Consumer Attitudes and Behavior towards Marine Nutraceuticals: Applications in Functional Foods

This is a three-year PhD project carried out at UIT The Arctic University of Norway, Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and Economics, School of Business and Economics (HHT). The subject of research is consumer attitudes and behavior towards marine nutraceuticals for functional food. The term nutraceutical is a hybrid of nutrition and pharmaceutical that refers to raw foods, enriched, fortified or enhanced foods, or dietary supplements containing biologically active molecules that provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition. When nutraceuticals are isolated or purified from foods to be added into new food matrices, the resulting products are functional foods.

This dissertation aims to contribute to the existing literature by exploring what motivate consumers to try, choose, consume and pay for marine functional foods, and how they differ in their preferences / acceptance, attitudes and motivational forces. In addition, this thesis will perform specific tests of how and why consumers respond differently to marine functional food concepts and some important sensory quality characteristics. The overall objective is to advance the understanding of consumer behavior towards marine nutraceuticals in functional foods.