Review Article, J Food Nutr Disor Vol: 13 Issue: 3

Millennial Consumerism the 21^st Century Slice of Time by Way of Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods

Darshan Shah^*

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India

*Corresponding Author:

Darshan Shah
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay,
Mumbai,
India;
E-mail: 21jglsdshah@ jgu.edu.in

Received date: 30 June, 2023, Manuscript No. JFND-23-104461;
Editor assigned date: 03 July, 2023, PreQC No. JFND-23-104461 (PQ);
Reviewed date: 17 July, 2023, QC No. JFND-23-105167;
Revised date: 11 June, 2024, Manuscript No. JFND-23-104461 (R);
Published date: 18 June, 2024, DOI: 10.4172/2324-9323.1000406

Citation: Shah D (2024) Millennial Consumerism the 21^st Century Slice of Time by Way of Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods. J Food Nutr Disor 13:3.

Abstract

Keywords: Nutraceuticals and functional food; Millennials; Diet; Marketed attributes; Nature; Quality

Introduction

As we can see in the advertising campaign of revital, it is a nutraceutical composing of vitamins and minerals in order to cope to the daily energy requirement that is needed to stay charged throughout the day for day-to-day activities. It is added with extracts of ginseng that not only helps to improve concentration but also increases consumption of oxygen (Figure 1).

The nutraceutical and functional food sector in India is growing like never but there are many voids that are to be filled in terms of research. In addition to this, previous research has not taken into consideration the growing health concerns and the lifestyle. Nevertheless, there is not any research specifically targeted on the millennials in the Indian market. Keeping in mind the above examples of functional foods and nutraceuticals and previous research, this marketing literature review aims to fill the gap by observing the emergence of nutraceuticals and functional foods. Moreover, this paper aims to meet the void by evaluating the theories of consumer attitudes through consumer motivation and perception has enabled the development of the functional foods and nutraceuticals towards the millennials [1].

I am going to analyze it through sub-components of consumer attitude, consumer motivation and consumer perception such as drive theory, Maslow’s Hierarchy of theory, buyer and self-perception theory, theory of planned behavior and many more in context of the nutraceuticals and functional foods. Having established the basic gist of nutraceuticals and functional food, it is now possible to explore further in detail the objectives of this paper in the literature review [2-5].

Literature Review

This literature review aims at understanding the extent to the formation of the consumer’s attitudes through the micro concepts of the consumer motivation and perception driving the development of the nutraceuticals and the functional foods market. This literature review helps the reader with the knowledge of how global population has transitioned towards the nutraceuticals and functional food 1.8 billion people of the total global population i.e., 23% belongs to the millennials (n.d.) of which, 426 million belong to the Indian population i.e., 34% of the total Indian population. Foods with exceptional health nutrients are produced and consumed locally in the Indian market. This trend has commonly been rising in the millennials [6-10].

The paper initially reviews the rapid growing nutraceuticals and functional foods market. The paper discusses various concepts related to consumer attitude, consumer perception and consumer motivation with sub-concepts such as drive theory, Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, buyer perception theory, self-perception theory, halo effect, the theory of planned behavior, attitude towards object and Ad model with certain instances of nutraceuticals and functional foods to strengthen understanding of the concepts (Figure 2).

Current health scenario, functional foods and nutraceuticals

Due to urbanization, industrial revolution (1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0), the work hours, and the climatic changes and many more factors have affected the lifestyles of humans exceptionally. The fast life has changed the habits that were followed earlier such as eating habits, sleep cycles, etc. And these habits directly or indirectly have affected our mental wellbeing and the physical fitness. Presently there is a surge in the sufferings of population from various diseases such as high cholesterol, diabetes, thyroid, chronic diseases-heart, lungs, liver, etc. This surge paved a way leading higher consumption of nutraceuticals and functional foods. For example, the onset of pandemic (COVID-19) has affected almost every part of the globe with medically obtained steroids and functional immunity boosters as a preventive measure to the virus [11].

