UNIVERSITY OF VAASA 

 

SCHOOL OF MARKETING AND COMMUNICATION 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anni Paunisaari 

 

THE ROLE OF NUTRITION AND HEALTH CLAIMS IN THE PURCHASING 

OF FUNCTIONAL BEVERAGES 

 

Effects on purchasing intent among Finnish and American consumers 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Master’s Thesis in  

International Business 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VAASA 2019 



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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

 

 

1. INTRODUCTION 11 

1.1. Research interest and gap 13 

1.2. Purpose, research question and objectives 15 

1.3. Scope of the study 16 

1.3.1. Delimitations 16 

1.3.2. Definitions 18 

1.4. Structure of the study 18 

2. THE FUNCTIONAL FOOD AND BEVERAGES ENVIRONMENT 20 

2.1. The emergence of functional food 21 

2.2. Regulatory frameworks 22 

2.2.1. Regulations in Finland 22 

2.2.2. Regulations in the U.S. 23 

2.3. Functional food market 24 

2.3.1. Functional beverages market 26 

2.4. Attributes of functional products 27 

2.4.1. Functional beverages 28 

2.4.2. Fortified waters 28 

2.5. Functional foods and consumer attitudes 29 

2.5.1. The cognitive component of attitude 31 

2.5.2. The affective component of attitude 32 

2.5.3. The conative component of attitude 34 

3. CLAIMS ADVERTISING IN FUNCTIONAL BEVERAGES 36 

3.1. Health and nutrition claims 37 

3.1.1. Regulation in the European Union 37 

3.1.2. Regulation in the U.S. 38 

3.2. Claims and the consumer 38 

3.2.1. Knowledge and perception of claims 40 

3.2.2. Emotions in correlation with claims 41 

3.2.3. Claims in increasing purchasing intent 43 

4. PURCHASING OF FUNCTIONAL BEVERAGES 44 

4.1. Consumer behaviour in the context of functional food 44 

4.1.1. Personal factors 45 

4.1.2. Cultural factors 47 



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4.2. Developing the theoretical framework 55 

4.3. Hypotheses creation 56 

5. METHODOLOGY 61 

5.1. Research philosophy 61 

5.2. Research approach 62 

5.3. Research method and strategy 63 

5.3.1. Cross-sectional survey 64 

5.4. Data collection technique 65 

5.4.1. Pilot study 66 

5.5. Questionnaire design 66 

5.5.1. Question types 67 

5.6. Data sampling 67 

5.7. Collection of data 68 

5.8. Strategy for data analysis 69 

5.8.1. Variables and measures 70 

5.8.2. Dependent variables 70 

5.8.3. Independent variables 71 

5.9. Statistical analysis techniques 74 

5.9.1. Assumptions and mean comparisons 75 

5.9.2. Correlations 75 

5.9.3. Regression analyses 75 

5.10. Reliability and validity 76 

6. ANALYSIS AND RESULTS 77 

6.1. Descriptive statistics 77 

6.2. Motivation to process health and/or nutrition claims 80 

6.2.1. Variables’ influence on motivation to process 81 

6.3. Ability to process health and/or nutrition claims 83 

6.3.1. Variables’ influence on ability to process 83 

6.4. Favourable perception towards product concept 84 

6.4.1. Variables’ influence on favourable perception 85 

6.6. Fortified water consumption 87 

6.7. Cultural differences and fortified water consumption 87 

6.8. Summary of findings 88 

7. DISCUSSION 91 

7.1. Consumers’ motivation to process health and/or nutrition claims 91 

7.2. Consumers’ ability to process health and/or nutrition claims 94 



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7.3. Positive evaluations prompted by health and/or nutrition claims 97 

7.4. Relation between motivation and ability 101 

7.5. Fortified water consumption 102 

7.6. Culture and fortified water consumption 104 

7.7. Country comparison 105 

7.8. Contribution of the study 107 

7.9. Limitations 109 

7.10. Practical and managerial implications 110 

7.11. Suggestions for future research 111 

7.12. Conclusions 112 

REFERENCES 114 

APPENDIX 1.  Examples of authorised claims in the European Union 130 

APPENDIX 2. Examples of authorised claims in the U.S. 131 

APPENDIX 3.  Questionnaire 132 

APPENDIX 4.  Informed consent form for U.S. survey 136 

APPENDIX 5.  IRB approval letter for conducting a survey 137 

 

LIST OF FIGURES 

 

Figure 1. Thesis structure 19 

Figure 2. Tri-component attitude model 31 
Figure 3. Modified input-process-output model of consumer behaviour 39 

Figure 4. Theoretical framework of the study 56 
Figure 5. Thesis research onion 61 

 

LIST OF TABLES 

 

Table 1. Definitions for most significant terms 18 

Table 2. Functional food definitions based on region 24 
Table 3. Commonly stated health benefits of the most used vitamins and minerals 29 
Table 4. Definitions of Hofstede's cultural dimensions 48 
Table 5. Country comparison based on dimension scores 48 
Table 6. Summated scales 74 

Table 7. Descriptive statistics Finland 79 
Table 8. Descriptive statistics U.S. 80 

Table 9. Use frequency of functional foods and fortified waters in Finland and the U.S.

 80 
Table 10. Mean comparison - Motivation to process 81 
Table 11. Association between health regime status and motivation to process 81 
Table 12. Association between state of health and motivation to process 82 

Table 13. Regression analysis summary for motivation to process health and/or nutrition 

claims. 82 



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Table 14. Mean comparison - Ability to process 83 
Table 15. Regression analysis summary for ability to process health and/or nutrition 

claims 84 
Table 16. Mean comparison - Favourable perception 85 
Table 17. Regression analysis summary for favourable perception prompted by health 

and/or nutrition claims 86 
Table 18. Correlation between motivation and ability to process health and/or nutrition 

claims 86 
Table 19. Regression analysis summary for fortified water consumption 87 
Table 20. Correlation between fortified water consumption and uncertainty avoidance

 88 
Table 21. Correlation between fortified water consumption and masculinity 88 
Table 22. Summary of findings 90 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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UNIVERSITY OF VAASA 

School of Marketing and Communication 

Author:    Anni Paunisaari  

Topic of the Thesis: The role of nutrition and health claims in the 

purchasing of functional beverages: Effects on 

purchasing intent among Finnish and American 

consumers 

Name of the Supervisor:  Peter Gabrielsson 

Degree: Master of Science in Economics and Business 

Administration 

Master’s Programme:  International Business    

Year of Entering the University: 2015      

Year of Completing the Thesis: 2019   Pages: 138 

 
ABSTRACT 

 

The motivation for this thesis emerged from the era of health-oriented eating. Consumers 

are increasingly more aware of the impact proper nutrition has on the state of health and 

more willing to adopt health-oriented changes into their diets and eating habits. 

Understanding how functional foods and beverages fit into this development and how 

health and nutrition claims as marketing efforts shape individuals purchasing intent is 

relevant for individuals, companies, and societies in promoting healthy eating. 

 

The research question of this thesis focuses on the role of health and nutrition claims in 

influencing the purchasing intent of functional beverages among Finnish and American 

consumers. Additionally, it aims to shed light on the motivations behind functional 

beverage purchases, explore how claims are used as a mean of marketing, and study the 

interplay between consumer characteristics and claims advertising – all from a cross-

cultural point of view.  

 

The findings suggest that functional beverages do not share the same exceptional, 

positive position in the minds of consumers as other functional products. The concept of 

fortified waters and the claims used in them are more prone to criticism and distrust due 

to the health-enhancing effects being perceived as an added benefit, not a “solution” to a 

health problem. Furthermore, significant differences between Finnish and American 

consumers exist; while the former perceives consuming fortified water as a balancing act 

between the utilitarian value of staying healthy and the hedonic value of enjoyment, the 

latter acts more on personal preferences indicating a more polarized relationship between 

the two values. 

 

Research limitations, including the regional scope and specific characteristics of the 

study samples and research design, affect the generalizability of results to a wider 

population. Such action should be taken with caution. 

 

 
KEYWORDS: functional food; functional beverages; fortified water; health claims; 

nutrition claims; marketing, decision-making; purchasing intent 



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1. INTRODUCTION 

 

Food consumption in modern societies has experienced multiple developments during 

recent years marking the era of health-oriented eating (Niva 2007). The contemporary 

public discussions regarding food emphasize its role as not only a mean to get essential 

nutrients but as a way to improve individuals’ physical and mental well-being while 

preventing diseases (Jauho & Niva 2013; Menrad 2003). Consumers are, therefore, 

increasingly aware of the impact proper nutrition has on the state of health and are more 

willing to adopt health-oriented changes into their diets and eating habits (Niva 2007). 

This development has significant implications for societies globally as healthier food 

decisions can help ease the burdens overconsumption and obesity among other nutrition-

related diseases impose on healthcare systems (Kaur & Singh 2017; Menrad 2003).   

 

Another development within food consumption is a phenomenon regarded as the 

“scientification” of eating. Nutrition and biomedical research together with technological 

developments bring forth detailed knowledge on the relationship between nutrition and 

health. (Niva 2007.) This allows food industries to innovate and produce novel food 

products with specific health benefits and reformulate existing ones to match the desires 

of health-conscious consumers (Jauho & Niva 2013; Nielsen 2015). Food attributes such 

as sugar, trans and saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium are reduced or eliminated from 

products whereas protein and fiber are added to products. (Nielsen 2015.) This growing 

awareness among consumers coupled together with scientific advancements have 

contributed to the emergence of a new food category referred to as functional foods. These 

functional products are foods that have health-enhancing effects beyond ordinary 

nutritional ones yet are consumed as part of a normal diet (de Boer & Bast 2015). 

 

According to the Global Health and Wellness Report by Nielsen (2015), consumers 

globally look for functional foods that either reduce the risk of disease and/or promote 

good health. Food manufacturers are responding proactively to this trend by bringing 

novel – and highly profitable – functional products to the market which purport specific 

health benefits. One of the most prominent and fastest growing segments within the 

functional food sector is the functional beverages family which is expected to reach a 

global market value of 93.6 billion US$ in 2019 (Cision 2018; Marete, Jacquier & 



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O’Riordan 2011). Health-consciousness and busy lifestyles of today’s consumers along 

with the idea of “healthiness-on-the-go” have prompted a rising demand for convenience 

beverages with functional attributes. Ingredients such as vitamins, amino acids, 

probiotics, and Omega-3 fatty acids are added to beverages to provide specific health 

benefits (e.g. boosting metabolism, controlling inflammation) and/or reduce the risk of 

disease (e.g. fatigue, nutritional deficiencies). (Mordor Intelligence 2018.) 

