Cross-European and Functional Food-Related Consumer Segmentation for New Product Development

Functional Food emerged as a constant segment in the European food market and offers potential for product innovations that make it attractive for the food industry in nearly stagnating markets. Target group research is one key factor for successful innovative food products. The aim of this project was to develop and test a Functional Food-related consumer segmentation model. For this purpose a survey was conducted in Germany, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom with a total of 590 respondents. Factor analysis revealed consumers' motivation to buy or to refuse Functional Food. Motives, consumers' knowledge about Functional Food, their trust toward diverse actors in the context of nutrition, and their purchase patterns were used in a cluster analysis and resulted in eight consumer segments. These groups differ significantly regarding sociodemographic characteristics. A conjoint study examined consumers' preferences toward a new type of orange juice enriched with functional ingredients recombined with different health claims. Aggregated preferences for single consumer segments provide indications for target group-specific product development. Cross-country comparisons of consumer segments showed distinct shifts of segment distribution in single countries. This might be considered for companies' marketing approaches or the European Commission's health and consumer protection policy.