The Effect of Perceived Susceptibility and Knowledge on

Undergraduate Students’ Attitude towards Functional Food

Tri Rakhmawati, Nidya Astrini, Sik Sumaedi, I Gede Mahatma Yuda Bakti and Medi Yarmen

Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Jakarta, Indonesia

Keywords: Attitude, Functional Food, Knowledge, Perceived Susceptibility.

Abstract: In consumers’ behavior literature, attitude towards functional foods is an essential factor that affects

consumers’ acceptance. Functional food companies must ensure that their consumers have a good acceptance

of their products. Increasing consumers’ acceptance can be done by improving the factors that influence their

attitude. This research aims to test the impact of perceived susceptibility and knowledge on undergraduate

students’ attitude towards functional foods that can prevent hypertension. This research is important since the

topic is underdeveloped in the literature. This is a quantitative research using a questionnaire as the survey

instrument. The respondents were 59 undergraduate students who enrolled in an executive program that

belongs to the department of industrial engineering of a private university in Indonesia. The data went through

two-step analyses, which were validity and reliability tests and multiple regressions tests. The results revealed

that perceived susceptibility and knowledge positively and significantly affect undergraduate students’

attitude towards functional foods that can prevent hypertension.

1 INTRODUCTION

One of the problems faced by Indonesia at this

moment is the prevalence of non-communicable

diseases (NCD). World Economy Forum (2015)

noted that the impact of NCD was significant. For

example, the mortality rate caused by NCD has

increased by 20.3% between 2004 and 2014 (World

Economy Forum, 2015). Furthermore, the World

Economy Forum (2015) also revealed that NCD had

caused a GDP loss of USD4.47 million between 2012

and 2030. This number is more significant than India

(USD4.32 million), even though India’s population is

five times larger than Indonesia (World Economy

Forum, 2015). Therefore, NCD needs to be managed.

One of the solutions for NCD is the consumption

of functional food products. The Japanese

government was one of the governments that

successfully encouraged the consumption of

functional food as a part of healthy lifestyle

campaigns (Yamada et al., 2008). Until this point,

those products were continuously being supported by

the Japanese government. They created a relatively

lenient regulation, and the sale of functional food

products soared to USD8 billion in 2018 (Iwatani &

Yamamoto, 2019). Furthermore, Pelletier et al.

(2002) suggested that functional foods should be

included as a part of counseling efforts and nutrition

education to improve health.

To encourage the consumption of functional food

products, consumers’ attitude toward functional

foods must be positive. According to two theories

often used to explain consumers’ behaviors, which

are the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the

Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), attitude is an

important factor that influences someone’s behavior

(Ajzen, 1991).

Attitude influences behavior because attitude

represents how far someone is willing to accept

certain behavior (Küster-Boluda & Vidal-Capilla,

2017). Empirically, studies have found that attitude

has a positive effect on the intention to consume

certain products (Alam, 2011; Tarkiainen &

Sundqvist, 2005), including functional foods (Küster-

Boluda & Vidal-Capilla, 2017). Therefore, studies

related to factors that affect consumers’ attitude

toward functional foods become important.

1.1 Previous Research and Research

Gaps

Studies that investigated attitude toward functional

foods have been conducted. For example, research by

Rakhmawati, T., Astrini, N., Sumaedi, S., Bakti, I. and Yarmen, M.

The Effect of Perceived Susceptibility and Knowledge on Undergraduate Students’ Attitude towards Functional Food.

DOI: 10.5220/0009980900002964

In Proceedings of the 16th ASEAN Food Conference (16th AFC 2019) - Outlook and Opportunities of Food Technology and Culinary for Tourism Industry, pages 133-138

ISBN: 978-989-758-467-1

133

Küster-Boluda and Vidal-Capilla (2017) on 333

functional food consumers in Spain showed that

attitude significantly affected willingness to consume

functional foods. However, they also found an

interesting twist. A healthy lifestyle did not

significantly influence attitude toward functional

foods. Table 1 shows the examples of previous

studies on attitude toward functional foods.

From the narration above, it can be seen that

studies related to attitude toward functional food have

not investigated the simultaneous effect of perceived

susceptibility and knowledge on attitude. These two

factors are important and can be reasonably placed as

factors that might positively affect attitude toward

functional foods since the consumption of functional

food is a health-related planned behavior. As a

planned behavior, attitude is formed because of

someone’s belief (Ajzen, 1991). That belief might

arise from knowledge obtained by consumers. So, it

can be implied that the knowledge of functional foods

might affect attitude (Ajzen et al., 2011). On the other

hand, as a health-related behavior, perceived

susceptibility represents a perception of the threat of

diseases. This can be a key variable in determining

someone’s acceptance of health-related behavior (i.e.,

consuming functional foods) (Rosenstock, 1974;

Gerend et al., 2004). Perceived susceptibility might

affect attitude toward functional foods.

