Abstract
Despite the high health relevance of fiber consumption, there is a shortfall in the recommended dietary fiber intake. The present study aimed to gain a deeper insight into the consumer perspective on dietary fiber. A quantitative consumer survey was conducted using an online questionnaire (cross-sectional study, primary study). The sample (611 German consumers) drawn from an online access panel is approximately population representative regarding the quotation variables (age, gender, and education). The associations with dietary fiber were recorded by means of an open-ended question. In addition, the preferences for naturally high-fiber foods and two types of fiber-enriched products were recorded by means of statements. In addition, diet-related health orientation, skepticism toward fiber enrichment, and sociodemographic variables were collected. A content-structuring content analysis was used to evaluate the open queried associations. A cluster analysis was performed to identify consumer segments regarding the preference for the different types of fiber-containing foods. The analyses of the openly queried associations show that 83.8% of the consumers named at least one association. The most frequently mentioned associations were related to grain (products) (29.5%), fruit/vegetables/potatoes (14.7%), and health/healthy eating (12.6%). Regarding the preference for the three types of fiber-containing foods, four consumer segments could be identified by cluster analysis. The originality of the study lies in the fact that consumer associations with dietary fiber in relation to food were recorded unaided and general consumer preferences for naturally fiber-rich and fiber-enriched foods were assessed. Based on the findings of the study on fiber-related associations and preference structures of consumers, implications for target group-specific consumer information to promote adequate fiber consumption can be derived.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The data are available from the author, upon request.
References
Alfawaz H, Khan N, Alhuthayali H (2020) Awareness and knowledge regarding the consumption of dietary fiber and its relation to self-reported health status in an adult Arab population: a cross-sectional study. Int J Environ Res Public Health 17:4226
Anderson JR (1996) Kognitive Psychologie. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg
Ares G, Giménez A, Gámbaro A (2009) Consumer perceived healthiness and willingness to try functional milk desserts. Influence of ingredient, ingredient name and health claim. Food Qual Prefer 20:50–56
Arslain K, Gustafson CR, Rose DJ (2020) Point-of-decision prompts increase dietary fiber content of consumers’ food choices in an online grocery shopping simulation. Nutrients 12:3487
Arslain K, Gustafson CR, Rose DJ (2021) The effect of health prompts on product consideration, attention to information, and choice in large, online product assortments: the case of fiber. Food Qual Pref 94:104329
Aschemann-Witzel J, Perez-Cueto FJA, Niedzwiedzka B et al (2012) Lessons for public health campaigns from analysing commercial food marketing success factors: a case study. BMC Public Health 12:139
Ballcode-Magistris PT, Caputo V (2019) Consumer preferences for nutritional claims: an exploration of attention and choice based on an eye-tracking choice experiment. Food Res Int 116:37–48
Bimbo F, Bonanno A, Nocella G et al (2017) Consumersʼ acceptance and preferences for nutrition-modified and functional dairy products: a systematic review. Appetite 113:141–154
Birkett A, Cho S (2013) Cereal fiber and health: current knowledge. Cereal Food World 58:309–313
BMEL (2020) Gesunde Ernährung, sichere Produkte. https://www.bmel.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Broschueren/gesunde-ernaherung-sichere-produkte-bericht.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=6. Accessed 1 May 2022
Candel MJJM (2001) Consumersʼ convenience orientation towards meal preparation: conceptualization and measurement. Appetite 36:15–28
Codex Alimentarius Commission, Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health Organization (2009) Report of the 30th session of the Codex Committee on nutrition and foods for special dietary uses. ALINORM 9/32/26
