Consumers Evaluate Frozen and Grilled Ground Beef and Turkey Product

Abstract

Consumers are familiar with evaluating the acceptability of fresh and cooked ground beef in grocery stores and restaurants. Consumer acceptability of either fresh or frozen ground beef or ground beef blended with ground turkey has, however, received little attention. The acceptability of the blended beef turkey product is assumed to be relatively high given its origin from the traditional ground meats. Several different combinations of ground beef and ground turkey were evaluated for sensory color/texture differences in frozen and grilled forms by a 115-member consumer taste panel. Their evaluations of both frozen and grilled samples were influenced by previous experience with the combined product in the home and willingness to purchase the new product prior to evaluation of actual samples.     

College—Age Consumers' Knowledge and Perceptions of Food Irradiation

Abstract

This paper explores consumers of 18—24 years of age and their perceptions of irradiated ground beef products and role of irradiation on their purchase decisions. Data was collected with a survey of college—age consumers. Results showed that the majority of participants would be willing to purchase irradiated food products. Participants were somewhat concerned about impact of irradiation on safety and taste. The term “irradiated” and cost to consumer had a negative impact on participants' willingness to purchase irradiated ground beef products. The identification of the attributes should provide a useful guidance for the beef industry in terms of determining marketing strategies to increase the level of this segment of the consumer groups’ preference for irradiated products.     

Consumer purchase behaviour of irradiated beef products: a simulated supermarket setting

In December 1997, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the use of irradiation to kill harmful bacteria in beef. As a result of limited information about consumers’ potential response to implementation of this technology, a supermarket simulation setting (SSS) test was conducted to assess consumer purchase behaviour. The objectives were to determine consumers’ willingness to purchase irradiated beef products when provided with information at the grocery store level and consumer's perceptions towards irradiated beef. Primary household grocery shoppers (n = 207) in Griffin, Georgia, USA who consumed beef at least twice per week participated in the study. Ground beef, ground chuck, top round steak and rib eye steak were displayed in refrigerated cases in either traditionally labelled packages (non‐irradiated) or in packages labelled as irradiated. Irradiated and non‐irradiated beef had the same unit price. Participants were instructed to purchase two packages of each cut on their first shopping trip; they then shopped a second time after an informative poster about irradiation had been placed in the display cases. The results indicated that irradiation information displayed on the poster at the point of purchase was effective in causing significant change in beef purchase behaviour. The information caused some consumers who had bought traditional packages initially to buy irradiated packages subsequently while others who bought irradiated packages initially subsequently bought traditional packages. Hence, the net effect of the information was minimal. A mean test across form/cut showed that consumers did not differentiate between the ground form and the muscle form in selecting irradiated packages.     

Assessing the demand for value‐based organic meats in Canada: a combined retail and household scanner‐data approach

We apply sets of weekly retail and household scanner data to estimate consumer demand of selected organic and conventional fresh beef products in the Canadian retail market. The main contribution of our study stems from the application of a two‐stage procedure that provides new and deeper insight into consumers' responses to changing retail environment and pricing for organic and conventional meat products. Combined knowledge of point‐of‐sale consumer behaviour for value‐based products, such as organic products, and distinct socio‐demographic profiles of buyers vs. non‐buyers of meat is especially interesting for retail managers and meat industry stakeholders. First, household meat consumption patterns are investigated based on household scanner data that track household's meat purchases in the period 2006–2007. The second step of analysis then involves the estimation of an almost ideal demand system for selected organic and conventional fresh beef products using retail scanner data for the period 2000–2007. The introduction of greater selections in organic product lines across mainstream supermarkets in Canada in response to consumer health concerns is expected to spur retail competition in an otherwise saturated Canadian retail market. The analysis of socio‐demographic profiles in beef consumption using individual household's purchase data reveals that besides regional differences in preferences, household size and resource characteristics are major determinants of point‐of‐sale beef purchase decisions. Our demand system results indicate that organic beef is highly dependent on price and expenditures, whereas demand for conventional beef is mostly driven by income, habits and ‘typical’ Canadian seasonal beef consumption patterns. Altogether, our conclusions on organic beef vs. conventional beef buyers may have further implications for institutional regulations.     

