Beliefs, attitude and behaviour towards fresh meat consumption in Belgium: empirical evidence from a consumer survey

Several distinct forces have recently impacted on meat consumption and consumer attitude towards meat in many European countries. This article focuses on assessing consumer beliefs, attitude and behaviour towards fresh beef, pork and poultry meat. The methodology deals with quantitative marketing research through a survey with 320 fresh meat consumers in Belgium. Data analysis includes descriptive profile analysis, factor analysis and statistical validation of perceived associations by means of chisquare, F- and t-statistics. The analysis reveals the importance of safety-related meat attributes in impacting beef and pork consumption since the BSE-crisis and towards the future. Based on the results, it can be expected that the future of fresh meat consumption will be determined by the ability of the beef and pork sector to produce, deliver and guarantee products that are intrinsically safe, and moreover perceived as such by consumers. Specifically for pork, leanness is an important issue. Both for pork and poultry, animal welfare and acceptable production methods emerge as key attention points towards the future.