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Market-Oriented New ProductDesign of Functional OrangeJuice Beverages: A QualitativeApproachDouglas Sorenson a & Joe Bogue aa Department of Food Business and Development ,University College , Cork, IrelandPublished online: 08 Sep 2008.

To cite this article: Douglas Sorenson & Joe Bogue (2005) Market-Oriented NewProduct Design of Functional Orange Juice Beverages: A Qualitative Approach, Journalof Food Products Marketing, 11:1, 57-73, DOI: 10.1300/J038v11n01_04

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Market-Oriented New Product Designof Functional Orange Juice Beverages:

A Qualitative ApproachDouglas Sorenson

Joe Bogue

ABSTRACT. The functional beverages category is considered one of themost significant drivers of new product development (NPD) in recentyears. Fifteen in-depth interviews and three focus groups were held be-tween February and March 2003 to identify the most important attributesinfluencing consumers’ purchase decisions for orange juice, and to ex-plore consumers’ attitudes towards existing and new functional orangejuice beverages. The results suggested that functional food and beveragemanufacturers should place a greater emphasis on the base product whenevaluating new product concepts. This study highlighted the key role ofqualitative research in facilitating the integration of consumers with theconcept stage of the NPD process. [Article copies available for a fee from TheHaworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address:<docdelivery@haworthpress.com> Website: <http://www.Haworth Press.com>© 2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]

KEYWORDS. New product development, qualitative, consumer atti-tudes, functional beverages

Douglas Sorenson and Joe Bogue are affiliated with the Department of Food Businessand Development, University College, Cork, Ireland.

Address correspondence to: Dr. Joe Bogue, Department of Food Business and Devel-opment, O’ Rahilly Building, University College, Cork, Ireland (E-mail: j.bogue@ucc.ie).

This research was funded by the Enterprise Ireland Advanced Technology ResearchProgramme 2001.

Journal of Food Products Marketing, Vol. 11(1) 2005http://www.haworthpress.com/web/JFPM

© 2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.Digital Object Identifier: 10.1300/J038v11n01_04 57

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INTRODUCTION

The global beverage industry has undergone major developments inrecent years in response to changing market dynamics and consumertrends. ING Barings (2001) reported that declining sales in carbonatedsoft drinks were offset by significant growth in the sales of fruit-basedbeverages, bottled water, and functional beverages. Jago (2000) consid-ered the functional beverage category one of the most important driversof NPD in recent years. Krause (2001) expected global functional bever-age sales to increase by 70 per cent to US$24bn by 2005. According toHilliam and Young (2000), gut benefit beverages, sports and energydrinks and calcium-enriched juice have dominated the global functionalbeverages market. Leatherhead Food Research Association (LFRA)(2001) estimated that global sales of gut benefit foods and beveragesreached US$3.08bn in 2000. Probiotic dairy drinks realised impressivesales growth between 1996 and 2000 to account for 32-36 per cent of theEuropean probiotic dairy market (LFRA, 2001). LFRA (2001) predicteda growing NPD trend towards multi-functional probiotic beverages thatoffer multiple benefits based upon recent product launches in Japan.

Beverage Industry (2002) believed that functional and fortified juiceswould drive future growth within the chilled juice sector. According toLFRA (2002), sales of calcium fortified juices in the US grew by 150per cent between 1996 and 2000 to US$450m, to account for 20 per centof total fruit juice sales in 2000. However, Butler (2002) maintained thatcalcium fortification alone could no longer present functional juicemanufacturers with a competitive advantage within the functional juicemarket. An important trend highlighted by Hehn (2001) related to inno-vations transcending beverage categories. This not only referred tomanufacturers diversifying into new product categories, but also themovement of functional ingredients across and between categories. Forexample, Berry (2002) reported on Upstate Farm’s Mocha Java Caf-feine Kick (stimulant milk) as a better-for-you alternative to carbonatedstimulant drinks. Johnson (2002) predicted that stimulant drinks couldexpect to face competition from drinks designed to enhance well-being.However, Krause (2001) maintained that the ability to predict whichproduct categories would experience strongest growth, and where con-sumer demand could be expected in terms of the health benefits desiredfrom functional foods and beverages, were significant considerationsfor functional food and beverage manufacturers.

