Beef consumers’ perceptions and relationships with acceptation assessed by photography

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate consumers’ perception of beef appearance in two photographic camera configurations and the images’ relationships with the willingness to purchase (WTP) and consumer characterisation. Photographic surveys were used to evaluate the visual perception of beef colour, visible fat, and overall appearance. This information was then related to WTP and consumer segmentation. A cumulative model for perception, logistic regression for WTP, and cluster were used for data analysis. The automatic configuration reaches the highest probability in visible fat (p < .05) and overall appearance (p < .05) but not for colour (p > .05) compared to the manual configuration. Consumers’ WTP was affected by visible fat and overall appearance (p < .05) regardless of camera configuration (p > .05). The highest WTP probability (>.8) was scored on a hedonic scale for visual fat and overall appearance. The cluster analysis showed consumers’ preferences related to beef fat, colour, and WTP. This research could provide important information to the beef-chain system to anticipate beef consumer preferences. Additionally, the evaluation of beef consumers’ perception through image could be a practical tool to identify clusters and specific beef preferences to custom-make a beef with high acceptance probability. HIGHLIGHTS Pictures anticipate the consumer’s perception. Beef consumers focussed on visible fat and overall appearance to answer the purchase decision. Beef fat, appearance, and colour differentiate consumer’s preferences.