The term functional foods was first studied by the Japanese scientists leading to greater awareness of functional foods in Japanese market. “Functional food science in Europe” defined nutraceuticals as “a food can be regarded as ‘functional’ if it is satisfactorily demonstrated to affect beneficially one or more target functions in the body, beyond adequate nutritional effects, in a way that is relevant to either an improved state of health and well-being and/or reduction of risk of disease.” In India, the demand and awareness both has grew among the masses over the last decade [12]. But the Indian market is not yet sophisticated as compared to the Japanese, Swedish, etc. markets and has a huge scope to offer whereas “Health Canada defined nutraceuticals as, a product isolated or purified from foods, and generally sold in medicinal forms not usually associated with food and demonstrated to have a physiological benefit or provide protection against chronic diseases.” Nutraceuticals and functional foods are further classified as:

• Nutrients: Amino acids, vitamins, anti-oxidants, minerals, fatty acids, etc., and are consumed in terms of liquids, capsules, tablet form.
• Herbals: Flax seed oil has elements which act as anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-pyretic, astringent and anti-arthritic.
• Phytochemicals: These are the plants possessing chemical preventive properties. Polyphenols, carotenoids, anthocyanidins, phytoestrogens, terpenoids, etc. are some of the examples of Phytochemicals.
• Probiotics: Yakult (Japan) is one of examples of medically obtained nutraceutical which helps in improving the digestion process by producing good bacteria in intestine.
• Dietary fibers: It includes cellulose, gum, pectin, lignin and help in the metabolism and improves the tolerability of glucose by the human body.
• Farmaceuticals: With the help of biotechnology, foods such as bread, alcohol, yogurt, tofu, etc., are produced in order to provide energy to the human body.
• Medical foods: These are developed in laboratories in order to act on certain diseases. For example, supplements such as anabolic steroids are advised for damaged muscles for recovering under supervision.”

The rise in health consciousness has affected the buying decisions of the consumers. The buying decisions are affected by the 4Ps and the other factors such as cultural, social, personal, and psychological attributes (Figures 3 and 4).

Motivation

Motivation is the driving force that impels people to act.” According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs-a consumer has a lot of needs and fulfills in terms of their drive to motivation [13-15].

Drive theory: Drive theory was developed by Clark Hull. According to him, consumers are motivated to fulfill their needs and take certain actions for the same. This theory was based on the biological concept of homeostasis, where in the body always tries to maintain the balance of a certain state. This theory explains the physiological components of a consumer. For instance, to reduce the internal unmet need of dehydration a consumer drinks Glucon-D (Figure 5).

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

“Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was put forth by Abraham Maslow. It consists of five levels of needs in terms of their importance (Figure 6). They are physiological, safety, social, self-esteem, self-actualization needs, respectively.”

Physiological needs: It is the most basic need of a consumer. It consists of needs that are necessary to sustain the basic needs of life. For instance, food, water, etc.
Safety needs: Once the physiological needs are fulfilled, a consumer moves up the hierarchy i.e., safety needs. Here in a consumer tries to satisfy safety and security needs. It consists of health, bank related, routine stability, etc.
Social needs: After satisfying the safety needs, a consumer tries to satisfy his/her social needs. It consists of love, affection, family, etc.
Self-esteem needs: Once the social needs are fulfilled, the selfesteem needs are to be satisfied. It consists of egoistic needs such as success, independence, satisfaction, reputation, status, recognition, etc.
Self-actualization needs: This is the last need that a consumer tries to fulfill after the self-esteem needs are fulfilled. Here in a consumer tries to fulfill his/her potential i.e., capability to become/achieve everything.

The theory states that once a lower need (physiological need) is satisfied then and then only a consumer moves up the hierarchy i.e., to the next hierarchy (safety needs). Consumers buy nutraceuticals and functional foods in order to satisfy their needs up the hierarchy. For instance, a consumer buys fruits (functional food) to fulfill his basic need of food. Further, he/she purchases Rablet, a drug (nutraceuticals) to fulfill safety needs of health and cerelac for his/her children to satisfy social needs of family. Moreover, herbalife products to fulfill self-esteem needs of status and strength and self-actualization need of problem solving [16-18].