Heasman and Mellentin (2001) recounted the difficulties faced byfood and beverage manufacturers in identifying consumer groups to tar-

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get with new and innovative functional foods and beverages. Research-ers such as DeJong et al. (2003) and Bech-Larsen et al. (2001) haveargued against generalising consumers’ interest in, and purchase inten-tion towards, functional foods and beverages, owing to the importanceof the base product selected for enrichment with functional ingredients.Van Kleef et al. (2002) and Bogue et al. (1999) strongly argued for the in-tegration of consumers with the NPD process in order to bring NPD practi-tioners closer to understanding consumers’ needs and wants. ChemicalMarket Reporter (1999) emphasised the importance of qualitative re-search methodologies, such as in-depth interviews and focus groups,during the concept development stage in terms of defining target con-sumer groups and ascertaining the feasibility and level of market accep-tance of potential products. Van Kleef et al. (2002) believed theintegration of the consumer with the NPD process could overcome con-fusion and uncertainty concerning new product ideas, and particularly,“new-to-the-world” product concepts.

METHODOLOGY

The objectives of this research were (i) to qualitatively identify theextrinsic and intrinsic attributes influencing consumers’ purchase deci-sions for orange juice; (ii) to explore consumers’ attitudes towards andperceptions of functional orange juices; and (iii) to evaluate and refine arange of functional orange juice platforms and concepts.

According to Denzin and Lincoln (1998), methodological triangula-tion provides for a more holistic view of the context under study thanusing a single methodology. Bauer and Gaskell (2000) maintained thatin-depth interviews would yield more information regarding an individ-ual’s personal experiences, decisions, action sequences, and choicesthan focus groups. However, Schindler (1992) considered focus groups“a unique source of information about how consumers would respondin a situation where there would be an awareness of the views of otherconsumers.” Flick (1998) considered focus groups more beneficial thanin-depth one-to-one interviews, because of their unique ability to ana-lyse consumers’ attitudes and opinions in a social context, where sub-groups could emerge to challenge each other’s views and opinions.Fitzpatrick (1997) considered focus groups particularly appropriate forconcept testing and concept refinement within the NPD process.

Fifteen in-depth interviews and three focus groups were held betweenFebruary and March 2003. Table 1 summarises the key socio-demographic

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characteristics of the people who participated in the in-depth interviewsand focus groups. Interviewees and focus group participants were recruitedby means of a non-probability sampling method, using a combination ofconvenience and purposive sampling. Interviewees and focus group partic-ipants were selected based on a positive response to a screening questionrelated to their consumption of orange juice. The question was: “Do youconsume orange juice at least once every two weeks?”

The in-depth interviews were conducted at a suitable location in Uni-versity College Cork. Two focus groups were conducted in Cork City,within University College Cork, and at a self-catering retirement home.

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TABLE 1. Participant Profiles

Profile Interviews FG 1 FG 2 FG 3

Number 15 8 7 8

Gender

Male

Female

6

9

3

5

0

7

4

4

Age Group(years)

18-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

55+

3

3

3

4

2

4

2

2

0

0

0

3

1

0

3

0

0

0

0

8

Education

Primary Level

Junior Cert.

Leaving Cert.

Vocational

Third Level

0

1

3

0

11

0

0

3

0

5

0

0

3

0

4

1

1

2

2

2

Social Class B C1 C2 D C1 C2 ABC1 C2 D E

Location Cork Cork Limerick Cork

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A third focus group was conducted at a central location in LimerickCity. The in-depth interview and focus group guides were developed inaccordance with established practice (Krueger, 1988). The in-depth in-terview and focus group guides differed with respect to questions con-cerning the purchase decision-making process for orange juice. The keyextrinsic and intrinsic orange juice attributes were only investigatedthrough, and discussed within, the in-depth consumer interviews. A pi-lot focus group and pilot in-depth interview were conducted to ensurethat the questions asked were coherent, easily interpreted, and answer-able by participants. Before each interview and focus group, participantsanswered a short questionnaire, to augment the information generatedfrom the qualitative discussions.

