Impact des allégations nutritionnelles et de santé sur le consommateur

Several consumer studies have shown that consumers are quite sceptical towards the concept of functional foods in general. Consumer acceptance is mainly shaped by subjective determinants, more specifically personal confidence in the alleged nutrition and health claims. Additionally, consumers are hardly willing to compromise on taste for the promise of better health. Strongest hesitation is seen towards disease reduction claims, which are also the most explicit and most difficult to prove claim type, as well as for non-natural and unfamiliar combinations of carrier products and functional ingredients. Higher levels of perceived control over personal health, and stronger perceptions of functional foods as a marketing scam have a strong negative impact on consumer reactions towards foods with nutrition and health claims. Reactions of consumers from specific risk groups, e.g. because of their health status or nutritional needs, have hardly been investigated thus far. The identification of needs and interests of these market segments, as well as the evaluation of consumer understanding of claims constitute a major challenge for future consumer research in this domain.