Consumer’s Expectation on Healthy Drinks

Abstract

The trend of healthy beverage consumption has been steadily increasing popularity over the past five years, and the number of healthy drinks will increase in the future. Consequently, the market offers a variety of healthy drinks that more closely to the needs of consumers. The purpose of this research was to study the expectations of consumers with healthy drinks on the current market. The qualitative approach was used through in-depth interviews focusing on consumers’ buying behavior and expectations on healthy drinks. Twenty-eight key informants, who usually buy healthy drinks at least once a week, participated in this study during February to April, 2014. All interviews were then transcribed, coded, and interpreted by content analysis. Our study found that, in terms of the product expectations, the consumers expected the healthy drinks to be natural, safe, and tasty with smooth texture. For the distribution expectations, the consumers preferred to buy the products conveniently from places in connection with their daily lifestyle. Regarding the nutrition expectations, the consumers viewed that the product should contain vitamin C, antioxidant with no substance that could cause them feeling uncomfortable after taking the healthy drinks. The current products on the market, either instant or freshly-prepared healthy drinks had met the consumers’ expectations on sugar-free or low sugar, vitamin C and antioxidants. However, little had yet been responded to their expectations regarding the natural, safe product expectation including convenient places for buying the freshly prepared drinks. In conclusion, considering the consumer expectations and unmet needs on healthy drinks, areas of improvement on product and marketing development must be further developed toward better consumers’ health