An experienced moderator conducted the focus groups and in-depthinterviews, which were audiotape recorded and lasted approximately ninetyminutes. A number of in-depth interviews and focus groups were alsovideotaped. During the interview and focus group discussions, productprompts and information displayed on a flipchart were introduced as vi-sual stimuli to aid discussions and to gather constructive feedback. Thequalitative data was transcribed from the audiotape recordings. The inter-view and focus group transcriptions were then coded using the computerpackage N6‘ (QSR International, 2002). The N6‘ software package fa-cilitated the process of identifying, coding and retrieving information forfurther analysis. The results of the in-depth interviews and focus groupsare presented together in section three to show the views and opinions ofinterviewees and focus group participants.

RESULTS

Orange Juice Consumption: Behaviour, Motivations and PerceivedBenefits

The majority of interviewees and participants in Focus Groups 1 and2 reported an increase in juice consumption over the previous fiveyears. A number of elderly discussants in Focus Group 3 drank less or-ange juice than in the past. This was attributed to the belief, on their part,that citrus fruits aggravated the symptoms of arthritis. One elderly focusgroup participant said: “I read that the citrus fruits were bad for arthri-tis.” Sensory and health considerations were both considered equallyimportant in choosing to consume orange juice over other beverages.

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Participants in Focus Groups 1 and 2 and several interviewees deemedthe thirst quenching property of orange juice highly important in choos-ing to consume orange juice.

Health considerations did not relate to specific health benefits per se,for the majority of interviewees and focus group participants, but ratherto the perceived general healthiness of one beverage over another. Or-ange juice was considered a healthier alternative to other beverages.Several interviewees across gender and age groups, and younger adultsin Focus Groups 1 and 2, reported that they gained a strong sense ofmental well-being having consumed orange juice: “It makes me feel likea better person.” This seemed most important to those intervieweeswith insecurities regarding the nutritional quality of their own diet.

Most interviewees and participants in Focus Groups 1 and 2 held astrong underlying belief in the benefits of Vitamin C to the immune sys-tem. These consumers associated Vitamin C consumption with the alle-viation of ailments that one elderly male interviewee referred to as‘minor inconveniences’ such as the alleviation or prevention of coldsand influenza. Female participants in Focus Group 1, and several inter-viewees across gender and age groups, considered orange juice benefi-cial to the digestive system. Female respondents in particular believedorange juice to be of assistance in alleviating constipation: “Even when Ihad my children and they were constipated I would give them orangejuice. Even going back to my grandmother’s time, if you were consti-pated and you ate an orange you would be fine.”

The Important Extrinsic and Intrinsic Orange Juice AttributesInfluencing Interviewees’ Purchase Decisions

This research sought to identify the key extrinsic and intrinsic orangejuice attributes, and determine the rationale for their perceived impor-tance to consumers. Six attributes of orange juice were consideredhighly important by interviewees and these included: taste; brand; tex-ture; location in-store; type of juice; and price.

The degree of sweetness was considered the most important sensorydescriptor that distinguished between orange juices. Purchasers of‘made from concentrate’ and ‘not from concentrate’ orange juice pre-ferred a naturally sweet or slightly sweet tasting orange juice. Purchas-ers of freshly squeezed orange juice preferred a ‘sharp’ and ‘tangy’tasting orange juice and notably less sweet than other orange juices. Anumber of interviewees encountered certain orange juice brands thatlacked flavour, odour, or mouthfeel, which from their perspective, sug-

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gested water had been added to the orange juice: “You should be able tosmell orange juice. If you can’t then it (orange juice) must have a lot ofwater added to it.”

