Consumer preference for nutrition and health claims: A multi-methodological approach

Food Quality and Preference 82 (2020) 103863

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Consumer preference for nutrition and health claims: A multimethodological approach

T

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Marija Klopčiča, , Polona Slokanb, Karmen Erjavecc a

University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Animal Science, Groblje 3, 1230 Domžale, Slovenia Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, The Administration of the Republic of Slovenia for Food Safety, Veterinary Sector and Plant Protection, Dunajska 22, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia c University of Novo mesto, Faculty of Business and Informatics, Na Loko 2, 8000 Novo mesto, Slovenia b

A R T I C LE I N FO

A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Nutrition claims Health claims Focus group Conjoint analysis Trust Preference

To understand consumers’ acceptance and preference in relation to Nutrition and Health Claims (NHCs) on food products and the reasons for their (non)acceptance in an Eastern European country with a weak tradition in NHC, and an enormous increase in the number of foods with NHCs in recent years, this study aimed to fill a research gap by applying a multi-methodological approach combining a survey and conjoint analysis (n = 204) and a focus group (n = 45). The survey demonstrated that Slovenian consumers in general are moderately doubtful of NHCs. Conjoint analysis showed that when Slovenians choose their breakfast cereals, NHCs are more important than whether visual images are present. Visual images convince only the youngest consumers. The study revealed the importance of social perception and trust in the social system for accepting foods with NHCs/ images. Consumers who did not trust the political and economic system also did not accept foods with NHCs/ images.

1. Introduction In the last few decades, the food industry and retailers have been offering ever more food products labelled with nutrition and health claims (NHCs). The market of food products with NHCs continues to grow steadily in Europe and their consumption in Europe has risen (Huang, Bai, Zhang, & Gong, 2019; Özen, Pons, & Tur, 2014). For example, NHCs were found on about one-quarter of pre–packaged foods in five EU countries (Hieke et al., 2016) and about half the pre-packed foods in Slovenia (Pravst & Kušar, 2015). To ensure consumers are provided with adequate and reliable information and are able to make informed food choices, international policymakers have introduced specific regulations. In 2007, the European Union standardised NHC use by adopting Regulation (EC) No 1924, 2006 on NHC (NHCR) which defines a ‘nutrition claim’ as a claim in any message conveyed in text or images that states, suggests or implies that a food has beneficial nutrition properties such as ‘Low energy’. A ‘health claim’ is any message conveyed in text or images that states, suggests or implies that health benefits can result from consuming a food, such as ‘Calcium contributes to the maintenance of healthy bones’. Previous studies show that NHCs have a small or moderate impact on healthiness (Lyly, Roininen, Honkapää, Poutanen, & Lähteenmäki,

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2007; Saba et al., 2010; Van Trijp & van der Lans, 2007). They also reveal that price and taste have more of an influence on the food choice than a product’s health benefits (Lazarevic, 1998; Lyly et al., 2007; Steptoe, Pollard, & Wardle, 1995; Verbeke, 2005). There is a consensus that consumers prefer short, clear, simple and familiar NHCs that do not use scientific terminology (Bitzios, Fraser, & Haddock-Fraser, 2011; Lähteenmäki et al., 2010; Tan, van der Beek, Kuznesof, & Seal, 2016; Verbeke, Scholderer, & Lahteenmaki, 2009) and that visual images of nutrition and health messages enhance communication efficiency (Chrysochou & Grunert, 2014; Hooker & Teratanavat, 2008). A further determinant of the food choice and acceptance of NHCs is consumers’ trust in NHCs and the implementation of EU regulation (Hailu, Boecker, Henson, & Cranfield, 2009; Lalor, Madden, McKenzie, & Wall, 2011; Svederberg & Wendin, 2011; Van Trijp & van der Lans, 2007). Most empirical research on consumers’ acceptance, perception and understanding of NHCs has been conducted in Northern America (e.g., Herath, Cranfield, & Henson, 2008; Wills, Schmidt, Pillo-Blocka, & Cairns, 2009; Wong et al., 2014), Western European countries (e.g., Grunert, Scholderer, & Rogeaux, 2011; Strijbos et al., 2016; Lalor et al., 2011; Lynam, McKevitt, & Gibney, 2011; Verbeke et al., 2009), Northern European countries (e.g., Aschemann-Witzel & Grunert, 2015; Orquin & Scholderer, 2015; Svederberg & Wendin, 2011), a little in

Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (M. Klopčič), [email protected] (P. Slokan), [email protected] (K. Erjavec).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2019.103863 Received 11 August 2019; Received in revised form 1 December 2019; Accepted 1 December 2019 Available online 17 December 2019 0950-3293/ © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY-NC-ND/4.0/).

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more convinced that good taste and healthiness do not necessarily have to be traded off against each other. Thus, belief in health and the benefit of a product has become the strongest positive determinants of consuming foods with NHCs to such an extent that consumers are ready to compromise on taste. Since there is no study on the main determinants of purchase foods with NHCs in the Eastern European countries with a weak tradition and an enormously increased offer of foods with NHCs in recent years, the question arises as to what are Slovenian consumers’ determinants of purchase foods with NHCs. Typically, NHCs contain three major categories of elements that influence consumer responses: claim structure and content, product category, and consumer-related factors (Lähteenmäki, 2013).

