Adherence to the gluten-free diet and preferences for gluten-free products

Demand for gluten-free (GF) products has expanded rapidly in the last years due to the increasing number of people diagnosed with celiac disease (CD) and other non-celiac people who follow the diet. To date research has focused on supporting celiac people in following a strict gluten-free diet (GFD) and improving sensorial aspects of GF products. However, research on understanding factors affecting non-celiac consumers who voluntarily follow the diet and on economic aspects of the products is limited. Thus, this study aims to understand behavior towards GFD and preferences for GF products by celiac and non-celiac consumers. This is necessary firstly to support people to make healthy food choices and secondly direct companies that operate in the GF market towards consumers’ requirements for GF products. In order to discern factors affecting adherence to GFD, a survey was built including factors identified by a systematic review. Moreover, a discrete choice experiment was designed in order to determine consumers’ preferences for brand and label. Celiac and non-celiac people were invited to participate in the study. Since discrete choice experiment have never been applied to GF products, attributes and levels were chosen based on results of a qualitative study performed with retailers, consumers and a representative of Italian Celiac Association (ICA). Results show that most of the concerns regarding GF products are about their low sensorial performance, high prices and low nutritional values. In addition results indicate that adherence to GFD is affected mainly by attitudes towards GFD, self-efficacy, injunctive norms, knowledge about GFD and perceptions that GF products are expensive. Furthermore, brand and label are important attributes for consumers. However, only celiac patients are willing to pay a premium price for branded GF pasta.