The majority of interviewees described a high level of inertia whenpurchasing, and specifically repurchasing, orange juice. They reportedthat, through experience, they came to recognise, and associate, the de-sired sensory attributes with certain orange juice brands, thereby reduc-ing the necessity to experiment further with different orange juices andorange juice brands: “You try a certain number of them (orange juicebrands) and you figure out which tastes the best so all I would have todo is look for this brand.”

Interestingly, it seemed that texture was the only intrinsic attributewhere some consumers reportedly made trade-offs, taking into accountthe preferences of other family members. One female interviewee said:“I prefer orange juice with bits, but the kids hate the bits so I buy it with-out the bits to please the family.” Some interviewees disliked the sensoryexperience of consuming orange juice with fruit pieces. A considerablenumber of interviewees across age groups, the majority of whom werefemale, preferred to consume orange juice containing fruit pieces. Thesensory sensation and enjoyment gained from consuming an orangejuice with fruit pieces were considered important by these interviewees.Interviewees’ perceptions of ‘freshness’ and ‘naturalness’were com-pelling reasons explaining why these consumers considered textural at-tributes important in discriminating between different orange juices: “It(fruit pieces) adds a bit of body to the juice and it feels more natural. Itgives the perception that it is a natural product.”

Similarly, the majority of interviewees purchased pure orange juicefrom the chilled cabinet based upon the perceived ‘freshness’ and ‘nat-uralness’ of chilled pure orange juice. The rationale for purchasingchilled over ambient stored orange juice related to concerns regardingthe perceived presence of preservatives in ambient stored orange juice:“Anything that is on the shelf and is supposed to be fresh must havesome preservatives in it. Don’t they tell you that anything that is freshyou must keep in the fridge.” A number of interviewees also suggestedthat the habitual nature of purchasing certain foods and beverages fromspecific locations within the supermarket explained why they pur-chased orange juice from either the chilled cabinet or from the super-market shelf. An inability to differentiate between chilled and ambientstored orange juice was a sentiment shared by interviewees who choseto purchase ambient stored over chilled orange juice.

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Purchasers of freshly squeezed and ‘not from concentrate’ orangejuice believed that ‘made from concentrate’ orange juice underwent ahigher degree of processing than other types of orange juice: “It (madefrom concentrate juice) has to be boiled down to death. I don’t knowhow it can be good. It is like vegetables, the less cooking time thebetter.” Freshly squeezed and ‘not from concentrate’ orange juice weredistinguished from the ‘made from concentrate’ juice on the basis ofperceived ‘purity’ and ‘naturalness.’ Purchasers of ‘made from concen-trate’ orange juice expressed an extreme dislike for certain intrinsic at-tributes that they felt characterised freshly squeezed orange juice from asensory perspective. These consumers preferred a sweeter tasting or-ange juice: “I like a little bit of sweetness like in a concentrated juice butif it is freshly squeezed then it is not going to be as sweet.”

Purchasers of ‘not from concentrate’ and freshly squeezed orangejuice were willing to pay a higher price for a product they considered tobe superior from a quality and sensory perspective. One male inter-viewee said: “The Tropicana is much more expensive than the concen-trated stuff. I have no idea what the price difference is. The main thing isthe difference in taste.” Promotions and special offers seemed most ap-pealing to larger households or where a large quantity of orange juicewas consumed within a household.

Consumers’ Attitudes and Perceptions Towards Functional OrangeJuices

A high level of inertia and indifference helped explain why most in-terviewees purchased regular orange juice over functional orange juice.Interviewees disinterest in the nutritional information on orange juicecartons and bottles seemed to stem from the assumption of orange juicebeing devoid of fat and cholesterol, and a source of Vitamin C. This as-sumption appeared to hold across brands. The positive perception of or-ange juice as a ‘natural’ product explained why some interviewees andfocus group discussants had negative feelings towards the concept offunctional orange juice beverages: “Orange juice is beneficial the way itis naturally. Why would you need to throw all of this stuff on top of it aswell?” Elderly participants in Focus Group 3, the majority of whomconsumed dietary supplements, expressed concern regarding exceedingthe permitted Recommended Daily Amount (RDA) of nutrients: “I’d beafraid that if you were taking something else (along with supplements)that you might get too many vitamins, and that you would overdose.”However, some interviewees and participants in Focus Group 2 were

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more accepting of functional foods and beverages than Focus Group 1participants. Dietary and health concerns, particularly concerning fam-ily members, seemed a strong motivating factor in purchasing func-tional orange juices.

