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<h1><span style="color: #808080;">If you are a food and beverage marketer, in all likelihood, a portion of your target consumer has joined the rapidly growing ranks of health conscious adults in the United States.</span></h1>
What are consumers thinking about when it’s time to eat? In this information-era, how do consumers deal with the plethora of food-related product information and brand messaging? If consumers are tuning out the marketing, how does health benefit messaging get in? How well does your brand and product messaging serve consumer food choices, purchases, and consumption? Recent BrandIQ consumer behavior studies have generated some provocative answers to these fundamental questions.

If you are a food and beverage marketer, in all likelihood, a growing portion of your target consumer has joined the ranks of health conscious adults in the United States. We’ve learned that a majority of health conscious adults are actively managing their health through the food choices they make. These consumers are consciously working to prevent, control and manage a range of ailments from acne, diabetes and heart disease through diet. This is having a profound effect and the food choices they make.

BrandIQ research shows this growing consumer segment equate food choice as health management, whether the issue is a doctor’s diagnosis, or their well-being in general. Through nationally representative sampling backed by forward-thinking, cutting-edge statistical analysis, we charted what really matters most to health conscious consumers:
<h2>Among health conscious adults, when it comes to food and beverages, there’s a dichotomy between wanting value-added or processed foods that provide nutritional benefits, and consuming only fresh, all-natural healthful foods.</h2>
These consumers want and expect vitamins and nutrient-rich foods, but value-added can also mean added stuff they don’t want. They want fresh all-natural foods. Indeed, reading a lot of product information can be confusing,  but this highly informed consumer will only select food products that helps them make the right decisions about maintaining optimum health and well-being.

Consumers will continue to have a growing awareness of health and nutrition issues, and their food choices and ultimate purchase behaviors will be driven by this growing awareness. These consumers are making choices based on what helps them create and manage optimum health. Managing health through food choice is a growing consumer trend that will have a huge impact on purchase behavior. Food and beverage marketers who recognize the opportunity within this trend, by developing and positioning their products in support of it will be the next brand leaders.

<em>Editor's Note: The is a guest post by Mike Murphy, Founder and Chief Energizing Officer at <a href="http://www.brandiq.biz" target="_blank">BrandIQ</a>, a market research and brand strategy firm headquartered Los Angeles. BrandIQ a strategic alliance partner of PULL Brand Innovation. Contact: <a href="mailto://mmurphy@brandiq.biz" target="_blank">mmurphy@brandiq.biz</a></em>