Understanding heterogeneity among elderly consumers: an evaluation of segmentation approaches in the functional food market

Overweight in Older Adults: A Follow-Up of Fifteen Years of the SABE Survey

Despite extensive research on overweight and obesity, there are few studies that present longitudinal statistical analyses among non-institutionalized older adults, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and factors associated with excess weight in older adults from the same cohort over a period of fifteen years. A total of 264 subjects aged (≥60 years) from the SABE survey (Health, Wellbeing and Aging) in the years 2000, 2006, 2010, and 2015 in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, were evaluated. Overweight was assessed by a BMI of ≥28 kg/m². Multinomial logistic regression models adjusted for sociodemographic and health data were used to assess factors associated with excess weight. After normal weight, overweight was the most prevalent nutritional status in all evaluated periods: 34.02% in 2000 (95%CI: 28.29-40.26); 34.86% in 2006 (95%CI: 28.77-41.49%); 41.38% in 2010 (95%CI: 35.25-47.79); 33.75% in 2015 (95%CI: 28.02-40.01). Being male was negatively associated with being overweight in all years (OR: 0.34 in 2000; OR: 0.36 in 2006; OR: 0.27 in 2010; and OR: 0.43 in 2015). A greater number of chronic diseases and worse functionality were the main factors associated with overweight, regardless of gender, age, marital status, education, physical activity, and alcohol or tobacco consumption. Older adults with overweight and obesity, a greater number of chronic diseases, and difficulties in carrying out daily tasks required a greater commitment to healthcare. Health services must be prepared to accommodate this rapidly growing population in low- and middle-income countries.

The Food4Years Ageing Network: Improving foods and diets as a strategy for supporting quality of life, independence and healthspan in older adults

By 2050, it is predicted that one in four people in the United Kingdom will be aged 65 years and over. Increases in lifespan are not always translated into years spent in good health. Incidence rates for chronic diseases are increasing, with treatments allowing people to live longer with their disease. There is good evidence to support changes to lifestyle to maintain or improve body composition, cognitive health, musculoskeletal health, immune function and vascular health in older adults. Much research has been done in this area, which has produced significant support for foods and nutrients that contribute to improved healthspan. Yet two major barriers remain: firstly, older adult consumers are not meeting current UK recommendations for macro- and micronutrients that could benefit health and quality of life and secondly, the UK-specific recommendations may not be sufficient to support the ageing population, particularly for nutrients with key physiological roles. More work is needed to improve intakes of specific foods, diets and nutrients by older adults, through a variety of mechanisms including (i) development of specific food products; (ii) improved clarity of information and (iii) appropriate marketing, and policy changes to enable incentives. The Food4Years Ageing Network aims to build a wide-reaching and multidisciplinary community that is committed to the development, integration and communication of healthy, affordable foods and specific diets for all older adults across the UK food landscape. The Network will identify evidence-based strategies for improving food intake and nutrition in older adults, paving the way to "living well while living longer."

Opportunities and barriers for food intake in older age - a Norwegian perspective

Background

The ageing processes occur slowly over time and are often not detectable by the individual. Thus, preparing for dietary needs in later years should start at an earlier age than most people realise.

Objective

This study aims at better understanding what characterises food-related practices in active, home-living older adults, in order to identify food-related factors that act as barriers and those that promote healthy ageing.

Design

Three experiments were conducted: First, a web-based quantitative survey to collect information about home-living older adults' food-related behaviours (67+ years, N = 1,005). Second, two focus groups with respondents 67-74 years (N = 7) and 75-84 years (N = 6) to elicit aspects not adequately covered in the survey. Third, 10 individual interviews to provide in-depth insights.

Results

Two distinct groups were identified in the survey; 67-79 years and 80+ years. The older age group experienced more barriers and restrictions in food intake and food-related behaviours compared to the younger group. Good taste, routines and social settings were important for appetite and food intake.

Discussion

Using a mixed-methods approach proved valuable for extracting information and a better understanding of what impacts on food-related aspects amongst older adults. Strategies for upholding a healthy food intake involve establishing daily routines and meeting arenas where older adults can socialise and eat food together.

Conclusion

This study confirmed that knowledge of older adults' physical needs, barriers and abilities must be a part in preparation for a healthy diet.