1.2 Research Objective and Hypotheses

This research aims to test the simultaneous effects of

perceived susceptibility and functional food

knowledge on attitude toward functional foods to fill

literature gaps. Specifically, this article intends to:

 Test the effect of perceived susceptibility on

attitude toward functional foods

 Test the effect of functional food knowledge on

attitude toward functional foods

Align with the previous subsection, the hypotheses of

this study are:

 Perceived susceptibility has a positive and

statistically significant impact on attitude toward

functional foods.

 Functional food knowledge has a positive and

statistically significant impact on attitude toward

functional foods.

Table 1: Examples of previous research on attitude toward functional food.

Author(s) Functional Food Type Sample Findings

Huang et al. (2019)

General functional food. The

respondents were explained about the

concept of functional food. Common

functional food products in the local

market, such as probiotic yogurt,

biscuits rich in dietary ﬁber and

energy drink, were given.

1144 Chinese

consumers



Trust in the food system and

health consciousness

positively aects purchase

attitude.

 Food neophobia moderates

the relationships between

antecedents and them.

Wu et al. (2005) Soymilk

185 students from a

university in

northern Louisiana

 Age and race are

significantly correlated with

attitude

 Gender did not have a

significant correlation with

attitude

Chen (2011)

Cholesterol-lowering spreads, blood

pressure-lowering milk drink,

probiotic/stomach-friendly yogurt,

juice with added calcium, oatmeal

with added beta-glucan, snack bars

with added fiber, sweets and chewing

gums with xylitol, and energy drinks

633 Taiwanese

consumers

The attitude was influenced

significantly by lifestyle,

subjective health complaints, and

modern health worries

Devcich et al.

(2007)

Yogurt or margarine products either

added vitamins or added scientific

compounds

390 medical

students from The

University of

Auckland, New

Zealand

The attitude was significantly

affected by modern health

worries

Tudoran et al.

(2009)

A processed salmon-based product

enriched with dietary wheat fiber

327 Spaniards

The attitude was significantly

influenced by health values

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2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

2.1 Variables and Indicators

This research has three main variables, which are

perceived susceptibility, functional food knowledge,

and attitude toward functional foods. Those variables

are latent variables, so they need to be measured using

indicators. To ensure the content validity, indicators

that match with the operational definitions of those

three variables were adapted from the previous

studies (Buil et al., 2012). Table 2 shows the

operational definitions and the indicators used in this

research.

Table 2: The operational definitions and statement

indicators of research variables.

Variable

Operational

Definition

Statement

indicators

Attitude

toward

functional

food

Emotion

(like/dislike) felt

by someone

I like functional

foods (X1)

Functional food is

a good food (X2)

Consuming

functional food is

beneficial for me

(X3)

It is interesting to

consume functional

food (X4)

Perceived

susceptibility

People’s

perception

related to his or

her

susceptibility of

getting an NCD

I am susceptible to

an NCD (X5)

I worry that I might

get an NCD (X6)

I am afraid of an

NCD (X7)

Functional

food

knowledge

People’s ability

to identify

concepts related

to functional

foods using

information that

he or she has

obtained before

I have knowledge

related to

functional foods

(X8)

Compared to my

friends, I have

more knowledge of

functional foods

(X9)

I am sure that I

know about

functional foods

(X10)

In the literature related to knowledge on

functional foods, there are two approaches, objective

knowledge built through knowledge tests that can be

objectively measured and subjective knowledge

stemmed from respondents’ subjective admissions

about their knowledge (Ministry of Health of the

Republic of Indonesia, 2018). This research used the

second approach because it requires a smaller number

of indicators, which would make it easier for

respondents. Aside from that, this research will give

an initial introduction of functional foods to the

respondents before they start filling the questionnaire.

If objective knowledge approach was used, the

answers might not correctly signify respondents’

current knowledge.

2.2 Functional Food Type

There are many types of functional foods. Similar to

previous studies that limited the type of functional

foods in empirical testing, this research chooses one

type of functional food, a type that can potentially

prevent hypertension. Functional foods that have this

feature include yogurt, dark chocolate, and low-fat

milk. This choice was based on two considerations.

