An analysis of consumers' intention and perception towards functional foods and nutraceuticals in Bangkok Province, Thailand
- Pathum Thani, Thailand : Asian Institute of Technology, 2017
- 85 leaves : ill., +1 online resource
- Thesis ; no. AB-17-07 .
- Asian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. AB-17-07 .
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of AgriBusiness Management, School of Environment, Resources and Development
Thesis (M. Am.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2017
There is an increasing concern towards lifestyle diseases including the food habits. Thus, there is increased demand of well balanced and nutritionally enhanced food. Functional foods and nutraceuticals play important role to satisfy this type of consumer demands. Five factors including health consciousness, knowledge, price, sources of information, and availability were chosen to investigate on better understandings of the factors that can influence consumers willingness towards functional foods and nutraceuticals. The different age groups of three different categories, young (15-25 Years), middle-aged (26-45 years) and seniors (46-60 years) of consumers were categorized to understand the behavior and perception towards consumption of functional foods and nutraceuticals in Bangkok, Thailand. The level of understanding of functional food definition was found effected by variations in age. In contrast with nutraceuticals, age cannot affect the understanding of definition. Moreover, there are some differences in factors that influence willingness to use functional foods and nutraceuticals. Among young consumers, health consciousness is the stronger predictor than the others. On the other hand, price is the main factor that can influence consumers willingness of people in middle-aged and older. Also, for nutraceutical, health consciousness still has an effect on the willingness of young consumers to use these types of products. However, there are differences in opinion in middle-aged and old consumers that knowledge and availability are the major factors that can predict the likelihood of consumer consumption of nutraceuticals. Some recommendations for the marketers and policy makers are also provided in this study.