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Cluster analysis of fruit and vegetable‐related perceptions: an alternative approach of consumer segmentation
Author(s) -
Simunaniemi A.M.,
Nydahl M.,
Andersson A.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of human nutrition and dietetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.951
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1365-277X
pISSN - 0952-3871
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-277x.2012.01272.x
Subject(s) - habit , cluster (spacecraft) , medicine , consumption (sociology) , logistic regression , descriptive statistics , perception , multivariate analysis , cross sectional study , demography , social psychology , statistics , psychology , mathematics , social science , neuroscience , sociology , computer science , programming language , pathology
How to cite this article
Simunaniemi A.‐M., Nydahl M. & Andersson A. (2012) Cluster analysis of fruit and vegetable related perceptions: an alternative approach of consumer segmentation. J Hum Nutr Diet . 26 , 38–47 Abstract Background: Audience segmentation optimises health communication aimed to promote healthy dietary habits, such as fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption. The present study aimed to segment respondents into clusters based on F&V‐related perceptions, and to describe these clusters with respect to F&V consumption and sex. Methods: The cross‐sectional study was conducted using a semi‐structured questionnaire. The respondents were randomly selected among Swedish adults ( n = 1304; response rate 51%; 56% women). A two‐step cluster analysis was conducted followed by a binary logistic regression with cluster membership as a dependent variable. The clusters were compared using t ‐tests and chi‐squared tests. P < 0.05 (two‐sided) was considered statistically significant. The respondents’ open‐ended answers of determinants of F&V consumption were used as a descriptive support for the conducted multivariate analysis. Results: Of the two identified clusters, the Positive cluster ( n = 476) was older and consumed more vegetables (both sexes) and fruit (women only), whereas men in the Indifferent cluster ( n = 715) consumed more juice. Indifferent clu ster reported more F&V consumption preventing factors, such as storage and preparation difficulties and low satisfaction with F&V selection and price. Not liking or not having a habit of F&V consumption, laziness, forgetting and a lack of time were mentioned as main barriers to F&V consumption. Conclusions: The Indifferent cluster reports more practical and life‐style related difficulties. The Positive cluster consumes more vegetables, perceives fewer F&V‐related difficulties, and looks for more dietary information. The findings confirm that cluster analysis is an appropriate way of identifying consumer subgroups for targeted health and nutrition communication.