Predictions on usefulness and popularity of online reviews: evidence from mobile phones for older adults

Purpose

Online reviews are regarded as a source of information for decision-making because of the abundance and ready availability of information. Whereas, the sheer volume of online reviews makes it hard for consumers, especially the older adults who perceive more difficulties in reading reviews and obtaining information compared to younger adults, to locate the useful ones. The main objective of this study is to propose an effective method to locate valuable reviews of mobile phones for older adults. Besides, the authors also want to explore what characteristics of the technology older adults prefer. This will benefit both e-retailers and e-commerce platforms.

Design/methodology/approach

After collecting online reviews related to mobile phones designed for older adults from a popular Chinese e-commerce platform (JD Mall), topic modeling, term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF), and linguistic inquiry and word count (LIWC) methods were applied to extract latent topics and uncover potential dimensions that consumers frequently referred to in their reviews. According to consumers' attitudes towards different popular topics, seven machine learning models were employed to predict the usefulness and popularity of online reviews due to their excellent performance in prediction. To improve the performance, a weighted model based on the two best-performing models was built and evaluated.

Findings

Based on the TF-IDF, topic modeling, and LIWC methods, the authors find that older adults are more interested in the exterior, sound, and communication functions of mobile phones. Besides, the weighted model (Random Forest: Decision Tree = 2:1) is the best model for predicting the online review popularity, while random forest performs best in predicting the perceived usefulness of online reviews.

Practical implications

This study’s findings can help e-commerce platforms and merchants identify the needs of the targeted consumers, predict reviews that will get more attention, and provide some early responses to some questions.

Originality/value

The results propose that older adults pay more attention to the mobile phones' exterior, sound, and communication function, guiding future research. Besides, this paper also enriches the current studies related to making predictions based on the information contained in the online reviews.

Creating foods for older adults: Emotional responses and liking of microwave-assisted thermal sterilization processed meals

The purpose of this study was to examine emotional and liking responses to foods designed for older adults and made using microwave-assisted thermal sterilization technology (MATS). Six chicken pasta meals (three each with and without herbs) were formulated with three concentrations of salt at 100%, 75%, and 50%. Seventy-six community-dwelling older adults conducted sensory and emotional evaluations. Sensory testing involved measuring liking of various sensory attributes using a 9-point hedonic scale, Just-about-right scales to measure appropriateness of the intensity of the attributes, and check-all-that-apply questions to identify perceived flavor and texture attributes. EsSense25 methodology was used for capturing food-evoked emotional responses. Significant differences existed in all measured sensory attributes and in 14 out of the 25 tested emotions across the six meals. Liking scores for all pastas with herbs and high salt pasta with no herbs were not significantly different for all tested attributes and fell between neither like nor dislike and like slightly on the 9-point hedonic scale. These samples were also associated with positive emotions related to energy and activation. Low-salt pastas with no herbs were consistently the least liked samples and evoked negative emotions. Results show that sodium content can be reduced by up to half when herbs are added to microwave-processed pasta meals without compromising liking. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Chicken pasta meals manufactured using microwave-assisted thermal sterilization technology are acceptable to community living individuals 60 years and older. Emotional responses to the meal are positive. When formulating these meals, herbs can be added to lower sodium content formulations to improve liking and increase the number of positive emotions associated with the meal. Microwave-assisted thermal sterilization, sodium reduction, emotional responses, consumer liking, older adults.

Access to Healthy Wheat and Maize Processed Foods in Mexico City: Comparisons across Socioeconomic Areas and Store Types

The contributions of processed foods to the overweight and obesity problem in Latin America are well known. Engagement with the private and public sectors on possible solutions requires deeper insights into where and how these products are sold and the related implications for diet quality. This article characterizes the diversity of wheat and maize processed foods (WMPFs) available to consumers in Mexico City. Data were gathered across nine product categories at different points of sale (supermarkets, small grocery stores, convenience stores) in high and low socioeconomic (SE) areas. We assessed WMPFs based on Nutri-Score profile, price, and health and nutrition claims. Roughly 17.4% of the WMPFs were considered healthy, of which 62.2% were pastas and breads. Availability of healthy WMPFs was scarce in most stores, particularly in convenience stores Compared to supermarkets in the low SE area, those in the high SE area exhibited greater variety in access to healthy WMPFs across all product categories. In the low SE area, healthy WMPFs were priced 16–69% lower than unhealthy WMPFs across product categories. The extensive variety of unhealthy WMPFs, the limited stock of healthy WMPFs in most retail outlets, and the confusing health and nutrition claims on packaging make it difficult for urban consumers to find and choose healthy WMPFs.