Perception

“Perception is the process by which individuals select, organize, and interpret stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture of the world.” For instance, a millennial who is facing uneasiness in digestion firstly, selective attention, screens out all the information that he/she comes across via any mode (Yakult, Pet Safa, Eno, Gas-O-Fast, etc. Secondly, selective distortion interprets the information according to his/her beliefs and attitudes (Interprets Yakult and Eno positively). Finally, selective retention, pros of the product are retained of those brands they favor (Retained pros of Yakult as favored brand).

The buyer perception theory: The buyer perception theory puts forth that consumer’s perception of a product is based on the name of the brand, perceived differences in the quality of the product as compared to other competitors in the market, attributes of the product, perceived price, service quality, etc. For instance, millennials have a positive perception towards Ashwagandha which is a functional food and has been consumed for over 3,000 years in India. A millennial either will buy it of a particular brand or from a local store based on his perception of the quality, brand image, and the price constraints [19].

The self-perception theory: The self-perception theory was formulated by Daryl Bem in 1967. He stated that, “the mechanism and conditions under which a person uses his/her won behavior as data to make inferences about himself”. In order to indicate a behavior based on individualistic characteristics, a consumer must perceive his internal motivations i.e., inner attributes of a consumer from that of the external environment (Figure 7).

Moreover, the theory suggests that attitudes follow behavior of a consumer. Consumers develop an attitude towards nutraceuticals and functional foods by introspecting oneself and then analyzing the reasons behind the resulting behavior. For instance, a consumer thinks (behavior) that he needs to tone his body with the help of BCAA Supplements available in the market. The attitude behind this is that he needs to stay healthy and physically fit. Herein, there are external rewards for this. This resulted due to his/her attitude that is staying fit (Figure 8).

Halo effect: Halo effect was studied by Edward Thorndike. He stated that it is a cognitive bias wherein consumers are influenced by certain experiences towards a product based on the past memories with the brand, manufacturer, and influencers. Marketers use halo effect to amend the perception a consumer holds of a certain brand, product or service. For instance, maggi by nestle is quite popular in the Indian market and has a market share of 60%. (“Maggi fights to retain market share after SC reopens food contamination case,” n.d.) Nestle used this perception of Maggi in the Indian market to campaign functional foods such as, slim milk, yogurts, probiotic dahi, etc. The overall impression of maggi overall shapes a consumer perception of other products that nestle sells (Figure 9) [20].

Attitude

“Attitudes are learned from direct experience with the product, word of mouth, exposure to mass media and other information sources that consumers are exposed to.” Also, if the consumer has a good experience with Yakult, so when this life experience is carry forwarded to other than the others tend towards a positive attitude towards Yakult. Thus, learning factors is one where consumers are exposed to their experiences to certain products of nutraceuticals and functional foods.

The theory of planned behavior: The theory of planned behavior was put forth by Ajzen. It was an extension to the theory of reasoned action. This theory explains to us the factors which influence the behavior of consumers in buying decisions. Customers’ behavior is impacted by three factors attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control.

All these factors collectively help to predict the behavior of a consumer. Firstly, attitude is the belief that the consumer has about the product and the evaluations good or bad. Secondly, the subjective norms are the normative belief the consumer has towards the product with the external pressure from the social factors such as the family, friends, reference groups, etc. Thirdly, the perceived behavioral control is that certain control beliefs of enacting a certain behavior or action. This perceived behavioral control is the difference between the theory of reasoned action and the theory of planned behavior.

For instance, a cricketer who has undergone surgery due to an injury in the field has recommended by the doctor to consume eggs (functional food) regularly in order to fulfill the deficit protein to recover as early as possible. Here in, if the cricketer’s attitude is positive and wants to get on the field and the external pressure (doctor) also aligns to the perceived behavior control of the cricketer then it is likely that he’ll work on it.

