consumers. The majority (59.8 per cent) showed a significant disposition to buy FFs that prevent diseases or improve bodily functions. Others (25.8 per cent) were less inclined to buy either type of FF. A minority (14.5 per cent) showed greater disposition to buy FFs which improve bodily functions. The types differ according to the size of family, presence and age of children at home, ethnic origin, education, socio-economic status, knowledge about FFs and satisfaction with life and food-related life.

This study was conducted in the context of only one country in South America. The results reveal a high interest to buy FFs in order to improve bodily functions, and this preference may be associated to lifestyle changes in the population in Latin American countries.

This study provides information on the willingness to buy FFs and relates it to ethnic origin and satisfaction with food-related life. People from ethnic minorities are less inclined to buy FFs. People who are more inclined to buy FFs are more satisfied with their life and their food-related life.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the effect of attitudes towards functional foods (AFF) on university students’ satisfaction with food-related life (SWFL) and to distinguish student typologies, considering that the AFF are not homogeneous among consumers.

A survey was applied to 372 university students (mean age=20.4 years, SD=2.4) in Southern Chile. The questionnaire included the AFF questionnaire and the SWFL scale, questions about consumption and knowledge about functional food (FF) and socio-demographic characteristics.

Using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling, it was found that AFF directly and significantly influence students’ SWFL. A cluster analysis applied to the Z-scores from the factors obtained by the CFA classified three typologies: positive towards FF (36.3 per cent), moderately positive towards FF (43.0 per cent) and negative towards FF (20.7 per cent). The positive towards FF type had a significantly greater SWFL score than the negative towards FF type. The types differ according to consumption and knowledge about FF.

This study was conducted in the context of only one country in South America.

This study is the first that assesses the effect of AFF on SWFL in a sample of university students. Fostering positive attitudes towards FF will allow for a growth in the degree of SWFL of university students with features similar to those of the study sample.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the influence of the front of a package label and the nutritional claims linked to it over consumers’ expectations as to acceptance, purchase attitude and perception of quality characteristics of a new functional beverage made from cashew nut milk and added with mango juice and prebiotic substances.

Three versions of the front label were developed, which differed just by the type of nutritional claim presented (“0 per cent lactose and 0 per cent cholesterol; 0 per cent lactose, 0 per cent cholesterol and source of fibers, 0 per cent lactose, 0 per cent cholesterol and antioxidants”) and were evaluated in two phases, expectation and informed. For the evaluation, consumers used a multi-attribute scale, the nine-point hedonic scale and a nine-point semi-structured buying attitude scale.

The labels created a positive expectation on the consumers regarding the quality attributes, overall impression (mean = 6.0 “Like slightly”) and buying attitude (mean = 6.0 “Would probably buy”). After tasting the beverage associated with labels (informed phase), consumers kept a positive evaluation. The t-test performed between the pair of means of both phases showed that there has not been a significant difference regarding the quality attributes (p > 0.05), special, attractive, nutritive, healthy and buying attitude (Label 1, p = 0.26; Label 2, p = 0.18; Label 3, p = 0.26) in all labels.

The authors evaluated how the influence of label and nutritional claims in regards to a new product, a beverage made from cashew nut, affects its acceptance, buying attitude and characteristics of quality. Until this moment, there are no studies that evaluate how external attributes affect the acceptance of this beverage totally unique in the Brazilian market.