The effects of carrier, benefit, and perceived trust in information channel on functional food purchase intention among Chinese consumers

Journal Pre-proofs The effects of carrier, benefit, and perceived trust in information channel on functional food purchase intention among Chinese consumers Lian Huang, Li Bai, Shunlong Gong PII: DOI: Reference:

S0950-3293(19)30200-9 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2019.103854 FQAP 103854

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Food Quality and Preference

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17 March 2019 31 October 2019 9 November 2019

Please cite this article as: Huang, L., Bai, L., Gong, S., The effects of carrier, benefit, and perceived trust in information channel on functional food purchase intention among Chinese consumers, Food Quality and Preference (2019), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2019.103854

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The effects of carrier, benefit, and perceived trust in information channel on functional food purchase intention among Chinese consumers

Lian Huanga, Li Baiab, Shunlong Gongc*

School of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Jilin University, 5988 Renmin Street, Changchun 130022, PR China;

a

Key Laboratory of Bionic Engineering, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, 5988 Renmin Street, Changchun 130022, PR

b

China;

School of Management, Jilin University, 5988 Renmin Street, Changchun 130022, PR China

c

Declarations of interest: none.

* Corresponding author. Tel. : +86 1350 433 4103

E-mail address: [email protected], [email protected] (S.L. Gong)

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Abstract The importance of consumers’ perceptions and adoption behavior has been recognized in the development of functional food innovation, but the issues have not been widely explored in China. This study aimed to examine the effects of carrier, benefit, and trust in information channel about functional foods on purchase intention as well as the demographic differences of these effects. A survey with 1,144 respondents from Mainland China revealed that carriers were more important factors than benefits for perceived attractiveness and purchase intention. Benefits were more positively evaluated when attached to a more attractive carrier. Benefits of improving the body’s natural defense system were most favored by all groups; benefits about specific diseases were suitable to tailor for certain groups. Consumers with low educational level were reluctant to functional foods. The improvement of consumer education level does not necessarily increase the consumers’ purchase intention. Given the Chinese acquaintance society and the jeopardized public trust in food safety, the interpersonal channel was the most trusted information channel. However, perceived trust in mass media had more remarkable effects in predicting purchase intention toward functional foods, the typical products with credence attributes. Trust in mass media negatively interacted with friends’ recommendation in affecting purchase intention. These findings extend our understanding of how to tailor products for different groups and the effects of information channels on purchase intention. Keywords: Health claim; Food choice; Consumer behavior; Innovation diffusion theory; Consumer segmentation; Mainland China.

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1. Introduction Improving public healthy dietary has become an important public policy goal and driven continuous innovation in the food industry. China is undergoing the prevalence of diet-related non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs), resulting in severe disease burden, human suffering, and significant expenditure (NCD Risk Factor Collaboration, 2016a, 2016b; NHFPC, 2015; WHO, 2016). For example, the indirect costs of obesity and obesity-related dietary and physical activity patterns are estimated to increase from 3.58 percent of the gross national product (GNP) in 2000 to 8.73 percent in 2025 in China (Popkin et al., 2006). In 2016, the Chinese Government released the “Healthy China 2030” blueprint, which emphasize disease prevention and encourage people to adopt healthy lifestyles (Central People's Government of PRC, 2016). Correspondingly, several programs and guidelines related to developing functional foods have been released, for encouraging the industry to reformulate products toward healthier options and satisfying domestic consumption upgrade (e.g., National Development and Reform Commission, 2017). China has a long history of using food to prevent and treat chronic diseases. Foods have been considered materials from the same origins as medicines traditionally (Kan, 1996). The beliefs on foods are closely related to the concept of functional foods, which are purposely designed to provide added benefit beyond nutritional value to improve health and reduce disease risk (Diplock et al., 1999). The active components of many functional products derive from foods, which pertain to Chinese herbal medicines simultaneously (Chau & Wu, 2006), such as ginger, jujube, and goji berries. The trend of getting and staying healthy from foods will continue. The public interest in healthy foods and national/governmental programs imply that food manufacturers will actively launch various new functional foods designed to improve the health of the 3

Chinese population, and the Chinese functional foods market will expand further. However, predicting which products to invest as marketable products challenges national and international food manufacturers. Practitioners and researchers have recognized the importance of consumer perceptions and acceptance in developing and marketing functional food products successfully (Bonannoxs, 2012; Kraus, 2015; Siró et al., 2008). Naturally, factors influencing consumer perceptions and acceptance are prominent domains worthy of consideration. Carriers (i.e. food products), claimed benefits, and their combinations are identified key factors influencing consumer perceptions and acceptance of functional foods, but not all carriers, benefits, and combinations work equally well (Bigliardi & Galati, 2013; Lähteenmäki, 2013; Steinhauser & Hamm, 2018). Some studies showed that carriers perceived healthier were more likely to be accepted by consumers (Ares & Gámbaro, 2007; Lähteenmäki, 2013; van Kleef et al., 2005). Benefits were more popular when attached to carriers with a healthy image (Bialkova, Sasse, & Fenko, 2016; Siegrist et al., 2008; van Kleef et al., 2005; Williams et al., 2008), and benefits about serious diseases (van Kleef et al., 2005; Williams et al., 2008) or physical health (Siegrist et al., 2008) were more attractive than those about psychological or appearance benefits. Some argued that the benefit had a more critical effect on purchase intention than the carrier did (Siegrist et al., 2015; van Kleef et al., 2005), whereas others come to the opposite conclusion (Ares & Gámbaro, 2007; Williams et al., 2008). Meanwhile, many studies found interaction effects between carriers and benefits on purchase intention (Ares & Gámbaro, 2007; Bialkova, Sasse, & Fenko, 2016; Siegrist et al., 2008; Siegrist et al., 2015; Williams et al., 2008). These mixed results imply that the effects of carriers and benefits on consumer perceptions and acceptance vary across products and markets and should be examined at a broader level. Demographic characteristics are also identified as determinants in influencing consumer perceptions 4

and acceptance (Kaur & Singh, 2017; Steinhauser & Hamm, 2018). Different demographic groups prefer different carriers and benefits (e.g., Kraus, Annunziata, & Vecchio, 2017). Typical functional food consumers are identified as being female, high education, high income class and older than 55 (Ares et al., 2009; Brečić et al., 2014; Büyükkaragöz, et al., 2014; Siegrist et al., 2008), whereas other studies found no evidence of gender and age differences (Siegrist et al., 2015; Verbeke et al., 2009). Meanwhile, there was evidence that demographic effects varied according to the carrier or benefit types, suggesting functional foods should be tailored for specific groups (Ares & Gámbaro, 2007). According to Rogers (1983), information channel plays an elemental role in shaping potential user perceptions of innovations by creating awareness-knowledge and forming or changing an individual’s attitude. With the dramatic development of food science, new food ingredients and technology are continuously applied in functional foods, commonly novel to consumers. Consumers who lack relevant professional knowledge have to rely on external information in their decision-making process to reduce uncertainty. Studies have indicated that frequency of use of different information channels (e.g., newspaper and TV) for food property and nutritional purposes influence consumers’ ingredient awareness and interest in nutrition and health claims (Bornkessel et al., 2014; Cavaliere et al., 2015). The awareness and interest subsequently affect consumers’ nutritional knowledge, familiarity with functional foods and the following preference and purchase intention (Krutulyte, 2011; Lähteenmäki, 2013). However, whether the information is adopted or not depends on how much trust consumers have in the information they receive from different channels, as the claimed benefits of functional foods cannot directly be experienced and ascertained by consumers (Frewer et al., 2003; Urala et al., 2003). Finnish consumers who trusted the information channels more perceived the claims of functional foods more beneficial and women trusted the information more than men did (Urala et al., 2003). Older 5

