Vietnamese Consumers’ Preferences for Functional Milk Powder Attributes: A Segmentation-Based Conjoint Study with Educated Consumers

• Main Authors: Trong Phan, Phil Bremer, Miranda Mirosa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-06-01
• Series: Sustainability
• Subjects: food quality and safety labels; conjoint analysis; milk powder; functional food; consumer preference
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/13/5258

This paper investigated Vietnamese consumers’ preferences for functional milk powder products to determine if there were differences in market segments. A Qualtrics survey and a 1000minds choice-based conjoint survey were completed by 272 participants, predominantly 18-30-year-old males with high education levels and above average incomes. Firstly, general perceptions of the use of functional foods to maintain health were determined, with results revealing that participants believed in the benefits the foods claim to provide. Secondly, participants’ tradeoffs for specific extrinsic functional milk powder attributes were determined by examining the relative importance they placed on a range of attributes. Participants prioritized a quality stamp attribute and preferred that this was obtained from an international certification body. Finally, a two-step cluster analysis and multinomial logistic regression was used to profile the participants and analyze relationships between socio-demographic data and the four resulting segments (i.e., Food Safety Concerned, Price Sensitive, Premium Product Focused, and Nutrition Focused). The largest of these segments was Food Safety Concerned (46.3%) with males significantly less likely than females to be in this segment. Given the limited literature on Vietnamese consumers’ decision-making processes, this study is an important contribution to this topic, as well as providing information about market opportunities.