Chinese consumers’ perceptions of immune health and immune-boosting remedies including functional foods

Abstract

To facilitate the successful design of functional foods designed to boost immunity and to guide the successful promotion of such products, to Chinese consumers, fundamental knowledge is required on how consumers perceive the concept of immunity, the steps they take to improve their immunity and what their general attitudes are toward new functional food products. To explore these issues, focus groups (n = 4) and in-home semi-structured interviews (n = 12) were conducted in Shanghai. Immunity was understood to be the defense system that protects the body, with perceived causes for poor immunity including irregular lifestyles, polluted air, and increased age. Participants believed that immunity could be changed by modifying their diet with either conventional or functional foods (including TCM-based foods), supplements (TCM or non-TCM containing), TCM medical gels, TCM patent medicine, and Western medicine all playing varying roles at enhancing immunity and protecting health at different stages of wellbeing.