INFLUENCE OF DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS ON CONSUMER PURCHASING PATTERNS AND PREFERENCES FOR GROUND BEEF

A study of 198 household units in the Fort Collins, CO area was made to ascertain the importance of such factors as consumer age, income, education and marital status on the purchasing patterns for ground beef. Compared to younger consumers, older consumers tended to: (1) make more frequent purchases of ground beef; (2) buy less ground beef per purchase; and (3) select leaner ground beef. Households with gross incomes in excess of $25,000 tended to buy larger quantities of ground beef per purchase and bought leaner ground beef compared to households with less than $15,000 gross income. In making purchasing decisions, participants in the study considered leanness, visual appearance and price as the most important factors, while packaging and brand name were considered the least important factors.     

To Drop or Add: Market Timing and Supermarket Decisions on Irradiated Ground Beef

ABSTRACT

This article investigates the sequential nature of supermarkets' decisions regarding irradiated ground beef using data collected from two separate supermarket surveys. We identify four mutually exclusive groups of supermarkets: those that adopted irradiated ground beef early and subsequently either continued or ceased offering the product–Early Adopters or Droppers, and those that at first chose not to adopt and subsequently either added or continued not offering the product–Adders or Never Adopters. We find that one set of store-level factors plays an important role in separating Early Adopters from Droppers, while a separate set of factors is important in separating Adders from Never Adopters.     

Encouraging healthy choices in the retail store environment: Combining product information and shelf allocation

PurposeNutritional information and the visibility of healthier food products inside the store are believed to be important variables in helping shoppers to make healthy choices. However, there remain gaps in our understanding of how consumers select healthy products and how they include complex nutritional information in the decision-making process, in a stimuli rich environment. This research tests the impact of different combinations of stimuli (information and space management) on the selection of healthier products.MethodologyThrough a within-between subjects on-line experiment, a set of hypotheses relating different combinations of information provision (communication) and space management (shelf display) were tested for two different product categories: cereal bars and breakfast cereals. The sample comprised 249 participants within the UK.FindingsResults show that there is no single unique solution to encourage healthy food choices. The characteristics of the category, the frequency of purchase, the way products are displayed on the shelf and the complexity of the nutritional information provided matter.OriginalityThis paper enriches the literature about healthy food choice behaviours by exploring combined interventions in store.     

Media News Reporting and Perceptions of Beef Safety

Abstract

The typical consumer uses his or her prior perceptions of the safety of fresh beef to evaluate any new, media-reported, safety scares involving fresh beef. Consumer reactions to media reports on the BSE outbreak in England, Oprah Winfrey's negative “hamburger statement,” and major packer recalls of fresh beef were assessed using a mail survey of households in five major U.S. cities. Ordered probit analysis was conducted to estimate the characteristics of the population in which these three issues had the greatest influence on consumer perceptions of beef safety.     

Antecedents of attitude and intention towards counterfeit symbolic and experiential products

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of price consciousness, perceived risk, and ethical obligation on attitude and intention towards counterfeit products. Data were collected from a sample of 200 respondents via an online questionnaire. A conceptual model was derived and tested via structural equation modelling in the contexts of symbolic and experiential counterfeit products. Findings show differences in the factors (and weight thereof) impacting attitude and purchase intention in the two product contexts. Specifically, ethical obligation and perceived risk are found to be significant predictors of attitude towards both symbolic and counterfeit products, while price consciousness is found to predict only attitude towards experiential products, but not purchase intention in either counterfeit product context.     

Convenience,Price, Product

Abstract

This study examines the factors motivating consumers' purchases of specialty food and beverage products via the Internet. While convenience is often cited as a motivating factor, price and product selection have also been identified. This study considered convenience in terms of time, space, and effort. It also identifies several specific sub-categories for price and products. Among respondents who had made a recent online purchase, convenience-related issues were most frequently cited as being relevant to the purchase decision. Product-related factors were important for nearly one-third of the respondents. Price was of relatively little importance.     