 

The above-mentioned health trends are also visible in food packaging, where presented 

information is more and more commonly linked to health benefits (Masson, Debucquet, 

Fischler & Merdji 2016). Healthy food decisions are facilitated through nutrition 

information such as labelling and health and nutrition claims. Although the underlying 

purpose of these labels and claims is to improve decision making by conveying relevant 

food content and health benefit information to the consumers, they can also be 

misunderstood, lack scientific proof, be vague or even false. (Provencher & Jacob 2016; 

van Trijp & van Der Lans 2007.) Several cases have been reported where companies have 

used false or unproven claims to increase profits and been found guilty of deceptive 

marketing and misleading consumers. These cases have called for stricter regulations of 

food companies’ communication strategies. (Katan 2004.) 

 

Based on experience, functional foods’ and beverages’ potential should be promising. 

Their definition – and main selling proposition for that matter – of being products 

consumed as part of a normal diet but being modified to deliver health-enhancing effects 

beyond ordinary nutritional ones seems to solve the dilemma between health and habits. 

As consumers want to buy healthy foods yet simultaneously are reluctant to change their 

(unhealthy) eating habits, functional foods enable individuals to lead a healthier lifestyle 

without changing their diet. However, based on previous studies, accepting functional 

foods as the solution to the health vs. habits dilemma varies between countries and 

Europeans have been found to be less accepting in comparison to Americans. Since 

consumers can be expected to substitute conventional food products with functional ones 

only if the latter is perceived comparably healthy, country- and culture-dependent 

differences in acceptance rates may be clarified by exploring different perceptions of how 

a food product is deemed healthy. (Bech-Larsen & Grunert 2003; Jonas & Beckmann 

1998.) Thus, studying the use of health and nutrition claims – methods utilized in 



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conveying health information and influencing the healthiness perception – in the 

marketing of functional beverages from a cross-cultural point of view proves to be 

important. 

 

1.1.  Research interest and gap 

 

This thesis is based on a personal interest in healthy eating and food products containing 

health-enhancing attributes. Studying how health-conscious purchasing decisions are 

made and what impacts them is interesting as it has significant implications not only on 

an individualistic but also on a societal level. Obesity and other nutrition-related health 

issues such as high blood pressure and risk of cardiovascular disease are serious global 

problems affecting the life expectancy of societies negatively while simultaneously 

increasing the costs of health care (Kaur & Singh 2017; Menrad 2003). Although it is 

ultimately consumers’ decision which foods they decide to buy and whether they take 

care of their state of health, large consumer goods companies and their marketing units 

are responsible for providing the market with countless of high-calorie treats and putting 

billions into directing consumers’ decisions and behaviour into buying them (Cosgrove-

Mather 2006). With food products, many consumers fail to pay attention to the number 

of calories and nutritional value when foods are shown as healthy even if they are not 

(Chandon & Wansink 2007). This raises a dilemma between market demand and the sense 

of social responsibility – or lack thereof – in companies (Cosgrove-Mather 2006). 

 

The purpose of health and nutrition claims is to help consumers make better-informed 

purchasing decisions and food choices (Verbeke, Scholderer & Lähteenmäki 2009). 

However, some food companies have capitalised on this with claims advertising that 

merely creates an illusion that one is making a health-conscious decision with the reality 

being something else (Gilliland 2016). This has resulted in the controversial and complex 

nature of food advertising and consumers’ scepticism towards health claims (Horovitz 

2015). Therefore, studying the use of health and nutrition claims in the marketing of 

functional foods creates the possibility to explore what kind of scientifically substantiated 

claims attract consumers and how they can help facilitate and support healthy purchasing 

decisions. Building a framework for ethically sound and socially responsible marketing 

among functional foods is of great importance as the underlying intention of the food 



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category is to enhance health and/or prevent diseases. Misleading, scientifically invalid, 

or false claims take away from the socially conscious purpose of functional foods.  

 

This study on the role of health and nutrition claims in the marketing of functional 

beverages and the impact on decision making among Finnish and American consumers 

strives to advance the study field of functional food consumption but also on a broader 

scale the international marketing communications discipline within the context of food. 

Previous studies have explored the use of various marketing communications methods 

such as claims, symbols, and labels purporting health-related information and examined 

their role in consumer behaviour. These studies have been conducted on several different 

product categories ranging from breakfast cereal to packaged meals (e.g. Shaefer, 

Hooker, Neal & Stanton 2016) and in several different countries (e.g. North America, 

Schaefer et al. 2016; Scandinavia, Neuman, Osowski, Sydner & Fjellstrom 2014; and 

Southern Europe, Carrillo, Fiszman, Lähteenmäki & Varela 2014). Cross-cultural studies 

within this field have also been conducted mostly between countries exhibiting different 

food cultures (e.g. Denmark and Spain, Carrillo et al. 2014), different cultural values (e.g. 

Denmark and the U.S., Bech-Larsen & Grunert 2003), and/or different topic-specific 

consumer perceptions (e.g. food-neophobia in Russia and Germany, Dolgopolova, 

Teuber & Bruschi 2015). However, studies comparing Finland and the U.S. are almost 

non-existent and studies exploring the use of health-related information on beverages 

specifically very limited – this thesis aims to change that. 

 

In addition to this study advancing the field of international marketing communications 

in the context of food, the thesis also strives to contribute to the novel study field of 

functional foods. It does so by addressing a research gap in three domains. First, 

functional beverages and the use of health and nutrition claims in them have not been 

studied widely by academia despite the segment being the fastest growing within the 

functional food sector (Marete et al. 2011). Many research papers have focused their 

efforts on health and nutrition claims role in the marketing of dairy products, oils and fats 

(e.g. margarine spreads), and confectionary (e.g. Padhi et al. 2015; van Kleef, van Trijp 

& Luning 2005). Second, studies that have been conducted within the field of functional 

beverages have focused on dairy- or fruit-based drinks and claims fitting to these 

categories (e.g. Rebouças, Rodrigues, Freitas, Ferreira & Costa 2017; Sabbe, Verbeke, 



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Deliza, Matta & van Damme 2009). This paper takes a unique stance as it focuses on 

vitamin and mineral enriched water-based beverages (i.e. fortified waters). Third, 

although studies on health claims have been conducted mostly in the United States (U.S.) 

and in Northern European countries (Masson, Debucquet, Fischler & Merdji 2016) to 

which the context of this thesis also applies to, comparisons between the U.S. and Finland 

have not been presented in earlier studies. This thesis achieves that by providing cultural 

and other contextual differences between the two countries and their consumers in the 

process of acquiring functional beverages prompted by health and nutrition claims.  

 

1.2. Purpose, research question and objectives 

 

As the role of healthy food products is becoming more and more important and consumers 

globally are more health-conscious than ever (Gustafson 2017), studying the consumption 

and purchasing of food products with health benefits is highly relevant. Furthermore, the 

significant rise in the consumption of functional beverages and the consumer trends 

behind it (Cision 2018; Marete et al. 2011) highlight the suitability of this functional food 

segment for future research. The study focuses on the U.S. and Finland making it possible 

to study cultures with varying diffusion rates, regulatory frameworks, and consumer 

characteristics. Consumers’ attitudes towards the product grouping differ between the two 

nations due to cultural differences in general perceptions about health, nutritional 

awareness, and perceived importance and characteristics of functional foods among other 

things. As values are abstract beliefs about desirable goals that have a significant impact 

on attitudes and behaviours, it is sensible to use differences in cultural values as the basis 

for selecting countries (i.e. Finland and the U.S.)  to be compared in this study. (Bech-

Larsen, Grunert & Poulsen 2001.) The cultural differences presented in this study have 

been based on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and the differing country scores between 

Finland and the U.S. 

 

The aim of this research is to deepen the overall understanding and knowledge on the 

topic of health and nutrition claims’ impact on the purchasing of functional beverages – 

more specifically of fortified waters. Understanding how marketing through claims 

affects consumers’ purchasing intent can help facilitate healthier purchasing decisions in 

terms of food. Hence, the research question is as follows: 



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(1) How do health and nutrition claims affect the purchasing intent of functional 

beverages among Finnish and American consumers? 

 

To support the research question and guide the direction of the thesis, three objectives are 

established. These objectives will make the process of answering the main research 

question more explicit and clarify the action steps needed in the writing process. Hence, 

the objectives are: 

 

(1) To examine Finnish and American consumers’ motivations for buying 

functional beverages   

 

(2) To explore the use of health and nutrition claims as a marketing mean, and 

examine the effect on purchasing decisions 

 

(3) To study the interplay between consumer characteristics and claims 

advertising from a cross-cultural point of view 

 

1.3. Scope of the study 

 

This section defines what has been excluded intentionally from the research and clarifies 

the key terms used in the thesis. The delimitations and definitions of the study are 

presented in the following subsections. 

 

1.3.1. Delimitations 

 

As the purpose of this study is to examine the impact health and nutrition claims have on 

the purchasing intent of functional beverages among Finnish and American consumers 

some delimitations are present and need to be elaborated further. First, the thesis will only 

focus on functional food products. As there are many definitions for the term but no 

official or commonly accepted definition, this research will use the working definition by 

the European Commission Concerted Action on Functional Food Science in Europe 

(FUFOSE) which is elaborated in the subsection definitions. Therefore, to be in line with 

the working definition, the thesis will not take into account products considered organic, 

naturally healthy foods, or dietary supplements, for instance.   



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Second, as the functional food and beverages market is diverse in terms of products, the 

scope of the study has been narrowed down to ensure relevance and generalisability of 

research results. Therefore, functional beverages – the fastest growing functional segment 

(Cision 2018) – is chosen to be the focus of the study due to its prominent stance in both 

the selected functional food markets. However, as there are many different types of 

functional beverages the range of this research has further been refined by choosing to 

focus solely on fortified waters. This particular product family has not yet received 

attention within the functional food research domain (cf. dairy- or fruit-based drinks) 

making it an attractive alternative and this thesis a novel approach advancing the study 

field of functional food consumption. 