First, hypertension is an NCD which prevalence has

risen in Indonesia (Ministry of Health of the Republic

of Indonesia, 2018). Second, research related to

consumer behavior that specifically focuses on

attitude toward functional foods that can prevent

hypertension is still limited.

2.3 Data Collection

Data gathering technique utilized in this study was a

survey with a questionnaire as the instrument. The

respondents were 59 executive class students in a

private university in Indonesia. The number of

respondents was deemed adequate for the main

analysis technique used in this research, Multiple

Regressions Analysis. According to Hair et al.

(2006), the technique demands the number of samples

to be five times the number of statement indicators.

This study used 10 statement indicators (see table 2),

so the minimum number of samples needed was 50.

Respondents were recruited in a class in a private

university. Their participations were volunteer-based.

This was done to avoid bias and ensure that

respondents fill the questionnaires based on their

actual perceptions. The demographic profile is shown

in table 3.

This questionnaire consists of three parts. The first

part explained the definition of functional foods that

can prevent hypertension and some examples, like

yogurt, dark chocolate, and low-fat milk.

The second part probed respondents’

demographic profile. The results of those questions

are displayed in table 3. The third (main) part of this

questionnaire investigated consumers’ assessment on

perceived susceptibility, functional food knowledge,

and attitude toward functional food (see table 2). In

The Effect of Perceived Susceptibility and Knowledge on Undergraduate Students’ Attitude towards Functional Food

135

the questionnaire, those indicators were adjusted with

the context of functional foods tested in this research.

For example, the indicator “I am susceptible to an

NCD” was adjusted to “I am susceptible to

hypertension.” Respondents were required to

measure their agreement (or disagreement) level

based on their perceptions. The scale used was 1 for

‘extremely disagree’ to 5 for ‘extremely agree’.

Table 3: Demographic profile.

Parameter Categories %

Gender

Male 84.2

Female 15.2

Age

≤ 18 years old 1.8

19 years old 10.5

20 years old 24.6

≥ 21 years old 63,1

Residency

status

With family (Father/Mother) 64,9

Dormitory 28,1

Other 7,0

Monthly

allowance

<IDR600,001 39,3

IDR600,001-IDR1,200,000 32,1

>IDR1,200,000 28,6

2.4 Data Analysis

This research employed two-stage data analysis. The

first stage was validity and reliability tests for the

research instrument. The validity test was done using

factor analysis, while the reliability test was

conducted using Cronbach’s α. The cut-off values are

shown in table 4.

Table 4: Criteria for validity and reliability analysis.

Parameter Criteria Cut off Values

Instrument

reliability

Cronbach’s α ≥ 0.6

Instrument

validity

Standardized

Factor Loading

(SFL)

≥ 0.5

Source: Hair et al. (2006), Lai & Chen (2011), Sekaran &

Bougie (2010)

The second stage is a multiple-regressions

analysis to test the proposed hypotheses. The model-

fit analysis was done to assess the overall model (see

figure 1). The analysis was done by evaluating the F-

value and the significance level. After the model was

deemed fit, hypotheses testing was conducted to

obtain the β-value and the significance level. The

significance level of this study is 10%. Hypotheses

were accepted if the β-values were positive and

significant at 10% or lower (Hair et al., 2006; Sekaran

& Bougie, 2010).

Attitude toward

functional food

Functional food

knowledge

Perceived

susceptibility

Figure 1: Regression model.

3 RESULTS

3.1 The Validity and Reliability of the

Research Instrument

Table 5 shows the results of validity and reliability

analysis using factor analysis and Cronbach’s α,

respectively. Based on table 5, it can be seen that all

criteria have been fulfilled. Therefore, the research

instrument is deemed valid and reliable.

Table 5: The results of validity and reliability analysis.

Variable Indicator SFL Cronbach’s α

Attitude

toward

functional

food

X1 0.807

0.825

X2 0.738

X3 0.891

X4 0.806

Perceived

susceptibility

X5 0.847

0.800

X6 0.895

X7 0.793

Functional

food

knowledge

X8 0.882

0.885

X9 0.927

X10 0.901

3.2 The Results of the

Multiple-Regressions Analysis

Table 6 depicts the results of the multiple-regressions

analysis. Overall, the model is considered fit.