adults in Canada would prefer consuming functional foods after receiving relative information from health professionals who were considered credible information channels (Vella et al., 2014). Additionally, the interactions between channels on attitudinal and behavioral variables have been proposed as consumers often get access to information from different channels (Smith & Swinyard, 1982). The interaction effects have been confirmed in the non-food field. For example, a negative interaction between advertising and product trial was found affecting consumer attitude and purchase intention toward a ballpoint pen (Marks & Kamins, 1988), whereas a positive interaction between product trial and word of mouth was reported in a study of online software marketing (Chen, Duan, & Zhou, 2017). However, such interaction effects between information channels have not been examined in a functional food context. Therefore, their roles in shaping decision-making process need further exploring to offer functional food companies a promising communication style and targeted promotion plan. To date, the impacts of carriers, benefits and information channels on perceptions and acceptance of functional foods have not been extensively studied in China; how the Chinese are attracted and stimulated to purchase functional food is far from being understood. Among the minimal literature, Chen (2011a, 2011b, 2013) only examined the factors affecting Taiwan consumers’ willingness to use functional foods and found crucial health-related factors. Conducting a comparative study of Germany and China, Siegrist et al. (2015) found the Chinese had higher purchase intention toward functional foods than the German, and food products claiming some additional health benefits resulted in greater attraction and stronger purchase intention for the Chinese. A recent study investigating mobility-related functional food purchase intention of young Chinese living in New Zealand showed that the channels of products advertising and the carrier–nutrient combination influenced these young Chinese’s 6

purchase intention (Mirosa & Mangan-Walker, 2018). Huang et al. (2019) detected the mediating effect of purchase attitude and the moderating effect of food neophobia in the functional food decision-making process by a sample from Mainland China. Except for these studies, no other research in the field has been found, to the best of the authors’ knowledge. Although many studies provide evidence for the impacts of demographic characters on carriers, benefits and information channels, the demographic effects have not been examined in China, which hinders the understanding of market segments and the formulating of a series of target marketing campaigns. Moreover, the mixed results, which considerably vary between countries and regions, indicate that the relevant functional food stakeholders in China could not directly practice the results, and more consumer research needs to be widely conducted. Thus, focused and systematic studies on the issue are urgent and vital in China, an emerging and promising functional food market. Overall, given research gaps related to consumer perceptions and acceptance of functional foods in Mainland China, this study first replicated and extended studies suggesting that carriers and benefits influence consumers’ perceptions and acceptance to obtain better and more precise insights into which carriers and benefits were appealing to which certain groups. Furthermore, the study extended present knowledge of information communicating strategy and provided implication for communication practice by examining how perceived trust in information channel about functional foods influenced consumers purchase intention. 2. Methods 2.1 Sample This study was part of the larger research project investigating Chinese consumers’ attitude and purchase intention toward functional foods (Huang et al., 2019). Through a cross-sectional 7

questionnaire survey from January until March of 2012, data were collected from 16 regions selected randomly from the 31 governing regions in mainland China, i.e., Beijing, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Liaoning, Shanghai, Shandong, Jiangsu, Guangxi, Guangdong, Henan, Hubei, Shanxi, Gansu, Sichuan, and Guizhou. Thirty-two Jilin University undergraduate and graduate students from the 16 regions were recruited to conduct the interviews, who were introduced the objective of this study and trained in the investigation techniques. A face-to-face interview method was adopted, with anonymity and confidentiality ensured. Respondents who were over 18 years old and understood functional foods were conveniently recruited. In urban areas, investigators visited shopping centers and supermarkets given the dense population. In rural areas, investigators visited respondents’ households or fields. A snowball sampling approach was also adopted to obtain a wide variety of socio-demographic sample, due to the remote rural areas and a certain amount of illiteracy or semiliterate rural residents. The typical completion time for each interview was 10–15 min. One thousand and five hundred questionnaires were distributed, and 1,391 returned. After eliminating missing responses, 1,144 questionnaires were eventually validated. The sample distribution in each region was relatively uniform, ranging from 61 to 84. Table 1 profiles the demographic characteristics of the sample. Compared with China’s 2010 census (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2012), there was an over-representation of younger and higher educational level population, which is mainly due to a higher percentage of urban respondents. As quite a few rural respondents did not know about functional foods and they could not complete the survey, more urban respondents were selected. Urban areas are known for attracting youth and gathering a higher educated population, accounting for the over-representation. Table 1 is here. 8

2.2 Study design To cover heterogeneous types of functional foods, yogurt, non-alcoholic beverage, and biscuit were selected as carriers for they are evaluated with different healthy images, commonly consumed in Mainland China and have been widely adopted in previous studies (e.g., Annunziata & Vecchi, 2013; Siegrist et al., 2015). Based on previous studies (Siegrist et al., 2008; Siegrist et al., 2015; van Kleef et al., 2005; Williams et al., 2008), eight benefits were selected (see Table 2). Ultimately, the concepts were formed following a full factorial experimental design (3 x 8), resulting in 24 carrier–benefit grids. Respondents were asked to evaluate their perceived attractiveness and purchase intention of the 24 carrier–benefit grids, using a five-point Likert scale ranging from “not at all attractive (1)” and “very attractive (5)”, and from “definitely not purchase (1)” to “definitely purchase (5)”. An example of the scales used in the study is shown in Fig. 1, adapted from Ares and Gambaro (2007). Respondents were also asked how much trust they had in different information channels about functional foods, which were adjusted from Urala et al. (2003), i.e., TV, newspaper, leaflet, radio, friends’ recommendation and trial products, with a five-point Likert scale ranging from “not trust at all (1)” to “completely trust (5)”, as shown in Fig. 1. Demographic information was also collected. Fig. 1 is here. 2.3 Data analysis Repeated ANOVA was used to estimate the effects of carries and benefits on the two dependent variables: perceived attractiveness and purchase intention. One-way ANOVA was used to estimate the effects of demographic variables. Scheffe tests were conducted for post hoc comparisons, or Dunnett’s T3 multiple comparisons tests were adopted when homogeneity of variance was unfulfilled. Two-step clustering analysis following Haldar et al. (2008) was adopted to identify consumer 9