Impact of Consumer Health Awareness on Dairy Product Purchase Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to a reduction in the overall consumption of dairy products in China. How to restore the consumption potential of dairy products and alleviate the serious impact on the dairy market in the post-epidemic period is an urgent problem that needs to be resolved. Based on the survey data of 1780 consumers in 31 provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) of China, the Heckman two-stage model was used to empirically test the impact of consumer health awareness on dairy product purchase behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic and to further analyze the differences in factors affecting dairy product purchase behavior with the restriction of consumer health awareness. The results showed that the overall level of consumer health awareness after the outbreak of COVID-19 was relatively high. A total of 79% of consumers preferred to buy dairy products after the COVID-19 outbreak, and the proportion of purchased dairy products increased by an average of 17.49%, compared with that before the COVID-19 outbreak. Health change perception, health concern degree, and health habit development in consumer health awareness all have important impacts on the purchase behavior of dairy products. Among them, health change perception and health habit development both positively and significantly affected the purchase intention. Moreover, all three aspects of consumer health awareness positively increased the proportion of dairy product purchases. Difference analysis showed that there were obvious differences among consumer groups with different health awareness in dairy product purchase decisions. Component factor analysis found that, overall, consumer health awareness directly affected the purchase intention and increased the purchase proportion of dairy products. Therefore, policy recommendations are proposed to increase the consumption momentum of dairy products by raising consumer health awareness in the post-epidemic period.

Understanding the Purchasing Behavior of Consumers in Response to Sustainable Marketing Practices: An Empirical Analysis in the Food Domain

Sustainability has become an important driver in defining business strategies, affecting most critical corporate functions and changing the way in which value is created, communicated, and distributed. This is increasingly impacting marketing practices, in particular, through promoting the development of sustainable marketing in the food sector. In line with this, our study aimed to investigate if and how sustainable marketing practices affect consumer loyalty to a specific brand. To answer our research questions, we relied on the results of a survey submitted to a sample of 907 Italian consumers of biscuits. Results showed that the consumers’ attention to sustainable issues (in the absence of adequate information that can guide them in choosing a brand) did not result in brand loyalty. The same outcome was found when consumers were overloaded by marketing campaigns, which had the effect of confusing users and making them unfaithful. Ultimately, when consumers showed both engagement with sustainable concerns and sensitivity to marketing initiatives (i.e., they are sensitive to sustainable marketing practices), a positive effect on brand loyalty was observed. Our results contribute to the emerging stream of literature discussing the relevance and potential impact of sustainable marketing.

A Theoretical Framework on the Determinants of Food Purchasing Behavior of the Elderly: A Bibliometric Review with Scientific Mapping in Web of Science

The past few years have seen significant demographic changes in most regions, including an increased elderly population. Subsequently, elderly citizens comprise an important market segment of consumers, with the food industry one of the most affected areas in this context. However, food market managers previously believed that elderly consumers’ needs were stereotyped in nature. The lack of focus on this sector, therefore, left elderly consumers as an untapped market, without realizing the financial independence of this segment regarding their nutrition. This research will attempt to provide the key determinant factors on elderly consumers’ behavior related to food. For that purpose, a complete literature review of more than 123 papers regarding these concepts has been carried out. Once analyzed, we highlight the common insights to give clear guidance for supermarket managers and food manufacturers to have a better knowledge of the reasons behind elderly people’s food acquisitions.

Nutrition in Disguise: Effects of Food Neophobia, Healthy Eating Interests and Provision of Health Information on Liking and Perceptions of Nutrient-Dense Foods in Older Adults

Older adults (60+ years) are at higher risk of malnutrition. Improving the nutrient-density of their diets is important but presents challenges due to the introduction of new ingredients, liking implications and heterogeneity of older consumers. Ten nutrient-enhanced foods were evaluated for liking (9-point hedonic scale) and sensory perception (check-all-that-apply) by 71 older adults. Three foods were re-evaluated after participants were provided with information about their healthy ingredients and benefits. Participants were also segmented based on their degrees of food neophobia and interests in healthy eating, using questionnaires. The results showed that eight foods had adequate sensory appeal (overall hedonic score of 6) to be pursued for residential care menus. Segmentation based on food neophobia and healthy eating interests did not yield any meaningful differences between groups. The effect of health information on liking for the overall sample and subgroups was product-specific: liking scores only increased for the raspberry banana smoothie in the overall test population and higher healthy eating interest subgroup. Health information may lead to the experience of more positive attributes in some foods. Overall, eight foods that were tested could be accepted by a wide range of consumers and providing them with health information may further improve acceptance.

