The purpose of this research is to investigate the relative importance to consumers of different health benefits of food.
This study uses conjoint analysis to investigate the relative importance of five health benefits to consumers in their intention to buy a food.
The results suggest that the single most important health benefit influencing purchase intentions is high nutritional value. If two health benefits are to be promoted, for the total sample the most effective combination would be high nutritional value and the potential to reduce cancer, followed by high nutritional value and proven to reduce the risk of heart disease. However, for those respondents with less than a college education, the most effective combination would be high nutritional value and the potential to reduce arthritis.
The sample size is small – 238 respondents.
The results can be used to help food marketers offer and promote health benefits of their products.
More effective marketing of health benefits of foods should increase consumption of healthy foods, which will enhance consumer welfare.
Conjoint analysis has not previously been used in studies of this topic. The advantage of conjoint analysis over other analytical techniques is that it incorporates realistic trade‐offs when measuring consumer preferences.
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