 

Third, as the aim of the study is to explore the impact health and nutrition cues have on 

the purchase intent of health-enhancing products, large entities of the consumer buying 

process will fall out of the scope of this research. Focus will be laid only on the point of 

purchase where package information such as health and nutrition claims have an impact. 

This leaves out other essential parts of the purchasing process such as need recognition, 

information search, and post purchase behaviour (Bareham 1995: 5). Furthermore, this 

study will focus solely on personal and cultural factors impacting purchase leaving out 

other influencing variables such as psychological and social factors. Fourth, although 

previous research has acknowledged other product characteristics that might impact 

consumer preference of functional beverages (e.g. Kaur & Singh 2017), this research will 

only take into account health and nutrition claims as information cues. Therefore, 

influential determinants such as taste, price, and other visual or sensory cues in packaging 

will be left out of the study even though these might have an impact on the purchasing 

intent of consumers in a real-life setting. 

 

Finally, the context of the study has also been narrowed down to only consider the food 

and nutrition industries and consumers in the United States and Finland. These two 

countries have been chosen based on access to research respondents and differences in 

the food and nutrition industries and consumption patterns. Furthermore, examining two 

countries and their consumers assures that the international perspective is present and that 

cultural comparisons can be made. The number of countries (i.e. two) was based on the 

fact that a more in-depth cross-country analysis on functional beverage purchases could 



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be made. To conclude, this thesis will focus solely on the purchasing intent and decision 

making of functional beverages prompted by health and nutrition claims. As a disclaimer, 

the purpose of this research is not to study or determine whether functional beverages 

actually convey significant health benefits nor is the intention to make dietary suggestions 

as the effectiveness of such products on different individuals cannot be certified. 

 

1.3.2. Definitions 

 

For clarification, the most significant terms of the thesis are defined as follows. 

 

Term  Definition 

Functional 

food 

 

 

 

“Refers to a food that beneficially affects one or more target functions in the 

body beyond adequate nutritional effects in a way that is relevant to either an 

improved state of health and well-being and/or reduction of risk of disease. It is 

consumed as part of a normal food pattern. It is not a pill, a capsule or any form 

of dietary supplement.” (European Commission 2016). 

Functional 

beverage 

Refers to a non-alcoholic drink containing ingredients such as vitamins, 

minerals, amino acids, or added fruit and vegetable ingredients which are 

claimed to have specific health benefits beyond those of regular nutrition 

(Medical Dictionary 2018). 

Fortified 

water 

Refers to a functional beverage with added fortifying compounds such as 

minerals and vitamins. Commercial names in the marketplace include fortified 

water, vitamin water, power water, and fitness water. (Mohammadi et al. 2015.) 

Nutrition 

claim 

Refers to a statement or a suggestion that a food contains beneficial nutritional 

properties, such as “low fat”, “no added sugar”, and “high in protein” (EFSA 

2018). 

Health 

claim 

Refers to any statement that certain health benefits can result from consuming a 

given food, for example a food can help reinforce the body’s natural defences 

(EFSA 2018). 

Purchase 

intent 

Refers to “the sum total of cognitive, affective, and behavioural towards 

adoption, purchase, and use of the product/service” (Dadwal 2019). 

 

Table 1. Definitions for most significant terms 

 

1.4. Structure of the study 

 



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The outline of this thesis follows the general structure presented widely in academia (e.g. 

Robson 2002; Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill 2016: 531). It fits particularly well the 

deductive approach of this research where literature is first reviewed to establish the 

current state of knowledge on the topic at hand. This further guides the adoption of a 

fitting method and finally the process comes to a close when findings are reported in a 

factual manner and their contribution to the state of knowledge is considered carefully. 

(Saunders et al 2016: 531.) To specify, the paper begins with the introduction consisting 

of the background, interest, research gap, and scope of the study. Furthermore, research 

question and supporting objectives are presented in this section. Next, the focus moves 

onto the literature review and the theoretical framework of the study, namely, functional 

food and beverages environment, claims advertising, and purchasing of functional 

beverages. Subsequently, the paper discusses the methodological choices (e.g. research 

philosophy and design) and moves onwards by presenting the empirical findings and their 

linkage to the theoretical framework of the study. Finally, the conclusions, limitations, 

implications, and ideas for future research are presented. The structure of the thesis is 

illustrated in Figure 1. 

 

 

 

Figure 1. Thesis structure 



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2. THE FUNCTIONAL FOOD AND BEVERAGES ENVIRONMENT 

 

The advancements in life sciences and technology together with the growing acceptance 

of the relationship between nutrition and health among the public has enabled the 

emergence of functional foods and beverages (Roberfroid 2000; van Kleef et al. 2005). 

Despite the lack of a unanimous definition for foods conveying health benefits, the term 

functional foods has established its presence in the media and among food manufacturers 

both in the U.S. and Finland (Urala, Schutz & Spinks 2011). However, as the term itself 

is regulated by law only in its birth country Japan (Jones & Varady 2008), issues arise as 

to which products can be regarded as functional (i.e. having health promoting/disease 

preventing attributes). Therefore, the vagueness of the term may lead to consumer 

confusion instead of consumer confidence in functional products (Urala et al. 2011).  

 

Regardless of the possibility of consumers rejecting functional foods based on the lack of 

definition, the functional food and beverage industry is experiencing significant success 

globally with sales estimated to peak 192 billion US$ by 2020 (Kaur & Singh 2017). 

Furthermore, the functional beverages family – the fastest growing functional segment – 

is expected to top a market value of 93.6 billion US$ by 2019 (Cision 2018). Global 

consumer trends such as wellness-oriented lifestyles, “healthiness-on-the-go”, and rising 

awareness in health-related matters function as notable growth factors for the industry. 

Consumers are looking for healthy convenience drinks to fit their busy lifestyles and have 

the overall intention of staying healthy. Especially millennial consumers are keen on 

wellbeing and the most prominent consumer grouping advancing the successfulness of 

health-enhancing functional products. (Gustafson 2017; Mordor Intelligence 2018.)  

 

The following subsections will elaborate the functional food and beverages environment 

further by describing the regulatory frameworks, utilized definitions, market 

characteristics, and functional beverage categories in the target countries of Finland and 

U.S. After this chapter a comprehensive overview on the context of the thesis has been 

established and a more precise examination regarding health and nutrition claims and the 

purchasing of functional beverages can be provided in the following chapters. 

 



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2.1. The emergence of functional food  

 

Functional food as a term is considered relatively new dating back to the early 1990s in 

Japan where a policy referred to as FOSHU (foods for specified health use) was initially 

introduced. FOSHU, regarded as the first regulatory framework for functional foods, 

enabled the production and marketing of health-promoting foods and as an initiative 

spurred growth within the global functional foods market – especially in the U.S., the 

European Union, and Canada. (Aluko 2012: 7.) The policy came into effect in 1991 and 

marked the date for legally authorized commercialization of some functional foods while 

simultaneously approving the presentation of a health claim (Arai et al. 2014). One could, 

however, argue that the development of health-promoting foods has been in the making 

for a long time and has its roots in the early civilization. From the popular quote from 

Hippocrates (460–370 BC) “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” to the 

ancient Chinese saying, “Medicine and food are isogenic”, food as a provider of nutrients 

allowing our body to function properly and as to having a role in disease prevention have 

been well-established facts for long (Aluko 2012: 7; Arai et al. 2014).   

 

Recently, modern Western societies have studied functional food science vigorously and 

the food consumption field and related policies focus nowadays on preventive measures 

against diseases (Arai et al. 2014; Niva 2007). Healthy eating as a mean for health 

promotion and/or disease prevention is not only a widely discussed topic in the political 

programmes but also in public discussions. This development within the field of food 

together with the “scientification” of eating has created a beneficial stand for functional 

foods. Rapid progress in medicine and life sciences studying the interconnections 

between health and nutrition, or more precisely, between food components and disease 

risks, brings science to the dinner table. (Niva 2007; Niva & Mäkelä 2007.) Moreover, 

technical developments in food manufacturing and engineering allow the development of 

products with innovative technologies and the enrichment of food with new, health-

enhancing ingredients (van Kleef, van Trijp, Luning & Jongen 2002). As summarized by 

Niva and Mäkelä (2007), consumers growing interest towards health and healthy eating, 

the search for market differentiation and added-value products within the food industry, 

ageing populations, and the need to cut public health care costs have opened a huge 

opportunity for functional foods and the companies behind them.  



 22  

2.2. Regulatory frameworks 

 

Functional foods as a food product category is complex and multifaceted due to the fact 

that many countries lack the legislative definition for the term. Hence, separating 

functional food from conventional food is difficult even for food and nutrition experts. 

(Niva 2007.) However, the European Union and the U.S who were quick to adopt the 

food product category after the FOSHU policy, have various regulatory bodies that 

govern the marketing and manufacturing of health-enhancing food products (Aluko 2012: 

7). In the EU, functional foods have not been defined by legislation, but legal efforts are 

directed towards controlling the use of health claims in packages and marketing (Niva 

2007; Serafini, Stanzione & Foddai 2012). In other words, product compounds, plants, 

and ingredients are regulated only on a national level (Serafini et al. 2012). However, 

there exists a working definition for functional foods in the EU that defines the products 

in the category as foods containing health promoting and/or disease preventing, 

biologically active components which are intended to be consumed as part of a normal 

food pattern. (European Commission 2016; Serafini et al. 2012.)  

 

2.2.1. Regulations in Finland 

 

As the definition for functional foods is not clear on a global or EU level, it also lacks 

accuracy in Finland. According to a preliminary report on functional foods in Finland 

made by the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy, a health-enhancing product (i.e. 

functional food) is one that contains a compound or a feature that has a positive impact 

on one’s health. Additionally, the impact must be statistically significant and indicated in 

at least two independent clinical tests1. (Hernesniemi 2004.) As a member state of the EU, 

Finland also regulates only the nutrition and health claims that are used in the marketing 

of functional food. Evira, the Finnish Food Safety Authority, controls the use of health 

and nutrition claims in Finland, but each claim needs to be authorized first by the 

European Commission (Evira 2018). A more detailed description on the definitions and 

use of health and nutrition claims will be presented later in the thesis.  