#Healthy: smart digital food safety and nutrition communication strategies-a critical commentary

This paper explores how food safety and nutrition organisations can harness the power of search engines, games, apps, social media, and digital analytics tools to craft broad-reaching and engaging digital communications. We start with search engines, showing how organisations can identify popular food safety and nutrition queries, facilitating the creation of timely and in-demand content. To ensure this content is discoverable by search engines, we cover several non-technical aspects of search engine optimisation (SEO). We next explore the potential of games, apps, social media, and going viral for reaching and engaging the public, and how digital data-based tools can be used to optimise communications. Throughout, we draw on examples not only from Europe and North America, but also China. While we are enthusiastic about the benefits of digital communications, we recognise that they are not without their drawbacks and challenges. To help organisations evaluate whether a given digital approach is appropriate for their objectives, we end each section with a discussion of limitations. We conclude with a discussion of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the practical, philosophical, and policy challenges associated with communicating food safety and nutrition information digitally.

Protein for Community-Dwelling Older People: Aspects That Influence the Perception of Commercially Available Protein Drinks

In an aging population, support for independent living is increasingly critical for older generations. Currently, sarcopenia is a major cause of frailty, which increases the risk of decreased mobility, falls, morbidity, and mortality and leads to dependence on third parties. Sarcopenia is preventable by consumption of adequate protein. However, many older people do not meet the recommended daily allowance of protein, thereby supporting dependence rather than independent living. Current literature indicates that a protein drink could be an appropriate product for older peoples' protein consumption. We were interested in autonomous persons whose nutritional decisions were still self-determined and thus could preventively influence their personal health. This study evaluated three commercially available protein drinks in three focus groups (n = 25) to gain insight into which aspects influence the perception of commercial protein drinks on community-dwelling older people (age, 76.8 ± 4.9). Findings from the focus groups revealed only aspects, which influenced the perception of commercial protein drinks negatively. Most importantly, the drinks did not comply with relevant aspects when buying (healthy) foods, which where naturalness, freshness, locally grown ingredients, and trust. Furthermore, the target group did not see a need for additional protein consumption. Thus, we identify important aspects to be considered for the development of a target-group-specific protein drink as well as more suitable communication to prevent distrust in order to support independent living for community-dwelling older people.

Perception of Older Adults about Health-Related Functionality of Foods Compared with Other Age Groups

The proportion of older adults in the population is significantly growing in the EU, therefore, wellbeing of the older population has become a social challenge. Functional foodstuffs are food products with nutritional composition that may reduce the risk of diet-related diseases or enhance physiological functions. Therefore, they could play an important role in prevention and mitigation of health-related problems, and in promotion of healthy ageing. The aim of this study is to present the impact of age on consumer preferences about functionality of foods, covering attitude aspects, nutrition claims, possible carriers, some particular health problems and expectations about sustainable production. The results are based on a representative quantitative survey. Findings highlight statistically significant (p < 0.05) differences in preferences of older adults compared to other age segments. They generally accept functional foods, especially when functionality is attached to increased vitamin, protein, and fiber content. Older adults also prefer products with lower salt and sugar content, which were less relevant for other age groups. Products of fruit and vegetable origin are distinguished as carriers of functional traits. Compared to other segments, older adults accept products of animal origin (especially milk products) and even breakfast products on a higher level. The paper provides details about particular health issues that could be addressed by functional foods based on actual consumer concerns.

