Food marketing, nutrition and health claims: influence on consumer behaviour.

Abstract

In the last years, consumer behavior in the field of eating habits has changed, reflecting different needs and trends.

Research shows that food marketing tends to reflect current food culture, and tries to aim at different consumer segments using different techniques such as nutrition and health claims in the case of healthy food.

This thesis has the aim of trying to analyze this phenomenon: do these claims have an impact on consumers’ decisions?

Starting off from a necessary literature review and the definition of specific terms and concepts to fully understand the topic, the thesis moves on to the analysis part comparing today’s food culture and trends to the ones of the 90s and early 2000s.

In order to actually investigate the research question, a survey was conducted among a segment of the Italian population, and the results are presented in the final part of the thesis. Results will consider both intentions and habits, as well as the emotional part of the decision-making process. They show that health and nutritional claims are important in the decision making process of consumers, as well as having some kind of emotional impact, too.