Consumers’ Perceptions of New Functional Orange Juice Concepts

The majority of interviewees and participants across focus groupswere receptive towards the probiotic orange juice concept. A probioticorange juice was considered to offer better value for money in terms ofserving size than probiotic dairy drinks: “The size of that (Actimel) putsme off because it is tiny. All it takes is one gulp and they are gone.” Aprobiotic orange juice was considered a more refreshing alternative toprobiotic dairy drinks. The probiotic orange juice concept also appealedto consumers who disliked the taste of yoghurt and/or probiotic dairydrinks. Purchasers of dietary supplements containing probiotic culturesgained a greater assurance from consuming the supplement than fromother probiotic products: “There aren’t as many bacteria in the Actimelas in the supplement. That is why I take it (the supplement).”

The two most preferred probiotic orange juices claimed to either aidthe immune system or the digestive system. It appeared that the naturalassociation between orange juice consumption and the prevention ortreatment of colds and influenza strengthened the credibility of aprobiotic orange juice that claimed to aid the immune system. Con-versely, consumers were generally sceptical of a probiotic orange juicethat claimed to alleviate or prevent chronic diseases, such as the preven-tion of certain cancers: “It would be hard to tell people how it (aprobiotic orange juice) would protect against certain cancers.” Inter-estingly, the inherent benefit gained from orange juice consumptionvis-à-vis alleviating constipation explained why a number of interview-ees and some participants in Focus Groups 1 and 2 rejected the conceptof a probiotic orange juice that claimed to prevent or alleviate diarrhoea:“In my head orange juice is something that causes diarrhoea.”

Exploratory discussions with interviewees and focus group partici-pants identified a number of potential nutrients that could be incorporatedinto the probiotic orange juice concepts, which claimed to either aid theimmune or digestive systems. A number of female interviewees and par-ticipants across focus groups considered Echinacea beneficial in aidingthe immune system. However, several participants in Focus Group 2 re-counted a strong off-flavour associated with Echinacea that could negateits addition to a probiotic orange juice from a sensory perspective: “It

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(Echinacea) is awful stuff. I don’t think you could put it in to orangejuice.” Some interviewees and participants in Focus Groups 1 and 2 werein agreement that Zinc also contributed to a healthy immune system. Anumber of interviewees across gender and age groups, and participants inFocus Groups 1 and 2, believed orange juice contained an adequateamount of fibre, and these consumers perceived digestive problems aris-ing from the addition of extra fibre to a probiotic orange juice: “I don’tthink it would be a good idea to add fibre because if you did then it wouldbe overdoing it and it could lead to (digestive) problems.”

The majority of interviewees expressed a preference for a probioticorange juice that offered multiple benefits over one that only offered asingle benefit. Economic reasons most readily explained their prefer-ences for a multi-functional probiotic orange juice. In contrast, partici-pants in Focus Groups 1 and 2 expressed negative views towards theconcept of a multi-functional probiotic orange juice. These consumersconsidered health claims associated with the multi-functional probioticorange juice less credible than the claim associated with a probiotic or-ange juice offering a singular benefit: “That (multiple benefits) is prom-ising too much. If you go for more than one benefit then people aregoing to go ‘no way.’ ” Participants in Focus Groups 1 and 2 were inagreement that juice manufacturers would need to support the claimsassociated with probiotic orange juices in order to overcome their scep-ticism and gain their overall acceptance of probiotic orange juices andthe associated health benefits. Participants in Focus Group 1 were keento emphasise the importance of publishing the results of clinical trials,and communicating these findings to consumers, in order to alleviatetheir concerns and scepticism towards probiotic foods and beveragesclaiming to deliver health benefits.

