Purpose

Functional foods and their association with health benefits and disease risk reduction open a promising possibility for consumers to pursue a healthier lifestyle and extend their life expectancy. This study aims to investigate the effect of perceived susceptibility, perceived barriers and intention to consume functional food among older consumers.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from Malaysian older consumers using a structured questionnaire. A total of 250 usable questionnaires were used for final data analysis. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the collected data.

Findings

The results show that perceived barriers and cue to action significantly affect older consumers' intention to consume functional foods. Nevertheless, perceived susceptibility does not influence older consumers' intention to consume functional food.

Originality/value

This study broadens our understanding of older consumers' intention to consume functional food. Importantly, the present study is one of the first studies that extend the application of the Health Belief Model (HBM) in the context of functional food consumption. The findings of the study provide pragmatic insights for both practitioners and researchers.

中文翻译：

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马来西亚老年消费者的功能性食品消费：健康信念模型的视角

目的

功能性食品及其与健康益处和降低疾病风险的关联为消费者追求更健康的生活方式和延长预期寿命提供了可能。本研究旨在调查感知易感性、感知障碍和老年消费者食用功能性食品的意愿的影响。

设计/方法/方法

数据是使用结构化问卷从马来西亚老年消费者那里收集的。共有250份可用问卷用于最终数据分析。偏最小二乘结构方程模型（PLS-SEM）用于分析收集到的数据。

发现

结果表明，感知障碍和行动提示显着影响老年消费者食用功能性食品的意愿。然而，感知易感性并不影响老年消费者食用功能性食品的意愿。

原创性/价值

这项研究拓宽了我们对老年消费者食用功能性食品意图的理解。重要的是，本研究是首批扩展健康信念模型 (HBM) 在功能性食品消费背景下的应用的研究之一。研究结果为从业者和研究人员提供了务实的见解。