Attitude toward the object and ad model: Attitude toward the object model and ad model are the smaller part of the multi attribute attitude model. Multi attribute model is used to analyze consumers’ attitudes. The attitude toward the object model states that an attitude of a consumer towards a certain product or service is based on the presence or absence of attributes leading to the evaluation based on the same. In addition to this, the attitude toward the ad model explains that various attitudes and beliefs are formed by the consumers based on the exposure to the marketing campaigns, advertisements, etc. impacting the attitude towards the product and the brand (Figure 10).

For instance, advertisement of Quaker oats endorses popular Indian Chef Vikas Khanna. In the advertising campaign we can see the attributes that oats offers to the consumers i.e., 2x proteins and fibers, helps in reducing cholesterol, etc. Moreover, the exposure to the advertisement with celebrity chef Vikas Khanna endorsing it impacts the attitude of consumers.

Millennials have become very cautious about the food they eat, and aspects related to health. The demand for clearer labels, convenient healthy foods, less processed, vegan, etc. has been paved by the generation Y. The Indian millennials as the efflux of time have realized that in order to stay fit and healthy, they have to follow certain nutritional trends which provide health benefits beyond their nutritional values leading to the development of the functional foods and nutraceuticals market in India. After looking at the various concepts of consumer attitude, consumer perception and consumer motivation we can say that all of these are important psychological factors impacting the attitude, belief and acceptance of millennials.

From the above instances of various nutraceuticals and functional foods such as Quaker oats, Glucon-D, BCAA supplements, etc., we can say that marketing to millennials with apt attributes of products, quality, brand, etc., has a huge impact on their consuming intentions.

Context

Nutraceuticals and functional foods will help the reader to get a deeper understanding of concepts and sub-concepts in the paper. Various examples will be used in order to understand the marketing concepts.

The globalization has paved a way for the development in all the aspects of life. One of the results of this was the communities becoming more conscious about what they eat and how it impacts their health. Millennials specifically look for products that serve not only as basic nutrition but also act as providing physical fitness and prevention from chronic diseases. Such foods are prevailing in the market as functional foods and nutraceuticals.

“The term ‘nutraceuticals’ was coined in 1989 by Stephen de Felice, founder and chairman of the Foundation for Innovation in Medicine, an American organization which encourages medical health research.” Nutraceuticals are the foods that are isolated from foods and are consumed in the forms of pills, tablets, powders, syrups, etc. Dietary supplements, phytochemicals, vitamins, minerals, etc. are the further subcategories of nutraceuticals. Campaigns that specifically talk about the attributes for health, for instance, the campaign of Nutrilite (Amway) states “Khul Ke Khel” this changes the perception of consumers which in a nutshell helps to boost immunity and fulfill the deficient nutrition. “The conviction to develop functional foods first emerged in Japan in the 1980’s when faced with escalating health care costs.” These led to the formation of these foods as a prominent type and are defined as conventional foods that are consumed on a regular basis in the day-to-day diet with documented nutrition and health benefits. For instance, in the fortune soya chunks advertisement, the company appeals that this contains “15x more protein than milk and is 99% fat free”. Moreover, ambassadors such as Sourav Ganguly and Saina Nehwal have been used so as to change the perceptions and attitudes that the customers hold.

The above instances can help to change the perceptions and acceptance of millennials but there are some challenges in functional foods and nutraceuticals such as, the trustworthiness and credibility of the products prevailing in the market. Customers want companies to play it honestly without deceiving or favoring information asymmetry. For instance, the making of a product might include the key components from various regions i.e., the raw material. There is no concrete information on what types of raw material is used. In India, an herbal drug “ortho herb” is marketed without the evidence of the clinical trials and the scientific compositions of ingredients. Failing to address these may affect the consumer’s perception and attitude towards that particular product however effective that may be.