It appeared that consumers’ positive perceptions of orange juice wereat variance with their negative perceptions of a stimulant orange juicecontaining specific functional ingredients to deliver the proposed bene-fits. Most interviewees and participants across focus groups specificallyconsidered the addition of caffeine and taurine, an adulteration of or-ange juice: “Orange juice is something you associate with being naturaland if you go adding caffeine and sugar then you are losing the benefitsof something that is natural.”

Health concerns were of particular importance to older intervieweesand elderly participants in Focus Group 3 in rejecting the stimulant or-ange juice concept. These consumers recounted adverse effects fromthe consumption of beverages containing caffeine, such as palpitationsand heartburn: “We changed our tea bags to decaffeinated tea because

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we tend to drink a lot of tea and we were getting heartburn.” Herbal ex-tracts and botanicals were considered more acceptable, and more appro-priate, for use in a stimulant orange juice beverage than the addition ofcaffeine and taurine, by a number of interviewees and by some partici-pants in Focus Groups 1 and 2. It appeared that, the perceptions of orangejuice as a healthy and natural beverage directed their interest towardsfunctional ingredients perceived to be both natural and healthy, such asGinseng: “I would prefer the herbal extracts which are more naturaland which would go with a natural product.”

The majority of interviewees and participants in Focus Group 1 be-lieved their consumption of dairy products, and ultimately their calciumintake, to be adequate. Consequently, these consumers were uninter-ested in and unlikely to purchase a non-dairy functional orange juice. Asmall minority of interviewees and participants in Focus Group 1 pre-ferred to obtain calcium from milk rather than from a functional orangejuice. However, other interviewees and focus group participants werereceptive towards the development of a non-dairy functional orangejuice. This reflected the general concern among these respondents re-garding the perceived low intake of dairy products and calcium withinsociety, particularly among women, young children and teenagers.

Discussions with interviewees and focus group participants high-lighted product design issues of importance to juice manufacturers pursu-ing market opportunities within the functional juice sector. Intervieweesand focus group participants considered a functional orange juice offer-ing the full nutritional composition of milk unappealing, particularly tothose consumer groups perceived most at risk from dairy-related nutrientdeficiencies: “If you put added fat into juice then a lot of women are goingto run when the word fat appears, added to a product that would not nor-mally have any fat.” Instead, these consumers were receptive towards anorange juice enriched with vitamins and minerals associated with milk.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Product Specificity in Evaluating New Functional BeverageConcepts

This qualitative study supports the quantitative findings of DeJong etal. (2003) and Bech-Larsen et al. (2001) where consumers’ purchase in-tent towards functional foods and beverages, and specific functional in-gredients, depended upon the base product selected. This research

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revealed that the selection of orange juice as a base vehicle for a range offunctional beverages had a profound influence on the new product con-cepts considered acceptable to consumers. Only functional juice con-cepts, functional ingredients and associated benefits, which were perceivedas healthy by consumers, were considered acceptable. In this research,the two most preferred functional orange juice concepts were the probioticorange juice and the non-dairy functional orange juice.

Whilst DeJong et al. (2003) and Bech-Larsen et al. (2001) demon-strated that the base product influenced consumers’ interest in, and pur-chase intent towards, functional foods and beverages across productcategories, this research revealed that the base product selected also in-fluenced consumers’ acceptance of specific health benefits within aspecific product category such as fruit juice. For example, a number ofinterviewees and participants in Focus Groups 1 and 2 rejected the con-cept of a probiotic orange juice designed to prevent diarrhoea. Clearly,from a consumer perspective, a contradiction arose between the inher-ent benefit associated with orange juice in the alleviation of constipa-tion and the health benefit associated with the proposed probioticorange juice in preventing diarrhoea.

