Intention to Consume Functional Foods in Malaysia Among Older Consumers: Application of the Health Belief Model

Abstract

Food consumption pattern is changing toward healthy food due to numerous health threats which lead to product development in the functional food sector as market demand for healthy foods. The functional food is believed to help people with other chronic illnesses because of unhealthy eating habits. So far, there is only a little knowledge on factors influencing consumers’ intention to consume toward functional food and what their perception toward functional foods in Malaysia. The Health Belief Model (HBM) is employed in this study. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to examine consumer intention to consume toward functional foods. Perceived susceptibility, perceived barriers, perceived benefits, and cue to action are expected to have an impact on the intention to consume toward functional foods. The results show that perceived barriers and perceived benefits have a direct effect on intention to consume toward functional foods. However, perceived susceptibility and cue to action have no direct effect on intention to consume functional foods. A survey of 250 older consumers was conducted in Malaysia using offline questionnaires. SPSS 24 and Smart PLS 3.0 were used to analyze the collected data. This study attempts to contribute to the consumer behavior literature by recognizing the factors that influence functional foods consumption among older consumers.KeywordsFunctional FoodsIntentionFood consumptionHealth Belief Model and Malaysia