ABSTRACT
A little more than a decade ago, the California-based Institute for the Future (IFTF) undertook a horizon scanning and futures analysis of the emerging eld of nutritional genomics [1]. Their report is premised on the idea that our knowledge about the relationships between food and health will be greatly claried through human genetics and genomics. With this enhanced understanding, prospects will arise to exploit this knowledge through new products and services, and new types of commercial opportunities will develop. At the heart of the narrative about nutrigenomics is a key driver of change-the empowered consumer. This is the type of person who actively seeks information, particularly nutritional, health, and lifestyle information, from a variety of sources including consumer media, the health care system, and the food industry. These consumers are described by the IFTF as wealthy, educated, and motivated; they want information from a variety of sources so they, as masters of their own destiny, can make informed, highly individualized, decisions. “Sophisticated consumers” are above-average educated people who will canvass a wide variety of information sources in their searches, and they are also willing to consider a mix of
Introduction ............................................................................................................ 333 Empowered Consumer ...................................................................................... 334
Information and Empowerment .................................................................... 335 Motivation .................................................................................................... 336
DTC Marketplace .............................................................................................. 338 Empowerment and the DTC Business Model ...................................................340 Conclusion: Is DTC Testing the Future of Nutritional Genomics? ................... 342
References .............................................................................................................. 343
traditional and untraditional sources of information [2]. For example, as trust in doctors as univocal sources of information declines overall, online access of information proliferates, ranging from peer-to-peer discussion groups to academic medical journals. Sophisticated consumers are not just information addicts, otherwise they would not be important drivers of change in the narrative around nutrigenomics. Rather, the interest in seeking information and the ability to get information are conjoined with a view about sophisticated consumers’ motivation and capacity to act on new information in self-interested ways.