We will now discuss these contexts extensively in the analysis section with the help of various models in order to understand how these affect the development of nutraceuticals and functional foods towards the millennials.

Discussion

Analysis

This paper explains the main concepts of consumer attitude, consumer perception, and consumer motivation with the help of three sub-concepts. Various examples from the nutraceuticals and functional foods have been used to better grasp the concepts mentioned above in the development of nutraceuticals and functional foods.

Consumer motivation

Drive theory: Drive theory of motivation that was pioneered by Clark Hull and expanded by his associate Kenneth Spence, explains how people are motivated to act on certain needs in order to fulfill those unmet needs. How long can humans control their food intakes? Maybe few hours or few days. This unmet need of food intake causes unrest for the millennials. They rely on food for energy and apt nutrition. Moreover, if not met to this need, one can have drastic effects on his/her behavior. To explain this, we would look at a marketing campaign of protein bars which explains how this unmet need can take control over your thinking and guiding you towards obtaining this demand (craving) of food intake.

Here as seen in Figure 11, fiber one protein bar, the marketing campaign of fiber one which explains how the candy bar with added benefits of fiber and proteins which definitely will fulfill your unmet demands at unprecedented times. This is a type of nutraceutical with added benefits which a normal candy bar does not provide with. Hunger/craving is called as a drive state where you feel that something is missing, and it needs to be completed as soon as possible and motivates them to fulfill that drive state. This campaign enhances the drive state of the millennial consumer to not only fulfilling their basic need of the cravings but additional nutritious benefits for example, 7 g protein, less calories and filled with fibers. Moreover, consuming this candy bar fulfills the generic goals of the consumers i.e., satisfying the physiological and psychological needs (Hunger-food, poweradditional nutrition).

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: Abraham Marlow developed the theory of hierarchy of needs in 1943. The theory was developed in a pyramid with 5 stages depicting different levels of needs. He stated that when one meets the need at lower level they move to higher levels of needs. When a millennial fulfills his/her lower-level need i.e., Physiological needs of food, shelter, etc. Following to the higher-level needs i.e., self-actualization (Figure 12).

As we can see in Figure 12 of Dabur immunity kit which was advertised during the onset of pandemic. Dabur had all the above products developed earlier but in these unprecedented times clustered altogether and marketed it as “stay protected from Coronavirus with Dabur’s immunity booster range” a kit in a nutshell in order to boost immunity to COVID-19. In these unprecedented times, building immunity is the efflux of time and a solemn need for all in order to survive from the virus.

This product from Dabur certainly fulfills all the criteria of following all the hierarchies of the pyramid. Here, this immunity kit is made up of the functional foods and is marketed in terms of capsules and powders i.e., nutraceuticals. The kit includes, chyawanprash, giloy churna and tablets, ashwagandha capsules, imudab syrup for kids, honey and honitus. Among the kit Chyawanprash is a dietary supplement in order to fulfill the basic needs of a healthy diet. Moreover, if we look at the 2^nd and 3^rd levels of the pyramid, this campaigning certainly targets health and family (Sense of belonging). The kit fulfills all the health and safety related needs by providing a range of products in the kit. Adding to this, the advertisement campaigns “Boosts your family’s immunity with this all in one” fulfills the need sense of belonging. Moreover, looking at the 4^th hierarchy it fulfills strength i.e., self-esteem of one. Lastly, the need of self-actualization is fulfilled by marketing it by a one stop solution for boosting your immunity i.e., problem-solving of boosting immunity (Figure 13).

Here is an advertisement campaign of Epigamia Greek yogurt. It is a functional food that provides with high proteins and low fat. This product is naturally obtained without adding any preservatives. This not only provides proteins and fiber but as well helps in good bowel movement due to its nature of probiotics. Nevertheless, it is campaigned as your healthy post workout snack. If we critically evaluate this product it fails to fit in the theoretical aspects of Maslow’s theory, it does not adhere to the hierarchical order. It fulfills the safety needs i.e., health related but it fails to fulfill the rest of the hierarchies i.e., the self-esteem, self-actualization, love and belonging and physiological needs since it is a snack and does not make a part of the basic food requirement. This sums up that not all functional foods and nutraceuticals may apply to a particular theory always. The theory of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs fails to address the multiplicity behavior of millennials i.e., one must overcome the lower levels and then go up the hierarchy.