Southern European countries (e.g., Masson, Debucquet, Fisher, & Merdji, 2016; Prieto-Castillo, Royo-Bordonada, & Moya-Geromini, 2015; Silvi et al., 2014) and hardly any at all in Eastern European countries with a weak tradition in NHCs (Gajdoš Kljusuric, Čačič, Misir, & Čačić, 2015; Miklavec, Pravst, Grunert, Klopčič, & Pohar, 2015; Pravst & Kušar, 2015). Namely, unlike several EU countries that allowed health claims on foods even prior to the NHCR being introduced in 2007, Slovenia prohibited such claims and interpreted them as medical claims. Additionally, there has been an enormous increase in the number of foods with NHCs in recent years. Therefore, the question which arises is how Slovenian consumers accept foods with NHCs. Socio-cultural context significantly affects people’s food acceptance and preferences (Wright et al., 2001). Studies established that mistrust in the formal institutions (i.e. food industry, food scientists, and pharmaceutical industry and government) was associated with a high level of food neophobia, indicating that there is an interaction effect of trust and food neophobia on acceptance, preferences and purchase intention (Dolgopolova, Teuber, & Bruschi, 2015; Huang et al., 2019; Siegrist, Shi, Giusto, & Hartmann, 2015). However, by measuring the effect of trust in accepting functional foods, the current studies did not include mistrust in social authorities in general or in the political and economic system. Food purchase in Eastern European countries such as Slovenia is a significant social issue, and trust in social authorities plays a key determinant of food acceptance and purchase behaviour (Pejic, Gorenak, & Orthaber, 2013). These indicate the need for more knowledge about foods with NHCs acceptance in the context of a weak tradition in the NHCs, an enormous increase of foods with NHCs in recent years and society, where more than three-quarters of the population have little or no trust in social institutions, such as political, state, health, banking, judicial and media organisations (Valicon, 2019). Notwithstanding the growing professional interest in and literature on consumers’ acceptance and understanding of NHCs, the majority of empirical research is based on quantitative (e.g., Grunert et al., 2011; Wellman & Vidican, 2009; Wong et al., 2014) or qualitative (e.g., Lalor et al., 2011; Tan et al., 2016) methods and only a few used both methods together (e.g., Masson et al., 2016). Mixing both quantitative and qualitative research and data while studying consumers’ preferences, acceptance and attitude to food products with NHCs enables a breadth and depth of understanding and corroboration, while offsetting the weaknesses inherent to using each approach by itself (Creswell & Plano, 2011). To comprehensively understand consumers’ acceptance and preferences in relation to food products with NHCs and the role of trust in food products with NHCs in an Eastern European country with a weak tradition in NHC use, this study aims to fill the research gap by identifying Slovenian consumers’ acceptance and preferences regarding food products with NHCs and visual images and the key reasons for that. The aim is not simply to determine how they accept foods with NHCs or visual images and what kind of indication on food packages they prefer by using survey and conjoint analysis, but also to ascertain why they are (not) accepting food products with NHCs by using focus groups.

2.1. Product-related factors Two main elements influence consumer responses regarding product: production method and existing health images (Lähteenmäki, 2013). Products previously perceived as healthy (Bech-Larsen & Grunert, 2003) or already labelled with NHCs are more easily accepted (Lähteenmäki et al., 2010). Lampila, van Lieshout, Gremmen, and Lähteenmäki (2009) found that novel processing methods were regarded as not easily acceptable. Familiar and traditionally used methods as well as those methods which can be applied at home (cleaning, rising, curing, pre-cooking, cooking, pressing, freezing and pasteurisation) were mostly considered acceptable. 2.2. Claim-related factors The content and structure of nutrition and health communication vary from health-related claims to visual elements. The majority of studies discuss NHCs and find that lexical issues are one factor influencing acceptance and understanding. Consumers preferred the functions/benefits of the nutrient to be expressed in clear, direct, short and simple language without using scientific terms (Bitzios et al., 2011; Lähteenmäki et al., 2010; Tan et al., 2016; Verbeke et al., 2009); familiarity also plays an important role in the way consumers respond to these claims: risk-reduction claims are more liked in contexts where the benefits are typically linked to diseases and their risk factors (Lähteenmäki, 2013). The study on European consumer exposure to NHCs and symbols across Europe showed the significant difference in exposure whether the NHCs were specific or non-specific, i.e. whether they specified which compound was responsible for the health effect claimed or not (Dunford, Webster, & Blanco Metzler, 2012). Further, communicative effectiveness can be enhanced using visual elements. A symbol is more important for appeal and convincingness than a phrase (claim) on a package due to its higher relative importance than verbal representations (Carrillo, Fiszman, Lähteenmäki, & Varela, 2014). Such elements can affect consumers' product evaluations and stimulate purchasing, especially by those who are less health-motivated, by enhancing product-related attitudes associated with health (Chrysochou & Grunert, 2014; Hooker & Teratanavat, 2008). Therefore, the question which arises is which elements – specific or non-specific health claim, nutrition claim and visual image – Slovenian consumers prefer.

2. Influences of food choice and NHCs 2.3. Consumer-related factors Several studies agree that price and taste are perceived as among the top influences on food choice (Lazarevic, 1998; Steptoe et al., 1995), followed by a product’s health benefits (Cardello & Schutz, 2003; Lyly et al., 2007; Verbeke, 2005). The presence of NHCs negatively impacts the expected tastiness of food products (Lähteenmäki et al., 2010). Gajdoš Kljusuric et al. (2015) suggest that taste and price-quality ratio are the most important features in selecting foods labelled with NHCs, also in some Eastern and Southern European countries. However, Verbeke (2006) and Labrecque, Doyon, Bellavance, and Kolodinsky (2006) claimed that acceptance of foods with NHCs has become more conditional, particularly with respect to taste. Consumers have become

2.3.1. The main demographic factors The most vital demographic factor in responses to NHCs seem to be differences between countries (Özen, Bibiloni, Pons, & Tur, 2014; Saba et al., 2010). While foods labelled with NHCs are very popular in most European countries like Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Cyprus, in other countries like Denmark, Italy and Belgium they are not so well accepted for various reasons (Özen et al., 2014). Most studies that were reviewed show that more females than males read food labels and are more favourable of NHCs due to their interest in their own health and that of their children (Ares & Gámbaro, 2007; 2

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Bimbo et al., 2017; Nocella & Kennedy, 2012; Lalor et al., 2011; Lynam et al., 2011; Wills, 2012). As another example, dairy products promoting bone health appear to be strongly preferred by females because of their higher risk (compared to males) of developing osteoporosis (Ares & Gámbaro, 2007; Hailu et al., 2009). However, some studies did not confirm gender differences regarding the impact of NHCs on food purchases (Aschemann-Witzel & Hamm, 2010; Urala & Lähteenmäki, 2007). The majority of studies also suggest that older consumers are more likely to accept, willing to try, and to include foods with NHCs in their diet. Age increases health-related concerns and the attractiveness of products labelled with NHCs (Ares & Gámbaro, 2007; Bimbo et al., 2017; Herath et al., 2008; Siegrist, Stampfli, & Kastenholz, 2008). On the other hand, a systematic review of 23 global studies on individual preferences for and consumption of products labelled with NHCs by Özen et al. (2012) shows it is impossible to clearly identify how gender, age, education level and socio-economic characteristics influenced the acceptance and consumption of such foods. Therefore, the question which arises is what are the main socio-demographic factors which effect the acceptance of foods with NHC.

