A modified model of the willingness to pay for functional foods.

The aim of this research was to develop a modified version of the Munene model summarizing the factors influencing willingness to pay for functional foods, adjusted to the Hungarian population. The questionnaire survey was conducted in 2014 in Hungary on a sample of 500 individuals, representative for gender, age, settlement type and region. Building blocks of the Munene model were examined and tested with a Latent Variable Path Analysis with the Partial Least Squares (LVPLS) model. According to the results, the strongest relationship in the modified model was identified between attitudes towards, and beliefs about, the attributes of functional foods, i.e. the more consumers believe in the health protecting effect of functional foods, the more positive their attitudes towards those foods, and the more they are willing to pay a premium for them. The highest explanatory power in the model was attributed to the attitudes towards functional foods, followed by beliefs about the attributes of functional foods, and then by consumer demographics. The modification of the original Munene model based on a Hungarian sample contributes to an examination of its usability and provides an example of how it can fit to another culture. Moreover, a comprehensive model including factors influencing WTP has not yet been developed among Hungarian consumers.