Consumer perception

The buyer perception theory: Speaking of consumer perception, we’ll be looking at some of the examples that will help to get a gist of consumer perception towards functional foods and nutraceuticals with the help of factors of perception.

The buyer perception theory explains that millennials they perceive the products based on the brand name/image or perceived differences in the quality of a particular product. The positive relationship that is inferred to Dabur can be explained with the example below. Firstly, we have the example of Dabur honey, which is a functional food. Honey is a viscous functional food known for its antioxidant, healing, facial beautification, etc., properties. In the flyer that is attached above we can see that Dabur is marketing its product as 100% pure and no sugar adulteration. Moreover, Dabur marketed this product as NMR tested and has gone through 60+ quality checks. This marketing campaign attempts to confuse the millennials. This issue came into limelight when a Delhi based centre for science and environment exposed them based on adulteration. When tested by CSE, it failed the NMR test proving that this is not the purest honey and was adulterated. Thereby, contradicting the statement used in advertising campaign.

This affected the perception of the millennial consumers who blindly followed Dabur as the best and the purest honey brand in the world. Consumers who were consuming honey for its immunity boosting properties during the onset of the pandemic are consuming sugar and not honey resulting in obese and diabetic conditions for the millennials. Millennials widely accepted all the boasted health claims by Dabur based on the perceptions they hold about the superior quality and the brand name Dabur. Millennials conceptualized Dabur Honey as a health fixing product and aligned and symbolizing it to cultural values, is a mistake. The packaging that mentioned it is 100% pure influenced millennials perception of the product. Whereas the marketers conceptualized it as a means to an end (higher market share) by playing with the perceptions that millennials hold.

The self-perception theory: Secondly, we look at the health drinks that are getting popular nowadays. Fruit juices are the new trendy sources of keeping one hydrated and energetic throughout the day. These are considered functional foods if looked at the composition. millennials reflect concerns for health and fitness by uttering through their behavior and diets with rational consumptions. The Self-Perception theory states that “people know their own minds in the same way that they know those of others: they infer their own minds by observing their own behavior and the circumstances in which this behavior takes place” (Figure 15).

As we can see in the Figure 15, ocean water, ocean water, “an optimal blend of water, fruit juice filled with electrolytes and vitamins”. (“Ocean India-Introducing Ocean Fruit Water.,” n.d.) This is a fruity beverage induced with functional attributes. Fruits are considered to be natural and functional in nature (Borderline). The self -perception theory explains that millennials who are more concerned about their health and physical fitness readily accept this product since the perception of ingredients made sense. This, drink here is made up of water composed with fruit juice, added minerals and vitamins. Busy in professional life, thinking of how to manage their intake calories and trying not to consume carbonated drinks. For instance, it is pretty hard to carry some fruit to workplaces and consume it during office hours than to carry a bottle of fruit water with added nutrition. Millennials perceived this brand as aligned with culture since India has many local drinks and associated it with the country of origin looking at the campaign. Millennials perception of this product based on their utter behavior, price, and the store imagery mentioned below in the poster and the brand name had a relative impact on the perceived quality of the product.

Halo effect: Halo effect was developed by Edward Thorndike in 1920. It is a perceptive effect where in a consumer perceives a particular product positively based on past experiences with that brand or producer. This effect explains how an overall impression shapes certain judgement even if they are biased (Cognitively). From the point of marketers, we can say that Halo effect, “refers to a prestigious image of a product ‘rubbing on’ other products marketed under the same brand name.” For instance, millennials who admire HUL beauty and personal care products will be willing to spend on home care products sold under the name of HUL (Figure 16).