 

 
1 Clinical tests must be conducted with a normal daily dosage, in normal conditions, and to a sufficient 

population (Hernesniemi 2004). 



 23  

2.2.2. Regulations in the U.S. 

 

In the U.S., functional foods are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 

but the product group is not specifically defined by law (FDA 2018a; Serafini et al. 2012). 

The FDA works under the authority of two acts: (1) the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic 

Act of 1938 which regulates all foods and food additives and (2) the Dietary Supplement 

Health and Education Act of 1994 which controls dietary supplements and their 

ingredients. (Serafini et al. 2012.) The two acts already indicate a broader definition for 

functional foods. In Europe the definition for functional food only includes foods 

designed to improve health whereas in the U.S. functional foods not only contain 

nutritionally enhanced foods but also supplements and naturally healthy foods. Due to the 

broader definition, the term nutraceuticals is used in the U.S. interchangeably with the 

term functional food although subtle differences between the two exist. Functional foods 

are considered as products that resemble conventional foods but have demonstrated health 

benefits. Nutraceuticals, on the other hand, are natural derived commodities that are found 

in foods, dietary supplements, and herbal products but used in the form of pills, capsules, 

and liquids. (Shahidi 2012.) It is important to understand the difference between the two 

terms and their use in the U.S. context.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 24  

Country  Functional food definition 

Japan2 

 

 

 

Foods containing ingredient with functions for health and officially approved to 

claim its physiological effects on the human body. Intended to be consumed for 

the maintenance/promotion of health or specific health uses by people who wish 

to control health conditions. 

European 

Union3 

A food that beneficially affects one or more target functions in the body beyond 

adequate nutritional effects in a way that is relevant to either an improved state of 

health and well-being and/or reduction of risk of disease. It is consumed as part of 

a normal food pattern. It is not a pill, a capsule or any form of dietary supplement. 

Finland4 A product that contains a compound or an attribute with a positive effect on health. 

The impact on health must be statistically significant and scientifically proven in 

at least two independent clinical studies. 

USA5 Substances that provide essential nutrients often beyond quantities necessary for 

normal maintenance, growth, and development, and/or other biologically active 

components that impart health benefits or desirable physiological effects. 

 

Table 2. Functional food definitions based on region 

 

2.3. Functional food market 

 

In line with the increasing attention and concern towards health, functional food is 

attracting interest in the global marketplace (Bagchi, Preuss & Swaroop 2016). The 

absolute size of the product group’s market within EU and globally is challenging to 

estimate as the functional food definitions vary and there is no clear, universal guideline 

which food products are considered functional (Siró, Kápolna, Kápolna & Lugasi 2008; 

Stein & Rodríguez-Cerezo 2008). For instance, in many cases in the U.S., the functional 

food market size is estimated for nutraceuticals and functional foods combined whereas 

the term nutraceuticals is rather unknown in Europe and left out when considering the 

functional food environment. Therefore, country- or region-specific differences exist in 

the way the functional food market size is calculated and estimated. However, based on 

 
2 MHLW Japan (2018). Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Foods for Specified Health Uses 

(FOSHU). 
3 European Commission (2016). European Commission, Concerted Action on Functional Food Science in 

Europe (FUFOSE), working definition. 
4 Hernesniemi (2004). The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy ETLA, a preliminary study on 

functional food cluster in Finland 
5 Marirosyan & Singh (2015). Institute of Food Technologists IFT. 



 25  

the definition that functional food products are products to which ingredients with 

additional health-value have been added to, the global functional food market is estimated 

at 33 billion US dollars (Hilliam 2000). Other scholars have suggested the market value 

to be larger, Sloan (2002) at 47.6 billion US$ and Benkouider (2004) at 61 billion US$. 

Consistent in all the above-named research papers is, however, the fact that the market 

size is expected to grow rapidly in the future. Kaur and Singh (2017) projected the 

functional food and beverages market’s estimated worth to peak 192 billion US$ by 2020. 

United States represents the largest market segment for functional foods followed by 

Europe and Japan. In total these three main markets contribute over 90% of all functional 

food product sales. (Benkouider 2004.) The U.S. being the most dynamic and prominent 

segment, their estimated market share is over 50% and the functional food market 

constitutes 2-3% of the U.S. food market as a whole (Menrad 2003). Significant growth 

is expected since the regulatory framework in the U.S. is more favourable than that of 

Europe (Hilliam 2000). The European market share of functional foods is estimated 

between 4 to 8 billion US dollars varying on the used definition (Menrad 2003). The value 

of 2003 has, however, increased from that to 15 billion US$ by 2006 indicating again the 

notable growth of the market (Kotilainen, Rajalahti, Ragasa & Pehu 2006). However, the 

functional food market share of the total European drink and food market is still below 

1%. Another aspect worth noting is the heterogeneity of the European market and the 

large regional differences that exist in the use and acceptance of functional foods. For 

instance, consumers interest towards functional food products is particularly higher in 

Central and Northern European countries than in the Mediterranean countries where 

consumers value natural and fresh foods since they are seen more beneficial for health. 

(Menrad 2003; van Trijp 2007.) Consumers acceptance of functional food and the cultural 

differences will be covered more in depth later in the thesis.   

 

The functional food cluster in Finland is significant in relation to the size of the country. 

According to the preliminary study on functional food in Finland by Hernesniemi (2004), 

the total revenue of companies either producing functional food end products or 

ingredients to functional foods is estimated at over 200 million euros. Furthermore, 

significant investments are made to research and education units within the field of 

functional food – the yearly researcher investment being roughly 100 million euros. 

Among the EU member states, Finland is one of the most prominent countries when it 



 26  

comes to the R&D of functional food products. Quality ingredients, high-level and 

extensive research, and good availability of technology risk financing has created an 

efficient platform for the development of functional food products in Finland. 

Furthermore, since the knowledge of Finnish consumers is at a relatively high level, they 

have been open-minded as to trying out novel foods. (Hernesniemi 2004.) 

 

2.3.1. Functional beverages market 

 

The functional beverages market is the fastest growing segment within the functional food 

sector – being valued at over 80 billion US$ in 2015 (Marete, Jacquier & O’Riordan 2011; 

Cision 2018). The segment experienced annual growth of 14% in the U.S. between the 

years 2002 and 2007 and in 2012 functional beverages constituted 59% of the total U.S. 

functional food market (Sloan 2012). On the other hand, the functional beverages market 

in most of the EU member states is still relatively small and fragmented in comparison to 

the U.S. In 2003, 20 percent of all sales of functional beverages took place in Europe 

whereas the Asia-Pacific and Australasia together with the Americas constituted over 40 

percent of all sales. According to Menrad (2003) and Stein and Rodríguez-Cerezo (2008), 

Germany is considered as the only country having a sizeable functional beverage market 

with a market volume of 89 million US$ in 1999 and overall high consumption of 

functional drinks. However, Nordic consumers have expressed great interest towards 

products containing health benefits which indicates growth (Scott-Thomas 2013). 

 

The rise in the health care and wellness awareness together with busy lifestyles – 

especially among the millennial generation – has prompted a growing demand for 

“healthiness-on-the-go” beverages with functional attributes. Consumers are particularly 

looking for the use of natural ingredients and variations in daily beverages including 

hydration with performance and preventive measures for specific health conditions. 

(Mordor Intelligence 2018.) The global functional beverages industry is expected to reach 

a market value of 93.6 billion US$ by 2019 and healthy growth is expected especially in 

the U.S., UK, and China (Cision 2018). Furthermore, significant potential can be seen in 

countries such as Australia, India, and Russia (Mordor Intelligence 2018). The growth 

estimates and consumer trends on the rise highlight the significance of functional 

beverages as the product group and its relevance for further research and studies such as 



 27  

this thesis. The U.S. and Finland as countries of interest, present an interesting 

opportunity to study differences between the largest functional beverages market and a 

much smaller, yet prominent market characterized by highly health-conscious consumers 

and their relatively positive attitude towards functional products (Niva 2007).  

 

2.4. Attributes of functional products 

 

The ambiguous definition for functional foods globally affects the marketing of 

functional food and the evaluation of food products that can be justified as functional 

(Jauho & Niva 2013). As functional foods are seen as products that are not needed for the 

body to function but still provide physiological benefits that contribute to better overall 

health, questions arise as to how to measure and substantiate the generated health effects 

(Jones & Varady 2008). Furthermore, defining what is a health benefit ‘beyond adequate 

nutritional effect’, what counts as an ‘improved state of wellbeing’, and what is a nutrient 

requirement versus what is a functional food health benefit proves to be challenging due 

to the generic definitions (Jauho & Niva 2013; Jones & Varady 2008). Some functional 

food products have a clear target effect, such as cholesterol-lowering spreads, while 

others indicate a promise to improve general wellbeing or resistance to illness, such as 

bioactive bacteria in dairy products. As the term functional food is defined by law only 

in Japan (Jones & Varady 2008), other countries for example in the European Union have 

addressed definitional issues by regulating the use of nutrition and health claims on 

functional food products, not the actual category per se (Jauho & Niva 2013).  

 

There are multiple different ways of how to classify functional foods including: (1) food 

group (e.g. beverages, oils & fats), (2) diseases expected to be prevented or reduced (e.g. 

diabetes, osteoporosis), (3) physiological impact (e.g. immunology), (4) biologically 

active ingredient category (e.g. minerals, antioxidants), (5) physico-chemical attributes 

(e.g. texture, colour), and (6) production process (e.g. chromatography) (Juvan, Bartol & 

Boh 2005). As the purpose of this thesis is to examine the functional beverages group, a 

general description of the product cluster will be provided together with a more detailed 

description on the main product grouping – namely fortified waters.  

 



 28  

2.4.1. Functional beverages 

 

Functional beverages are referred to as the most active product group in the functional 

food family. This is due to many reasons related to ease of meeting consumer demands 

(e.g. content, appearance, size, and shape), ease of distribution and storage (refrigerated 

and shelf-stable products), and ease of developing products with desirable nutrients and 

active compounds. (Corbo, Bevilacqua, Petruzzi, Casanova & Sinigaglia 2014.) In fact, 

functional beverages are known for their high concentrations of functional ingredients. 

