Quality perception and consumer attitudes to "specific quality beef" in Aragón, Spain

A.M Oliazola Tolosana,Z Whebi,E Manrique Persiva

doi:10.5424/sjar/2005034-169

A.M Oliazola Tolosana, Z Whebi + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5424/sjar/2005034-169

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Abstract

Over the last decade, beef consumption has decreased in most European countries, including Spain. Along with other factors that have contributed towards greater competition in agricultural markets, this has led to an increase in the offer of high-added-value beef products - a strategy the sector also follows to help it deal with the crisis caused by a number of health scandals. The aim of the present study was to analyse consumer attitudes towards "specific quality beef" (SQB; beef with quality specifications as indicated by labels or public quality denominations). A relationship was seen with respect to the level of consumer knowledge and the purchase of this type of product. Those with a higher average income and higher level of education had a more favourable attitude towards them. The butcher was the most important source of consumer information on SQB. Price was the factor that most limited the consumption of these products.

Highlights

Negative consumer opinion on the «healthiness» of eating meat in general, and beef in particular, has contributed to a stagnation in the latter’s consumption
Cattle negatively affected beef consumption (Gracia and Albisu, 1995) even before the emergence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), which contributed to major a lack of consumer confidence in this type of meat
Between 1995 and 2000, the consumption of Spanish beef dropped by 2.8% both at home and abroad (MAPA, 2001), and between January and September 2001, when the crisis was at its height, consumption dropped by 1.3 kg per capita compared to 2000 (Cruz, 2002)

Summary

Introduction

Negative consumer opinion on the «healthiness» of eating meat in general, and beef in particular, has contributed to a stagnation in the latter’s consumption. The use of anabolic substances and clenbuterol to fatten cattle negatively affected beef consumption (Gracia and Albisu, 1995) even before the emergence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), which contributed to major a lack of consumer confidence in this type of meat. Multi-attribute models are commonly used to analyse consumer quality judgements These models consider quality as a multidimensional phenomenon and describe it as a set of attributes that must be perceived by the consumer. This understanding of quality does not necessarily depend on the objective characteristics of the product, but rather takes into account the quality of the product as perceived by the consumer. The evaluation of food quality depends on the perceptions, needs and goals of the consumer (Steenkamp, 1990)

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