Table 1 Socio-demographic characteristics of the sample (n = 204).

2.3.2. Trust and socio-cultural determinants The greatest consensus is reached with respect to consumer trust in NHCs and the implementation of regulation as the key determinants of the choice and acceptance of NHCs (Annunziata, Vecchio, & Kraus, 2016; Ding, Veeman, & Adamowicz, 2015; Hailu et al., 2009; Lalor et al., 2011; Svederberg & Wendin, 2011; Van Trijp & van der Lans, 2007). Consumer trust is the expectation held by the consumer that the service provider (the one making the NHC) is dependable and can be relied on to deliver on its promises (Sirdeshmukh, Singh, & Sabol, 2002). Consumer trust regularly leads to consumer acceptance of a food product with NHCs (Strijbos et al., 2016). Ding et al. (2015) found evidence that trust in the food system and control hold significant explanatory power concerning choices of food labelled with NHCs. Siegrist et al. (2008) show that consumers who have trust in the food industry are more likely to choose and buy foods with NHCs than consumers without trust in the food industry. Dolgopolova et al. (2015) demonstrate how trust in the food system is socio-culturally and historically determined. The more deeply culturally embedded and widespread mistrust in formal institutions in Russia leads to high levels of mistrust with regard to foods with NHCs as consumers perceive traditions as providing the most important guarantee of healthy food. On the other hand, German participants point out several formal institutions that are trustworthy and through which information concerning novel and healthy attributes in foods can be communicated. In comparative study between Germany and China, Siegrist et al. (2015) showed that Chinese consumers were much more willing to buy functional foods than German; trust is less important in China, due to its people’s prevalent idea that food provide health benefits. In Slovenia, food purchase is a significant social issue, and trust in social authorities plays a key determinant of food acceptance and purchase behaviour (Pejic et al., 2013). Manipulation in food labelling and other food safety incidents reduced the already low trust in social authorities in general and in the political and economic system. More than three-quarters of Slovenians have little or no trust in Slovenian social institutions, such as political, state, health, banking, judicial and media organisations (Valicon, 2019). According to sociologists and anthropologists, this mistrust relates to the dissatisfaction of the majority of Slovenians (87%) with the political and economic system and social authorities which most Slovenians perceive as illegitimate, since they believe they do not allow them to participate in important decisions about their lives (Godina, 2016). Therefore, the question arises as to how Slovenian consumers with a weak tradition in the NHCs, an enormously increased offer of foods with NHCs in recent years and dominant mistrust in social authorities accept foods with NHCs.

3.1.1. Data collection For the study’s purposes, a sample of the (online) Slovenian population representative as to gender, education, age (18–65 years old) on and region (all Slovenia regions) of residence was prepared with a total number of 204 participants (Table 1). Participants were asked to complete a self-administrated structured electronic questionnaire.

Socio-demographic factors Gender Male Female Age 18–25 26–35 36–55 56–65 Education Primary school and less Secondary school College and University degree

N 104 100 25 43 89 47 49 107 48

% 50.9 49.1 15.2 21.1 43.6 20.1 24.0 52.5 23.5

3. Material and methods A multi-methodological approach was used to examine consumers’ acceptance and preference in relation to food products with NHCs and visual images and the role played by trust in food products with NHCs and visual images. 3.1. Study 1: Quantitative approach

3.1.2. Conjoint analysis Conjoint analysis was used to determine the effects of NHCs and visual images on consumer preferences for products and the presence of different familiar/expected and unfamiliar/unexpected functional substances in food. Conjoint analysis is useful for not only predicting which product or services people will choose, but also for assessing the weight consumers assign to various characteristics that underpin their decisions (Steenkamp, 1987). To determine the different effects of NHCs and visual images on consumer preferences for a food product, breakfast cereal was used since this is a typical Slovenian breakfast food product with higher market penetration and comparable in terms of NHCs to other breakfast foods (Blenkuš, 2009). Nutrition claims appeared on 79% and health claims on 31% of these products in Slovenia (Pravst & Kušar, 2015). A key step when designing conjoint analysis is to specify the attributes and levels that were presented to the participants as a series of full descriptions of the product concepts for evaluation. This was based on two pre-tests, the opinion of six leading Slovenian experts on food products with NHCs from the University of Ljubljana (3), the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food of the Republic of Slovenia (2), and the Nutrition Institute (1), along with two focus group discussions involving consumers (8) with different social characteristics. Three attributes were selected: health claim, nutrition claim, and visual image (Table 2). With respect to health claim, three levels were considered for an analysed product: ‘No claim’, ‘For a healthy heart’ (general non-specific health claim) and ‘Cholesterol-lowering’ (a more specific claim). The second attribute was nutrition claim: ‘No claim’, ‘A source of dietary fibre’ and ‘A source of barley beta-glucans’ (whereby dietary fibre is a naturally occurring, expected ingredient and barley beta-glucans is an unexpected ingredient). Visual image was included as the third attribute: no-picture, a picture or symbol of a heart accompanied by the wording ‘Protects health’ of the Slovenian Society for Cardiovascular Health, an image of a heart and an image of runners. Dietary fibre was chosen because nutrition claims are most commonly made on dietary fibre, on breakfast cereals on as much as 35% PrietoCastillo et al., 2014). As an unexpected ingredient, we selected barleybeta glucans which we assumed were not so familiar among consumers. 3

