consumer choice of omega-3 rich foods

5th International MAPP Workshop on Consumer Behaviour and Food Marketing, Middelfart, 8-9 May 2007

Joachim Scholderer, Anne C. Bech, Line Christensen, Uwe Czienskowski, Jens-Peter Graverholt, Kit Hagemann, Loa Hvilsted, Rasa Krutulyte, Bjarne T. Sørensen

Consumer choice of omega-3 rich foods

From health risk to product choice

From health risk to product choice: a behaviour-change framework

(modified after Schwarzer, 1999, 2001)

Perceivedhealth risk

Expectedbenefits of ingredient,

product,or diet

Intention toadopt orchange

Initiation(trial purchase)

Maintenance(repeat puchase)

Planning where to buy

what for which occasion

Health motivation

Consumer behaviour in

the marketplace

Self-efficacy(perceived ability to overcome

barriers to dietary change)

Research questions

What motivates consumers to adopt omega-3 rich products?

Do functional foods and supplements compete with products that are naturally rich in omega-3 PUFAs ?

Which carrier foods are best suited for enrichment with omega-3 PUFAs?

How should omega-3 enriched foods be positioned and priced?

Study 1: Method

Participants and procedure

Mail survey conducted Nov./Dec. 2005

Sampling frame: persons mainly responsible for food shopping and cooking in household

N = 959 (74% women), representative for age and region

Questionnaire with 260 items in five modules

− Personal diet and health− Fatty fish− Omega-3 enriched functional foods− Omega-3 supplements− Demographics

Study 1: Results

Perceived risk and the “optimistic bias” phenomenon

-0.5

-0.4

-0.3

-0.2

-0.1

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

Arthritis Stress Cancer CVD Low n-3PUFAintake

Generalhealth risk

Obesity Diabetes

Degree to which consumers feel more or less at risk than"the average person"

Me

an

pe

rceiv

ed

ris

k

Trigger events: disease occurrence in close personal environment

No

No

Yes

Yes

-0.5

-0.3

-0.1

0.1

0.3

0.5

0.7

0.9

Cardiovascular disease Arthritis

Diagnosed case among family or close friends?

Mea

n p

erc

eiv

ed

ris

k

Expected benefits of omega-3 PUFAs from different sources

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

CVD

Welln

ess

Agein

g

Cance

r

Art

hritis

Hair a

nd s

kin

Mast

ery

Obesi

ty

Menta

l health

Str

ess

Benefit

Me

an

ou

tco

me

ex

pe

cta

ncy

Fatty fish

n-3 supplements

n-3 enrichedfunctional food

Self-efficacy: perceived ability to overcome barriers to dietary change

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Pro

ble

ms

Bein

g b

usy

Vaca

tion

Fam

ily

Str

ess

Dela

yed

eff

ect

s

Eating h

abits

Tast

e

Shoppin

ghabits

Pla

nnin

g

Availa

bili

ty

Price

Unce

rtain

qualit

y

Confu

sing

media

report

s

Barrier

Me

an

se

lf-e

ffic

acy

Fatty fish

n-3 supplements

n-3 enrichedfunctional food

Cross-sectional behaviour change model for fatty fish


Perceived self-efficacy


product,or diet


Initiation Maintenance

Planning ofwhen, howand where

.28 .23

.30

.25

.36

.42.32 .19

.10.11

.09 .10.19

R2 = .43

(PLS estimates)

Cross-sectional behaviour change model for omega-3 enriched functional foods




product,or diet




.17

.41

.12

.12

.54

.69

.20

.41.17 .34

.08.05

R2 = .67

(PLS estimates)

Cross-sectional behaviour change model for omega-3 supplements




product,or diet




.19

.30

.14

.21

.66

.69

.26

.47.26 .23

.07

.08 .03

R2 = .83

(PLS estimates)

Relationship between fish consumption and supplement use

n-3 intake from fatty fish (mg/day)

0 0 - 272.92 272.93 - 531.67 531.68 - 1033.33 1033.34 - 1882.22 1882.23+

0.00

100.00

200.00

300.00

n-3

in

take f

rom

su

pp

lem

en

ts(m

g/

day)

Relationship between fish consumption and functional food consumption

n-3 intake from fatty fish (mg/day)

0 0 - 272.92 272.93 - 531.67 531.68 - 1033.33 1033.34 - 1882.22 1882.23+

5.00

10.00

15.00

20.00

25.00

n-3

in

take f

rom

fu

nct

ion

al

foo

ds

(mg

/d

ay)

Carrier-ingredient fit

7477222914Fibre

0100010Caffeine

1915184815Plant

sterols

101614751218Minerals

111719961625Vitamins

6126221932Fish oil

9285171166Omega-3

Liver paté

Rye bread

Baby food

Tuna salad

Fish balls

Müsli barYoghurt

Carrier food

Ing

red

ien

t

% consumers who “would possibly buy” product

Study 2: Method

Participants and procedure

1. PR exposure

2. Advertising exposure (Product category 1)

3. Choice task (Product category 1)





8. Follow-up questionnaire

Follow-up to Study 1 (one year later), N = 226

Experimental design

1. PR exposure (no, yes)

2. Advertising exposure (no, yes)

3. Product positioning (mental health/stress relief/weight control, CVD/anti-inflammatory/delayed aging)

4. Product category (rye bread, müsli bar, tuna salad, fish burger, yoghurt, liver paté)

5. Brand (private label, market leader brand)

6. Omega-3 enriched (no, yes)

7. Price premium for enriched alternatives (0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%)

Stimulus examples

Study 2: Results

Effects of PR exposure On choice of n-3 enriched private-label product

.09

.16

.09 .09.13

.06

.14.09

.14

.22.19

.25

.17 .17 .17

.24

.12

.18

0.00

0.10

0.20

0.30

0.40

0.50

0.60

0.70

0.80

0.90

1.00

Rye bread Müsli bar Tuna salad Fish burger Yoghurtdrink

Liver paté

C

ho

ice

pro

ba

bil

ity

None

Mental health, stress relief, weight control

Cardiovascular health, anti-inflammatory effects

Claims:

Effects of PR exposure On choice of n-3 enriched market-leader brand

.21.25

.20

.09.13

.09

.23

.32 .32

.19

.25

.13

.37.40

.30

.15

.27

.18

0.00

0.10

0.20

0.30

0.40

0.50

0.60

0.70

0.80

0.90

1.00


Liver paté

C

ho

ice

pro

ba

bil

ity

None

Mental health, stress relief, weight control

Cardiovascular health, anti-inflammatory effects

Claims:

Synergetic effects of PR and advertisingOn choice of n-3 enriched private-label product

.08.13

.04

.19 .19

.06

.14 .14 .14

.00

.10

.30

.21

.29

.21

.31

.13

.19

0.00

0.10

0.20

0.30

0.40

0.50

0.60

0.70

0.80

0.90

1.00


Liver paté

C

ho

ice

pro

ba

bil

ity

None

(PR) Mental health, stress relief, weight control, (Ad) Stress relief

(PR) Cardiovascular health, anti-inflammatory effects, (Ad) Delayed aging

Claims:

Synergetic effects of PR and advertisingOn choice of n-3 enriched market-leader brand

.25.29

.25

.00

.06

.13

.20 .20 .20 .20

.40

.20

.44 .44

.33

.11

.22 .22

0.00

0.10

0.20

0.30

0.40

0.50

0.60

0.70

0.80

0.90

1.00


Liver paté

C

ho

ice

pro

ba

bil

ity

None

(PR) Mental health, stress relief, weight control, (Ad) Stress relief

(PR) Cardiovascular health, anti-inflammatory effects, (Ad) Delayed aging

Claims:

Effects of price premium On choice of n-3 enriched private-label product

.29

.38

.29 .30

.17

.30

.10

.20

.15.17

.21

.13

.06

.12

.00.04

.11

.19

.05 .05 .05

.22

.17

.06.08

.00

.08

.15

.07.04

0.00

0.10

0.20

0.30

0.40

0.50

0.60

0.70

0.80

0.90

1.00


Liver paté

C

ho

ice

pro

ba

bil

ity

0%25%50%75%100%

Price premium:

Effects of price premium On choice of n-3 enriched market-leader brand

.56

.48.52

.23

.38

.27

.38

.29 .29

.20

.28

.16

.22

.33

.22

.10 .10.14

.05

.26

.11

.00

.14

.00.04

.16

.08.12

.06

.000.00

0.10

0.20

0.30

0.40

0.50

0.60

0.70

0.80

0.90

1.00


Liver paté

C

ho

ice

pro

ba

bil

ity

0%25%50%75%100%

Price premium:

Conclusions

Consumer motivation to adopt omega-3 rich foods

Unlike fish consumption, adoption of omega-3 supplements and functional foods is motivated by health considerations

For supplements as well as functional foods, maintaining an adopted consumption pattern appears much easier than for fish

Neither omega-3 supplements nor functional foods compete with fish – in fact, the correlations are weakly positive

Omega-3s do not fit into every carrier food –categories work best in which the functional ingredient appears “natural”

Positioning options for omega-3 enriched foods

Cardiovascular and anti-inflammatory effects are currently the strongest “negative”, disease-related benefits associated with omega-3s

Wellness and delayed aging are the strongest “positive” benefits associated with omega-3s

New functional claims cannot be etablished by advertising alone – their credibility has to be strengthened by publicity in the media

The attractiveness of different positioning options depends on the product category –unfortunately, there does not seem to be an obvious systematic pattern

Pricing of omega-3 enriched foods

“Optimal” price premia vary strongly between product categories and as a function of brand equity

Most omega-3 enriched foods should be sold at a moderate price premium, even new brands and private-label products

Although there is a tendency towards generification, steep discounts may signal untrustworthiness

Pricing of omega-3 enriched foods

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Rye breadMüsli barTuna saladFish burgerYoghurt drinkLiver paté

Pre

dic

ted

rela

tive v

alu

e s

hare

(%

)o

f n

-3 e

nri

ched

pri

vate

-lab

el p

rod

uct

Price premium (relative to unenriched product)

Thank you for your attention!

And thanks to the SCANomega team:

Charlotte Jacobsen, Nina Skall Nielsen (DFU)

Huiling Mu (DTU)

Jens-Peter Graverholt (DAX Consult)

Kirsti Wettre Brønner (Tine BA)

Kit Hagemann, Rasa Krutulyte, Bjarne Taulo Sørensen, Line Christensen, Loa Hvilsted (MAPP)

Tage Affertsholt (3A Business Consulting)

More info?

www.mapp.asb.dk

consumer choice of omega-3 rich foods

Documents