AN EXPLORATIVE STUDY ON CONSUMERS' KNOWLEDGE, INTEREST AND PERCEPTION TOWARD FUNCTIONAL FOODS

The commercialization of functional foods was born in Japan just over twenty years ago, then, in a relatively short period of time, it expanded in most of the developed countries such as the United States, the European Union and Canada. Nowadays, at one global level, there is a growing interest among consumers towards this type of healthy products and the functional foods market’s value is expected to continue increasing in the future. In recent years, there has been a change in the mindset of consumers, shifting and increasing their demand towards healthier food products, such as functional foods, as a result of the growing awareness of the role and influence of diet on overall health. However, it is difficult to define consumers’ factors determining the demand for functional foods that are universally accepted, since this category of product is very numerous and heterogeneous. In fact, the attitude and the demand of consumers towards functional foods change according to the type of functional food itself (Urala and Lähteenmäki, 2004). In addition, the regulatory framework for functional foods at both European and international levels is unclear and remain complex, there is not a regulatory definition of functional foods and there is also no overall uniformity regarding functional food legislation. Functional foods are not uniquely recognizable and the definition and perception of consumers towards them remain a very confusing concept (Roberfroid, 2002). Furthermore, functional foods have been analysed and studied just recently by a large number of empirical studies that have provided important information, although still fragmented and limited. In addition, few empirical studies have been carried out on European and Italian consumers’ acceptance and on factors influencing their demand for functional foods. In this scenario, the idea of this study was born, to deepen the knowledge, interest and perception of Italian consumers towards functional foods. In particular, the main objectives of the thesis are: 1. Investigate the knowledge, interest, perception and purchasing behaviour of consumers towards functional foods, through an explorative analysis. 2. Estimate consumers’ willingness to pay for a specific functional food product compared to the conventional one. The analysis is performed using a survey-based approach with an online questionnaire, which primarily explores knowledge, perception, awareness and willingness to pay for functional foods in an Italian sample. Furthermore, a logistic regression model is used to: 1. analyse the factors that influence consumers’ consumption of functional foods; 2. analyse the factors that influence consumers’ willingness to pay for functional foods and in particular, identify which characteristics of the sample significantly determine a greater probability of being willing to pay more. Specifically, the structure of the thesis consists of 5 chapters in which the main aspects of functional foods are treated. The first chapter is an overview of the main definitions and concepts of functional foods. The second chapter is a description of the functional food market at global, European and Italian level, with some examples of the main functional food products available on the market. Chapters 3 considers the current regulatory framework for functional foods at European level, including the current authorization procedure of health claims for functional foods. Chapter 4 represents a literature review of several studies on consumers’ preferences, acceptance and willingness to pay for functional foods. At last, in the chapter 5, the case study on consumers' perception of functional foods is outlined.