segments. First, hierarchical clustering was used to estimate the number of likely groups according to the purchase intention, with linkage by Ward’s method and the squared Euclidian distance as the measure of similarity between objects. The final cluster solutions were identified based on the agglomeration schedule and discussions of the research members. Second, K-means clustering was ultimately conducted to present the results of the final cluster solution. Principal components analysis for perceived trust in information channel was conducted for dimensionality reduction to enter subsequent regression models. Linear regression analyses were adopted to reveal the main and interaction effects of information channels on purchase intention. Analyses were conducted using SPSS version 20. Statistical significance was two-tailed p < 0.05. 3. Results 3.1 Effects of carriers and benefits on perceived attractiveness and purchase intention Repeated ANOVA revealed that both carriers (F(2, 18288) = 676.54, p<0.001; F(2, 18288) = 558.98, p<0.001) and benefits (F(7,24003) = 137.04, p<0.001; F(7,24003) = 141.46, p<0.001) independently affected perceived attractiveness and purchase intention. The effect sizes of carriers were larger than that of benefits, suggesting carriers were more important factors than benefits for perceived attractiveness and purchase intention. As showed in Table 2, yogurt scored the highest on perceived attractiveness and purchase intention among the three carriers. The benefits of improving immunity and improving gastrointestinal function were perceived as the most attractive and stimulated respondents the strongest intention to purchase, whereas the benefits of reducing the risk of osteoporosis, reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, and reducing body fat were scored the lowest on perceived attractiveness and purchase intention. Generally, the higher the perceived attractiveness of a carrier or benefit, the stronger the purchase intention was. 10

Table 2 is here. The two-way interactions between carriers and benefits were also significant on the perceived attractiveness (F(14,24003) = 4.85, p<0.001) and purchase intention (F(14,24003) = 4.21, p<0.001), indicating that benefits and carriers may not be perceived independently. Thus, the combined effects of carriers and benefits were further analyzed by examining the demographic differences in perceived attractiveness and purchase intention toward 24 carrier–benefit grids. 3.2 Demographic differences in perceived attractiveness and purchase intention The details of demographic differences for each benefit-carrier grid are shown in Table S1-S3 of the supplementary material. Accordingly, among all the three carriers, respondents aged above 55 were significantly attracted by the benefits of reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis and had significant purchase intentions toward products claiming the benefit of reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. The female respondents were significantly attracted by the benefits of improving facial skin health and reducing body fat and had higher purchase intentions toward these two benefits than the male respondents. Respondents with a low educational level perceived the least attractiveness and had least purchase intentions toward almost all benefits. Respondents who were married scored higher on perceived attractiveness of the benefits of delaying senescence and reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease than the single respondents. Respondents with middle- and highincome (monthly income above RMB 3,000) were significantly attracted by the benefits of reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis and had higher purchase intentions toward these two benefits than the respondents with low income (monthly income below RMB 3,000). Urban respondents generally scored higher on perceived attractiveness and purchase intention than rural respondents did. However, urban respondents only had significant purchase intentions toward products 11

claiming the benefit of delaying senescence across all the three carriers compared with rural respondents. Table 3 presents the whole profile of significant demographic differences in perceived attractiveness and purchase intention over the three carriers. As shown in Table 3, demographic differences in perceived attractiveness and purchase intention were highly consistent which indicated that perceived attractiveness was closely related to purchase intention. Respondents with different educational levels had a great disparity in their perceptions of functional foods. Table 3 is here. 3.3 Clusters based on the purchase intention Cluster analysis identified three consumer groups for each carrier based on the purchase intention (see Table 4). Table 5 presents the demographic differences between the three clusters. The Enthusiastic Supporters cluster was characterized by the highest purchase intention toward 24 carrier–benefit grids. The cluster represented 38.2%, 34.7%, and 25.8% of the sample for yogurt, non-alcoholic beverage, and biscuit, respectively. As for yogurt, the cluster had the highest proportion of female, aged above 55, urban, and middle education level respondents and the smallest proportion of male, rural, and low education level respondents. Concerning non-alcoholic beverage, the cluster had the highest proportion of urban, middle education level, and middle-income respondents and the smallest proportion of low education level and low-income respondents. In the case of biscuit, the cluster had the highest proportion of middle education level respondents and the smallest proportion of low education level respondents The General Supporters cluster representing a moderate purchase intention was the largest, with 47.0%, 43.9%, and 43.9% of the sample for yogurt, non-alcoholic beverage, and biscuit, respectively. 12

The demographic profiles of the cluster were similar to the total sample distribution. However, as for yogurt, the General Supporters cluster had the highest proportion of respondents who were single, aged from 18 to 35, and married without children. With respect to non-alcoholic beverage, the cluster had the smallest proportion of high-income respondents. The Apathetic Supporters cluster showed the lowest purchase intention. The cluster represented 14.8%, 21.4%, and 30.3% of the sample for yogurt, non-alcoholic beverage, and biscuit, respectively. The percentages of the cluster were inversely proportional to the attractiveness of the carriers. As for yogurt, the cluster had the highest proportion of male, age from 36 to 55, rural, married with children, and low education level respondents and the smallest proportion of middle education respondents. For non-alcoholic beverage, the cluster had the highest proportion of rural, low education level and low-income respondents and the smallest proportion of urban, middle education level, and middle-income respondents. In regard to biscuit, the cluster had the highest proportion of low and high education level respondents and the smallest proportion of middle education level respondents. Table 4 is here. Table 5 is here. 3.4 Differences in perceived trust in information channels Principal component analysis (PCA) extracted two components based on the perceived trust in information channels of functional foods (see Table 6). The first component was described as trust in mass media channels (α=0.85), i.e., TV, newspaper, leaflet, and radio. The second component represented trust in friends’ recommendation and trial products. However, considering their lower internal consistency (α=0.56) and separate treatment in sociology, management, and marketing research, we divided them into two separate components, i.e., friends’ recommendation and trial 13

products. The former was characterized as the interpersonal channel and the latter as the direct channel. Friends’ recommendation was proved to be the most trusted information channel. Table 6 is here. 3.5 Effects of perceived trust in information channel on purchase intention The results of linear regression analyses revealed that perceived trust in each information channel had a positive effect on functional food purchase intention. Additionally, a negative interaction effect between trust in mass media channels and friends’ recommendation was detected. Table 7 is here. 4. Discussion Consumer perceptions and acceptance of functional foods are critical factors in developing and launching such products successfully, but little research has been conducted in Mainland China to reveal the underlying factors and consumer segments. This study explored the effects of carriers, benefits, and information channels about functional foods on purchase intention. The results demonstrated that the Chinese consumer purchase intentions toward functional foods were modest, different from the results of Siegrist et al. (2015) who found that Chinese consumers had a rather positive purchase intention. One plausible reason might be that the sample of Siegrist et al. (2015) was almost from cities, and the present study indicated that urban consumer had higher purchase intentions than rural consumers. Another reason might be that different functional food concepts were considered, and the present study also highlighted that Chinese consumers do not perceive functional foods as one homogenous group. 4.1 Effects of carriers and benefits The results were consistent with previous studies stating that carriers were more important factors 14