Cornish LS (2012) Itʼs good for me: It has added fibre! An exploration of the role of different categories of functional foods in consumer diets. J Consum Behav 11:292–302
Cronbach L (1951) Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika 16:297–334
da Silva VM, Minim VPR, Ferreira MAM et al (2014) Study of the perception of consumers in relation to different ice creme concepts. Food Qual Prefer 36:161–168
DGE (2022) Vollwertige Ernährung. https://www.dge.de/ernaehrungspraxis/vollwertige-ernaehrung/. Accessed 1 May 2022
Dickson-Spillmann M, Siegrist M (2011) Consumers’ knowledge of healthy diets and its correlation with dietary behaviour. J Hum Nutr Diet 24:54–60
Diehl JM (2002) Skalen zur Erfassung von Ernährungs- und Gesundheitseinstellungen. University of Giessen, Giessen
Duhachek A (2005) Coping: a multidimensional, hierarchical framework of responses to stressful consumption episodes. J Consum Res 32:41–53
Federal Statistical Office of Germany (2014) Bevölkerung am 31.12.2012 nach Alters- und Geburtsjahren. Vorläufige Ergebnisse auf Grundlage des Zensus 2011, Zensusdaten mit dem Stand vom 10.4.2014, unpublished data. Federal Statistical Office, Wiesbaden
Federal Statistical Office of Germany (2015) Bevölkerung 2015 nach Alter und Bildungsabschluss. Federal Statistical Office, Wiesbaden
Federal Statistical Office of Germany (2019). Bevölkerungsstand. Bevölkerung nach Geschlecht und Staatsangehörigkeit (Bevölkerungsstand: 31.2.2018). https://www.destatis.de/DE/Themen/Gesellschaft-Umwelt/Bevoelkerung/Bevoelkerungsstand/Tabellen/zensus-geschlecht-staatsangehoerigkeit-2018.html. Accessed 1 May 2022
Fitzgibbon M, Gans KM, Evans WD et al (2007) Communicating healthy eating: lessons learned and future directions. J Nutr Educ Behav 39:S63-71
Franz A, Deimel I, Spiller A (2012) Concerns about animal welfare: a cluster analysis of German pig farmers. Br Food J 114:1445–1462
Göritz AS (2003) Online-panels. In: Theobald A, Dreyer M, Starsetzki T (eds) Online-Marktforschung. Gabler Verlag, Wiesbaden, pp 117–240
Grubor A, Djokic N, Kovac-Znidersic R (2015) Application of health and taste attitude scales in Serbia. Br Food J 117:840–860
Grunert KG, Wills J, Fernandez-Celemin L et al (2012) Socio-demographic and attitudinal determinants of nutrition knowledge of food shoppers in six European countries. Food Qual Pref 26:166–177
Guiné RPF, Martinho CAC, Barraoca MJ et al (2014) Knowledge and attitudes regarding dietary fibres: a consumer survey in Portuguese population. J Basic Appl Res Int 1:1–12
Guiné RPF, Duarte J, Ferreira M et al (2016) Attitudes towards dietary fiber on a multicultural basis: a fibre study framework. Curr Nutr Food Sci 12:132–141
Hoppert K, Zahn S, Jänecke L et al (2013) Consumer acceptance of regular and reduced-sugar yoghurt enriched with different types of dietary fiber. Int Dairy J 28:1–7
Hopping BN, Eber E, Grandinetti A et al (2010) Dietary fiber, magnesium, and glycemic load alter risk of type 2 diabetes in a multiethnic cohort in Hawaii. J Nutr 40:68–74
Hornick B, Birkett A, Liska D (2013) The fiber deficit, Part 3–Beyond traditional fiber sources. Nutr Today 48:168–173
IGD (2018) Consumer research on the awareness and understanding of fiber within the UK. https://www.igd.com/Portals/0/Downloads/Charitable%20Impact/IGD-Consumer-research-into-fibre.pdf. Accessed 5 Jan 2023
Institute of Medicine (Food and Nutrition Board) (2005) Dietary Reference Intakes: energy, carbohydrates, fiber, fatty acids, cholesterol, protein and amino acids. National Academic Press, Washington
Jezewska-Zychowicz M, Królak M (2015) Do consumers’ attitudes towards food technologies and motives of food choice influence willingness to eat cereal products fortified with fibre? Pol J Food Nutr Sci 65:281–291
Jezewska-Zychowicz M, Królak M (2020) The choice of bread: the association between consumers’ awareness of dietary fiber and declared intention to eat. Nutrients 12:360
Jonkisz E, Moosbrugger H, Brandt H (2012) Planung und Entwicklung von Tests und Fragebögen. In: Moosbrugger H, Kelava A (eds) Testtheorie und Fragebogenkonstruktion. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp 27–74