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based on previous studies (Ares & Gámbaro, 2007; Ding et al., 2015; Lalor et al., 2011; Lynam et al., 2011; Nocella & Kennedy, 2012; Wills, 2012; Van Trijp & van der Lans, 2007). The first part addressed factors influencing the choice entailed while buying breakfast cereals. Respondents ranked factors (price, trademark, information on special favourable nutritional composition, country of origin, information on special favourable properties in support of health, nutritional composition (dietary fibre content, sugar, etc.), taste and expiry date) from 1 (most important factor) to 8 (least important factor). In part two of the questionnaire where eight items relate to statements about NHCs (attention when buying NHC products, trust in NHCs and attitude to NHCs), respondents assessed their agreement with statements on a 5point Likert scale (from 1 to I strongly disagree to 5 – I strongly agree). This was followed by an assessment of five statements related to health consciousness by a respondent assessed on a 5-point Likert scale (1 – from strongly disagree to 5 – strongly agree). In the last section, questions about the level of education, age and gender were assessed for their own general health status and whether participants are currently on a diet or are following the health programme. A pilot study with 44 consumers was carried out. Cronbach’s alpha was used to calculate the internal consistency coefficients of the questionnaire items. Results showed the items in the scales of attention, trust, attitudes and health consciousness shows good internal consistency since α was above 0.7 in all four constructs. Additionally, convergent and discriminant validity by the Construct Reliability (CR) and Analysis of Variance Extracted (AVE) were calculated for the constructs. Results showed that all CRs were around 0.7 and AVEs around 0.55. This means that the scales were valid and reliable.

Table 2 Product attributes and levels of each attribute used in the CBC analysis. Attributes

Levels

Health claim

No claim For a healthy heart Cholesterol-lowering No claim A source of dietary fibre A source of barley beta-glucans No picture

Nutrition claim

Visual images

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3.1.4. Statistical analysis This study employed choice-based conjoint analysis (CBC) paired with the Hierarchical Bayes (HB) technique to estimate the utilities. The HB estimation is useful when studying how utilities placed on different attribute levels might be influenced by other consumer-specific characteristics, in our case, by gender or age, assisted by providing subjectlevel, part-worth scores (Wellman & Vidican, 2008). Total utility for each concept is calculated by adding the utility associated with each attribute level included in the task. The only way to change the probability then is by changing the individual utility levels (Howell, 2009). Pearson’s correlation coefficient was calculated between claims about attention, trust and attitudes to NHCs and between trust and health consciousness of cereal for breakfast and age (in years) and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient between the same variables and gender and education. Data were coded and analysed using SPSS 24.0.

Fig. 1. Example of a card (for cereals) used in the CBC analysis (original in Slovenian and English translation).

All claims applied are in line with Regulation (EC) No Union, 1924, 2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods (Fig. 1). An introductory explanation of the questionnaire was followed by socio-demographic questions about age and gender. According to a consensus of studies on generations’ characteristics as people within a delineated population who experience the most significant events within a given period (e.g., Lazarevic, 2012; Pew Research Center, 2017; Pilcher, 1994; Pradhan, Duraipandian, & Sethi, 2015), the main generation groups were demarcated by birth years. Three main groups were identified: Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964; Generation X, born between 1965 and 1980; and Generation Y or Millennials, born between 1981 and 1996. The sample was classified by years of birth in those generational groups. Next, the question about the frequency of a respondent’s breakfast cereal purchases and a CBC analysis showing breakfast cereal cards with various combinations of certain breakfast cereal properties with different attribute levels. Participants could select a level using three computer-generated random options or combinations of breakfast cereals and the option of choosing ‘Do not choose – none of the above options.’ Each participant had to make seven of such selections, with each participant producing a random (computer-generated) combination of properties.

3.2. Study 2: Qualitative approach To verify the results of the quantitative analysis and identify reasons for the (non)acceptance of foods with NHC/images, we conducted interviews in focus groups. This data collection method is useful for obtaining perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes regarding an issue in an interactive group setting (Collis & Hussey, 2013). The snowball sampling method for recruitment was used; however, the sample reflects a diversity of gender, education, socio-economic status and generation. The qualitative research included 22 women and 23 men, of whom 11 had completed primary schools or less, 23 secondary school, and 11 college and university. Eight interviewees had a low monthly income (gross income up to EUR 719), 35 a middle income (gross income between EUR 720 and EUR 4,317) and two had a gross income above EUR 4,318. Interviews were made of Baby Boomers, 20 from Generation X and 11 Millennials. Six focus group interviews, each with 7 to 8 participants (N = 45), were conducted in autumn 2018. The key questions concerned the: (1) determinants of food choice; (2) importance of NHC/images for the food choice; (3) acceptance of NHC/visual images; and (4) reasons for the (non)acceptance of NHC/ visual images. The focus group participants were shown various food

3.1.3. Questionnaire After the participants had completed the conjoint study, they were presented with a questionnaire concerning the acceptance of NHCs 4

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for the future, 29.4% agreed with the statement, and 24.5% did not (M = 3.04; SD = 0.95). Similar is the claim that efficiency is greater when consuming foods with health claims and symbols, where up to 56.9% of the respondents were undecided (15.7% of the respondents agreed with the claim and 27.5% did not) (M = 2.82; SD = 0.85). Further, a high proportion of respondents (29.9%) agreed and 17.7% did not agree (52.5% of respondents were undecided) (M = 3.18; SD = 0.89) that health claims and health-related symbols are purely fraudulent in the food industry. Table 5 shows that analysis of the correlation between claims on attitudes to NHCs and gender or education suggested no relationship between these variables. There is a weak, statistically significant relationship between attention to NHCs and trust in NHCs and age. Older participants pay more attention to NHCs and trust them more than younger participants do. Most respondents (74.5%) pay great attention to the fact that the food they eat is healthy while a small share (7.4%) does not pay attention to the consumption of healthy food (M = 3.89; SD = 0.91). As a result, most respondents (53.4%) consider how healthy food is in some detail and do not eat just anything they like. In addition, 23.0% of the respondents reported they eat what they like and do not care much about how healthy their food is (M = 2.63; SD = 1.01). Most respondents (69.1%) (M = 3.76; SD = 0.84) believe it is very important that one’s diet contains a lot of fibre, vitamins and minerals; 68.1% of the respondents work preventively for the purpose of maintaining their health (M = 3.71; SD = 0.88), and a healthy heart is very important for most respondents (81.4%) (M = 4.13; SD = 0.85). Table 6 shows there is only a minor, statistically significant positive correlation between trust in NHCs and attention to healthy eating and a negative correlation between trust and care-free attitude regarding healthy eating.