than benefits for perceived attractiveness and purchase intention (Ares & Gámbaro, 2007; Williams et al., 2008). Compared with non-alcoholic beverage and biscuit, yogurt seems to be a more promising product to carry the claimed benefits. Contrary to previous studies (van Kleef et al., 2005; Williams et al., 2008), benefits of improving the body’s natural defense system inspired higher purchase intentions than those of improving appearance, followed by benefits of reducing specific disease risks. Even though the means of benefits about diseases were the lowest, they were popular with certain groups. Women with a middle educational level seem to be the target community of functional foods for reducing body fat; the aged with middle educational level and upper middle income are the target community of functional foods for reducing the risks of osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease. These results imply that functional foods for improving the overall health are more suitable for the whole market, whereas functional foods about specific diseases should be designed for certain groups. These findings provide evidence for the statement that functional products with a holistic health image such as promotion of general well-being can survive due to their sufficient mass-market appeal, whereas those with highly specific health benefits such as prevention of specific diseases tend to fail due to appeal only to small market niches (Bech-Larsen & Scholderer, 2007). 4.2 Identification of consumer groups Consumers’ perceptions and acceptance of functional foods varied across the carriers and benefits. Generally, women and the older consumers are more interested in functional foods than other consumers are, in line with previous studies conducted in other regions (Ares et al., 2009; Brečić et al., 2014; Büyükkaragöz et al., 2014; Siegrist et al., 2008). Women prefer not only the benefits of improving overall health but also the benefits of improving physical beauty and personal image. The older consumers care for improving the body’s natural defense system as well as disease prevention 15

related to age growth. Urban consumers are more likely to prefer functional food than rural consumers do, but such preferences shrink along with the decline in attractiveness of carriers. The reasons for the results may be that the high levels of accessibility and affordability of functional foods in cities promote the purchase of urban consumers, but numerous information from products and other sources complicates consumers’ cognition and make them cautious when urban consumers face with less healthy and attractive carrier products. The married and single groups’ preferences for functional foods are uncertainty, which indicate that the marital status may not be a factor affecting consumers’ perceptions and acceptance of functional foods. Consumers with low education level account for the majority of the Apathetic Shoppers cluster and have no interest in any functional food, while consumers with middle education level are the majority of the Enthusiastic Supporters cluster. Meanwhile, the improvement of consumer education level does not necessarily increase the consumers’ purchase intention. The cognitive differences among respondents with different education levels may contribute to the results: low education level consumers have less nutrition and health awareness, or they do not believe in the benefits of functional foods; high education level consumers with a high level of nutrition knowledge make food choices more cautiously and conservatively. The results provide evidence for the “Cancian dip” hypothesis (Cancian, 1967; Rogers, 1983) that is the relations between socioeconomic status and innovation adoption should not be assumed to be linear. 4.3 Effects of perceived trust in information channels Perceived trust in friends' recommendation scored the highest, which could be relevant to China’s cultural environment. China is still an acquaintance society, although it is gradually changing to a stranger one during the transition from an agricultural society to industrial society (Chen, Zhang, Wu, Wang, Wang, & Li, 2017; Edric & Kochen, 1987). Chinese consumers are more likely to be influenced 16

by an acquaintance. They rely on the recommendation from their trustworthy acquaintances to identify information or products most interested to them or relevant to their needs (Bai et al., 2018; Chen, Zhang, Wu, Wang, Wang, & Li, 2017). Especially in the context of consumers’ low confidence in China's food industry (Mirosa & Mangan-Walker, 2018; Yin et al., 2017) due to the frequent food safety scandals (Lam et al., 2013; Yin et al., 2018), consumers weight recommendation created by reliable friends and trial products over information from mass media. Interestingly, although trust in mass media channels scored the lowest compared with trust in friends’ recommendation and trial products, their effects in predicting purchase intention were more remarkable. A possible explanation is that consumers cannot ascertain the quality of functional foods dominated by credence or non-experiential attributes before, during, or even after the consumption. To make purchase decisions, consumers have to form quality expectations, in which context mass media plays a more effective role. Notably, the effect of trust in friends’ recommendation on purchase intention in the biscuit context is weaker than in the yogurt and non-alcoholic beverage contexts. Conversely, the effect of trust in mass media is stronger synchronously. Reasons may be that consumers perceive biscuit as experiential attributes such as hedonic quality mainly related to sensory pleasure rather than credence or non-experiential attributes such as health-related quality. In this scenario, consumers may initiate heuristic processing, which is the norm in most aspects of daily life and requiring less cognitive energy and less detailed information, rather than systematic processing (Kahneman, 2011; Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). Therefore, information from mass media will be more effective in such a process due to their accessibility and understandability. Furthermore, the negative interaction between trust in mass media and friends’ recommendation on 17

purchase intention imply that consumers who value friends’ recommendation are inclined to resist information from the mass media, which is considered to be dominated by food companies and marketers conveying selective and biased information (Marks & Kamins, 1988; Chen, Duan, & Zhou, 2017). As a result, conflicting beliefs generate a negative interaction effect on purchase intention. The absence of the interaction effects between trust in trial products and trust in friends’ recommendation and mass media may be because the benefits of functional foods cannot be ascertained through trial products, despite they provide a direct and self-generated sensory experience and are perceived more trustworthy than indirect information from mass media (Kempf & Smith, 1998). As a result, consumers' trust in trial products is parallel to friends’ recommendation and mass media. Recently, Article 71 and 78 in Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China (2015 Revision) have stated that labels, instructions, and packaging of food cannot contain false or exaggerated information, nor can they make statements about disease prevention and treatment functions. These imply that the food industry must explore innovative communication strategies to deliver product information to their target consumers. Based on the results of the present study，three mainly marketing implications are put forward to help marketers fine-tune their marketing programs. First, improving consumers' trust in advertising communicated by mass media is still one of the most effective approaches. Second, trial products, the expensive and excellent marketing strategies, are necessary for General Supporter groups by creating a pre-purchase experience, reducing uncertainty and increasing demand for unfamiliar products. Lastly, the interpersonal channel seems to be the most important information diffusion channel in the complex decision-making process. More attention should be paid to the interpersonal networks under the Chinese acquaintance society, such as the role of the opinion leaders in an acquaintance network. 18

4.4 Limitations and future research Some limitations and future research should be noted. First, our data are somewhat dated relative to China's rapidly growing functional food market. However, individuals’ food preference and choices are strongly shaped by earlier decisions and habits which are influenced by past choices (Leng et al., 2017). Thus, the research provides a significant insight and better understanding of Chinese consumers’ perceptions of and preferences for functional foods. In addition, the present study fills the relevant research gaps of functional food in China and explores consumers’ cognition of information strategy in the functional foods decision-making process, providing a new perspective to the functional food industry and the scholars. To our knowledge, no research has directly compared perceived trust in mass media, friends’ recommendation and trial products. The results reveal their effects on different types of products. Although mass media are the lowest information channels, they are still more effective in eliciting purchase intention. To explore the features of trust in information from mass media will be an important direction for both the functional food industry and the academic. The highest trust in friends’ recommendation implies that electronic word of mouth (eWOM) from the circle of friends (e.g., WeChat and Weibo) may be an important factor in the functional food purchasing process for Chinese consumers, which should attract more attention from practitioners and researchers. Second, the convenience sample with a higher percentage of urban respondents than the rural may contribute a bias, which accounts for an over-representation of younger and higher educational level population. Future research should adopt a multistage, random cluster process to improve the representativeness. Third, respondents evaluated their perception by imagining the concepts without representing real products, and concepts in each questionnaire were presented following a fixed order, which may lead to the order effects. Future studies should include package information and active ingredients of functional foods 19