The product selected as a vehicle for a range of functional beverages hada marked influence on the functional ingredients considered acceptable toconsumers. For example, in relation to the non-dairy functional juice con-cept, consumers rejected a non-dairy functional orange juice offering thefull nutrition benefits of milk. Instead, consumers were receptive towards anon-dairy functional orange juice offering the full complement of vitaminand minerals associated with milk. A number of consumers were opposedto the addition of fibre to a probiotic orange juice given its inherent benefitfor the relief or prevention of constipation.

Efficacy in the Development and Marketing of FunctionalBeverages

With increasingly competitive markets, functional food and bever-age manufacturers have targeted functionality, vis-à-vis the health ben-efits offered, as an extremely important marketing tool in creating acompetitive advantage in order to differentiate their product offeringfrom their competitors (Heasman and Mellentin, 2001). Consequently,based upon recent product launches, LFRA (2001) predicted that futureinnovations in the probiotic food and beverages market would focus onmulti-functional products that offer multiple benefits. In this research, anumber of participants in Focus Groups 1 and 2 were sceptical towards

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a multi-functional probiotic orange juice, and as a consequence of thesocial interaction between participants, consensus was reached in bothfocus groups in favour of a probiotic orange juice that claimed to aid ei-ther the immune system or the digestive system. This is what Schindler(1992) referred to as the unique ability of focus groups to predict the ef-fects of social influence.

A multi-functional strategy may very well be more attractive to pur-sue in more competitive and maturing markets, such as the Japaneseprobiotic market, where consumers are highly aware of the links be-tween certain dietary components and a reduced risk from certain dis-eases. However, the results of this exploratory study suggest that, in theshort term, a probiotic orange juice offering a singular benefit may pre-sent a lower risk in terms of new product failure than a multi-functionalprobiotic orange juice. This could possibly be based in part upon the rel-atively low but growing market share for probiotic products; consumerslimited exposure to multi-functional products; and their limited under-standing and acceptance of the diverse health-enhancing properties ofprobiotic cultures, and other synergistic functional ingredients (Bogueet al., 2003). This study highlights the importance of efficacy, and thevalidation of health claims associated with functional orange juice bev-erages, in terms communicating, educating and persuading consumersof the benefits associated with functional foods and beverages.

Gaining a Competitive Advantage: Category and ProductSubstitution Strategies

The results of this study suggest that functional juice manufacturerscould successfully pursue a category substitution strategy with a range ofprobiotic orange juices. The probiotic orange juice concept was consid-ered to hold a significant competitive advantage over probiotic dairydrinks in relation to monetary value, serving size, and sensory pleasure.However, further considerations would need to be considered should afunctional beverage manufacturer wish to persuade supplement users tosubstitute probiotic supplements with a probiotic orange juice. Heasmanand Mellentin (2001) argue that the concentration of probiotic cultureswill become more important in the future as consumers become moreaware of the substantive issues.

Critical challenges await functional juice manufacturers pursuing aproduct substitution strategy with a probiotic orange juice. Consumerswere adamant that a probiotic orange juice should taste as close to regu-lar orange juice. Milton (2003) argued that food and beverage manufac-

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turers must aim to meet consumers’ basic requirements for the baseproduct first if they hoped to satisfy consumers overall requirementswith a functional food or beverage. This study identified the extrinsicand intrinsic orange juice attributes of importance to consumers. Thisprovided valuable information for product developers seeking to iden-tify suitable market segments to target with a range of functional juices.Foote (2002) emphasised that off-flavours associated with functionalingredients can act as a deterrent to consumer acceptance of functionalbeverages. This research identified functional ingredients that couldpossibly lead to off-flavours from the consumers’ perspective. Qualita-tive enquiries at the early stages of the NPD process can provide guid-ance to technical personnel in developing functional beverages that gaingreater overall consumer acceptance.