As we can see the marketing campaign of Horlicks by Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL). Horlicks is a malt-based drink that supports growth. It is a kind of nutraceuticals composed of essential nutrients marketed for kids, women’s, mothers, adults, etc. In order to get the gist of the Halo effect, we’ll be firstly talking about Horlicks campaign that is targeted towards kids and then discuss about the campaign that is marketed for adults. Horlicks marketed by promising of a taller, stronger, and sharper child. This idea of extra nutrition played a massive role in the buying behavior of kids in Indian households. The “exam time” and the “Badhne ki Bhook” campaigns, really cultivated a relationship with the Indian millennials since Indian millennials are aspirational when speaking of their kids. Moreover, these campaigns changed the perception of Horlicks as a nutritious drink in the minds of millennial parents.

Now with the help of these emotions that Indian millennials have associated themselves with Horlicks, Horlicks introduced sub brands for adults, women’s, mothers, etc., providing different set of nutrition to a specific demographic millennial. Since the Horlicks kids made sense to millennials, this sub brand of Horlicks is popular among the millennial adults as there are very limited options for this particular segment. Moreover, this particular campaign targets those millennials in terms of HFDs (Health Food Drinks) who are not comfortable in consuming protein based drinks (Whey protein). This product was perceived positively by the millennials since the positive experience they hold about Horlicks as a brand for health-related drinks.

Consumer attitude

The theory of planned behavior: TPB was developed by Ajzen in 1985. This theory suggests that behavior is shaped by three components attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. This is an extension of the theory of reasoned action in order to predict the intension to engage in behavior. We’ll see how this theory applies to a real-life example (Figure 17).

As we can see in the Figure 17, Endura mass, is a marketing campaign of Endura mass weight Ggainer. Endura mass weight gainer is a kind of nutraceutical which helps in gaining weight be it skinny or underweight. This campaign states that it is “Time to knock out everyone who teased me for being underweight.” For instance, a friend of mine, Pradeep, a 50 Kg category wrestler is trying to decide whether to take part in 70 Kg wrestling or not. He sees this advertisement wherein they have mentioned all the necessary motivation for one who is underweight in order to pursue one’s dreams. First of all, we know that his attitude is towards 70 Kg wrestling is positive. He thinks he should go with Endura mass in order to gain 20 Kgs. But he also knows that gaining weight and building a personality that suits a wrestler is not easy. Whereas it is very easy to skip all this and just continue the way he has been wrestling with 50 Kgs. If Rahul feels strongly about the importance of health and physical fitness for being a wrestler and if he has support from his family and friends and are also favor of Endura mass, then it is likely that this will end in his behavioral outcome. Moreover, if he has easy access for this product then he will develop a strong behavior to perform this action and follow his passion.

Attitude toward the object and Ad model: Multi attribute attitude model explains the beliefs of a consumer towards the key attributes of a particular product. The attitude towards the object model and ad model are a smaller part of the multi attribute attitude model. It states that beliefs are positive/negative based on the attributes and the assessments of those attributes to that consumer and the feelings that consumers associate them with the advertisements they see or hear.

If looked at the millennials generation in India, people are concerned about their intestinal health and try various functional foods to keep intestine healthy. Currently, there are various generic as well as functional foods such as curd, buttermilk, havaban harde, etc. All these products are either tasteless or have a very bad taste. The above advertisement campaign is of Yakult. It is a Japanese fermented milk beverage which consists of high quality of probiotics called Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota. This ad campaign shows the attributes such as a sweet, fermented drink, improves digestion and helps build immunity, no preservatives, etc. Moreover, they also mention social conformity i.e., more than 40 million bottles are consumed globally every day in order to back the assessments of consumers towards the object. Moreover, in the ad campaign, Shilpa Shetty, an actress turned fitness guru is seen as the brand ambassador in order to target those are gut conscious and make them aware about gut health. Also, this advertisement proposes the feeling of “love your intestine” which is a feeling that consumers associate and are impacted towards the brand being advertised. This campaign is trying to change the perception of the traditional probiotic foods that are being used by Indian for long years by adding new product attributes based on the research of consumer preferences.

