Galjina Ognjanov

The motivational and informational basis of attitudes toward foods with health claims.

This research explored the effects of food choice motives, nutritional knowledge, and the use of food labels, on attitude toward food with health claims. Food with health claims was chosen as a relatively novel category of products designed to be beneficial for health. We identified eight motives served by food in general, and tested if they serve as motivations to positively evaluate functional food. Questionnaire was administered on nationally representative samples of 3085 respondents from six Western Balkan countries. We proposed two structural models relating an extensive list of eight and, alternatively, restricted list of three food-choice motives (health, mood and sensory appeal) to attitude toward functional food. We also expected the indirect association between the health motive and attitude, through nutritional knowledge and use of food labels. The results revealed highly positive, although undifferentiated attitude toward functional food, with no significant differences between the countries. The restricted model provided a better fit then the exhaustive model; the health motive was proven to have indirect influence on attitude through knowledge and label use. The implications of these findings for functional approach to attitudes, understanding the demand for functional food and overcoming barriers to dietary change are discussed.

A Qualitative Approach to Understanding Brand Image in an International Context: Insights from Croatia and Serbia

Purpose – The paper aims to demonstrate the utility of qualitative research for: understanding differences in brand image across markets; the critical assessment of marketing theory; informing revisions to quantitative scales and metrics used in international branding research. This is accomplished via research on a particular case (socialist era brands in Croatia and Serbia). Design/methodology/approach – A total of 12 focus groups, cutting across two countries (Croatia and Serbia) and three age groups (18-21, 35-45, pensioners), were conducted. The contemporary brand images of labels from the socialist era were compared against competing products (launched in the post-socialist period by local manufacturers and those from transnational companies). Findings – Analysis revealed significant differences in the image of the socialist era brands between their home and foreign markets. Variations are linked to a cultural context of newly (re)emerging states with high ethnocentrism, animosity and uneasy politic...

Processors and retailers attitudes towards consumer demand for dairy nutrition and health claimed products in Western Balkan Countries

This study is addressed to the nutrition and health (NH and (2) data obtained from processors and retailers by in-depth interviews. Dairy products milk and yogurt with N&H claims cover one quarter of all products surveyed by store check. The largest number of brands in Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina are of domestic origin, while other Western Balkan Countries (WBC) brands are most common on the Macedonian and Montenegrin markets. The number of N&H claims made on dairy products depends on the origin of the product – WBC producers make more claims per product than EU producers. Around one third of all claims are health related. Visual presentation of products included use of different images such as an ideal female figure, a sign for urgent medical help and arrows around the waist. The store check also served to identify producers who were potential candidates for interviews in the six WBCs involved in this study. In total, 36 producers and 24 retailers participated in the interviews. Overall response rate was 71%. Dairy products – milk, yoghurt/kefir and cheese accounted for 52 out of 120 observations. Two of the analyses of this study are presented. The first analysis deals with the examination of differences between dairy and other N&H claimed products, and the second refers to differences between the dairy processors’ and retailers’ points of view. For that purpose, a non-parametric testing procedure based on two independent samples was used. This procedure is based on the Mann-Whitney test which uses the rank of each group and the sum of ranks to examine whether category groups are drawn from the same population.

Exploring an Emerging Market through Focus Groups and Expert Interviews: Health Claim Products in the Western Balkans

The market of products with health claims is rapidly growing in the Western Balkan countries. This study has explored how the consumers value health claim products and what image they have of this product category. The following research questions were addressed: (1) Do consumers in Western Balkan countries associate health claim products with specific health benefits? (2) How do consumers perceive health claim products? Does the form of communication influence their choice of food? (3) What is the actual contribution of companies to this market’s development? (4) How is a health claim product consumer perceived by different stakeholders? The purchase motives identified in this study are ranging from the belief in innovation and science over the favouring of specific ingredients such as probiotic bacteria to the appealing effect of, for instance, fat-burning characteristics.