Consumers’ Intent: In the Organic Food Market

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the determinants that influence consumers' intention to purchase organic products. Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour (TPB) provides the conceptual framework of the research and the appropriateness of the theory is tested. A survey of 144 consumers was used to determine the beliefs which determine consumers’ intent to purchase organic food. Furthermore, attitudes, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control were examined to determine whether they affect consumers’ intention to make organic products purchases. The findings offer considerable support for the robustness of the TPB in explaining intention in the sample. In addition, empirical evidence suggest that price, availability of organic products, product information and the subjective opinions of others are important determinants of consumers intent to buy organic products. The results are consistent with previous research.     

Family Size Underpins Grocery Shoppers' Behavioural Response to Stock-Outs

Abstract

Grocery shoppers were questioned about their response to the stock-out of their preferred item of milk and milk products. This measure was used as the dependent variable in a multinomial logit model with the independent variables being shopper dispositions, the contextual shopping situations, age, and household size. This study identified distinctive customer orientations that foreshadowed shoppers' buying a brand variant, buying another brand, and forgoing or postponing their purchase. A binary logit model then estimated the shoppers'orientations that motivated them to seek their preferred item from another store. It emerged that for most shoppers, their household size appeared to be a pressing variable that influenced the way they tackled the non-availability of their normal choice. Marketing literature postulates that large families invariably gravitate to larger pack sizes. Previous research also observes that brand loyalty is negatively correlated to household size. If their regular choice is not available, shoppers could, therefore, easily be driven to seek alternative brands. This study has identified that it would be useful for brand variants to offer shoppers sufficient consumption time till the products' use-by dates to encourage their purchase and prevent shoppers from crossing over to another brand or store. Central to the ample availability of consumption time is the capacity of channel members to support frequent deliveries of larger pack sizes in small lot quantities to the retail store.     

The role of product brand image and online store image on perceived risks and online purchase intentions for apparel

Purchase intentions for apparel products often require physical examination prior to purchase. Hence, greater risk is associated with shopping online for apparel products, making it important to examine factors that reduce various risks influencing online purchase intentions. This study examines and compares the impact of two of the most important risk reducers for online apparel shopping – product brand image and online store image – on specific types of perceived risks and online purchase intentions for apparel. The results show that product brand image influences consumers' online purchase intentions both directly and indirectly by reducing various risk perceptions. Online store image impacts purchase intentions indirectly by decreasing risk perceptions. The results of this study provide fresh insight into understanding the impact of product brand image and online store image on each type of perceived risk associated with online shopping.     

Antecedents of Taiwan Chinese Consumers’ Purchase Intentions Toward U.S.- and Japanese-Made Household Appliances

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to understand the factors influencing Taiwan's Chinese consumers’ purchase intentions toward U.S. and Japanese household appliances. The authors attempt to develop and test a comprehensive model linking such purchase intentions to several constructs including Taiwan Chinese consumers’ openness to foreign cultures, consumer nationalism, product familiarity, traditional cultural values orientation, and product-country image. The result of analysis using structural equation modeling shows that consumer nationalism has a strong indirect effect on purchase intention via the product-country image construct. Taiwan Chinese consumers’ traditional cultural values orientation and openness to foreign cultures have direct effects on consumer nationalism and, hence, are important antecedents in explaining the purchase intentions toward foreign-made goods by Taiwan Chinese consumers. With the growing importance of the Chinese domestic market, this study provides international marketing managers with practical implications in important areas such as market segmentation, branding strategy, and market research and practices in the Chinese consumer market.     

The Role of Consumer Characteristics and Attitudes in Purchase Behavior of Domestic versus Foreign Made Products

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of factors underlying consumer choice of domestic vs. foreign products on a sample of consumers in a less traditional post-socialist economy of Slovenia. Empirical results confirmed the postulated relationships among the protectionism dimension of ethnocentric attitudes, familiarity with global brands and consumer domestic purchase decisions for the product categories examined in this study. However, findings did not lend support for theoretical propositions related to demographic variables. Implications for domestic and global brand managers are outlined in the conclusions.     

