<p> <i>Background:</i> With the increasing variety of snack foods containing probiotics infiltrating the market, it is important that consumers become more aware and knowledgeable about these products. <i>Purpose: </i> The aim of this study was to investigate consumer behaviors by assessing frequently consumed snacks, knowledge about probiotics, and awareness of snack foods containing probiotics among students across various disciplines within a university setting. <i>Methods:</i> There were 125 college students (<i>n</i> = 34 male, <i>n</i> = 91 female) recruited, all 18 years and older, and evaluated via a 19-item questionnaire using descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Gabriel’s post hoc test. Level of significance was set at <i>p</i> ≤ 0.05. <i>Results:</i> There was a statistically significant difference in knowledge about probiotics among the colleges, <i>p</i> = 0.012. Specifically, students in the College of Health and Human Services (CHHS) were statistically significantly more knowledgeable than those in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) college, <i>p</i> = 0.010. There was no statistically significant difference in awareness of snack foods containing probiotics, <i>p</i> = 0.262. On average, participant’s knowledge about probiotics was low (48.1%) and awareness of snack foods containing probiotics was very low (2.5%), though, a majority of participants (94.1%) were aware that yogurt contained probiotics. <i> Conclusion:</i> Overall, these findings should guide food product developers and marketers to create products that are relevant and messages that enhance consumer’s knowledge and awareness to the existence of the probiotics in that product.</p><p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:10975707 |
| Date | 13 December 2018 |
| Creators | Sorensen, Sarah A. |
| Publisher | California State University, Long Beach |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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