Relative importance of cues underlying Spanish consumers’ beef choice and segmentation, and consumer liking of beef enriched with n-3 and CLA fatty acids

Abstract

The choice experiments technique was used to estimate the relative importance of some of the main attributes of beef; origin (locally produced, other Spanish origin), animal diet (conventional, enriched with n-3, with CLA, or with n-3 plus CLA), amount of visible fat (slight, moderate), meat colour (bright red, pale red), and price (6.6, 5.7, 4.8 and 3.9 € per tray containing 0.3kg of beef loin) in three Spanish cities (Barcelona, Pamplona, Zaragoza) with 322 individuals. Consumer segments with similar preference profiles of beef choices were identified using the Latent Class model. Consumer liking of beef enriched with n-3 and/or CLA fatty acids was also evaluated by the same consumers. The most important cue driving the majority of consumers’ beef purchase decisions was the amount of visible fat (36%) followed by price (25%), then colour (19%) and origin (17%), and finally animal diet (4%) which was not important. Most consumers preferred beef with a slight content of visible fat, medium–low price, locally produced and bright red colour. Segmentation analysis revealed three consumer profiles: ‘health conscious consumers’ with preference for lean beef (consumers: older, women, retired, housewives, greater food expenditure and more concerned with health); ‘price-oriented consumers’ with preference for lowest priced beef (consumers: younger, students, higher education, lower beef intake and purchase at supermarket); and ‘quality-oriented consumers’ with preference for beef with moderate amount of visible fat (consumers: men, from Barcelona). Consumers were willing to pay a premium of 1.21, 1.52 and 2.04 € over 14 €/kg for CLA, n-3 and n-3 plus CLA enriched beef, respectively. ‘Health conscious consumers’ were more willing to pay and more likely to purchase enriched beef with beneficial fatty acids. The individual beef enrichment with n-3 or CLA improved consumer liking scores, while the combined enrichment with n-3 plus CLA offered no hedonic advantages over conventional beef.