Some of the products in the functional beverage category are ready to drink teas, vitamin 

waters, sports, performance, and energy beverages (Wootton-Beard & Ryan 2011). 

Further, Corbo et al. (2014) have categorized functional beverages into four groups: (1) 

dairy-based beverages enhanced with probiotics or other bioactive components (e.g. ω-3 

fatty acids), (2) vegetable and fruit beverages complemented with polyphenols, soluble 

fibre, vitamins, and minerals, (3) sports drinks enriched with electrolytes (e.g. potassium, 

sodium, calcium, and magnesium), vitamins, and carbohydrates, and finally (4) energy 

drinks that often contain an “energy mix” of caffeine paired with B vitamins, taurine, and 

guarana. However, one important product grouping missing from the categorization is 

that of water-based functional beverages – of which fortified waters is one example. 

 

2.4.2. Fortified waters 

 

Water is considered the best carrier of essential nutrients which is why it is enhanced and 

enriched to target specific health concerns (Dutra-de-Oliveira, Marchini, Lamounier & 

Almeida 2011). Most commonly water-based functional beverages are fortified with 

minerals (e.g. calcium, magnesium, zinc) and vitamins (e.g. D, B6, B12). These fortified 

waters aim to supplement diets with micronutrients and folate while promoting certain 

health conditions (e.g. bone health, proper immune system) and preventing specific 

diseases (e.g. nutrient deficiencies, cardiovascular diseases). (Mohammadi, Khashayar, 

Tabari, Sohrabvandi & Moghaddam 2016.) Much epidemiological evidence exists to 

support the claim that vitamins and minerals have a vital role in the human organism 

(Mohammadi et al. 2016; Özer & Kirmaci 2010). The most frequently stated health 

benefits of the above-mentioned vitamins and minerals are listed in Table 3. 

 



 29  

Mineral- or vitamin-enriched water-based functional beverages are typically 

commercially promoted as fortified waters, power waters, and vitamin waters (Foster & 

Vasavada 2003: 17). The aim of these products is to provide a reasonable portion of the 

daily intake recommendation for vitamins and minerals in each serve. According to 

Mohammadi et al. (2016), the fortification of water has made a significant contribution 

to better intake of these nutrients. Fortified waters should, however, not be confused with 

flavoured waters which are enriched with flavouring aroma or additives such as vitamin- 

or energy-producing herbs (Mohammadi et al. 2016). Most of these flavoured waters 

contain, however, sweeteners (e.g. sucralose, aspartame) and are therefore considered as 

a replacement for soft drinks among consumers (Backas 2009; Mohammadi et al. 2016). 

 

Nutrient Benefit 

Calcium (Ca) Calcium has a vital role in muscle contraction, bone structure, nerve impulse 

transmission, cell signalling, and blood clotting. Sufficient intake of Ca lowers the 

risk of osteoporosis, rickets, and hypertension.  (Cotruvo 2006.) 

Magnesium (Mg) Magnesium plays an important role in synthesis of protein and nucleic acid and is 

required for normal insulin sensitivity and vascular tone. Mg assures proper function 

of immune system and like Ca is an essential preventive mineral against osteoporosis. 

(Cotruvo 2006.) 

Zinc (Zn) Zinc is a vital mineral for a healthy immune system, correct synthetization of DNA, 

healthy childhood growth, and wound healing (NIH 2016a). 

Vitamin D Sufficient intake of vitamin D has multiple benefits including; maintaining healthy 

bones and teeth, supporting the immune and nervous system. It may also prevent a 

range of conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, and type 1 diabetes. (NIH 

2016b.)  

Vitamin B6 Vitamin B6 is important for muscular function, heart health, energy, and the digestive 

tract. It is involved in the production of hemoglobin and needed for proper brain 

development and function. (NIH 2018.) 

Vitamin B12 Vitamin B12 helps make DNA and helps keep nerve and blood cells healthy. The 

vitamin also helps prevent a type of anemia referred to as megaloblastic anemia. 

(NIH 2011.) 

 

Table 3. Commonly stated health benefits of the most used vitamins and minerals 

 

2.5. Functional foods and consumer attitudes 

 



 30  

Foods and beverages with specific health effects are becoming a part of everyday lives of 

Americans (Sloan 2008). Similarly, the healthfulness in food products is a key 

consideration among Finns when making purchasing decisions (Urala & Lähteenmäki 

2007). However, since the novelty of the product grouping and its exceptional position in 

the minds of consumers might be fading, food companies and their marketing units need 

additional information on consumers’ opinions about functional foods and beverages 

(Urala et al. 2011). As the development of novel foods with health effects is strongly 

connected to marketing, understanding consumers’ awareness, trust, and attitudes toward 

functional products will allow food producers to tailor attractive products with motivating 

messages (Mark-Herbert 2004; Wade 2006). In fact, according to Howard and Sheth 

(1969: 467), consumers’ attitude towards a product is directly linked to the purchase 

intention and, thus, to the purchase decision. Therefore, studying consumers attitudes 

towards functional beverages is of great interest as the underlying motive of this thesis is 

to examine the purchasing intent of functional beverages.  

 

According to Schiffman and Kanuk (2004: 253), attitudes are learned predispositions 

which lead to either favourable or unfavourable behaviour towards a certain object. To 

understand the relationship between attitude and purchasing behaviour in the context of 

functional beverages, the tri-component attitude model illustrated in Figure 2 will be 

utilized. As stated in the model, attitudes consist of three components: (1) cognition, (2) 

affect, and (3) conation. The three components are consistent meaning that a change in 

one component produces related changes in other components. As marketing managers 

find it difficult to influence consumers’ intended purchasing behaviour (conation), they 

strive for influencing behaviour indirectly through beliefs (cognition) or feelings (affect) 

about the product at hand. Next, more detailed descriptions the three components will be 

provided with respect to the context of functional beverages and the target consumers of 

Finnish and American nationality.  



 31  

 

Figure 2. Tri-component attitude model adapted from Schiffman and Kanuk (2004: 256) 

 

2.5.1. The cognitive component of attitude 

 

The first part in the tri-component attitude model consists of an individual’s cognitions – 

the knowledge and perceptions acquired through direct experience with the attitude object 

and related information. The knowledge and deriving perceptions transform into beliefs; 

that is, the consumer trusts the object holds certain attributes and that specific behaviour 

leads to certain outcomes. (Schiffman & Kanuk 2004: 256.) When it comes to functional 

food and/or beverages, the perceptions consumers have towards such products and their 

perceived health outcomes varies (Urala & Lähteenmäki 2004). Furthermore, the level of 

prior knowledge of functional food is different across countries and therefore affects 

consumers’ attitudes towards the product grouping (Schnettler, Adasme-Berríos, Grunert, 

Márquez, Lobos, Salinas-Oñate, Orellana & Sepúlveda 2016).  

 

According to Urala et al. (2011), the concept of functional food and beverages is vague 

for U.S. consumers. Familiarity with the term is at a low level, knowledge over what 

products can be considered as functional is limited, and health benefits play a finite role 

in making food choices. Furthermore, consumers in the U.S. lack trust towards functional 

food -related information presented by food manufacturers, food retailers, and media. 

This kind of hidden suspicion may implicit that should negative consequences from 

consuming functional foods occur, doubt and mistrust awake, and consumers may react 

quickly (Urala & Lähteenmäki 2007). Additionally, a large portion of consumers do not 

know whether they would benefit from consuming functional foods – thus, the motivation 

to pay attention to health effects in foods is low. Making the term familiar and reliable in 



 32  

the U.S. is therefore key as it has already been proven in many studies that simple and 

informative communication of the product’s health benefits and positive outcomes in an 

individual’s body promote the consumption of functional foods. As stated by Urala et al. 

(2011), the best way to achieve this is through clear and understandable communication 

from independent authorities and nutrition specialists. Further, communication of the 

health benefits should lean on well-grounded scientific evidence. (Urala et al. 2011.) 

 

In Finland the concept of functional food and beverages is better understood and 

positively accepted by consumers (Niva 2007; Urala et al. 2011). This may be due to the 

early development of functional foods in Finland (1990s) and wide public discussions 

regarding such products (Niva 2007) which have contributed significantly to the level of 

knowledge. Furthermore, Finland is also a country with relatively positive public 

opinions regarding technological development such as that of biotechnology in food 

production (Bauer & Gaskell 2002), resulting in trust among consumers towards health-

enhanced food items. In fact, Finnish consumers trust health information coming from 

authorities and are quite confident with information coming from newspapers, retailers, 

and even food manufacturers. (Urala & Lähteenmäki 2004.) Additionally, Finnish 

consumers are more willing to accept the healthiness of specific functional enrichments 

than their American counterparts (Bech-Larsen & Grunert 2003). 

 

2.5.2. The affective component of attitude 

 

The affective component consists of the consumer’s emotions or feelings about a certain 

product or brand. In consumer research these feelings and emotions are treated as 

evaluative in nature; that is, an individual’s assessment of the attitude object is typically 

either “favourable” or “unfavourable” or “good” or “bad”. (Schiffman & Kanuk 2004: 

257.) With regards to the food consumption context, there are two main emotions: guilt 

and pleasure. These derive from two conflicting values related to food consumption 

referred to as the hedonic value of enjoyment and the utilitarian value of staying healthy. 

(Wansink & Chandon 2006.) Consumers may conclude anticipated emotional outcomes 

based on their evaluation of the healthiness of the food item and the consequences of 

consuming it. The perceived healthiness is connected to the cognitive dimension as the 

healthiness evaluation is based on the consumers’ objective and subjective knowledge of 



 33  

a product. (Kim, Park, Kim & Ryu 2013.) Should a consumer evaluate the healthiness of 

the product positively, anticipated guilt decreases and pleasure increases. In other words, 

a positive assessment of food healthiness makes people feel they are doing the right thing 

and might promote the purchasing of functional foods. (Hur & Jang 2015.) 