product packagings on a screen. The discussions lasted about 2 h. The interviews in the focus groups were recorded after the informants had given their consent, and were transcribed and analysed by different researchers. The material was analysed as is usual in qualitative data analysis (Miles, Huberman, & Saldana, 2014). We used a framework analysis with five key stages. After familiarisation, the thematic framework was identified with the formation of descriptive statements and the data were analysed according to the questioning route. The third stage was indexing that comprised sifting the data, highlighting and sorting out quotes, and comparing both within and between cases. The next stage, charting, involved lifting the quotes from their original context and re-arranging them within the newly-developed appropriate thematic content. The last two stages were mapping and interpretation with the analysis of individual quotes and construction of the relationship between quotes, and the links between the data as a whole (Rabiee, 2004). 4. Results 4.1. Survey The survey results show that, as regards the participants’ selection of the most important factor in buying breakfast cereals, the nutritional composition of the breakfast cereal (fibre, sugar, etc.) most determines the choice of buying such cereals (Table 3). Up to 28.9% of respondents classified food composition in first and 16.7% of participants in second place of importance (M = 3.5; SD = 2.40). In second place was price with 20.6% of respondents ranking price in first place of importance (M = 3.87; SD = 2.19). Taste came in third place since 17.1% of the respondents ranked taste highest (M = 4.05; SD = 2.27). In fourth and fifth places are information on a particularly favourable nutritional composition (M = 4.27; SD = 2.24) and special favourable properties in support of health (M = 4.61; SD = 1.91). The origin of the product (country of origin), trademark and expiry date were in the last places. Table 4 shows that 43.1% of respondents pay attention to health claims and health-related symbols listed on the packaging, while 23% do not pay attention (33.8% of respondents were undecided) (M = 3.21; SD = 0.91). In the case of nutrition claims, this percentage is higher since 50.5% of participants pay attention to them, while 18.6% do not (30.8% of respondents are undecided) (M = 3.35; SD = 0.90). Concerning claims relating to trust in health claims and health-related symbols (M = 3.00; SD = 0.96) and nutrition claims (M = 3.04; SD = 0.95), the respondents answered very similarly, with the largest share of participants being undecided (around 43% for both). About 30% of respondents trust NHCs and another 26% do not trust them. As many as 45.1% of respondents think their NHCs and health-related food symbols facilitate food choices as this allows them to find healthier products faster (M = 3.21; SD = 0.97), although 23.5% of the respondents did not have such an opinion. Most were undecided (46.1%) on the claim that an increasing number of foods with health claims and health-related symbols represents a bad trend

4.2. Conjoint analysis Results of the basic CBC analysis showed that participants attributed the greatest importance to the health claim (38.65%), followed by the nutritional claim (34.36%), while the least importance was attributed to the visual image (26.99%). Fig. 2 shows that for the participants the importance of health claims was 38.65%, the importance of a nutrition claim was 34.36% and the importance of a visual image was 26.99%. Within the health claim attribute participants preferred breakfast cereals with the health claim ‘For a healthy heart’, followed by breakfast cereals without a health claim, and least preferred breakfast cereals with a ‘Cholesterollowering’ health claim. Within the attribute of the nutritional claim, the most preferred option was ‘A source of dietary fibre’, followed by breakfast cereals that do not mention dietary fibre, while the least valued was ‘A source of barley beta-glucans’. If we compare the dietary fibre preferences (as naturally occurring, the expected ingredient) with the unexpected barley beta-glucan content, we find the participants give great priority to the naturally

Table 3 Classification of factors of importance when buying cereals for breakfast (n = 204). Factors

Price Trademark Information on special favourable nutritional composition Country of origin Information on special favourable properties in support of health Nutritional composition Taste Expiry date

Importance of factors* – Percentage (%)

Mean ± SD

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

20.59 5.39 7.35 7.84 2.94 28.92 17.16 9.80

11.76 11.76 15.69 14.71 11.27 16.67 12.25 5.88

13.73 5.88 13.24 9.31 20.10 14.22 17.65 5.88

12.25 12.25 18.63 10.29 15.69 7.84 14.71 8.33

18.63 14.22 14.71 17.16 16.18 5.88 7.35 5.88

8.82 13.73 17.65 12.25 12.75 10.29 9.31 15.20

6.86 17.16 7.35 17.16 13.73 6.86 13.73 17.16

7.35 19.61 5.39 11.27 7.35 9.31 7.84 31.86

*1 – most important factor, 8 – least important factor 5

3.87 5.26 4.27 4.76 4.61 3.50 4.05 5.68

± ± ± ± ± ± ± ±

2.19 2.20 1.94 2.20 1.91 2.24 2.27 2.38

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Table 4 Consumers’ opinions on statements related to attention, trust and attitudes on health and nutrition claims (n = 204). Statements

Consumers’ opinions* - Percentage (%)

When I buy food, I pay attention to health claims and health related symbols listed on the packaging. When I buy food, I pay attention to the nutritional claims listed on the packaging. I trust the health claims and the health-related symbol listed on the packaging. I trust nutrition claims listed on the packaging. Nutrition and health claims as well as health-related food symbols make it easier for me to choose foods because I find healthier products faster. An increasing number of foods with health claims and health-related symbols on the market are a bad trend for the future. My effectiveness is greater when I eat foods with health claims and symbols. Health claims and health-related symbols are purely a scam of the food industry.