By looking at the analysis of the concepts such as consumer behavior, consumer perception and consumer attitude aligned with various examples of nutraceuticals and functional foods we can conclude that the factors such as the experience from consuming the foods, information processed from social and cultural surroundings, physiological effects while consumption, and the past experiences of the products from the memory have enabled the development of functional foods and nutraceuticals.

This systematic analysis with the help of various theories such as Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, self-perception theory, theory of planned behavior, etc., jot downs the factors that affect the consumers attitude, perception, motivation in intake of nutraceuticals and functional foods. The consumption of nutraceuticals and functional foods became popular in terms of preventing and treating diseases, improving health as explained with the examples of Dabur immunity kit and Horlicks above.

This paper examined consumer attitude, perception and motivation towards the nutraceuticals and functional foods and all the other factors that impacted behavior of the millennials. For instance, Epigamia yogurt, the Dabur immunity kit, Horlicks are readily accepted and are the most consumed foods. But when it comes to how Dabur honey was marketed since it is a functional food consumed by millennials for a long period, it just sort of affects the perception of 100% pure honey that millennials have. This is where the theory doesn’t fit when products are marketed with false details. Also, acceptance of consumers is a complex matter when comes to generic products since there are not enough evidence on the bioactive compounds and benefits guaranteed.

Speaking of nutraceuticals and functional foods, consumers lack awareness of the products prevailing in the market, credibility, higher costs and the belief that the consumer hold are the barriers. For instance, the Epigamia Greek yogurt is marketed well but there are certain limitations when the theoretical aspects do not fit with the product. But if effectively communicated through various marketing channels the credibility the consumer understanding can be mend. Using various theories and research as influencing factors, cynically about the authenticity and effectiveness of these borderline products can be changed.

This research paper unveiled the attitude and the perception of the Indian millennials towards functional foods and nutraceuticals. Future research within this context can find out and study a different demographic such as the Gen-Z. Moreover, it might run a quantitative methodology to examine the credibility and effectiveness of the nutraceuticals and functional foods within the same target audience. Nevertheless, there are many other relevant aspects that are not included in this paper and can be covered in further studies.

Marketers cannot stick to one aspect of theory in order to change the perception and beliefs the consumer hold. They need to use a mixture of theories to successfully communicate the intended benefits of nutraceutical and functional foods. Moreover, segmenting functional foods and nutraceuticals to separate categories due to overlapping attributes is a complicated task to do. Also, implementation of stringent guidelines by regulatory bodies such as FSSAI is necessary. The future of these depends on the beliefs and the perception that consumers hold.

Conclusion

To sum up the paper, the following literature review reflects the outcome of the research. The main objective of this paper was to analyze the development of nutraceuticals and functional foods industry towards Indian millennials, consumer attitude in the context of nutraceuticals and functional foods through the lens of consumer motivation and consumer perception. To analyze all the components, the research with the help of relevant theories relating to the concepts of attitude, motivation, and perception unveiled the acceptance and perception of millennials towards nutraceuticals and functional foods in Indian market. It can be inferred that Indian millennials do understand the efflux of time in order to lead a healthy lifestyle and look out for labels and the compositions of the products. Moreover, Indian millennials consider living healthy lifestyle and it varies from person to person as mentioned above in the analysis section that perception and attitudes of a millennial family member are different to that of a single athlete.

Nevertheless, self-improvement, self-actualization, influencers, etc. are considered to be the motivations behind living and leading a healthy lifestyle. The nature of all the millennials is somewhat like trial and error. They try the products and evaluate based on the marketed attributes, nature, quality, etc. But millennials way of living a healthy lifestyle is the key reason behind the development of the functional foods and nutraceuticals in terms of their positive attitudes and perceptions.

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