A Greater Focus on Promotion and Positioning Strategies WhenIntroducing New Functional Beverages to the Market

An important observation that arose from this study was the inertiaand indifference that characterised consumers’ purchase behaviour to-wards orange juice, and consumers’ purchase intent towards functionalorange juices. Given that functional juices are located alongside con-ventional juices, promotional strategies that aim to increase a product’svisibility in the supermarket have an extremely important role to play inthe development of the functional orange juice market. At present, func-tional orange juices remain undifferentiated from incumbent products.

Hollingsworth (2001) asserted that the lack of permissible healthclaims made it difficult for functional food and beverage manufacturersto effectively communicate the health benefits afforded by certain func-tional foods and beverages to consumers. The findings of this researchsuggest that the use of nutritional information and health claims on or-ange juice cartons should not be relied upon primarily to communicatehealth benefits associated with functional juices to consumers. Instead,manufacturers should place a greater emphasis on identifying promo-tional techniques that could help functional beverage manufacturers tocommunicate to consumers the benefits associated with functional juices.This would aid consumers in differentiating functional juices from con-ventional ones. Such promotional techniques could include in-store edu-cation of consumers and the use of health and nutritional informationleaflets. More traditional promotional tools such as advertising and pro-motional offers could also be used. In this study, consumers placed con-siderable importance on the sensory attributes of orange juice in influencing

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their purchase decisions. A promotional tool such as product samplingwould allow consumers to experience a functional orange juice from asensory perspective. It could possibly have a positive impact on a targetconsumer group’s propensity to experiment with new functional orangejuice brands.

This study showed that orange juice was generally perceived to be anatural product. Subsequently, some consumers expressed the opinionthat the addition of functional ingredients lowered the perceived natural-ness of orange juice. Such observations have been reported elsewhere(Bech-Larsen et al., 2001; Heasman and Mellentin, 2001). In this research,consumers were more accepting of functional orange juices with selec-tive rather than multiple nutrients. Generally, the findings of this studysuggest that the technical development and market positioning of func-tional orange juices on a ‘natural’ platform would be an important strat-egy decision. This strategy is based upon consumers’ perceptions of pureorange juice.

The Role of Qualitative Research Methodologies in New FoodProduct Design

This study highlighted the extremely important role of qualitative mar-ket-oriented research methodologies in the early or concept developmentstage of the NPD process. This research also showed the important role ofthe consumer in the new product design process, through the identifica-tion of key extrinsic and intrinsic orange juice attributes, and the evalua-tion and refinement of a selection of new functional orange juice concepts.The increasingly competitive nature of the functional food and beveragesmarket, and the inherent risks associated with the new food product de-velopment process, means that qualitative market-oriented researchmethodologies have an important role to play in the NPD process. In-depth interviews and focus groups can generate valuable information thatoffer guidance to marketers and technical research and development per-sonnel in terms of evaluating, developing and refining new functionalbeverage concepts. In-depth personal interviewees generated informationfor market segmentation purposes, through identifying the extrinsic andintrinsic attributes that were of most importance to consumers. Theyfacilitated discussions concerning several product design issues from which anumber of new functional orange juice concepts were identified. Theseconcepts potentially offer market opportunities to functional juice manu-facturers.

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Research Recommendations

Although NPD activities are viewed as incurring high levels of risk interms of new product failures and associated costs, market-oriented re-search methodologies can assist food and beverage manufacturers de-velop new and innovative foods and beverages that are acceptable toconsumers. Functional food and beverage manufacturers must integrateconsumers into the NPD process. Qualitatively gathering consumers’views during the early stages of the NPD process can identify undesir-able new product concepts, problems associated with new product con-cepts, or help the formulation of new functional beverages that offermarket opportunities based upon genuine consumer needs. The resultsof this exploratory study suggest that functional food and beveragemanufacturers should place a greater emphasis on the base product dur-ing the early stages of NPD. In the short term, functional orange juicemanufacturers should focus their NPD activities on singular rather thanmulti-functional benefits, containing selective functional ingredients,which are positioned on a platform that emphasises naturalness andgeneral well-being.

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