Klaus G. Grunert

A Review of European Research on Consumer Response to Nutrition Information on Food Labels

The aim of this study was to review research conducted in 2003–2006 in the EU-15 countries on how consumers perceive, understand, like and use nutrition information on food labels. Based on a search of databases on academic publications, Google-based search, and enquiries directed to a range of food retailers, food companies, consumer associations and government agencies, a total of 58 studies were identified. These studies were summarised using a standard format guided by a model of consumer information processing, and these summaries were subsequently processed using the MAXqda software in order to identify key findings and common themes across the studies. The studies show widespread consumer interest in nutrition information on food packages, though this interest varies across situations and products. Consumers like the idea of simplified front of pack information but differ in their liking for the various formats. Differences can be related to conflicting preferences for ease of use, being fully informed and not being pressurised into behaving in a particular way. Most consumers understand the most common signposting formats in the sense that they themselves believe that they understand them and they can replay key information presented to them in an experimental situation. There is, however, virtually no insight into how labelling information is, or will be, used in a real-world shopping situation, and how it will affect consumers’ dietary patterns. Results are largely in line with an earlier review by Cowburn and Stockley (Public Health Nutr 8:21–28, 2005), covering research up to 2002, but provide new insights into consumer liking and understanding of simplified front of pack signposting formats. There is an urgent need for more research studying consumer use of nutritional information on food labels in a real-world setting.

Consumer perception of meat quality and implications for product development in the meat sector—a review

In the first part of the paper, the Total Food Quality Model is used as a frame of reference for analysing the way in which consumers perceive meat quality, drawing mainly on European studies involving beef and pork. The way in which consumers form expectations about quality at the point of purchase, based on their own experience and informational cues available in the shopping environment, is described, as well as the way in which quality is experienced in the home during and after meal preparation. The relationship between quality expectations and quality experience and its implications for consumer satisfaction and repeat purchase intent is addressed. In the second part of the paper, and building on the insights obtained on subjective quality perception, possibilities for consumer-oriented product development in the meat sector are addressed. Issues dealt with here are branding, differentiation by taste, healthiness and convenience, and by process characteristics like organic production and animal welfare.

Market Orientation in Food and Agriculture

Part I: Introduction. 1: Market orientation, product development and competitive advantage. Part II: Generating market intelligence. 2: The systematic generation of market intelligence. 3: Analysing consumers at the aggregate level. 4: Analysing consumers at the individual level. 5: Analysing distributors at the aggregate level 6: Analysing distributors at the organisational level. 7: Case: The generation of market intelligence in a medium-sized food company. Part III: Developing market responsiveness and profitability. 8: A framework for understanding market responsiveness. 9: Short- and medium-term product and process development. 10: Long-term development of firm and industry. 11: Developing supplier and customer relations. Part IV: Conclusion. 12: Market orientation and agriculture: summary, implications and research perspectives. References. Index.

What's in a steak? A cross-cultural study on the quality perception of beef

Abstract With the Total Food Quality Model as point of departure, a study is described which analyses how consumers evaluate the quality of beef in a purchase situation in four European countries: France, Germany, Spain and the UK. The study consisted of a series of focus groups and of an extended form of conjoint analysis which allows an estimation of meansend structures. Tradition and security, variation, atmosphere and social life, health, acceptance from family/children/ guests, nutrition, demonstration of cooking abilities, and status are the most important purchasing motives in all four countries. The most important quality aspects of beef are that it tastes good, is tender, juicy, fresh, lean, healthy and nutritious. Purchasing motives as well as quality aspects are uni-dimensional in Germany, Spain, and the UK, while they are multi-dimensional in France. Place of purchase and quality perception are related in all four countries, i.e. the butcher is regarded as a sort of guarantor of high quality. This applies less in the UK than in the other countries, however. The most important concrete product characteristics which consumers base their quality evaluation on are fat content and colour. Fat is generally negative, and this applies to all aspects of fat. The positive effects of fat on taste and tenderness are not perceived. German consumers prefer dark meat, whereas Spanish consumers tend to prefer light meat. Information about country of origin and breeding and feeding has no effect on quality perception. The results suggest that producers of superior beef have a problem in communicating this quality to consumers, and that a quality grading system developed in co-operation between producer and retailer may be the best way to overcome consumer uncertainty in evaluating the quality of beef.