 

As mentioned in the cognitive element paragraph, consumers in the U.S. do not trust 

functional food -related information and a large portion of consumers are unsure whether 

they would benefit from consuming functional foods, thus, making the motivation to look 

for health effects low (Urala et al. 2011; Urala & Lähteenmäki 2007). This might impact 

the affective component as the perceived healthiness of a functional food item may stay 

on the negative side instead of a positive assessment that would decrease anticipated guilt 

and increase pleasure. Furthermore, the dominant anticipatory emotion deriving from 

food consumption among U.S. consumers is guilt (Rozin, Fischler, Imada, Sarubin & 

Wrzesniewski 1999) – which is also often linked to the context of fast food (Hur & Jang 

2015). Feelings of guilt, shame, and regret after food consumption is preserved in the 

individual’s memory together with other cues such as current mood, personal interest in 

health-related matters, and type of food. These memories influence, and to some degree 

determine, future actions in similar situations. (Hur & Jang 2015.) Therefore, in the 

context of purchasing health-enhancing products such as functional food, having a 

negative experience with maintaining one’s health for instance, might result in avoidance 

of behaviours that might prompt negative feelings. Thus, the purchasing of functional 

foods would not be promoted but rather discouraged on an individualistic level. 

 

Emotions role in the context of healthy food consumption, or functional food for that 

matter, has not been studied extensively in Finland. However, as mentioned earlier, 

Finnish consumers hold a rather positive view about enhanced food products, they trust 

the health information coming from authorities, newspapers, retailers, and food 

manufacturers, and the concept of functional food and beverages is well understood (Niva 

2007; Urala et al. 2011; Urala & Lähteenmäki 2004). These statements might indicate 

that the level of knowledge regarding functional foods and beverages is at a high level, 

thus, contributing to a positive assessment on the perceived healthiness of such a product. 

This on the other hand, might establish evidence for the rise in anticipated pleasure among 

Finnish consumers resulting in feelings of doing the right thing and therefore increase the 



 34  

purchasing of functional foods. (Hur & Jang 2015.) However, there is a wide array of 

factors such as diet goals, perceived social pressure, and personal motivations that 

influence consumers – both Finnish and American – emotions and, therefore, play a role 

in the attitudes formed towards functional foods and the purchasing intent of these food 

items (Kim et al. 2013; McEachan, Conner, Taylor & Lawton 2011). These personal and 

cultural determinants will be covered more in depth in Chapter 4. 

 

2.5.3. The conative component of attitude 

 

The final component of the tri-component attitude model is that of conation which refers 

to the tendency or likelihood of a certain action or behaviour towards an object being 

undertaken by an individual. In marketing and consumer research, conation is often 

treated as an expression of the consumer’s purchasing intent. (Schiffman & Kanuk 2004: 

258–259.)  There are many indicators within the field of conventional and functional food 

consumption that predict purchasing intent. However, due to the large number of factors 

that might influence the actual behaviour without conscious awareness on the individual’s 

side, past purchase behaviour has been found to best predict future actions (Solomon, 

Bamossy, Askegaard & Hogg 2013: 308). Additionally, strong emotional control reduces 

intentions’ impact on behaviour (Kuhl 1984; Weijzen, De Graaf & Dijksterhuis 2008) 

and health consciousness predicts behavioural intentions and purchase decisions within 

the field of healthy foods strongly (DiPietro, Remar & Parsa 2016). These statements give 

indication that individuals who can resist hedonistic temptations such as consuming 

sugary, calorie-dense beverages might opt for a healthier alternative (e.g. fortified water) 

and a health-motivated consumer will look for health-enhancing products above other 

options. All in all, an intention is more likely put in action when the individual anticipates 

only a few obstacles in performing a specific behaviour or if one perceives social support 

and anticipates positive consequences from performing it (Masalu & Åstrøm 2001).  

 

In the U.S., consumer studies have reported lower frequencies of healthy food 

consumption, despite American consumers’ intention and aspiration to eat healthily and 

their continuing confidence in the ability to manage one’s own health. Correspondingly, 

perceptions of taste and enjoyment of healthy foods have been declining whereas an 

increase has been noted in consumer awareness for food component/health benefit 



 35  

associations. (IFIC 2009; Síro, Kápolna, Kápolna & Lugasi 2008.) It seems that while 

American consumers’ awareness and good, healthy intentions increase, they are not 

directly converted to behavioural actions or patterns due to preventing barriers. According 

to the International Food Information Council Foundation IFIC (2009), these barriers 

include taste, do-ability, familiarity, and cost. While the consumption of functional foods 

and beverages might increase in the future due to better consumer awareness on health-

related matters, a future challenge of motivating American consumers to act and sustain 

beneficial lifestyle changes remains (IFIC 2009). 

 

Healthy eating is an important aspect of food consumption in Finland and Finnish 

consumers are regarded as more health-oriented than pleasure-oriented when compared 

to their counterparts in other European countries such as the UK and the Netherlands 

(Roininen, Tuorila, Zandstra, de Graaf, Vehkalahti, Stubenitsky & Mela 2001). 

Consumers’ understanding over what constitutes a healthy diet is typically a combination 

of current nutrition recommendations, views put forth by experts on healthy eating, and 

own interpretations of a proper diet. As Finns trust nutrition information coming from 

authorities and other parties (Urala & Lähteenmäki 2004), this might indicate that 

intentions to eat healthy also increase. However, according to Järvelä, Mäkelä, and 

Piiroinen (2006), when choosing a food product in a supermarket the healthfulness of it 

is often no more than a good intention among Finnish consumers. Similarly as in the U.S., 

when health concerns have to compete with considerations such as flavour or price, good 

intentions might not convert into actual actions. Intentions indicate what consumers may 

regard as worth attaining and meaningful, but these ideals are not always attainable in 

everyday life which highlights the complexity of choosing food in practice and the 

compromises that might have to be made. (Järvelä et al. 2006.) 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 36  

3. CLAIMS ADVERTISING IN FUNCTIONAL BEVERAGES 

 

As nutritional and health-related attributes are invisible and intangible for consumers, 

nutrition and health claims have been established to communicate product healthfulness 

(Sabbe, Verbeke, Deliza, Matta & Van Damme 2009). These claims aim at helping 

consumers make better-informed, healthier food purchasing decisions (Verbeke et al. 

2009). Furthermore, for companies claims advertising creates an opportunity to 

differentiate their products from competitors and potentially affect consumers’ responses 

to novel foods (e.g. functional). However, commercing functional food products through 

health and nutrition claims proves to be complex and risky due to special requirements 

and restrictions. For instance, such claims are increasingly restricted through legal 

constraints and scientific substantiation requirements especially in the EU. (van Kleef et 

al. 2005.) The regulatory framework in the U.S. is more favourable which to a certain 

extent explains the superiority of the functional food market size (Hilliam 2000). 

 

Despite the field of nutrition and health claims becoming more restricted, food companies 

still have freedom in which claims they focus on and how specifically do they 

communicate these claims to the consumers (van Kleef et al 2005). However, consumers’ 

awareness and understanding over functional food products and their health claims might 

be limited resulting in the difficultness of developing effective and persuasive health 

claims and communicating them properly (Kotilainen et al. 2006). Food companies ought 

to consider framing factors such as most popular health claims and health concerns, health 

claim and carrier compatibility, and the healthiness perception of the base product (Bech-

Larsen & Grunert 2003; Young 2000). Moreover, whether the health claim emphasizes 

positive contributions to the state of health or highlights the relationship to a disease has 

an impact on the perception a consumer creates of the product (van Kleef et al 2005).  

 

The following subsections will deepen the knowledge of the functional food and 

beverages environment established in the previous chapter by examining types of claims 

used in the marketing of such products, how these claims are regulated, and how they 

connect with the consumer and their attitudes towards functional beverages. An extensive 

outlook on claims advertising coupled with the comprehensive overview on the context 



 37  

of this thesis presented earlier, will enable a detailed exploration of the personal and 

cultural factors influencing the purchasing of functional beverages in the next chapter. 

 

3.1. Health and nutrition claims 

 

To facilitate healthier food decisions, marketers have started to communicate health 

benefits and/or disease preventing attributes through nutrition and health claims on 

functional food packages (Jones & Varady 2008; Provencher & Jacob 2016). As 

established earlier in this thesis, since functional food is defined by law only in Japan, 

other countries and regions (e.g. the U.S and EU) have focused their regulatory actions 

towards controlling the use of health and nutrition claims (Niva 2007; Serafini et al. 

2012). These two types of claims differ as nutrition claims refer to a food product’s 

beneficial nutritional properties such as no added sugar, whereas health claims refer to 

the product’s ability to treat certain states of health such as reinforce the body’s natural 

defences (EFSA 2018; Martirosyan & Singh 2015). The EU and the Finnish Food Safety 

Authority, Evira, have also defined a term functional health claim which describe the role 

of nutrients or other substances in either growth or development of the body’s 

physiological, psychological and behavioural functions or weight control (Evira 2018).  

 

3.1.1. Regulation in the European Union 

 

The regulatory framework for health and nutrition claims in the EU (the Nutrition and 

Health Claim Regulation, NHCR) came to effect in 2007 (Moors 2012). The key purpose 

of the NHCR is to protect consumers from misleading, incorrect or false marketing 

communication efforts by ensuring all used claims are scientifically substantiated. 

(European Parliament and the Council 2006; Moors 2012.) As mentioned in the previous 

paragraph, there are two types of claims (i.e. health and nutrition claims) and both types 

are regulated by the NHCR. According to the European Food Safety Authority, EFSA, 

health claims are further divided into three categories: (1) general function claims (health 

benefit based on scientific evidence), (2) new function claims (health benefit based on 

newly developed scientific evidence), and (3) claims on the reduction of disease risk or 

claims on children’s development and health. (European Parliament and the Council 

2006.) The European Commission keeps a register of permitted nutrition and health 



 38  

claims which currently has 233 authorised claims (European Commission 2018). Some 

of the claims relevant to fortified waters are presented in Appendix 1.  

 

3.1.2. Regulation in the U.S. 

 

In the U.S. the Food and Drug Administration, FDA, defines regulations for health and 

nutrition content claims. All health claims undergo a petition process where the FDA 

assesses whether or not the claim meets the set requirements. For instance, an authorized 

health claim must meet the Significant Scientific Agreement Standard (SSA) where 

qualified experts have acknowledged that the claim is supported by sounds scientific 

evidence on the substance-disease relationship. The SSA Standard is meant to be a strong 

standard providing high levels of confidence in the validity of the stated relationship 

between substance and disease. However, in the U.S. there are also qualified health claims 

in addition to authorized ones. Qualified health claims are supported by some scientific 

evidence but do not meet the requirements for the SSA Standard. To ensure that these 

claims are not misleading or false, qualified health claims must be accompanied with a 

disclaimer or other statement certifying the level of supporting scientific evidence. As for 

nutrition claims in the U.S., the Nutrition Labelling and Education Act of 1990, permits 

the use of such claims if they have been authorized by the FDA and made in accordance 

with the regulatory body’s authorizing regulations. (FDA 2018b.) Some of the relevant 

authorized claims are presented in Appendix 2.  