by adopting a choice experiment. Last, information strategies in the present study are not manipulated as this study is intended as pilot research on these issues. The extrapolations need to be further confirmed in experiments or real scenarios in various food contexts (hedonic and functional). Meanwhile, using a single five-point Likert item to measure trust in friends’ recommendation and trial products as a continuous variable in linear regression analyses has been debatable among scholars. One camp maintains that only nonparametric statistics should be used on Likert scale data as they are ordered categories and the intervals between values are not equal while the other camp maintains that using Likert scales in parametric tests is valid (Jamieson, 2004) and single-item measures of concrete construct are equally as valid as multiple-item measures (Bergkvist & Rossiter, 2007; Fuchs & Diamantopoulos, 2009; Graf & Landwehr, 2018). Though most of the studies conventionally treat the scale as a continuous variable into the linear regression model it should be cautious in using single-item measures. More factors should also be considered to explore how consumers process and respond to information strategies and the subsequent purchase behavior, such as exposure sequences of different information strategies, the valence of the trial experience, consumer affective responses, and interactive communication via new media. 5. Conclusion The current study has explored the roles of carriers, benefits, and information channel about functional foods influencing Chinese consumers’ purchase intention, extending previous work in China (Chen, 2011a, 2011b, 2013; Huang et al., 2019; Mirosa & Mangan-Walker, 2018; Siegrist et al., 2015). Results showed that Chinese consumers’ perceived attractiveness and purchase intention toward functional foods were more influenced by carrier products than claimed benefits. Consumers exhibited heterogeneous preferences for different combinations of carriers and benefits; however, the benefits of 20

improving the body’s natural defense system were most favored by all groups. In characterizing the consumer groups, women and the older consumer were more favorable toward functional foods. Low education level consumers were the least reluctant group to accept functional foods. These results imply that functional foods for improving the overall health are more suitable for the whole marketplace and those for specific health benefits appealing to small market niches are suitable to tailor for certain groups. Another result showed that in China's acquaintance society consumers perceived recommendation from friends the most trustworthy information channel about functional foods, followed by the trial products providing direct experience. Consumers who value friends’ recommendation were inclined to resist information from mass media. However, mass media were still more effective in eliciting purchase intention toward functional foods; consumers who trust mass media tended to be the enthusiastic supporters of functional foods. These suggest that mass media are irreplaceable in product information communication, trial products may be effective in changing consumers' hard attitudes, and acquaintance nets deserve more attention in persuading consumers to adopt new functional products. These results could provide the food industry with the right directions in developing attractive functional foods targeted at different consumer segments and communicating with consumers through active information channels. Acknowledgements This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grand number 71573103] and the Fundamental Research Funds of Jilin University [grand number 2017ZZ032]. However, the opinions expressed here do not reflect those of the funding agencies.

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Figures and tables

(a) Please indicate how attractive you perceived the following products, and would you intend to purchase them. Attractiveness Yogurt…

Purchase intention

Not at all attractive

Not very attractive

Generally

Somewhat attractive

Very attractive

…improves immunity

1

2

3

4

5

…

1

2

3

4

5

Definitely not purchase

Probably not purchase

Generally

Probably purchase

Definitely purchase

1

2

3

4

5

1

2

3

4

5

(b) Please indicate how much trust you have in different information channels about functional foods. Not trust at all

Not very trust

Generally

Somewhat trust

Completely trust

TV

1

2

3

4

5

…

1

2

3

4

5

Fig. 1. Example of the scale used by respondents to: (a) rate the perceived attractiveness and purchase intention of 24 functional foods, and (b) to rate the perceived trust in different information channels about functional foods.

29

Table 1 Socio-demographic characteristics of the sample and the results of comparing with China's 2010 census (N=1144, %). Characteristic

Sample

Censusa

Gender

χ2

Characteristic

0.125

Residence

Sample

Censusa

9.626**

Female

51.8

49.5

Urban

72.5

50.6

Male

48.2

50.5

Rural

27.5

49.4

Age

13.431***

Education

87.24***

18-35

61.3

36.9

Junior school or below

10.1

73.6

36-55

30.2

40.2

High school

30.5

15.3

Above 55

8.5

22.9

University or above

59.4

11.1

Marital status

χ2

Monthly income (RMB)

Married, with children

26.1

Below 3000

48.4

Married, no children

23.6

3001-5000

35.0

Single

50.3

Above 5000

16.6

Note: a China's 2010 census. χ2 was used to investigate differences between sample and the census. As there are no detailed

hierarchical data of marital status and monthly income for people older than 18 years in the China's 2010 census, we did not

compare them and report their χ2 values. **p<0.01, ***p<0.001.

30

Table 2 Means and standard deviations of perceived attractiveness and purchase intention toward three carriers and eight benefits measured as 24 carrier–benefit grids (1 = not at all and 5 = very/ definitely). Perceived attractiveness

Purchase intention

Yogurt

3.30 (1.14)a

3.28 (1.14)a

Non-alcoholic beverage

3.02 (1.21)b

3.07 (1.18)b

Biscuit

2.85 (1.22)c

2.87 (1.18)c

1. improves immunity

3.30 (1.19)a

3.34 (1.13)a

2. improves gastrointestinal function

3.26 (1.18)a

3.26 (1.15)a

3. relieves physical fatigue

3.11 (1.19)b

3.11 (1.16)b

4. delays senescence

3.05 (1.18)b

3.09 (1.15)b

5. improves facial skin health

3.02 (1.21)b,c

3.03 (1.19)b,c

6. reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease

2.92 (1.22)c,d

2.94 (1.20)c,d

7. reduces the risk of osteoporosis

2.93 (1.18)c,d

2.91 (1.15)d

8. reduces body fat

2.88 (1.23)d

2.92 (1.21)d

Carriers

Benefits

a,b,c,d

Mean values sharing the same letter within a column are not significantly different (p < 0.05).

31

Table 3 Demographic differences of perceived attractiveness and purchase intention.

Perceived attractiveness

Purchase intention

Yogurt

Non-alcoholic beverage

Biscuit

Yogurt

Non-alcoholic beverage

Biscuit

Age

2,6,7

1,2,4,5,6,7

1,2,4,6,7

2,6,7

1,4,5,6

2,4,6,7

Gender

1,2,3,4,5,7,8

5,8

5,8

1,2,4,5,8

5,8

2,4,5,8

Education

1,2,3,4,5,7,8

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8

1,2,3,4,6,7,8

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8

Marital status

2,4,6

4,6

1,4,6,7

2,3,5,6,7

2,3,7

6

Monthly income

1,3,6,7

1,3,4,6,7

1,6,7,8

3,6,7

1,3,4,6,7

1,2,6,7

Residence

2,4,5,6,7

3

7

1,2,4,6,7

3,4

4

Notes: Numbers represent eight types of benefits: 1–improves immunity, 2–improves gastrointestinal function, 3–relieves physical fatigue, 4–delays senescence, 5–improves facial skin health, 6–reduces the risk of

cardiovascular disease, 7–reduces the risk of osteoporosis, 8–reduces body fat. The numbers in each cell showed that perceived attractiveness and purchase intention of the corresponding benefits had significant

demographic-specific differences when attached the corresponding carrier (p<0.05). The same numbers within a row are bolded for perceived attractiveness and purchase intention respectively, which indicated that

32

perceived attractiveness and purchase intention of the corresponding benefits had the significant demographic-specific differences in all the three carriers. The details of demographic differences for each benefit-carrier

grid are shown in the supplementary material.

