The market for fortified and functional beverages has expanded rapidly in emerging economies, particularly in India, where increasing health awareness and aggressive marketing by fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) firms have contributed to category growth. Despite market expansion, consistent consumption of health drinks remains uneven across socio-economic and geographic segments. Prior studies have examined the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Stages of Change (SoC) model independently; however, their integrated application in emerging market FMCG contexts remains limited, representing a critical gap in the consumer behavior literature. This study examines psychological, cultural, and structural barriers influencing health drink consumption among Indian consumers by integrating TPB with the SoC model. A structured survey was administered to 450 respondents from urban Bengaluru and rural regions of Karnataka, selected through stratified random sampling. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed to examine relationships among attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control (PBC), behavioral intention, and consumption behavior. Convergent and discriminant validity were established through average variance extracted (AVE) and composite reliability (CR) values. Findings indicate that attitudes (β = 0.42, p < 0.001), PBC (β = 0.31, p < 0.001), and subjective norms (β = 0.25, p < 0.001) meaningfully shape behavioral intention, with the model explaining 58% of variance in consumption behavior (R² = 0.58; R² for Behavioral Intention = 0.52). Stage analysis reveals that nearly 70% of consumers remain in early behavioral stages, highlighting limited readiness for regular health drink consumption. Cultural preference for traditional beverages, affordability constraints, taste perceptions, and low perceived necessity emerge as major barriers. The study contributes to consumer behaviour literature by demonstrating the complementary explanatory power of intention-based and stage-based behavioural models in understanding health-related consumption in emerging markets. Managerial and public policy implications for promoting healthier beverage consumption are discussed..