Motive-based consumer segments and their fruit and vegetable consumption in several contexts

Abstract

A targeted approach to increase fruit and vegetable consumption, considering the heterogeneity of food choice motives across consumers and across contexts, is expected to be more effective than the often used 'one-size-fits-all approach'. Therefore, the current study aims to increase understanding of consumers' food choice motives across contexts, to identify consumer segments based on these motives and to gain insights in fruit and vegetable consumption, perceptions and demographic characteristics of these segments. An online survey was conducted in May 2015 among consumers in the Netherlands, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Poland, Spain, Greece, Croatia and Serbia. 3064 participants completed the survey on fruit and 2998 participants completed the survey on vegetables. Four segments were identified, differing in their focus on present versus future food choice motives for main meals at home and for other contexts. The segments differed in their consumption, perceptions of fruit and vegetables and in their demographic characteristics. Implications for targeted approaches to increase fruit and vegetable consumption are discussed.

Keywords: Consumer segmentation; Consumption context; Food choice motives; Food consumption; Fruit; Vegetables.