This paper summarises the results of the consumer survey, which had been carried out in six European countries in order to obtain comparable information about consumer behaviour towards meat and perception of fresh meat quality. Quality evaluation of fresh meat in this study is supposed to consist of two phases: a stage previous to the actual purchase and a stage after the purchase while eating the meat. Concerning the first stage, it becomes obvious that for beef and pork the place of purchase plays a major role as quality indicator, while the price was distinctly considered to be least helpful. “Colour” is the most important intrinsic quality cue for all three meats. In the second phase of quality evaluation after purchase, “flavour” is one of the most significant quality characteristics. Concerning the safety of beef, pork and chicken, “freshness” was shown to be the most important indicator. Consequently, it would be advisable for producers and retailers to use appropriate signals in order to communicate “freshness” to the consumers. Concerns about meat are rated very highly in each of the countries. Trustworthy signals of meat safety are required, which are able to reduce the risk felt by consumers.

In this article, the results of a consumer survey for Germany are presented. Extrinsic cues play an important role for quality selection in the shop. Here``country of origin'' and``place of purchase'' play a dominant role. To judge the eating quality of fresh meat, those experience quality attribute cues, which are hard to measure with characteristics, like flavour or smell, seem to be the most important. For assessing the safety of meat,``country of origin'' as an extrinsic credence quality attribute cue and``freshness'' as an intrinsic credence quality attribute cue are of most importance.``Country of origin'' is used by consumers not only to predict eating quality but also to indicate safety. This holds not only for beef, but also for pork and, to a lesser extent, chicken. The most trusted source of information on the safety of meat is the butcher.

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