Mean ± SD

1

2

3

4

5

3.43 2.45 7.35 6.86 5.39

19.61 16.18 19.61 18.14 18.14

33.82 30.88 43.14 43.63 31.37

39.22 45.10 25.49 26.96 40.69

3.92 5.39 4.41 4.41 4.41

3.21 3.35 3.00 3.04 3.21

6.86

17.65

46.08

23.53

5.88

3.04 ± 0.96

8.33 2.94

19.12 14.71

56.86 52.45

13.24 21.08

2.45 8.82

2.82 ± 0.85 3.18 ± 0.89

± ± ± ± ±

0.92 0.90 0.96 0.95 0.97

*1 – strongly disagree to 5 – strongly agree Table 5 Correlation between claims and gender, age and education (n = 204).

Claims When I buy food, I pay attention to health claims and health related symbols listed on the packaging. When I buy food, I pay attention to the nutritional claims listed on the packaging. I trust the health claims and the health-related symbol listed on the packaging. I trust nutrition claims listed on the packaging. Nutrition and health claims as well as health-related food symbols make it easier for me to choose foods because I find healthier products faster. An increasing number of foods with health claims and health-related symbols on the market are a bad trend for the future. My effectiveness is greater when I eat foods with health claims and symbols. Health claims and health-related symbols are purely a scam of the food industry.

Age

Gender

Education

Pearson’s r 0.21* 0.20** 0.26* 0.31* 0.08

Spearman’s r 0.08 0.02 0.05 −0.08 0.08

Spearman’s r 0.01 0.02 −0.06 −0.04 −0.04

0.05 0.01 0.06

−0.14 0.09 −0.07

−0.07 −0.13 0.07

Correlation significant at 0.001(***), 0.01(**), 0.05(*)

Most had completed secondary school and have a middle income. They mainly trusted food labelled with NHCs because they considered them as a credible indication. Enthusiasts trusted the social institutions/ system and believe in the scientific merits of NHCs and the permanent quality control of products with NHCs. A typical statement was made by Jure, aged 63: 'Yes, I prefer products with an indication. The label helps me choose a healthier product. I read that there is a great deal of scientific work included in the process of labelling'. Since health and physical appearance are very important to them, they believe that NHCs help them select the healthiest product with low calories. They prefer images because they are more accustomed to visual communication and argue that visual images attract greater attention. For those with a lower socio-economic status, price is the most important element in buying a product with an NHC. Their purchase of a product with an NHC depends on the price of a product: they opt for products with NHCs only at low prices (e.g., yoghurt). A typical statement was made by 20-year-old Tanita: Yeah, I'm watching these labels. And, if possible, I buy the thing that is labelled as healthy. /…/ It depends on how much it costs. If it's cheap, then I am quicker to choose it, but if it's expensive, I choose a cheaper product. You know, I'm a student /…/ I prefer an image, because … it is more visible than a written one. Another major group of followers was female Baby Boomers, almost all of whom reported that NHCs help them in selecting healthier products. They are proud to have overcome being accustomed to the existing food products by taking care of their health and healthy eating. They totally trust NHCs and prefer printed NHCs because they are used to observing printed messages. For some participants with a lower socio-economic status, price limits their purchases. The small group of enthusiasts was made up of members of all generations and different genders. They purchase food labelled with NHCs since they have different diseases and wish to eat healthy food: 'I mainly only eat that kind of food because I have diabetes. Price and other things are irrelevant. Health is the most important' (Lucija, aged

Table 6 Correlation between health consciousness and trust in NHCs (n = 204). Health consciousness I pay great attention to the fact that the food I enjoy is healthy. I eat what I like and do not care much about how healthy the food is. It is very important to me that my diet contains a lot of fibre, vitamins and minerals. In order to maintain my health, I work preventively. Heart health is very important for me.

Trust in NHCs Pearson’s r p-value 0.16*

0.02

−0.12*

0.04

0.11

0.12

0.11 0.07

0.11 0.37

Correlation significant at 0.001 (***), 0.01 (**), 0.05 (*)

occurring ingredient. Within the attribute of the visual image, among the options participants preferred the product with a picture of runners, followed by the sign ‘Protects health’ and a picture of a heart. The least desired choice was a product without a picture. No significant differences in preferences for food products with or without NHCs and images were found between consumers with a different gender, age or education. 4.3. Focus groups The analysis of the focus group statements confirmed the participants’ dominantly moderately doubtful acceptance of foods with NHCs. A more in-depth analysis reveals four groups of participants regarding the reasons for the (non)acceptance of NHC/visual images: enthusiasts, sceptics, critics and the uninterested (Table 7). 4.3.1. Enthusiasts The majority of interviewees were enthusiasts (n = 15) who were members of all generational groups, although they prevailed in the youngest group, i.e. Millennials, and the oldest one, i.e. Baby Boomers. 6

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Fig. 2. Relative importance of attributes and average utility values for each level of each attribute for cereals.

4.3.3. Critics Critics, most of whose members were middle-age Generation X regardless of gender or socio-economic status, declare they reject foods labelled with NHCs in general (n = 12). The main reason is that they do not trust NHCs since they do not trust political and economic authorities on the whole. They are supposed to be corrupt, closed and clientelistic, for example 'The establishment is closed and does not let ordinary people participate in decision-making' (Irena, aged 48), 'Industry and politicians are interconnected and protect each other' (Maja, aged 37), 'Powers work only for their own good' (Gregor, aged 34) and 'They are willing to do anything for money' (Tomi, aged 65). They argue that the mere presence of an NHC, regardless of its form, discourages them from purchasing. When buying, they prefer to choose a product with no NHC because they consider NHCs to be ‘manipulation’, ‘misuse’, ‘forgery’, ‘a marketing trick’ or ‘falsification’ by business, state, legal or media authorities to force them to buy expensive and low-quality products as much as possible. Nutritional composition, price and taste are the most important factors in buying breakfast cereals. Matej, a 44-year-old, stated: Listen, it's pure manipulation. They all are the same. I mean, the whole industry sector which is closely related to politics. I do not trust any of them! If I see in a store that something is written on the package to be healthy, I'm moving on to the next shelf. For me, this is a marketing trick, nothing else. The whole food industry is the same. And they need the state institutions to legitimise them. Really, do not trust anyone! … For me, ingredients are important, of course, taste, and price. And I eat what I'm used to. Why change it if it's good?

