Results prove that carriers of functional ingredients have the largest relative importance in consumers’ valuation of FFs with probiotics as the functional component. Since FFs based on carriers perceived as healthy are more likely to be accepted by consumers mainly due to prior beliefs on product healthfulness that appears also to override claim information. However, this study confirmed the importance of health claims in gaining consumer acceptance of FFs and suggests that consumers are more inclined to accept FFs with a prevention health claim rather than with a generic or psychological health claim.
We acknowledge that the results reported in this paper are sub- ject to a number of limitations that can be addressed in subsequent research. Particularly, limitations of this study relate to the number of probiotics base products considered (only 3: yoghurt, orange juice and biscuits) and range of health claims presented in the test (generic, psychological and prevention). Hence, it remains to be seen if the results we have reported are robust for other types of probiotic foods. In addition, to a degree, the data are context dependent. That is, if a different set of elements were chosen, the relative utility values of other elements in the set could change, as could the overall importance of that attribute relative to other attributes. Finally, findings hold specifically within the characteristics of the study area (Italy) thus generalizations are speculative. Therefore further research avenues should focus on identifying a larger set of FFs and specific attributes valuable for the final purchaser. In addition, public authorities, due to the importance of consumer trust in health claims, should carefully and clearly define unambiguous policies for FFs to avoid false health claims during the marketing process.