   

3.2. Claims and the consumer 

 

The success of functional foods in the marketplace and the long-term consumption of 

them, depends on the consumers’ acceptance and satisfaction of the claimed benefit. An 

understanding of the responses and reactions of consumers towards products carrying a 

specific health or nutrition claims is, therefore, highly important. According to multiple 

studies such as those of Tuorila and Cardello (2002) and Mialon, Clark, Leppard and Cox 

(2002), health benefits have a clear effect on the likelihood of purchase and that such 

claims affected sensory ratings and consumers’ perceived healthiness beneficially. 

However, there also exists contradictory findings such as those of Sabbe et al. (2009), 

who concluded in their study on the effect of health claims on consumer acceptance of 

antioxidant-enhanced fruit juices that health information adds very little value to the 



 39  

product if it is considered intrinsically healthy. Similarly, a study by Bech-Larsen and 

Grunert (2003), gathers that consumers accept the enrichment of “non-healthy” foods 

more easily than those that are considered healthy per se while Balasubramanian and Cole 

(2002) found that consumers search for nutrition information more in food categories 

seen as credible carriers of such claims. These results provide important insights on the 

significance of the fit between the carrier and the functional ingredient and in which 

situations claims advertising is seen as credible.  

 

Health information in functional food packages portrayed through claims can be seen 

affecting consumers’ perceptions, feelings, and likelihood of purchase as established in 

the previous chapter. Therefore, approaching the connection between consumers and 

health and nutrition claims through the tri-component attitude model presented earlier in 

the thesis may provide interesting findings. Exploring the use of claims as a marketing 

mean and their role in relation to the cognitive, affective, and conative dimensions allows 

the in-depth examination of consumers’ attitudes towards claims advertising in functional 

beverages and ultimately the assessment of the effects on purchasing decisions. Health 

and nutrition claims can be considered as marketing stimuli (i.e. cues/inputs) which affect 

the three dimensions and, thus, the attitude a consumer holds towards functional 

beverages. Attitude, on the other hand, is directly linked to purchase intentions and actual 

purchase decisions (Howard & Sheth 1969: 467). The connection is illustrated in Figure 

3 and imitates the input-process-output model of consumer behaviour presented widely 

in academia (e.g. Kotler & Armstrong 2012: 135) in a very simplified manner.  

 

 

 

Figure 3. Simplified and modified version of the input-process-output model of consumer 

behaviour (Kotler & Armstrong 2012: 135) 



 40  

3.2.1. Knowledge and perception of claims 

 

The health benefits of functional foods and beverages are often communicated to the 

consumers through health and nutrition claims which act as “short-cut cues” with the 

purpose of prompting further investigation of the product and labelling (Coleman, Miah, 

Morris & Morris 2013). To truly ease consumers’ decision-making and facilitate healthier 

purchasing decisions, which is the claimed motive of these statements, health and 

nutrition claims ought to be understandable and truthful (Grunert, Scholderer & Rogeaux 

2011; Verbeke et al. 2009). In fact, the new EU regulation on nutrition and health claims 

(No 1924/2006) states two requirements for consumer protection: (1) claims cannot be 

false, ambiguous, or misleading to consumers and (2) the beneficial effects in the claim 

are expected to be understood by an average consumer (European Parliament and the 

Council 2006). Consumers’ perceptions and knowledge over health and nutrition claims 

do, however, vary due to a wide array of subjective affecting variables such as level of 

health-consciousness, personal need to pay attention to state of health, or gender, age, 

education and previous use (Urala, Arvola & Lähteenmäki 2003). Next, some general 

information of the cognitive dimension in relation to claims advertising in functional 

foods will be presented. Evaluation of the effects of personal and cultural factors on the 

purchasing intent of functional beverages will be presented in Chapter 4. 

 

Health and nutrition claims purport information about the product’s health benefits yet 

the information itself may not come across as a strong enough reason for purchasing a 

functional product if the consumer is not motivated to adopt or use the information. 

Furthermore, even if the information is adopted it is not necessarily used due to lack of 

trust towards the message and/or source of information. In some cases, the health 

benefitting component may be unknown, or the consumer does not understand the 

relationship between the component and state of health (Urala, Arvola & Lähteenmäki 

2003). However, health claims can enhance consumers’ perception of the functional 

product’s level of healthiness – especially if consumers believe they are knowledgeable 

about health. Subjective knowledge typically increases the likelihood that consumers will 

locate themselves close to stimuli associated with that knowledge. In this case, navigating 

to the healthy places in a store and looking for health information in product packages 

(Bech-Larsen & Grunert 2003; Moorman, Diehl, Brinberg & Kidwell 2004). 



 41  

Although health and nutrition claims can enhance consumers’ perception of product 

healthiness, many studies have also indicated that the healthiness perception is more 

dependent on the perception of the nutritional qualities of the base-product than any type 

of claim (Bech-Larsen & Grunert 2003). This conclusion was made in studies on both 

Finnish and American consumers (Bech-Larsen & Grunert 2003; Urala et al. 2003). Some 

differences as to how claims advertising is viewed, however, do exist between the two 

nations. For instance, among Finnish consumers health and nutrition claims are viewed 

as advantageous most likely owing to the overall acceptance of functional foods in the 

country. Nevertheless, foods and beverages enriched with vitamins and minerals were not 

regarded as truly health enhancing but as allegedly functional products. Thus, some 

products’ functionality and healthiness perception remain at the level of marketing 

gimmicks among Finnish consumers. (Bech-Larsen & Grunert 2003; Niva 2007.) In the 

U.S., on the other hand, Bech-Larsen et al. (2001) found American consumers less 

knowledgeable about nutrition than Finnish or Danish consumers. The level of nutrition 

knowledge coupled with a more liberal health claim legislation might cause food 

manufacturers and marketers to take advantage of consumers through statements 

simplifying diet/disease issues while highlighting positive benefits without comparable 

emphasis on negative dimensions of health. (Ippolito & Mathios 1994.) 

 

3.2.2. Emotions in correlation with claims 

 

As established earlier in the thesis, there are two main emotions in food consumption (i.e. 

pleasure and guilt) which derive from two conflicting values: (1) hedonistic value of 

enjoyment and (2) utilitarian value of staying healthy (Wansink & Chandon 2006). When 

selecting food products, consumers often consider tastefulness and healthfulness as 

incompatible attributes resulting in a phenomenon referred to as the health-pleasure trade-

off (Keller, Sternhal & Tybout 2002; Nørgaard & Brunsø 2009). Since consumers’ 

willingness to compromise taste for health is speculative, many marketing efforts such as 

claims advertising are employed to alter the trade-off and affect the dynamics of 

multisensory and emotional food experience (Bialkova, Sasse & Fenko 2016; 

Schifferstein, Fenko, Desmet, Labbe & Martin 2013; 2006). Emphasizing the 

healthfulness of the product through health and nutrition claims has been found to foster 

positive consumer evaluations on the overall nutrition content and healthiness perception 



 42  

of the product (Andrews, Burton & Kees 2012). Furthermore, it has been concluded that 

consumers’ expectations about food properties which claims advertising portrays enhance 

product evaluation, choice, and consumption (Wansink & Chandon 2006).  

 

Although most studies within the field of claims advertising and healthy food 

consumption indicate results that health and nutrition claims prompt positive emotions in 

consumers, contradictory findings exist as well. For instance, Grunert, Wills, and 

Fernández-Celemín (2010) concluded that health and nutrition claims are often ignored 

or paid minimal attention to when shopping for everyday food products. Furthermore, 

Coleman et al. (2014) reported in their study that consumers’ overall feelings about health 

claims were negative ranging from irrelevant at best to marketing gimmicks and scams at 

worst, emphasizing the prevalence of the trust/distrust theme. Some studies (e.g. van Trijp 

& van der Lans 2007; Verbeke et al. 2009) have focused their efforts on studying the 

relationship between the claim type and consumers’ emotional response. Concepts of life 

and death marketing have been introduced with inconsistent findings as to whether a 

health enhancement or a disease risk reduction claim is more successful. Death marketing 

has not only caused negative emotions such as worry and anxiety in consumers but also 

proved to be a successful method in marketing functional products that reduce the risk of 

physiologically related illnesses. Life marketing, on the other hand, has been found to 

prompt positive feelings and trust to the health-enhancing ability of the product but also 

to be more unsuccessful in comparison to death marketing. (Coleman et al. 2014.) 

 

American and Finnish consumers’ emotional responses to health and nutrition claims 

have not been studied to a great extent. However, since Finnish consumers are regarded 

as more health-oriented than pleasure oriented in comparison to British and Dutch 

consumers (Roininen et al. 2001), this might, for instance, indicate that the health-

pleasure trade-off of food choice is easier among Finns who tend to regard healthiness as 

the prime consideration. American consumers, on the other hand, have shown high levels 

of anxiety towards food and great concerns about calorie intake, dieting, and appearance 

in comparison to other nations such as France, Belgium, and Japan. The general negativity 

and related emotions towards food coupled with the abundance of food products and 

increased portion sizes might make opting for a healthy food option more difficult. 

(Rodríguez-Arauz, Ramírez-Esparza & Smith-Castro 2016.)  



