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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Consumers want pork with ‘adjectives’

D. N. D’Souza A C , D. Cleary B and R. J. E. Hewitt A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A SunPork Solutions, Loganholme, Qld 4129, Australia.

B SunPork Fresh Foods, Murarrie, Qld 4174, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: darryl.dsouza@sunporkfarms.com.au

Animal Production Science 57(12) 2331-2338 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN17362
Submitted: 31 May 2017  Accepted: 1 August 2017   Published: 20 November 2017

Abstract

Pork is the most consumed meat globally, but its consumption varies widely across the major pork-consuming nations. Consumers consider a wide variety of intrinsic and extrinsic cues, and credence attributes, when making purchasing and consumption decisions for food products. Brand recognition has been an important extrinsic cue for consumers, especially in the case of pork-product quality. However, the branding of fresh pork products in Australia has not been very prominent, due to the dominance of retailer ‘home-brand’ labels. However, increasingly these retailer labels are using information and branding relating to adjectives (credence attributes), for example, animal welfare, production systems, environment. The role of these credence attributes in Australia are now very much regarded by consumers as surrogate indicators of pork quality. The present paper will look at consumer preferences and attitudes to pork and the role credence attributes play when consumers purchase pork. In addition, the paper looks at the role of retailers in delivering pork with adjectives.

Additional keywords: credence values, intrinsic and extrinsic factors, willingness to pay.


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