Analysis of food choice motivation according to health consciousness of overseas consumers: focus on American and Japanese consumers / 한국영양학회지

ABSTRACT

Purpose@#The purposes of this study were to understand the health interest of consumers in the United States and Japan and thus understand the motivation of food choices, in order to provide basic data on the country's strategy based on healthy and correct food choices in the future. @*Methods@#A customer survey was conducted in 2019 from October 18 to 31, and it targeted 115 American and 120 Japanese local consumers between the ages of 20- to 64-years-old. Eight questions were formed using General Health Interest. Based on food choice motivation, 27 questions were reconstructed and asked about demographic information. All data were analyzed by SPSS Statistics (ver. 25). @*Results@#Health consciousness was categorized into 2 types nutrition-seeking type and preference-seeking type. Based on these 2 factors, customers were grouped into 3 clustershealthy dietary life-seeking group, nutrition balance-seeking group and health indifference group. Food choice motivation was categorized into 4 types health, efficiency, value, and mood. All 3 groups showed a high tendency for efficiency in common. The results show that consumers want higher satisfaction with their time and money invested in food consumption. It is believed that the focus and investment of market segmentation strategy should be focused on product development, especially for American and Japanese consumers who are interested in health. @*Conclusion@#The results of this study reflect consumer needs that can assist in the selection of healthy and correct foods in the future.