61).

4.3.2. Sceptics Most sceptics were found among the Millennials and some younger members of Generation X, irrespective of gender, well-educated with a middle and high income (n = 10). They pay attention to the NHCs, but expressed doubts in NHCs because they do not trust the food industry, government and other social authorities. For example, Domen (aged 25) said: 'I only buy this kind of food when I check that the product is really healthy. What it says on the product doesn't always hold true. They like to fake to force us to buy more and expensively. They choose food with NHCs by checking the nutritional composition for themselves and evaluating whether the NHC is true. Choosing healthy food is very important for them because their health is one of their key life values. They prefer visual images that they are more accustomed to. The majority do not look at the price since they argue that quality food is the most important factor when purchasing food. A typical statement was made by Tina, a 32-year-old: These are bullies. I do not trust anyone who does this or authorises the labelling and other staff. Most manufacturers use these inscriptions and provide, for example, a little less sugar, but, instead of sugar, they include more fat. First, I study the nutritional composition and ingredients. If sugars are listed first, it means there is considerable … I think, too much sugar. If necessary, I also look at the Internet. Now we're getting used to the same products. /…/ The price of food is not important for me and my family because quality food is very valuable for our health, especially for my children.

Table 7 Examples of rationales for the (non) acceptance of NHCs and visual images by different consumer groups. Consumer groups

Consumer rationales of (non) acceptance

Discourse extracts

Enthusiasts

Total acceptance: NHCs as a credible and useful indication for helping consumers to choose the healthiest product Younger ones prefer visual images, older printed messages Acceptance with self-evaluation due to mistrust in social authorities They prefer visual images Total nonacceptance: NHCs as manipulation by political and economic authorities that they do not trust as a whole Non-acceptance: consumers are not interested in NHCs

‘I take it into account when buying because I know that behind the indication is a whole science. It helps me a lot to know which product is healthier.’

Sceptics Critics The uninterested

‘Health claims could be manipulative information so I always check on my own the ingredients of cereals on the Internet to confirm that the cereals are healthy.' 'These indications are just a sign of this system. Why should I trust them? It's all wrong here. I don’t believe any one of these authorities.’ ‘What claims? I don't even know what that is. I always eat the same.'

7

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control over life by controlling their eating (Gregorčič, 2015; Kuron, Lyons, & Schweitzer, 2015). In addition, the glorification of food labelling is not surprising since studies (Berry, Aucott, & Poobalan, 2018; Moschis & Mathur, 2006; Perju-Miltran & Budacia, 2017) suggest that less educated or less active young or older people are excited about promotional messages in general and believe they assist with the easier selecting of quality products. Sceptics, who dominated among well-educated middle- and highincome Millennials, pay attention to the NHCs, although they expressed doubts in NHCs because they do not trust the social authorities. This is in harmony with the findings of Kol and Lissitsa (2016) that show the majority of educated middle class members of the Millennial generation are highly aware consumers who do not blindly believe in unknown claims and verify them using the latest technology. There were also numerous middle-age Generation X critics who do not accept NHCs because they do not trust the social authorities and the political and economic system. According to sociologists and anthropologists, such a view is a result of their dissatisfaction with the political and economic system since most members of this generation in Slovenia are convinced that the political and economic authorities/institutions prevent them from participating in social structures via decisions important to their life (Godina, 2016). In addition, the majority of members of this generation believe they are not paid enough for their work and they are additionally burdened by caring for their children and old parents (Toš, 2014). The smallest group was the uninterested, mainly older male members of the Baby Boom generation who are not aware of NHCs because they are not interested in either healthy food or social developments generally. For this group, external representation is more important than the quality of life (Pradhan et al., 2015). For example, they buy cheap food and other products for health and well-being, but waste a lot of money on excessive external appearance such as a new car (Kesič & Arzenšek, 2018). Thus, the results of this research show that trust in the social institutions and system in general also determines the acceptance of food with NHCs. Consumers who do not trust the political and economic system also do not trust NHCs and thus do not accept foods with NHCs. That this is not only typical for Slovenian consumers, but also for consumers in other transitional countries that were socialist three decades ago, is confirmed by the findings of Dolgopolov et al. (2015) who reveal that the widespread mistrust in formal institutions in Russia pushes consumers to mistrust functional foods as consumers perceive tradition as providing the most important guarantee of healthy food. Therefore, the contribution of our study to food science may also been seen in the usefulness of addressing more general issues related to functional food perceptions. There is no correlation between attention and trust with NHCs and gender. This is not surprising since the acceptance of functional food as well as the consumption of and trust in NHCs according to gender varies from study to study (Özen et al., 2014). The results of this study confirm the findings of some studies that the accepting, buying and trusting of NHCs food see no difference with respect to gender (Aschemann-Witzel & Hamm, 2010; Urala & Lähteenmäki, 2007). Conjoint analysis revealed that when Slovenians were choosing breakfast cereals, health and nutrition claims were more important than the mere presence of visual imagery (images). They are even more reluctant when it comes to visual imagery that is added to the package. In contrast with other studies’ findings that visual images of NHC nutrition and health messages are more popular than written ones (Chrysochou & Grunert, 2014; Hooker & Teratanavat, 2008), our results show the most important attribute indication for the consumer when choosing breakfast cereals is HC (health claims), followed by NC (nutritional claims) and visual imagery. It is not surprising that health claims are paramount as health is at the forefront of Slovenians' values (Opinion, 2016/1, 2016). Greater concern for health is mainly limited by factors also identified in the study: income and distrust in health and other