Nutrition, hedonic or environmental? The effect of front-of-pack messages on consumers' perception and purchase intention of a novel food product with multiple attributes

The present study aims to assess the effect of different Front-Of-Pack messages on consumer perception, willingness to buy and willingness to pay for a new food product, with multiple attributes, such as particular nutritional information, sensory characteristics, and a potentially positive environmental impact. Furthermore, this study explores the differences between consumers based on their individual latent traits in order to evaluate how these factors affect the willingness to buy the new product, as well as to outline a profile of target consumers attracted by innovative food products. A consumer survey was conducted on a representative sample of 1250 Italian consumers, using a between-subject design with different Front-Of-Pack messages as stimuli. Messages were related to different attributes: nutrition, environmental impact, hedonic characteristics, and process innovation. Empirical findings show that Front-Of-Pack messages do not directly affect consumer willingness to buy, but they do influence consumer perception of the product. The most effective message is the nutrition one. Consumer willingness to buy is particularly influenced by product perception and by their novelty seeking orientation in consumption. Furthermore, consumers were segmented through hierarchical clustering based on their novelty seeking orientation. The results obtained provide valuable suggestions for the design of new products' labeling and for the outline of the profile of potential target customers for innovative food products.

Impact of Food Sustainability Labels on the Perceived Product Value and Price Expectations of Urban Consumers

Sustainable labelling is an important tool in raising awareness and informing potential buyers regarding environmental, economic and social issues. This study provides insights into consumers’ value of food sustainability labels through the exploration of the impact of logos on their purchasing decisions (willingness to buy (WTB)) and readiness to pay (willingness to pay (WTP)) a higher price for sustainability-labelled products. Data was collected via an online survey among a sample of 423 adult city dwellers in Poland. The structured questionnaire beside sections concerning consumer buying behaviour and perception of the food labels consisted of a behavioural choice experiment (CE), where two categories of plant products: fresh (apples or bananas) and non-perishable (rice or beans) varied by type of labelling (logos: Euro-leaf, PGI, Fair Trade or without logo) and by price. Cluster analysis revealed two consumer groups (named “Sceptical” and “Mindful”) that had varied opinions and perceptions of sustainable labelled food and buying behaviour. The research results indicate that when the logo is poorly-known even consumers with positive attitudes towards sustainability do not use it as a cue when shopping for food. Moreover, urban consumers were very price sensitive and showed a restrained desire to pay a higher price for sustainability labelled products.

Relating oral physiology and anatomy of consumers varying in age, gender and ethnicity to food oral processing behavior

The aim of this study was to link parameters describing oral physiology and anatomy of consumers varying in age, gender and ethnicity to food oral processing behavior. Three groups of healthy consumers were compared: Dutch, Caucasian adults (18-30 yrs, n =32), Chinese, Asian adults (18-30 yrs, n =32) and Dutch, Caucasian older adults (65-85 yrs, n =32). Mastication performance, salivary flow rate (stimulated and unstimulated) and dental status were quantified to characterize oral physiology. Volume of oral cavity, tongue dimensions, facial anthropometry, height and weight were quantified to characterize anatomy. Oral processing behavior of three solid foods (carrot, cheese and sausage) was quantified by video recordings and eating rate (g/s), average consumption time (s), chews per bite (-) and average bite size (g) were determined. Dutch, Caucasian older adults had smaller volume of oral cavity, lower number of teeth and larger head width compared to Dutch, Caucasian adults. Chinese, Asian adults showed significantly higher mastication performance and larger head width compared to Dutch, Caucasian consumers, while dental status did not significantly differ between groups. Males had significantly larger volumes of oral cavity and larger head height and width compared to females. Dutch, Caucasian adults had a shorter average consumption time (s), less chews per bite and consumed the three foods with higher eating rate (g/s) compared to Dutch, Caucasian older adults. Chinese, Asian adults had a significantly longer average consumption time (s), more chews per bite, smaller average bite size (g) and lower eating rate (g/s) compared to Dutch, Caucasian adults. Twenty-one significant relationships were found between oral physiological and anatomical parameters and oral processing behavior. Body weight resulted in the largest β-values, indicating to be the anatomical parameter of largest influence on oral processing behavior. We conclude that only few oral physiological and anatomical parameters related with food oral processing behavior. We suggest that other factors, including cultural factors contribute to variation in food oral processing behavior between different consumer groups more than saliva flow, volume of oral cavity, mastication performance and dental status.