Kallas Z, Vitale M, Gil JM (2019) Health innovation in patty products. The role of food neophobia in consumers’ non-hypothetical willingness to pay, purchase intention and hedonic evaluation. Nutrients 11:444
Kearney M, Kearney JM, Dunne A et al (2000) Sociodemographic determinants of perceived influences on food choice in a nationally representative sample of Irish adults. Public Health Nutr 3:219–226
Küster-Boluda I, Vidal-Capilla I (2017) Consumer attitudes in the election of functional foods. Span J Mark–ESIC 21:65–79
Lähteenmäki L (2003) Consumers and functional foods. In: Mattila-Sandholm T, Saarela M (eds) Functional dairy products. Wood Head Publication Ltd, Cambridge, pp 346–358
Li YO, Komarek AR (2017) Dietary fibre basics: Health, nutrition, analysis, and applications. Food Qual Saf 1:47–59
Ljubičić M, Sarić MM, Rumbak I (2022) Is better knowledge about health benefits of dietary fiber related to food labels reading habits? A Croation overview. Foods 11:2347
Marand MA, Amjadi S, Marand MA et al (2020) Fortification of yoghurt with flaxseed powder and evaluation of its fatty acid profile, physicochemical, antioxidant, and sensory properties. Powder Technol 359:76–84
Margetts BM, Martinez JA, Saba A et al (1997) Definitions of ‘healthy’ eating: a pan-EU survey of consumer attitudes to food, nutrition and health. Eur J Clin Nutr 51:S23–S29
Mathes R (1992) Hermeneutisch-klassifikatorische Inhaltsanalyse von Leitfadengesprächen: über das Verhältnis von quantitativen und qualitativen Verfahren der Textanalyse und die Möglichkeit ihrer Kombination. In: Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik JHP (ed) Analyse verbaler Daten: über den Umgang mit qualitativen Daten. Westdt. Verlag, Opladen, pp 402–424
Mayring P, Fenzl T (2019) Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse. In: Baur N, Blasius J (eds) Handbuch Methoden der empirischen Sozialforschung. Springer VS, Wiesbaden, pp 633–648
Moosbrugger H, Kelava A (2020) Qualitätsanforderungen an Tests und Fragebogen („Gütekriterien“). In: Moosbrugger H, Kelava A (eds) Testtheorie und Fragebogenkonstruktion. Springer, Berlin. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-61532-4_2
MRI (2008) Nationale Verzehrsstudie II. Ergebnisbericht, Teil 2. https://krank.de/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/NVSII_Abschlussbericht_Teil_2.pdf. Accessed 9 May 2022
Nancarrow C, Tapp A (2014) Online access panels for surveys on public health and epidemiology. University of the West of England, Bristol
Nestle M (2007) Food politics. University of California Press, London
Nunnally JC, Bernstein IH (1994) Psychometric theory, 3rd edn. McGraw-Hill, New York
Okada EM (2005) Justification effects on consumer choice of hedonic and utilitarian goods. J Mark Res 42:43–53
Pereira MA, O´Reilly E, Augustsson K et al (2004) Dietary fiber and risk of coronary heart disease: a pooled analysis of cohort studies. Arch Intern Med 164:370–376
Pollan M (2009) In defence of food: an eater’s manifesto. Penguin, London
Pollard J, Greenwood D, Kirk S et al (2002) Motivations for fruit and vegetable consumption in UK Women’s Cohort Study. Public Health Nutr 5:479–486
Rammstedt B (2004) Zur Bestimmung der Güte von Multi-Item-Skalen: eine Einführung. (GESIS-How-to, 12). Mannheim: Zentrum für Umfragen, Methoden und Analysen (ZUMA). https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-201443
Reimer RA, Soto-Vaca A, Nicolucci A et al (2020) Effect of chicory insulin-type fructan-containing snack bars on the human gut microbiota in low dietary fiber consumers in a randomized crossover trial. Am J Clin Nutr 111:1286–1296
Rekhy R, McConchie R (2014) Promoting consumption of fruit and vegetables for better health. Have campaigns delivered on the goals? Appetite 79:113–123
Richards C, Lawrence G, Burch D (2011) Supermarkets and agro-industrial foods. Food Cult Soc 14:29–47
Román S, Sánchez-Siles LM, Siegrist M (2017) The importance of food naturalness for consumers: results of a systematic review. Trends Food Sci Technol 67:44–57