33

Table 4 Means of purchase intention of each carrier–benefit grid, and the results of purchase intention differences between the three clusters in each carrier (1 = not at all and 5 = definitely, N=1144). Yogurt

Benefits

Non-alcoholic beverage

Biscuit

Enthusiastic

General

Apathetic

Enthusiastic

General

Apathetic

Enthusiastic

General

Apathetic

Supporters

Supporters

Shoppers

Supporters

Supporters

Shoppers

Supporters

Supporters

Shoppers

(n=437,

(n=538,

(n=169,

(n=397,

(n=502,

(n=245,

(n=295,

(n=502,

(n=347,

38.2%)

47.0%)

14.8%)

34.7%)

43.9%)

21.4%)

25.8%)

43.9%)

30.3%)

improves immunity

4.20a

3.52b

2.24c

4.13a

3.47b

1.75c

4.16a

3.37b

1.84c

improves gastrointestinal function

4.11a

3.04b

1.74c

4.02a

2.86b

1.64c

3.98a

2.97b

1.65c

relieves physical fatigue

4.07a

3.12b

1.80c

4.04a

2.99b

1.63c

4.09a

3.06b

1.69c

delays senescence

4.09a

3.17b

1.78c

3.98a

3.15b

1.78c

3.98a

2.98b

1.71c

improves facial skin health

4.18a

3.48b

2.14c

4.04a

3.20b

1.88c

3.91a

3.26b

1.88c

reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease

3.99a

2.81b

1.73c

3.99a

2.79b

1.55c

3.99a

2.83b

1.68c

reduces the risk of osteoporosis

3.99a

2.70b

1.77c

3.92a

2.78b

1.60c

3.95a

2.84b

1.65c

34

reduces body fat

a, b, c

3.95a

2.87b

1.76c

3.85a

2.81b

1.64c

3.78a

2.91b

1.58c

Mean values sharing the same letter within a row are not significantly different (p < 0.05).

Table 5 Demographic differences over three clusters in three carriers, in percentage. Yogurt

Non-alcoholic beverage

Total

Enthusiastic

General

Apathetic

(N=1144

Supporters

Supporters

)

(n=437, 38.2%)

Enthusiastic

General

Apathetic

Shoppers

Supporters

Supporters

(n=538,

(n=169,

(n=397,

47.0%)

14.8%)

34.7%)

Gender

χ2

Enthusiastic

General

Apathetic

Shoppers

Supporters

Supporters

Shoppers

(n=502,

(n=245,

(n=295,

(n=502,

(n=347,

43.9%)

21.4%)

25.8%)

43.9%)

30.3%)

12.45**

Female

51.8

57.7

50.0

42.6

Age

Biscuit χ2

3.16

55.4

50.2

49.4

12.55*

2.63

54.6

52.6

48.4

7.28

1.70

18-35

61.3

59.5

64.9

54.4

58.7

62.7

62.4

58.3

62.4

62.2

36-55

30.2

29.3

28.4

37.9

30.2

29.1

32.2

31.9

29.5

29.7

8.5

11.2

6.7

7.7

11.1

8.2

5.3

9.8

8.2

8.1

Above 55

35

χ2

Yogurt

Non-alcoholic beverage

Total

Enthusiastic

General

Apathetic

(N=1144

Supporters

Supporters

)

(n=437, 38.2%)

Enthusiastic

General

Apathetic

Shoppers

Supporters

Supporters

(n=538,

(n=169,

(n=397,

47.0%)

14.8%)

34.7%)

Residence

Urban

Enthusiastic

General

Apathetic

Shoppers

Supporters

Supporters

Shoppers

(n=502,

(n=245,

(n=295,

(n=502,

(n=347,

43.9%)

21.4%)

25.8%)

43.9%)

30.3%)

6.35*

72.5

75.3

72.5

65.1

Marital status

Married, with

χ2

Biscuit χ2

7.21*

74.8

73.9

65.7

13.89**

χ2

1.71

72.5

74.1

70.0

2.29

3.56

26.1

26.5

22.7

36.1

25.4

25.5

28.6

25.8

25.3

27.7

23.6

24.3

25.3

16.6

25.7

22.7

22.0

24.1

25.7

20.2

50.3

49.2

52.0

47.3

48.9

51.8

49.4

50.2

49.0

52.2

children

Married, no

children

Single

Education

Junior school

35.08***

10.1

5.0

11.0

20.1

20.72***

5.0

11.6

36

15.1

19.35***

5.8

10.4

13.3

Yogurt

Non-alcoholic beverage

Total

Enthusiastic

General

Apathetic

(N=1144

Supporters

Supporters

)

(n=437, 38.2%)

χ2

Enthusiastic

General

Apathetic

Shoppers

Supporters

Supporters

(n=538,

(n=169,

(n=397,

47.0%)

14.8%)

34.7%)

Biscuit χ2

Enthusiastic

General

Apathetic

Shoppers

Supporters

Supporters

Shoppers

(n=502,

(n=245,

(n=295,

(n=502,

(n=347,

43.9%)

21.4%)

25.8%)

43.9%)

30.3%)

χ2

or below

High school

30.5

34.6

29.9

21.9

34.3

29.5

26.5

35.6

32.5

23.3

University or

59.4

60.4

59.1

58.0

60.7

59.0

58.4

58.6

57.2

63.4

above

Monthly

4.42

16.20**

8.92

income(RMB)

Below 3000

48.4

44.9

50.2

52.1

41.6

50.4

55.5

42.0

48.6

53.6

3001-5000

35.0

37.3

33.3

34.3

40.1

34.9

26.9

39.7

35.3

30.5

Above 5000

16.6

17.8

16.5

13.6

18.4

14.7

17.6

18.3

16.1

15.9

Notes: χ2 were used to investigate differences among clusters. *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001.

37

Table 6 Principal component analysis for perceived trust in information channel, and means and standard deviations of perceived trust in different information channels (1 = not at all and 5 = completely). Component 1

Component 2

Mean(SD)

loadings

loadings

(n=1144)

TV

.839

.078

3.06(1.10)

Newspaper

.876

.088

2.75(1.04)

Leaflet

.771

.291

2.69(1.04)

Radio

.749

.297

2.69(1.02)

.090

.844

3.66(0.96)

.248

.778

3.08(1.09)

Mass media channels

Interpersonal channel

Friends’ recommendation

Direct channel

Trial products

Notes: Loadings exceeding 0.5 are in boldface. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy = 0.823. Bartlett’s test of

sphericity: approximate χ2 (15) =2413.846; p=0.000. Method of extraction: principal axes. Method of rotation: varimax

normalization with Kaiser. The rotation has converged in three iterations.

