Consumer attitude and purchase intention towards processed meat

Consumer attitude and purchase intention towards processed meat products with natural compounds and reduced nitrite Christine Yung Hung & Wim Verbeke Department of Agricultural Economics Ghent University, Belgium

Objectives 1. To explore consumers’ current knowledge and perception about nitrite in processed meat products 2. To investigate consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions for new meat products with natural compounds and reduced nitrite, and their associations with personal characteristics 3. To identify market segments and formulate recommendations for policy and marketing communication 2

Study Design Online quantitative consumer survey (n = 2057) • Belgium (n = 532), The Netherlands (n = 501), Italy (n = 502) and Germany (n = 522) • Data collected in December 2014 • Representative for age, gender and region in each country • Meat consumers, aged 18 -75, eating processed meat products at least 1 – 5 times per 6 months 3

Knowledge about nitrite (n = 2057) • 45. 1% of the participants had never heard of nitrite being used in processed meat products • Knowledge among the 54. 9% who had heard of nitrite: *False statement 4 a – e indicate significantly different means in number of participants with correct answer at the 0. 05 level

Attitude and Intention (n = 2057) Consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions towards processed meat products with natural compounds and reduced nitrite were generally favourable On five-point scales (1 -2 -3 -4 -5): • μ (Attitude) = 3. 39 ± 0. 71 • μ (Purchase intention) = 3. 56 ± 0. 79 5

Determinants of purchase intention Model goodness-of-fit: R²adj = 0. 32 6

Market Segmentation (n = 2057) Market Segments Enthusiasts Accepters Half-hearted Uninterested 808 (39. 3) 244 (11. 9) 871 (42. 3) 134 (6. 5) Attitude High Moderate Low Purchase intention High Moderate Low Segment size: n (% of sample) Positioning of the four segments based on mean values for attitude and purchase intention 7

Segment profiles (n = 2057) 8

Recommendations for policy and marketing communication • Primary targets of interest: “Accepters” and “Half-hearted” • “Accepters”: efforts stimulating trial (e. g. product sampling) to enhance future purchase intention and ensure intention translates into effective behaviour (purchase) • “Half-hearted”: extended information provision (e. g. advertisements /product labelling/leaflets) highlighting the benefits of the new processed meat products with natural compounds and reduced nitrite 9

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