Consumer's Stated Trust in the Food Industry and Meat Purchases

Agriculture and Human Values 29, 507-517, 2011.

27 Pages Posted: 13 Jul 2013

See all articles by Larissa S. Drescher

Larissa S. Drescher

Technische Universität München (TUM) - TUM School of Management

Janneke de Jonge

Wageningen University and Research (WUR)

Ellen Goddard

University of Alberta

Thomas Herzfeld

IAMO; Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg

Date Written: December 21, 2011

Abstract

Research indicates that consumers are particularly concerned about the safety of meat. Higher processed meat is perceived as more unsafe than fresh or natural meats, i.e. consumers trust processed meat less. This paper studies the relationship between perceived trust and day-to-day purchase behavior for meat giving special attention to the degree of meat processing. Based on a trust and meat consumption framework, Canadian household’s actual meat purchases are linked to answers from a commissioned food attitudes survey completed by the same households. Expenditures for processed and total meat (but not for fresh meat) are significantly different by three levels of trust in the food industry. Consumer with the lowest trust levels consume less (especially of processed meat) compared to those with higher trust levels. However, in a multivariate setting, trust shows no effect on fresh or processed meat purchases with or without socio-demographic control variables suggesting that the impact of trust on meat purchases is only small. However, the low trusting consumer segment could potentially be a target for marketing strategies focused on reputation and quality to increase sales in this particular group.

Keywords: Consumer trust, Engel functions, Processing, Preferences, Meat, Canada

JEL Classification: D12, D19

Suggested Citation

Drescher, Larissa S. and de Jonge, Janneke and Goddard, Ellen and Herzfeld, Thomas, Consumer's Stated Trust in the Food Industry and Meat Purchases (December 21, 2011). Agriculture and Human Values 29, 507-517, 2011., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2292888

Larissa S. Drescher (Contact Author)

Technische Universität München (TUM) - TUM School of Management ( email )

Freising
Germany

Janneke De Jonge

Wageningen University and Research (WUR) ( email )

Hollandseweg 1
Wageningen, 6706KN
Netherlands

Ellen Goddard

University of Alberta ( email )

Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2R3
Canada

Thomas Herzfeld

IAMO ( email )

Theodor-Lieser-Str. 2
Halle/Saale, 06120
Germany

Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg ( email )

Universitätsplatz 10
Halle (Saale), Saxony-Anhalt 06108
Germany

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