Rozin P (1984) Acquisition of food habits and preferences. In: Matarazzo JD, Weiss SM, Herd JA et al (eds) Behavioral health. Wiley, New York, pp 590–607
Sajdakowska M, Gębski J, Żakowska-Biemans S et al (2019) Willingness to eat bread with health benefits: habits, taste and health in bread choice. Public Health 167:78–87
Sapp SG (1992) Sociopsychological aspects of consumer preferences. In: Proceedings. A workshop on Social Science Research and the CRSP’s. University of Kentucky, Lexington
Schreier M (2014) Varianten qualitativer Inhaltsanalyse: Ein Wegweiser im Dickicht der Begrifflichkeiten. Forum Qual Sozialforschung 15:18
Schulze-Lohmann P (2012) Ballaststoffe. Grundlagen - präventives Potential - Empfehlungen für die Lebensmittelauswahl. Ernahrungs Umschau 7:408–417
Shepherd R (1999) Social determinants of food choice. Proc Nutr Soc 58:807–812
Spektrum Akademischer Verlag (2000). Präferenz. https://www.spektrum.de/lexikon/psychologie/praeferenz/11751. Accessed 9 May 2022
Spiller A (2019) Marketing Basics. University of Göttingen, Göttingen
Spiller A, Zühlsdorf A, Nitzko S (2017) Instrumente der Ernährungspolitik. Ernahrungs Umschau 3:146–153
Stea TH, Nordheim O, Bere E et al (2020) Fruit and vegetable consumption in Europe according to gender, educational attainment, and regional affiliation—a cross-sectional study in 21 European countries. PLoS One 15:e0232521
Szűcs V, Guiné R, Leal M et al (2017) Dietary fiber: eating habits and knowledge of different regions of the globe. Millenium 2:61–71
Thiele S, Mensink GBM, Beitz R (2005) Determinants of diet quality. Public Health Nutr 7:29–37
Urala N, Lähteenmäki L (2004) Attitudes behind consumersʼ willingness to use functional foods. Food Qual Prefer 15:793–803
Viana MM, Rocha YJP, Trinade MA et al (2021) Consumer preferences for burgers and milk desserts: evaluating the importance of health claim attributes. J Sens Stud 36:e12615
Wilson B (2009) Swindled: From poison sweets to counterfeit coffee—the dark history of food cheats. John Murrey, London
Wirtz M (2019) Tendenz zur Mitte. In: Wirtz MA (Hrsg) Dorsch - Lexikon der Psychologie. Hogrefe, Göttingen. https://dorsch.hogrefe.com/stichwort/tendenz-zur-mitte. Accessed 12 Nov 2020
Yalçın E, Kösemeci C, Correia P et al (2020) Evaluation of consumer habits and knowledge about dietary fibre and fibre-rich products in Turkish population. Open Agric 5:375–385
Funding
The present study was carried out within the project “Bioeconomy 2.0: Innovation potentials of secondary streams of food production”. It was funded by the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony (the so-called “Niedersächsisches Vorab”).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The author declares that she has no conflict of interest.
Ethical standards
The study was performed in full accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. At the time that the data were acquired, it was not customary at the University of Göttingen to seek an approval from an ethics committee for questionnaire studies on food-related consumer preferences and attitudes. The confidentiality of the collected data was assured by the online access panel provider in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation. Furthermore, data acquisition, data processing, and utilization of personal data were conducted in full accordance with the guidelines of the Federal Data Protection Act. The study exclusively makes use of anonymous questionnaires. No personal data can be identified and/or linked to individual participants.
Informed consent
Before filling out the questionnaire, the participants were informed in writing about all relevant aspects of the study. Participants were also informed about their right to reject participation and to revoke consent once given at any time without giving reasons and without disadvantages. A written informed consent was obtained from the participants.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Nitzko, S. Consumer preferences for naturally high-fiber and fiber-fortified foods: a preliminary segmentation study. J Consum Prot Food Saf 18, 119–132 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00003-023-01429-w
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00003-023-01429-w