The effect of health belief model towards intention to consume functional foods among older consumers in Malaysia: the moderating effect of perceived familiarity / Flaviana Ivy Febian

The growth of new eating habits and consumption in functional foods is due to the health problem. The whole world is facing chronic diseases problems such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension problems. Nutrition and exercise play main roles in its prevention and treatment due to the frequency of chronic diseases. Moreover, inadequate knowledge of consumers and awareness on functional ingredients could affect on one health. In this thesis, perceived susceptibility, perceived barriers, perceived benefits and cue to action will be investigated to identify the relationships with intention to consume towards functional foods in Malaysia. This thesis also investigates the moderating effect of perceived familiarity between with Health Belief Model (HBM) variables relationship and the intention to consume towards functional foods. Data were collected from older consumers. A total of 250 offline questionnaires were obtained for the final data analysis. In this thesis, purposive sampling and convenience sampling were employed. SPSS 24 and PLS 3.0 were performed to test the collected data. This thesis aimed at gaining a better understanding of the factors that influence consumption of functional foods are needed and contribute to the functional foods consumption literature by recognizing the factors that influencing functional foods consumption.