International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2014 1 ISSN 2250-3153 www.ijsrp.org The role of the food risk and the sociodemographic variables on the attitude to healthy foods Gatri Emna 1 , Ben Rached Kaouther 2 , Moulins Jean-Louis 3 1 Departement Of Marketing PhD ,Student, Tunis El Manar University 2 Departement of Marketing, Professor, Tunis El Manar University 3 Departement of Marketing, Professor, Aix-Marseille University Abstract- This research is interested in the changes of the eating habits of the consumer further to numerous health crisis. The consumer became more and more aware of the impact of the food on the health and more and more distrusting. This distrust led the consumer to healthier food product such as: relieved or enriched products and the dietary products etc., which brings the form and well-being in order to minimize the risk. In this context, a quantitative study of Tunisian consumers studied the effect of dietary risk as well as sociodemographic variables on attitudes toward healthy foods. Index Terms- Attitude, Healthy foods Perceived risk, Sociodemographic variables. I. INTRODUCTION n recent years, the growth of the food sector requires a particular consideration [1]. Indeed, preserving the complexity of the behavior of the consumer, it is difficult to generalize the food habits of this one because a multitude of factors enter into account [2]. In particular, the sharp drop of the risk acceptability threshold following the improvement in the condition of life (Peretti-Wattel, 2001) . Also, the use of new technologies in the agri-food sector cause a mass production and standardization image that takes away the production of food to the final consumer [4]. In fact, the moderrn food is no longer identifiable and it has become, as the expression of Fishler (1976) an «OCNI « (edible Object not identified). As well as, the successive food crisis (the mad cow crisis, the avian flu, the GMOS...) translates the mistrust of the consumer related to the food and the perception of new risks" the consumer eater must then satisfy two conflicting imperatives: to vary its supply (which impels him to innovate) as well as to ensure both its nutritional balance and its food security" (NAC, 2006).In this context the "eat well" is defined by a double aspect which is not only "eat healthy", relating to a consumption of fresh products in order to maintain the nutritional balance but also "eat safe" in ought to minimize the risk of intoxication and the fear of the poisoning (GMOS) [5]. Under these mutations, the industrials can see the opportunity to explore a new field of food innovation with the aim of getting closer to consumers hence the emergence of healthy food products II. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND The place of the health dimension in food consumption Many authors consider the health dimension as a multidisciplinary approach [6]. To better understand the place occupied by the health dimension, it would be interesting to do appeal to several disciplines in the social sciences who have studied this relationship in the food context. The health dimension in the anthropology is apprehended according to the three strands of anthropology to know the paradox of the omnivore, the principle of incorporation and the thinking classification [6]. (A)The paradox of the omnivore: «The omnivore should be both innovative and conservative" (Fischler, 1994). Starting from this principle, the human being is faced with two contradictory situations: to vary its diet in order to maintain the nutritional balance at the same time to choose foods which minimize the fear of poisoning and the nutritional risk. (B) The principle of incorporation: this incorporation is not only corporal but it makes account of a triple phenomenon namely: a biological phenomenon because we become what we eat, whenever we incorporate a food, "life and health that are at stake.; a social phenomenon which manifests in the place of the consumer in his entourage and finally a psychological phenomenon to the extent that "some magical thinking that induces the passage of food in the body which involves a transfer of physical, behavioral or moral properties" [4]. (C) The thought classification: the classification thinking is organized by categorization in the form of a "mental encyclopedia" to facilitate the identification of foods [7].This phenomenon has aim to classify the food into two categories: the consumable and non-consumable (Poulain, 2000). The health dimension in the marketing approach has been studied according to two opticals: optical product and optical consumer [6]. (A) Optical product: Ravoniarison (2012) based on the characteristics of the product, has emerged health according to two aspects: the health is an attribute of the quality of the food and health is considered as a benefit from the consumption of the product.  An attribute of quality The quality can be subjective or objective [8]. Several authors point out the distinction between these two forms: the subjective quality linked to the experience of the consumers and the individual beliefs whereas the objective quality is evaluated by the technical and functional characteristics of the product [9]. In this context, Ophuis & Trijp (1995) have placed the health dimension among the attributes of the quality of the food product, extrinsic and intangible, because these cannot be I