Consumer acceptance of personalised nutrition: The role of ambivalent feelings and eating context

Providing dietary suggestions based on an individual’s nutritional needs may contribute to the prevention of non-communicable dietary related diseases. Consumer acceptance is crucial for the success of these personalised nutrition services. The current study aims to build on previous studies by exploring whether ambivalent feelings and contextual factors could help to further explain consumers’ usage intentions regarding personalised nutrition services. An online administered survey was conducted in December 2016 with a final sample of 797 participants in the Netherlands. Different models were tested and compared by means of structural equation modelling. The final model indicated that the result of weighing personalisation benefits and privacy risks (called the risk-benefit calculus) is positively related to the intention to use personalised nutrition advice, suggesting a more positive intention when more benefits than risks are perceived. Additionally, the model suggests that more ambivalent feelings are related to a lower intention to use personalised nutrition advice. Finally, we found that the more the eating context is perceived as a barrier to use personalised nutrition advice, the more ambivalent feelings are perceived. In conclusion, the current study suggests the additional value of ambivalent feelings as an affective construct, and eating context as a possible barrier in predicting consumers’ intention to use personalised nutrition advice. This implies that personalised nutrition services may need to address affective concerns and consider an individual’s eating context.