4.3.4. The uninterested The uninterested are mainly male members of the Baby Boom generation regardless of education and income (n = 7). They are not aware of NHCs since they are neither very interested in health generally nor in healthy foods; however, they are interested in how they present their external appearance, such as having an expensive car. Their main determinant of food choice is taste and habit. For those with a lower socio-economic status, price is very important as well. A typical statement was given by 63-year-old Goran: Do not ask me this because I'm not interested. I do not care what is healthy because this changes every time. At one stage, the tomato was carcinogenic, today it is anti-carcinogen. Crazy…. I eat what I like and what I’m used to. A smaller group also consists of male representatives of the youngest generation who are not interested in NHCs because they eat food prepared at home by their mother: ‘This is stupid … I don’t care. I eat what my mom cooks’ (Matic, aged 26). 5. Discussion with policy implications The multi-methodological approach we adopted proved to be useful by enabling us to obtain results that can be both generalised and allow us to find wider reasons for the (non) acceptance of NHCs and disclose information the survey could not otherwise have obtained. The focus groups allowed us to verify the validity of the survey results and arrive at an explanation of them. In general, Slovenian consumers are moderately doubtful of products labelled with NHCs. In comparing our findings with those of other authors who measured the determinants of food choice, we established that nutrition composition, besides price and taste which other studies have shown to be the most important factors in food choice (Lazarevic, 1998; Lyly et al., 2007; Steptoe et al., 1995; Verbeke, 2005, 2006), have a greater influence on food choice than NHCs. Slovenian consumers ranked NHCs as a factor in food choice similarly to consumers in European countries such as Denmark, Italy, Belgium (Özen et al., 2014) and Russia (Dolgopolova et al., 2015) where NHCs are not very well accepted. Namely, although functional foods have become very popular in Europe in recent years, huge differences exist between Europeans with regard to such foods’ consumption and acceptance for various reasons, including tradition in NHCs and the government’s support for functional foods (Landström, Hursti, Becker, & Magnusson, 2007; Özen et al., 2014). The focus group interview results revealed the more complex picture of the quantitative survey results with the generalised moderate acceptance of NHCs and a weak correlation between attention and trust with NHCs and age. They demonstrated the key factors of the acceptance of NHCs are not only attention, awareness of NHCs (Strijbos et al., 2016) and (mis)trust in the formal institutions associated with a high level of food neophobia, as many studies have found (Dolgopolova et al., 2015; Huang et al., 2019; Siegrist et al., 2015), but also (mis)trust in social authorities/institutions in general and in the political and economic system. Namely, (mis)trust in social authorities/institutions in general and in the political and economic system was one of the main characteristics distinguishing the three identified groups regarding the reasons for the (non) acceptance of HNCs. Yet one group showed no awareness or interest in NHCs. The largest group of interviewees consisted of enthusiasts, young and old consumers with a secondary education and a middle income, who unconditionally accept NHCs due to trust in the social authorities in general and especially in the process of obtaining and controlling NHCs. They even glorify NHCs to help them more easily choose the healthiest product. Following Brown’s findings (2015), for young Millennials, regardless of gender, health is one of the most important value. They usually select and buy the healthiest food products as they can easily control what they eat. Control over what they eat is very important to them since the rest of the environment, such as a permanent job, is quite unpredictable for them. They therefore maintain a sense of 8

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References

social authorities (Godina, 2016; Pečar, 2017). Visual images only convince the youngest group of participants, already used to visual messages. This can be explained by the strong written culture since the middle and older generations engage in reading and respect the Slovenian printed word (Toš, 2014). The results show that in their choice consumers preferred better-known dietary fibres to less familiar (barley beta-glucans), which is consistent with previous studies (Lähteenmäki, 2013). European countries differ in their NHCs of foods (Banovic, Reinders, Claret, Guerrero, & Krystallis, 2019; Carrillo et al., 2014; Lähteenmäki et al., 2010; Van Trijp & van der Lans, 2007) and the popularity of functional foods also varies from country to country (Özen et al., 2014). However, policymakers should consider a variety of the consumers’ preference for NHCs with different social characteristics, such as age and attitudes to social authorities/system within a specific country. The study results expose a need to extend and intensify targeted promotion and communication activities for the specific groups of consumers. The main limitation of the study is that it focused on a certain food product (breakfast cereals due to extensive prior research) in the outstore shopping environment. Future studies could integrate other products and interview participants in a contextual environment. We studied different forms, yet we did not evaluate different wordings or visual images within each group.

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6. Conclusion In Slovenia, an Eastern European country with a weak tradition in food with NHCs and an enormous increase in the number of foods with NHCs in recent years, consumers are moderately doubtful of NHCs/ images on foods. However, there a more complex picture of the acceptance of food with an NHC. There are four groups of participants regarding the reasons for (non)acceptance of NHCs and visual images: enthusiasts, sceptics, critics and the uninterested. The research highlights the important role of social perception and trust in the social system in the acceptance of foods with NHC/images. CRediT authorship contribution statement Marija Klopčič: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Investigation, Resources, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition. Polona Slokan: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Investigation, Data curation, Visualization. Karmen Erjavec: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Data curation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Funding and Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge the 7th EU Framework Programme Small Collaborative Project CLYMBOL (Contract No 311963) has been a major source of information for this article. The content of the article reflects only the views of the authors; the European Commission is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained in this article. The funding organisations had no role in the design, analysis or writing of this article. Appendix A. Supplementary data Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2019.103863. 9

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Marija Klopčič is an Associate Professor at Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Animal Science. Her main interests are breeding and sustainable livestock production with important emphasis on food quality products. She works intensively in the area of good farming practices and sustainable production of food products. Polona Slokan finished Master Science Thesis at Biotechnical Faculty. Professionally she was involved in Food Safety and Food Quality activities on Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food in Slovenia. Now she works in the area of plant protection products at Administration of the Republic of Slovenia for food safety, veterinary sector and plant protection. Karmen Erjavec is a Full Professor of Business Communication and Marketing at the Faculty of Economics and Informatics at University of Novo mesto, Slovenia. Her main research areas are marketing, business communication, and customer satisfaction.

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