4 - Profiling the egg consumer: attitudes, perceptions and behaviours

Abstract

This chapter aims at a better understanding of consumer attitudes and perceptions toward egg consumption and how they influence purchase behaviour. The chapter is organized in two main sections. The first is based on a reasoned selection of current literature and discusses which factors consumers use to determine the quality and safety of eggs, trying to identify how these could evolve in the light of the recent evolution in European legislative scenarios. The second part of the chapter presents results from a small survey carried out within the framework of the EU project 'Trust' in 2004 and includes, among many others, data on attitudes towards eggs consumption.