38

Table 7 Results of linear regression analyses, with purchase intentions of three carriers as the dependent variables. Yogurt

Non-alcoholic beverage

Biscuit

Model1

Model2

Model3

Model1

Model2

Model3

Model1

Model2

Model3

Constant

2.06***

2.17***

2.16***

1.70***

1.79***

1.78***

1.68***

1.84***

1.86***

Mass media

0.15***

0.15***

0.15***

0.21***

0.21***

0.21***

0.23***

0.23***

0.23***

Friends’ recommendation

0.13***

0.11***

0.11***

0.12***

0.10**

0.10**

0.05*

0.02

0.02

Trial products

0.08**

0.07**

0.07**

0.09**

0.09**

0.09**

0.07**

0.07*

0.07*

Mass media*Friends

-0.07*

-0.07*

-0.09**

-0.09**

-0.07*

-0.07+

Mass media*Trial products

0.01

0.01

0.03

0.03

0.01

0.01

Friends*Trial products

-0.02

-0.02

-0.01

-0.01

-0.04

-0.04

Mass media*Trial*Friends

-0.01

-0.00

0.01

R2

0.15

0.16

0.16

0.15

0.16

0.16

0.11

0.12

0.12

F

13.43***

11.84***

11.21***

13.08***

11.51***

10.89***

9.63***

8.82***

8.35***

Notes: Friends—friends’ recommendation; Trial—trial products. A mass media score was created by calculating the mean of the scores for the

four items. The cross-product terms were mean centered prior to analysis. Unstandardized regression coefficients reported. The values of VIF for

the variables ranged from 1.02 to 1.82, less than 10, indicating that there were no severe linear relationships among variables. +p<0.1, *p<0.05,

**p<0.01, ***p<0.001, two-tailed tests.

39

Supplementary material Table S1. Demographic differences in perceived attractiveness and purchase intention toward yogurt (1 = not at all and 5 = very/ definitely, one-way ANOVA) Perceived attractiveness

Purchase intention

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

18-35

3.55a

3.64a

3.34a

3.27a

3.38a

3.08a

3.09a

3.13a

3.60a

3.63a

3.35a

3.26a

3.33a

3.02a

2.98a

3.14a

36-55

3.50a

3.33b

3.23a

3.23a

3.18a

3.13a

3.12a

3.15a

3.53a

3.38b

3.21a

3.27a

3.13a

3.17a

3.10a

3.04a

Above 55

3.74a

3.72a

3.39a

3.49a

3.35a

3.49b

3.44b

3.15a

3.68a

3.59a,b

3.44a

3.51a

3.22a

3.50b

3.43b

3.22a

Male

3.48a

3.47a

3.25a

3.20a

3.05a

3.12a

3.04a

2.92a

3.46a

3.41a

3.25a

3.20a

3.01a

3.07a

3.04a

2.95a

Female

3.63b

3.63b

3.38b

3.36b

3.56b

3.15a

3.22b

3.35b

3.71b

3.68b

3.38a

3.36b

3.49b

3.13a

3.07a

3.28b

Junior school or below

3.21a

3.28a

2.9a

3.01a

2.84a

2.98a

2.83a

2.79a

3.19a

3.06a

2.96a

2.93a

2.67a

2.89a

2.67a

2.72a

High school

3.65b

3.51a,b

3.38b

3.41b

3.32b

3.22a

3.21b

3.18b

3.58b

3.54b

3.42b

3.37b

3.30b

3.28b

3.22b

3.22b

University or above

3.56b

3.63b

3.35b

3.26a,b

3.40b

3.11a

3.14b

3.18b

3.66b

3.64b

3.33b

3.30b

3.34b

3.05a

3.04b

3.13b

Married, with children

3.56a

3.38a

3.23a

3.28a,b

3.18a

3.25a

3.22a

3.08a

3.52a

3.35a

3.17a

3.24a

3.09a

3.22a

3.21a

3.05a

Married, no children

3.66a

3.64b

3.40a

3.43b

3.35a

3.20a,b

3.16a

3.11a

3.61a

3.58b

3.46b

3.38a

3.27a,b

3.19a,b

3.06a,b

3.18a

Single

3.50a

3.61b

3.32a

3.21a

3.37a

3.04b

3.07a

3.19a

3.61a

3.64b

3.32a,b

3.26a

3.34b

3.00b

2.97b

3.13a

Below 3000

3.43a

3.53a

3.20a

3.19a

3.32a

3.02a

3.02a

3.12a

3.53a

3.55a

3.21a

3.22a

3.25a

2.99a

2.94a

3.07a

3001-5000

3.72b

3.61a

3.43b

3.35a

3.31a

3.23a,b

3.18a,b

3.12a

3.65a

3.60a

3.44b

3.33a

3.31a

3.22b

3.12ab

3.12a

3.57a,b

3.53a

3.39a,b

3.39a

3.31a

3.27b

3.35b

3.25a

3.64a

3.45a

3.38a,b

3.38a

3.18a

3.18a,b

3.26b

3.27a

Urban

3.59a

3.60a

3.35a

3.34a

3.37a

3.19a

3.17a

3.17a

3.63a

3.60a

3.35a

3.34a

3.30a

3.16a

3.11a

3.14a

Rural

3.46a

3.45b

3.22a

3.13b

3.18b

2.99b

3.02b

3.07a

3.49b

3.42b

3.22a

3.14b

3.16a

2.95b

2.92b

3.06a

Age

Gender

Educational level

Marital status

Monthly income(RMB)

Above 5000 Residence

a,b Mean values sharing the different letter within a column are significantly different (p<0.05), highlighted in bold. Number 1-8 represent eight types of benefits: 1– improves immunity, 2–improves gastrointestinal function, 3–relieves physical fatigue, 4–delays senescence, 5–improves facial skin health, 6–reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, 7–reduces the risk of osteoporosis, 8– reduces body fat. 40

Table S2. Demographic differences in perceived attractiveness and purchase intention toward non-alcoholic beverage (1 = not at all and 5 = very/ definitely, one-way ANOVA) Perceived attractiveness