Personality traits and preferences for specialty coffee: Results from a coffee shop field experiment

The market for specialty coffee is growing as consumer preferences for high quality coffee become more complex. Identifying the sources of heterogeneity in consumer preferences for specialty coffee is essential to optimizing producer marketing strategies to ensure they both fully capitalize on and satisfy consumer demand. One source of increasing interest is consumer personality profiles, specifically those categorized by the Big Six personality traits. We use the Midlife Development Inventory to investigate the effect of consumer personality traits on willingness to pay for coffee produced by farmer cooperatives. Results from a field experiment using a Becker-DeGroot-Marschak mechanism indicate that, on average, consumers are willing to pay a $1.31 premium for a cup of pour over coffee that was produced by a cooperative member farmer. Consumers exhibiting the extraversion and conscientiousness traits were, on average, willing to pay an even higher premium while those with higher levels of agency had a lower willingness to pay. Results further highlight that sociodemographic characteristics do not always drive consumer purchase decisions and, in the absence of significant sociodemographic influence, intrinsic consumer characteristics like personality traits can better explain preferences.

Factors that predict consumer acceptance of enriched processed meats

The study aimed to understand predictors of consumers' purchase intention towards processed meat based functional foods (i.e. enriched processed meat). A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 486 processed meat consumers in spring 2016. Results showed that processed meats were perceived differently in healthiness, with sausage-type products perceived less healthy than cured meat products. Consumers were in general more uncertain than positive about enriched processed meat but differences existed in terms of the attitudes and purchase intention. Following regression analysis, consumers' purchase intention towards enriched processed meat was primarily driven by their attitudes towards the product concept. Perceived healthiness of existing products and eating frequency of processed meat were also positively associated with the purchase intention. Other factors such as general food choice motives, socio-demographic characteristics, consumer health and the consumption of functional foods and dietary supplements in general, were not significant predictors of the purchase intention for enriched processed meat.

Exploring the functional mealtime associations of older adults through consumer segmentation and a means-end chain approach

Senior consumers are a rapidly growing and highly heterogeneous part of the world's population. This group does not always meet its recommended protein intake, which can negatively impact on their physical functioning and quality of life. To date, little is known about their motivations to consume protein-rich meals. In the current study, we therefore aim to identify consumer segments within the group of vital community-dwelling older adults on the basis of mealtime functionality (for example 'I eat because I'm hungry', or 'I eat because it is cosy'). To this end, we first conducted an online survey to identify these functional mealtime expectations of older consumers (study I, n = 398, 158 males, mean age 65.8 (y) ± 5.9 (SD)). To obtain further insights regarding mealtime functionality and proteins/protein enrichment, laddering interviews were conducted with a subgroup of the segmentation study participants (study II, n = 40, 20 males, mean age 66.9 (y) ± 4.8 (SD)). The results of the online survey showed three consumer clusters: cosy socialisers, physical nutritioners, and thoughtless rewarders. Thoughtless rewarders tend to eat without having explicit thoughts about it, they eat for the reward, and score highest on environmental awareness. Both the segmentation and the in-depth interviews showed that, for the cosy socialisers, the cosiness and social function of a meal are important motivators, whereas for the physical nutritioners the focus is more on the health and nutrient aspects of a meal. For cosy socialisers, protein enrichment can best be achieved through addition of protein-rich ingredients, whereas, for physical nutritioners, addition of protein powder is preferred. These results provide practical guidelines for the development of protein-rich meals and communication strategies tailored to the needs of specific vital community-dwelling older subgroups.

It is not just a meal, it is an emotional experience - a segmentation of older persons based on the emotions that they associate with mealtimes

Worldwide, the group of older persons is growing fast. To aid this important group in their food and meal requirements, a deeper insight into the expectations and experiences of these persons regarding their mealtimes and snack times is needed. In the current study, we aim to identify consumer segments within the group of vital community-dwelling older persons on the basis of the emotions they associate with their mealtimes and snack times (from now on referred to as mealtimes). Participants (n = 392, mean age 65.8 (years) ± 5.9 (SD)) completed an online survey. The survey consisted of three questionnaires: emotions associated with mealtimes, functionality of mealtimes, and psychographic characteristics (health and taste attitudes, food fussiness, and food neophobia). Consumer segments were identified and characterised based on the emotions that the respondents reported to experience at mealtimes, using a hierarchical cluster analysis. Clusters were described using variables previously not included in the cluster analysis, such as functionality of mealtimes and psychographic characteristics. Four consumer segments were identified: Pleasurable averages, Adventurous arousals, Convivial indulgers, and Indifferent restrictives. These segments differed significantly in their emotional associations with mealtimes both in valence and level of arousal. The present study provides actionable insights for the development of products and communication strategies tailored to the needs of vital community-dwelling older persons.