The perceived importance of veal meat attributes in consumer choice decisions

Abstract

Animal scientists have recently found a way to produce extremely pale grain-fed veal, thus achieving high quality grade, while averting concerns over unethical treatment and medication residues in milk-fed veal production. Consumers, however, may reject pale cuts of veal labeled as “grain-fed.” This article uses questionnaire data from six groceries in the province of Quebec, Canada, to investigate frequency of veal purchases and perceived importance of price, color, and production type as determinants of veal purchases. Consumers do not appear to have clear preferences for milk-fed veal characteristics. Frequency of consumption and importance of veal meat attributes were influenced more by variables of habit formation than by price, income, or education. The veal industry might be advised to encourage consumption of veal as a means to diversify consumers' meat menu. [Econ-Lit citations: D120, Q130] © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Importance of the country of origin in food consumption in a developing country

“…In effect, a common practice of domestic supermarkets is to offer significant discounts on beef close to the sell-by date so that higher discounts have become associated with a lower quality of meat. Therefore, this suggests that the consumers surveyed perceive purchasing beef as riskier than rice, which is related to the higher perishability and greater proportion of the family budget that beef occupies (West, Larue, Touil, & Scott, 2001).…”

What are the key factors influencing consumers’ preference and willingness to pay for meat products in EasternDRC?

“…Color as an intrinsic quality attribute influences consumers' expectations of meat quality at the moment of purchase (Carpenter, Cornforth, & Whittier, 2001;Font-i-Furnols & Guerrero, 2014;Gracia & de Magistris, 2013;Verbeke et al, 2005;West, Larue, Touil, & Scott, 2001), probably because consumers normally use color to indicate wholesomeness or contamination of meat products (Mancini, 2009;Owusu-Sekyere et al, 2014). On the other hand, eating quality and in-mouth texture are found to be highly correlated with the overall experienced quality, attitude to purchase, and WTP for meat products (Lusk et al, 2001;Banović, Grunert, Barreira, & Aguiar Fontes, 2009).…”

Consumer Perception of Animal Welfare and Livestock Production in the Araucania Region , Chile

“…Food products are also "search goods" in that their appearance and labels provide information to discriminate among products (color, price). In recent years, an increased concern has been observed among consumers about the way in which food is produced, a factor which is not immediately observable, and thus one that the consumer must be informed about through the label or through advertising, in this way food products become "credibility goods" (West et al, 2001;Schröeder and McEachern, 2004). …”

“…Changes in the demographic characteristics of consumers have led to variations in the consumption of meats (West et al, 2001;Yen and Huang, 2002). Several research projects have detected differences in the consumption of meat depending on the gender and age of the consumer (Verbeke et al, 2000;Harvey et al, 2001;Beardsworth et al, 2002).…”