This study has significance in that it has analyzed the Korean health food market with marketing methods and has completed a consumer‘s perceptual map on the nutraceutical attributes of health foods. It has thus established the basic elements such ...
This study has significance in that it has analyzed the Korean health food market with marketing methods and has completed a consumer‘s perceptual map on the nutraceutical attributes of health foods. It has thus established the basic elements such as market segmentation, creation of market chances, design direction for new products and the direction of communication messages, necessary to carry out marketing strategies for health food products through practical study.
In this study, segmentation of the consumers health food market was done by cluster analysis. Then, the consumer characteristics and preferences in the Korean health food markets were analyzed as a perceptual map that included attributes evaluation and preferences of the subjects through Multidimensional Scaling analysis.
The results of the study suggest how the various nutraceutical attributes of products sold in Korean markets are positioned in consumers’ minds in an environment where the attributes of the products, especially their nutraceutical values, are not communicated well enough among consumers due to legislative restrictions on health foods.
The factor analysis carried out in this study suggests information on what factors the consumers consider the most in selecting health foods. “Convenience”, "Brand image", "Scientific evidence", and "Rationality" were analyzed as main factors in this study. Also, in the cluster analysis of this study, the Korean health food market was segmented into three optimal markets and specific information on consumer characteristics and tastes was obtained in each market, thus providing important evidence in selecting the main target audience as well as grasping their lifestyles and purchasing patterns.