Purchase intention

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

18-35

3.22a

3.23a,b

3.22a

2.91a

2.99a

2.79a

2.83a

2.82a

3.30a

3.23a

3.18a

2.98a

3.00a

2.88a

2.85a

2.91a

36-55

3.24a

3.03a

3.08a

3.06a

2.85a,b

2.82a

2.86a

2.76a

3.28a

3.12a

3.06a

3.11a

2.92a

2.94a

2.96a

2.88a

Above 55

3.70b

3.43b

3.22a

3.39b

3.28b

3.40b

3.43b

2.94a

3.71b

3.35a

3.17a

3.52b

3.29b

3.40b

3.35b

3.10a

Male

3.30a

3.17a

3.18a

2.98a

2.84a

2.89a

2.89a

2.68a

3.35a

3.15a

3.15a

3.01a

2.89a

2.95a

2.89a

2.82a

Female

3.24a

3.20a

3.17a

3.02a

3.09b

2.82a

2.89a

2.93b

3.31a

3.27a

3.13a

3.12a

3.11b

2.94a

2.95a

3.01b

Junior school or below

3.08a

2.87a

2.74a

2.74a

2.70a

2.70a

2.63a

2.57a

2.94a

2.78a

2.71a

2.66a

2.58a

2.70a

2.66a

2.59a

High school

3.44b

3.20b

3.16b

3.17b

3.05b

2.98b

2.99b

2.91b

3.48b

3.29b

3.18b

3.19b

3.09b

3.07b

3.03b

3.01b

3.21a,b

3.23b

3.26b

2.95a,b

2.97a,b

2.81a,b

2.88a,b

2.80a,b

3.32b

3.24b

3.20b

3.06b

3.03b

2.92a,b

2.91a,b

2.93b

Married, with children

3.33a

3.09a

3.07a

3.13a

2.87a

2.98a

2.97a

2.97a

3.31a

3.04a

2.97a

3.13a

2.94a

2.99a

2.93a,b

2.87a

Married, no children

3.36a

3.18a

3.22a

3.04a,b

2.99a

2.94a,b

2.94a

2.86a

3.39a

3.30b

3.22b

3.10a

3.05a

3.02a

3.09b

2.98a

Single

3.19a

3.24a

3.21a

2.91b

3.01a

2.74b

2.82a

2.80a

3.31a

3.26a,b

3.20b

3.02a

3.01a

2.88a

2.84a

2.92a

Below 3000

3.11a

3.10a

3.04a

2.85a

2.91a

2.67a

2.77a

2.75a

3.20a

3.12a

3.01a

2.95a

2.93a

2.78a

2.74a

2.86a

3001-5000

3.47b

3.30a

3.32b

3.17b

3.08a

2.99b

2.94a,b

2.86a

3.48b

3.33a

3.30b

3.18b

3.09a

3.08b

3.08b

2.95a

3.29a,b

3.17a

3.28b

3.06a,b

2.91a

3.08b

3.11b

2.88a

3.39a,b

3.22a

3.22a,b

3.16a,b

3.03a

3.16b

3.14b

3.01a

Urban

3.28a

3.22a

3.25a

3.04a

2.99a

2.89a

2.93a

2.83a

3.36a

3.25a

3.22a

3.12a

3.04a

2.98a

2.95a

2.94a

Rural

3.23a

3.09a

2.99b

2.89a

2.91a

2.75a

2.79a

2.77a

3.26a

3.11a

2.94b

2.91b

2.89a

2.86a

2.85a

2.87a

Age

Gender

Educational level

University or above Marital status

Monthly income(RMB)

Above 5000 Residence

a,b Mean values sharing the different letter within a column are significantly different (p<0.05), highlighted in bold. Number 1-8 represent the types of benefits. For description of benefits, see the notes of Table S1.

41

Table S3. Demographic differences in perceived attractiveness and purchase intention toward biscuit (1 = not at all and 5 = very/ definitely, one-way ANOVA) Perceived attractiveness

Purchase intention

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

18-35

3.01a

3.06a

2.86a

2.81a

2.78a

2.68a

2.69a

2.69a

3.09a

3.05a,b

2.84a

2.86a

2.85a

2.70a

2.71a

2.74a

36-55

3.10a

2.92a

2.76a

2.89a

2.72a

2.80a

2.77a

2.68a

3.07a

2.87a

2.83a

2.94a,b

2.77a

2.86a,b

2.78a

2.71a

Above 55

3.56b

3.36b

2.97a

3.21b

2.92a

3.17b

3.27b

2.78a

3.37a

3.19b

3.03a

3.17b

2.90a

3.05b

3.11b

2.73a

Male

3.08a

3.03a

2.83a

2.81a

2.60a

2.81a

2.76a

2.54a

3.05a

2.94a

2.81a

2.82a

2.66a

2.85a

2.76a

2.58a

Female

3.09a

3.05a

2.85a

2.93a

2.94b

2.72a

2.77a

2.84b

3.16a

3.08b

2.90a

2.99b

2.99b

2.71a

2.77a

2.87b

Junior school or below

2.93a

2.79a

2.54a

2.69a

2.55a

2.65a

2.61a

2.43a

2.73a

2.52a

2.59a

2.51a

2.49a

2.57a

2.56a

2.43a

High school

3.29b

3.10b

2.94b

3.05b

2.86a

2.93b

2.91b

2.79b

3.32b

3.09b

2.93b

3.14b

2.98b

2.96b

2.92b

2.87b

University or above

3.01a

3.05a,b

2.84b

2.81a,b

2.77a

2.69a,b

2.72a,b

2.70a,b

3.07c

3.05b

2.86b

2.86c

2.81b

2.72a,b

2.72a,b

2.71b

Married, with children

3.20a

3.08a

2.83a

3.01a

2.72a

2.90a

2.94a

2.67a,b

3.07a

2.88a

2.86a

2.94a

2.73a

2.82a,b

2.81a

2.66a

Married, no children

3.23a

3.00a

2.89a

2.98a

2.91a

2.90a

2.81a,b

2.86b

3.24a

3.02a

2.90a

2.98a

2.88a

2.93b

2.86a

2.77a

single

2.96b

3.04a

2.81a

2.75b

2.73a

2.62b

2.65b

2.64a

3.07a

3.07a

2.84a

2.86a

2.86a

2.69a

2.70a

2.75a

Below 3000

2.92a

3.02a

2.75a

2.77a

2.72a

2.62a

2.65a

2.56a

2.98a

2.99a,b

2.78a

2.81a

2.80a

2.65a

2.66a

2.68a

3001-5000

3.25b

3.10a

2.91a

2.97a

2.85a

2.85a,b

2.81a,b

2.79a,b

3.24b

3.11b

2.89a

3.03a

2.91a

2.84a,b

2.82a,b

2.76a

Above 5000

3.22b

3.01a

2.94a

2.95a

2.79a

2.98b

3.01b

2.90b

3.22b

2.86a

3.00a

2.95a

2.74a

3.02b

2.97b

2.83a

Urban

3.10a

3.07a

2.85a

2.88a

2.80a

2.79a

2.81a

2.69a

3.14a

3.03a

2.86a

2.95a

2.84a

2.78a

2.78a

2.72a

Rural

3.03a

2.96a

2.81a

2.84a

2.71a

2.68a

2.64b

2.72a

3.02a

2.94a

2.84a

2.79b

2.80a

2.77a

2.71a

2.75a

Age

Gender

Educational level

Marital status

Monthly income(RMB)

Residence

a,b Mean values sharing the different letter within a column are significantly different (p<0.05), highlighted in bold. Number 1-8 represent the types of benefits. For description of benefits, see the notes of Table S1. Highlights: 42

Carriers are more vital factors than benefits for purchase intention. Functional foods for improving the overall health are suitable for the whole market. Upgrading education level does not necessarily increase purchase intention. Friends’ recommendation is the most trusted information channel. Mass media have remarkable effects in eliciting purchase intention.

43