FACTORS INFLUENCING CONSUMER CHOICES OF HEALTHY FOOD PRODUCTS. A CRITICAL REVIEW

Changes in eating habits, increased consumption of ultra-processed and high-calorie foods contribute to overweight and obesity. Research into factors influencing consumer choice will help manufacturers develop and produce healthy food products that will be in demand. The purpose of this article is to review and analyze scientific research to determine the main factors influencing consumer behavior when choosing healthy food products. The review includes articles published in English and Russian from 2010 to 2025. The search for scientific literature on this topic was conducted in the bibliographic databases ScienceDirect, Scopus and Google Scholar, which cover a wide range of literature by the keywords: "health", "food", "consumers", "consumption", "choice", "behavior", "attitudes" and "intentions". Six categories of factors were identified, such as internal, external, sociocultural, situational, psychological, biological and causal factors, which can influence the choice of healthy food products by consumers. According to the results of the conducted research, the categories of factors that received the greatest attention from consumers in relation to healthy eating were external and internal characteristics of the product, socio-cultural factors and psychological factors. In particular, brand, front labels, lifestyle, sensory characteristics and perceived benefits are the most studied subfactors that can stimulate the consumer. Based on a critical analysis of 68 scientific publications, it was found that decisions on choosing healthy products are made under the influence of complex social and marketing factors that must be considered when planning activities in the development of healthy food products for preventive and functional purposes. At the same time, it was found that there is no strict formulation of the concept of "healthy food". Further scientific research should be aimed at studying and assessing the impact of each of the identified factors of consumer preference.