Functional food knowledge and perceived

susceptibility have positive and significant β-values

at 10%. The results indicate that functional food

knowledge and perceived susceptibility have positive

and significant impacts on attitude toward functional

foods. The hypotheses are supported by the data.

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Table 6: The results of the multiple-regressions analysis.

Independent

Variable

Regression

coefficient

Standard error

of coefficient

Standardized

regression

coefficient (beta)

t value

Statistical

significance

Intercept 0.003 0.121 0.027 0.978

Perceived

susceptibility

0.233 0.128 0.228 1.820 0.075

Functional food

knowledge

0.392 0.125 0.394 3.148 0.003

= 0.255

F value = 8.734

P level = 0.001

Dependent Variable: Attitude toward functional food

4 DISCUSSION

4.1 Theoretical Implication

This research showed that functional food knowledge

positively and significantly affected the attitude

toward functional foods. This means that the more

knowledge, the more likely he or she has a positive

attitude and vice versa. This research also found that

perceived susceptibility positively and significantly

influenced the attitude toward functional foods. It

indicated that when someone felt that he or she was

susceptible to hypertension, his or her attitude toward

functional food would be more positive.

Theoretically, those findings provide new insight

into the mechanism of consumers’ acceptance.

Someone who accepts functional foods is someone

who has a positive attitude toward functional foods.

A positive attitude can arise from two factors, high

knowledge of functional foods and the threat of

NCDs.

The results of this research can explain the

findings discrepancy between Küster-Boluda and

Vidal-Capilla (2017) and Chen (2011). Chen (2011)

showed that a healthy lifestyle affected the attitude

toward functional foods, while Küster-Boluda and

Vidal-Capilla (2017) found otherwise. Someone with

a healthy lifestyle does not necessarily have

knowledge of functional foods or feels that NCD is a

threat for him and that it can be prevented using

functional foods. If he does not have a knowledge

related to functional foods, he might not know that it

can support his healthy lifestyle. Furthermore,

someone with a healthy lifestyle might not think that

he is susceptible to NCD. This means that he feels like

he does not need functional foods, and his attitude

toward functional foods will not be positive. That

might be the reason why Küster-Boluda and Vidal-

Capilla (2017) found that a healthy lifestyle did not

positively correlate with attitude toward functional

foods. If someone with a healthy lifestyle also has

knowledge about functional foods and realizes their

benefits against the risk of NCD, his attitude toward

functional foods would be positive as found by Chen

(2011).

4.2 Managerial Implication

The result of this research has practical implications

for functional food producers and other stakeholders

that seek to encourage the consumption of functional

foods. First, they need to improve the public’s

knowledge of functional foods. In this context, the

most basic knowledge would be how to identify

functional foods and their inherent physiological

benefits. This can be done through face-to-face

meetings or information technology-based media,

like the internet. The benefit of exploiting

information technology is its wide and flexible

coverage.

Aside from those implications, the research

results also encourage stakeholders to increase public

awareness of the danger of NCDs that can be

alleviated through the consumption of functional

foods. Stakeholders can make campaigns on NCDs,

the risk factors of NCDs, and NCD’s impacts on

overall health and well-being. The campaign on NCD

prevention is important because as a part of a diet,

functional foods serve as a disease-prevention

method. Functional foods are not medicines.

The next implication, to ensure consumers’

acceptance, functional food companies must develop

a specific product that targets certain detrimental

effects of NCDs consumers are aware of. With this

pattern, the rejection rate might decline.

The Effect of Perceived Susceptibility and Knowledge on Undergraduate Students’ Attitude towards Functional Food

137

4.3 Future Issue

Even though this research has generated interesting

findings and provided theoretical and practical

implications, there are several unfinished issues.

First, the main aim of the research on attitude toward

functional foods is to find a model that can explain

consumers’ attitude comprehensively. The regression

analysis showed that the R

of the model was 25.5%.

It means that there were variations of attitude that

could not be explained by the variation of knowledge

and perceived susceptibility. There must be other

variables that can enhance the model’s prediction

power. Therefore, the variables proposed in this study

should be integrated with other variables from

different studies that have been empirically proven.

Second, there are various functional foods

products available in the market. This poses a

question of whether the effect of each variable would

be different for other types of food. This research

could not answer that particular question because this

study only assessed one type of food, which was

foods that can prevent hypertension.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This study is funded through Insentif Riset Sistem

Inovasi Nasional (National Innovation System

Research Incentive) The Ministry of Research and

Higher Education of the Republic of Indonesia. All

authors are the main author of this paper.

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