 43  

3.2.3. Claims in increasing purchasing intent 

 

Health and nutrition claims influence consumers’ attitudes towards functional food 

products and a positive overall attitude towards an item will affect the purchasing intent 

in the end (Nayga 1996; Küster & Vila 2017). Some of the factors related to claims 

advertising such as healthiness perception of the product, information credibility, and 

physical appearance can either increase or decrease the likelihood or tendency of purchase 

– based on whether the evaluation is positive or negative (Küster & Vila 2017). The level 

of healthiness, typically portrayed through claims, can help a consumer establish a 

positive perception of the product at hand (Ellison, Lusk & Davis 2013). Especially the 

consumer’s health-consciousness, which is described as the degree of health actions 

taken, influences perceptions, purchase intentions, and willingness to pay. High health-

conscious consumers react more strongly to health initiatives such as health and nutrition 

claims and are more potential customers for the functional food industry. (Lee, Conklin, 

Cranage & Lee 2014.) However, the credibility of the claim can affect the healthiness 

perception and subsequent purchasing intent positively or negatively (Lee, Lee & Kwon 

2015). Consumers tend to evaluate whether the information presented on the package is 

accurate and comes from a credible source. If this is found to be the case, a positive 

perception of the product is established by the consumer. (Lee et al. 2015.) In other words, 

consumers who perceive higher levels of credibility evaluate the information cues such 

as claims presented on the package more positively and are likely to act based on that 

information. Credible health claims can, therefore, facilitate future purchases of 

functional products. (De Mello et al. 2007.) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 44  

4. PURCHASING OF FUNCTIONAL BEVERAGES 

 

There are many factors influencing the decisions to buy and consume functional food 

products (Kaur & Singh 2017). Consumers’ characteristics such as age, gender, and 

education together with the personal motivation towards health-related matters play a 

critical role in how functional foods are accepted (e.g. Kraus 2015; Schnettler, Horacio, 

Lobos, Sepulveda & Orellana 2015; Vecchio, Van Loo & Annunziata 2016). 

Furthermore, consumers’ interest in maintaining a good overall health and the 

understanding of how functional food contributes to the state of health increases the 

probability of consuming functional products (e.g. van Kleef et al. 2015).  

 

Culture also has an essential role in shaping consumer behaviour as individuals’ basic 

values, perceptions, wants, and behaviours develop based on their cultural setting. It can 

impact how easily consumers are to adopt novel products (Van den Bulte & Stremersch 

2004), how individuals view wellbeing and therefore healthy eating (Ahuvia 2002),  what 

kind of emotions individuals from certain societies typically feel and how they shape their 

eating behaviour (Hofstede 2011), and how food is being used to express oneself (Levine 

et al. 2016). Based on the unique cultural environment and personal characteristics, 

individuals’ exhibit different ways to approach situations such as functional food 

consumption or food consumption in general. In modern societies where consumption is 

characterised by a myriad of different factors, the process of purchasing functional 

beverages becomes quickly a complex phenomenon. 

 

As previous sections have elaborated the functional food and beverages environment and 

examined how health and nutrition claims connect with the consumer and their attitudes, 

this section will complete the theoretical framework by assessing the personal and cultural 

factors influencing the purchasing of functional beverages. This allows for a detailed 

exploration of the interplay between consumer characteristics and health and nutrition 

claims in the process of acquiring fortified waters, in the actual research stage. 

 

4.1. Consumer behaviour in the context of functional food 

 



 45  

Thus far it has been established that consumers’ attitude towards a product is directly 

linked to purchase intention and, therefore, to the purchase decision (Howard & Sheth 

1969: 467). Furthermore, health and nutrition claims can be considered as marketing 

stimuli (i.e. cues/inputs) that much like in the input-process-output model of consumer 

behaviour (e.g. Kotler & Armstrong 2012: 135) function as the company’s marketing 

efforts affecting the attitude of the consumer – or in other words the three components of 

attitude, namely cognition, affect and conation (Schiffman & Kanuk 2004: 256). What 

hasn’t yet been covered in this thesis are the internal and external factors that greatly 

influence the interaction between the thought processes, emotions, and intended 

behaviour (Blythe 2013: 7). To be consistent with the scope of the study, this thesis will 

focus solely on personal factors excluding other internal factors such as psychological 

ones. Furthermore, as this study is a cross-cultural one, focus regarding the external 

factors will only be laid on culture factoring out other influencing variables such as social 

factors and certain sub-categories of culture (e.g. subculture, social class). Finally, it is 

worth noting that as the study field of functional food consumption is young, information 

may be scarce, thus, affecting the comprehensiveness of the following paragraphs.  

 

4.1.1. Personal factors 

 

Personal characteristics have a pivotal role in determining consumers’ behavioural 

patterns and purchasing decisions. Consumers change the goods and services they buy 

over their lifetimes, different lifestages shape what individuals want and need, occupation 

and economic situation often determine the range of store and product choices, and 

lifestyles, personalities and self-concepts govern values that drive purchasing behaviour. 

(Kotler & Armstrong 2012: 145–147.) Keeping these personal characteristics acting on 

consumer behaviour in mind, we can establish a relatively representative socio-

demographic profile of a functional food consumer in light of recent studies.  

 

According to various studies (e.g. Anttolainen, Luoto, Uutela, Boice, Blot, McLaughlin 

& Puska 2001; Childs 1997; Hilliam 1996; Teratanavat & Hooker 2006), a typical 

functional food consumer in the U.S. and Europe is a well-educated, higher income class 

female older than the age of 55. Prodanović and Lazović (2015) further conclude that 

functional food is mostly consumed among women with small children who live in the 



 46  

city. In general, higher socio-economic groups have better knowledge and higher 

awareness regarding health issues as well as higher willingness and ability to pay a price 

premium which functional food products typically exhibit (Hilliam 1996). Additionally, 

consumers with a higher education level are significantly more likely to report being 

aware of health and nutrition claims and demonstrate a greater use of nutrition labels 

compared to consumers with a lower education level (Vella, Stratton, Sheeshka & Duncan 

2014). Furthermore, healthy food such as functional food products tend to be available in 

places where such consumers live – often these are urban cities rather than rural or food 

desert areas inhabited by lower income consumers (Hardin-Fanning & Rayens 2015). 

 

As to the gender matter, female consumers are more likely users or buyers due to being 

more reflective and having moral and ecological misgivings about food and health issues 

in comparison to men who tend to demonstrate a more uncritical and traditional view of 

eating (Gilbert 1997). Moreover, women are primarily responsible for food purchasing in 

families (Bech-Larsen & Scholderer 2007) and specifically the presence of young 

children in households impacts food choices through higher quality consciousness, food 

risk aversion, and search for nurturing benefits in wholesome foods that lay a strong, 

healthy foundation for children’s growth (Childs 1997; Gilbert 2000).  

 

The functional food consumer profile is, however, not as straightforward when 

considering the matter of age. As was mentioned before, many studies have concluded 

that middle-aged and elderly consumers are more likely to buy health-enhancing products 

simply because they, or members of their social circle, are more likely to be diagnosed 

with lifestyle-related diseases (Verbeke 2006). Other studies have, however, spoken for 

younger consumers’ higher interest in wellbeing and health-enhancement and willingness 

to try novel products (Gustafson 2017). For that reason, it is important to emphasize that 

both the type of food and its claim significantly impact the customer demographics of a 

certain functional food product. According to van Kleef et al. (2005), younger consumers 

seek foods that enhance health (e.g. controlling body weight) while older consumers 

demand products that reduce the risk of disease (e.g. lower cholesterol and blood 

pressure). This highlights the prevalence of the health enhancement/risk reduction theme 

that is strongly tied to age and highly characteristic to functional food consumption. 



 47  

Finally, consumers who value a healthy lifestyle and are health-conscious, demonstrate 

higher levels of functional food consumption (Lee et al. 2014). According to Urala and 

Lähteenmäki (2003), consumers connect functional foods with feelings of wellbeing, 

being a better person, and having control over one’s life and health. In other words, 

consumers who purchase functional foods feel they make socially acceptable, “right” 

choices and take care of themselves. Therefore, functional foods are not only consumed 

in search for the rewarding feeling of controlling one’s own health but also to evoke 

positive impressions in other people. However, a positive health concern that prompts 

functional food purchases can come with social costs as Saher, Arvola, Lindeman and 

Lähteenmäki (2004) concluded in their study that individuals who intended to buy 

functional food products were regarded as innovative yet less-friendly, selfish, and 

uncompassionate in comparison to customers intending to buy conventional products. 

 

4.1.2. Cultural factors 

 

Cultural factors have a broad and deep influence on consumer behaviour. Growing up in 

a certain society teaches children a set of basic values, perceptions, wants, as well as 

behaviours and these cultural influences on purchasing behaviour can vary greatly 

between countries. (Kotler & Armstrong 2012: 135–139.) Next the influencing factor of 

culture will be assessed by utilizing Hofstede’s cultural dimensions which are the 

following: (1) power distance, (2) individualism, (3) masculinity, (4) uncertainty 

avoidance, (5) long-term orientation, and (6) indulgence (Hofstede Insights 2019). A 

more detailed definition for each dimension is presented in Table 4 below. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 48  

Dimension Definition 

Power distance 

(PDI) 

“The extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organisations 

within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.”  

Individualism (IDV) “The degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members.” 

Masculinity (MAS) “What motivates people, wanting to be the best (masculine) or liking what you 

do (feminine).” 

Uncertainty 

avoidance (UAI) 

“The extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by ambiguous or 

unknown situations and have created beliefs and institutions try to avoid these.” 

Long-term 

orientation (LTO) 

“How every society has to maintain some links with its own past while dealing 

with the challenges of the present and future.” 

Indulgence (IVR) “The extent to which people try to control their desires and impulses.” 

 

Table 4. Definitions of Hofstede's cultural dimensions (Hofstede Insights 2019) 

 

Hofstede’s work on culture is the most widely used pieces of research among practitioners 

and scholars. Although the cultural dimensions offer valuable insight into cross-cultural 

studies and have been perceived as theoretically sound and empirically valid, the 

constructs have also been criticized due to methodological and theoretical limitations (e.g. 

over generalizability). (Søndergaard 1994.) Hofstede’s measures, although not perfect, 

have been effective in predicting certain criteria and continue to carry valid meaning 

(Peterson & Smith 1997) which is why the dimensions will be used in this thesis to 

structure culture’s influence on functional food consumption. However, it is worth noting 

that barely any research has been published that would study healthy food consumption 

through Hofstede’s cultural dimensions (Sun, Horn & Merritt 2009) and therefore studies 

on the effect of Hofstede’s constructs upon an intention to consume functional foods is 

non-existent. This thesis strives for a novel approach by examining culture’s influence on 

functional food consumption by utilizing the six cultural dimensions by Hofstede. 

 
Country/Dimension PDI IDV