Consumer preferences and purchase intentions for innovative milk tea products in China: comparing three health-oriented innovation pathways

This study investigated consumers' willingness to adopt innovative milk tea products and compared preferences for three health-oriented categories in China. From 2,622 valid questionnaires, 1,757 responses were analyzed using binary logistic regression and path analysis to identify the determinants of consumers' willingness to try innovative milk tea products. Among the 1,569 willing respondents, PCA and PLS-DA were subsequently used to compare preferences for medicine-food homologous (MFH) milk tea, additive-free milk tea, and functional ingredient-based milk teas, characterizing consumer preference patterns across these innovation pathways. Younger consumers exhibited significantly stronger willingness to try innovative milk tea products, while MFH milk tea received the highest consumer preference. Product transparency enhanced consumer trust and acceptance. Overall, this study provides a consumer-centered framework for health-oriented milk tea innovation and highlights the potential of MFH milk tea as a culturally embedded pathway for functional beverage development.