Linking Product Evaluations and Purchase Intention for Country-of-Origin Effects

Abstract

This paper reports an experimental study concerned with the observed inconsistency between evaluative and behavioral data for country-of-origin (COO) effects. This issue is addressed by specifying conceptual relationships among three criterion variables-consumer evaluations of product quality, perceived product value, and purchase intention in the context of COO effects. The results showed that COO information had a direct effect on overall product evaluation and an indirect effect (through product evaluation) on perceived product value, which in turn determined purchase intention. In addition, purchase intention was also directly affected by brand name and price factors, but not by COO. Moreover, it was also revealed that COO and brand name had a similar impact on overall product evaluation. On the whole, this study suggests that it may be premature to claim less significant importance and role of COO information in influencing purchase intentions or behaviors. Rather, the exact nature of COO effects for behavioral consequences might be much more complex than what has been assumed in most previous studies. The present investigation represents an initial effort in providing empirical evidence of how COO information may impact evaluative and behavioral variables differently in the consumer decision process. Managerial implications of this study are discussed.     

Advertising Research

Abstract

The study reported examined effects of strength of ethnic identification, media placement, and ad racial composition on attitudes and purchase intentions among African-Americans. The effects of the independent variables were assessed via a two (strong ethnic identifier vs. weak ethnic identifier) by two (racially targeted vs. nontargeted media) by four (black model, white model, black-dominant integration, white-dominant integration) experimental design in the context of two personal care products: foundation, a race-based product, and perfume, a racially neutral product. Results indicate that strong ethnic identifiers generally have more positive evaluations of ads that feature African-Americans in positions of dominance and are placed in racially targeted media, whereas weak ethnic identifiers have more positive evaluations of ads that feature whites in positions of dominance and are placed in nontargeted media. In addition, the type of product advertised, whether it be specifically related to physical racial features or racially neutral, effects audience members' evaluations.     

Food Safety and Consumers' Willingness to Pay for Labelled Beef in Spain

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to assess the quality/safety value for beef consumers, measuring their willingness to pay a price premium for labelled beef. From a survey conducted among food shoppers within the household, consumers are segmented according to their safety perception of specific food products. For each segment, their willingness to pay for labelled beef is calculated. Finally, the main factors explaining such a decision are considered. The results indicate that food scares, the perception of a negative impact of agricultural production on the environment and health concerns are having a major impact on the food consumer purchasing decisions for beef. However, most consumers are not willing to pay a price premium for labelled beef.     

Extrinsic Cues and Consumer Judgments of Food Product Introductions: The Case of Pangasius in Norway

In this article, the authors explore how the extrinsic cues corporate social responsibility, endorsement, and country of origin affect consumer evaluations of product quality, value, and expected product popularity for frozen Pangasius filets, a farmed fish product just recently introduced into the Norwegian market. The effects of these three variables are tested on purchase intentions. By means of a 2?×?2?×?2 factorial experiment in combination with survey data, the authors find that the three extrinsic cues under study had different effects on the evaluative variables. Furthermore, these variables all had positive and significant effects on purchase intentions. Hence, the general conclusion is that importers of new food products like Pangasius can benefit from focusing on extrinsic cues when the intrinsic cues are hard to evaluate or are unknown. Through the indirect effect on purchase intentions, extrinsic cues play an important role when consumers judge unfamiliar and new products.     

Marketing Organic Products: Exploring Some of the Pervasive Issues

ABSTRACT

This article explores the marketing of organic products. It identifies the issues that pervade the national, organisational, and individual differences within the global organic industry. These are discussed using the marketing mix framework of product, price, promotion, and place of distribution. It concludes that a large percentage of customers, who are spread throughout the community, purchase organic products, most of whom only purchase it occasionally. The most important attributes of organic products are health, quality, and environment. Promotion of these benefits has the potential to demonstrate that, even at the higher price, they still offer value for money.