MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay—When it comes to consumer preference for functional yogurt, it’s not all about product flavor and other sensory attributes of the yogurt. Researchers in Uruguay and France looked at the influence of three non-sensory factors on consumer choice of functional yogurts over regular ones.
The scientists investigated four attributes in the conjoint study: type of yogurt (regular, enriched with antioxidants and enriched with fiber); brand (national, familiar; national, unfamiliar; and foreign, familiar); price (low, regular and high); and health claim (with and without “reduced disease risk” health claim). Participants evaluated eighteen sets of samples—regular yogurt, enriched with antioxidants and enriched with fiber, and various brand, price and claim levels)—and then indicated which yogurt they would normally buy. Researchers found that factors unrelated to sensory attributes (specifically brand, price and health claims) significantly influenced consumer choice of the functional yogurts.
