Consumer Acceptance of a New Experience Good: A Case Study of Vacuum Packed Fresh Beef

Abstract

~ Vacuum packaging represents an alternative way of providing fresh beef to food shoppers. However, the air-tight seal leads to the beef having a brownish-red color in the package. Consequently, there is an information gap between consumers' perception of red indicating quality fresh beef and the appearance in vacuum packaging. A regression model is estimated using scan data to compare four cuts of steak in the two types of packaging. Results suggest that the information gap is a problem for three lower priced steaks hut not for filet mignon.Declining red meat consumption has prompted widespread analyses of the beef industry from the farm level through retail demand. The competitive nature of food retailing, coupled with the wide variety of substitutes, point to consumer demand having played a pivotal role in the decline. Among the causes are changes in relative prices, diet/health concerns, composition of the population, and the introduction of new foods more in line with emerging lifestyles.One of the criticisms of the beef industry is that it has not provided new products comparable to those of poultry (Allen and Pierson 1989; Linsen 1988; Marion and Walker 1978;Menkhaus, St. Clair, and Hallingbye 1985). However, a new form of fresh beef packaging, vacuum packed (V), has recently been offered to food shoppers as an alternative to tray packed (T) fresh beef, which has been available for an extended period of time. V fresh beef is cut into retail portions at the packing plant and wrapped in air-tight vacuum packages.Several advantages for both suppliers and consumers stem from the V process vis-a-vis T. Those affecting the supply side are the ease of handling, lower labor costs at the retail level, less opportunity for spoilage and contamination in shipping, and a longer shelf-life.

Review of Package Warning Labels and Their Effect on Consumer Behaviour with Insights to Future Anticounterfeit Strategy of Label and Communication Systems

“…The amount of consumer involvement with the product does seem to play a role in seeking and understanding information labels. In a study of initial introduction of air‐tight, vacuum‐packed fresh beef, consumers overcame the concern regarding the unusual brownish‐red colour of the beef for the higher‐involvement, more expensive meats such as fillet mignon …”

“…In a study of initial introduction of air-tight, vacuum-packed fresh beef, consumers overcame the concern regarding the unusual brownish-red colour of the beef for the higher-involvement, more expensive meats such as fillet mignon. 66 Health claims are most influential when the consumer is aware of nutritional properties or attributes (vitamin A content or level of saturated fat) and knowledge of how these attributes affect health (vitamin A is good for eyesight, low saturated fat is good for controlling cholesterol). 63 It does appear that the location of the information is important because consumers trust health claims made on a label and are more sceptical of claims in advertisements.…”

Packaging for Nonthermal Processing of Food

“…An innovation can fail to appeal to consumers, even when the manufacturer is certain of its value. The introduction of vacuum-packed beef did not succeed well (Eastwood 1994). Consumers thought that the color presentation was poor and maintained a preference for tray-packed meats with better color, even though vacuum-packed beef is better preserved.…”