AE Research on Consumers’ Self-Protection through a Healthy Diet Amfiteatru Economic 436 RESEARCH ON CONSUMERS’ SELF -PROTECTION THROUGH A HEALTHY DIET Nicolae Istudor 1∗ , Raluca Andreea Ion 2 and Irina Elena Petrescu 3 1) 2) 3) Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania Abstract The article analyzes consumers’ concern for healthy food, emphasizing the role of the vegetarian diet. Studies on the topic are available world-wide; however, none of these focuses on the role of vegetarian diet within the concern for healthy food, in Romania. In answering this question, a qualitative research was carried out on the customers of a store that sells natural food products and products certified as organic. The results indicate that vegetarian diet has a central role within the wider concern for healthy food, endorsing arguments to support the assertion. Hence, propensities in the consumer concerns to turn to healthier diets were identified, based on a system that diminishes or eliminates meat based diets. The conclusion of the qualitative research is a premise for future development of quantitative research, assessing the dimensions of this phenomenon. Keywords: healthy food, consumer behaviour, market research, vegetarian diet, eating patterns, organic agro-food products, market strategy JEL Classification: M31, Q13 Introduction The article investigates consumers’ concern for healthy food, emphasizing the role of the vegetarian diet. It focuses on establishing whether people concerned with healthier food tend to become vegetarian, and if so, it searches the reasons for people choosing a vegetarian diet. Considering the definition of Explanatory Dictionary of Romanian language, vegetarianism is "a diet or food system formed (only) of plant (and dairy) products”. In literature (Beardsworth and Keil, 1991) two other terms are used: consumers of reduced meat quantities are people who classify themselves as reducing their overall meat consumption, and semi-vegetarians defining as people who claim to have habits that focus on vegetarian food, yet, on occasional basis, on meat consumption . Red meat is usually excluded. ∗ Corresponding author, Nicolae Istudor - nistudor@eam.ase.ro