Current issues in the understanding of consumer food choice

Abstract Consumer food choice is framed in terms of the formation of quality expectations before and quality experience after the purchase. For the formation of quality expectations, lack of consumer ability to form expectations that will be predictive of later experience is mentioned as a problem, and brands and labels are mentioned as possible ways to improve this situation. Genetic modification is used as an example of the way in which consumer attitudes to product technologies can influence quality perceptions and food choice. Food quality is to an increasing extent characterised by so-called credence qualities—qualities which are invisible to the consumer both before and after the purchase. Such qualities provide a challenge for communication about the product, not only to induce consumers to buy the product, but also to reinforce their choice after the purchase. Concerning experienced quality after the purchase, the role of home production—turning products into meals—is mentioned as an important, but underresearched topic. Finally, differences in consumer behaviour between normal situations and situations of food crises are addressed.

Future trends and consumer lifestyles with regard to meat consumption.

Using the food-related lifestyle model as a conceptual framework, one possible trend each is discussed for the following four components of food-related lifestyle: quality aspects, ways of shopping, cooking methods, and purchase motives. These trends refer to the increasing use of extrinsic cues in quality perception, shopping fast and easy vs. shopping in specialized outlets, the role of convenience and meat avoidance in cooking, and the role of concerns about the meat production process in purchasing. Indicators for each of these trends are discussed.

Use and understanding of nutrition information on food labels in six European countries.

AimThe goal of the study was to investigate the use of nutrition information on food labels and understanding of guideline daily amount (GDA) front-of-pack nutrition labels in six European countries.Subjects and methodsIn-store observations and in-store interviews were conducted in major retailers in the UK (n = 2019), Sweden (n = 1858), France (n = 2337), Germany (n = 1963), Poland (n = 1800) and Hungary (n = 1804), supplemented by questionnaires filled out at home and returned (overall response rate 50.3%). Use of labels was measured by combining in-store observations and in-store interviews on concrete purchases in six product categories. Understanding of GDA front-of-pack nutrition labels was measured by a variety of tasks dealing with conceptual understanding, substantial understanding and health inferences. Demographics, nutrition knowledge and interest in healthy eating were measured as potential determinants.ResultsAcross six product categories, 16.8% of shoppers were found to have looked for nutrition information on the label, with the nutrition grid (table or list), GDA labels and the ingredients list as the main sources consulted and calories, fat and sugar the information most often looked for. Understanding of GDA labels was high in the UK, Sweden and Germany, and more limited in the other countries. Regression analysis showed that, in addition to country-specific differences, use and understanding are also affected by differences in interest in healthy eating and in nutrition knowledge and by social grade.ConclusionUnderstanding of nutrition information seems to be more widespread than use, suggesting that lack of use is a question of not only understanding, but also motivation. Considerable national differences exist in both understanding and use, some of which may be attributed to different histories of the role of nutrition in the public debate.

Three issues in consumer quality perception and acceptance of dairy products

It is argued that consumer quality perception of dairy products is characterised by four major dimensions: hedonic, health-related, convenience-related and process-related quality. Two of these, viz., health and process-related quality, are credence dimensions, i.e. a matter of consumer trust in communication provided. Drawing on five different empirical studies on consumer quality perception of dairy products, three issues related to the communication on credence quality dimensions are discussed: providing credible information, the role of consumer attitudes, and inference processes in quality perception. Organic products, functional products, and products involving genetic modification are used as examples.

Consumer perceptions of food products involving genetic modification—results from a qualitative study in four Nordic countries

1. The present study addresses consumer acceptance of food products involving the use of different applications of genetic modification in four Nordic countries. Three food products were used as examples: hard cheese, hard candy, and salmon. Three types of applications of genetic modification were investigated: modification of the raw material, use of genetic modification in enzyme production, and direct use of genetically modified microorganisms. In addition, three levels of presence of the genetically modified material in the final product were investigated: not present, present, and present and living/able to function. 2. The results from consumer samples in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden are remarkably similar, showing a strong stability in consumer reactions to the use of genetic modification in food production in these four countries. 3. Consumer perception is characterised by a basic dichotomy of GM and non-GM products. Being non-GM is regarded as a major benefit in itself. When a product involves genetic modification, this elicits numerous negative assocations, of which the strongest ones are ‘unhealthy’ and ‘uncertainty.’ 4. The level of presence of the genetically modified material in the final product has a clear impact on consumer acceptance. When the GM material is present and viable/able to function, acceptance is lowest. 5. The type of application of genetic modification has an impact on consumer acceptance as well, but it differs across products. Still, there is a clear tendency that acceptance of salmon products where the salmon itself was genetically modified was lowest among all products tested. 6. The consumer benefits which the application of GM brings about (e.g., improved taste, functional benefits, environmental benefits) are largely perceived, but cannot overcompensate for the negative associations to GM. In some cases, a supposed benefit (e.g., faster growth of salmon, leading to reduced energy costs) was actually perceived as a disadvantage. Benefits combining personal tangible benefits with societal relevance (e.g., a low calorie candy which can be consumed by people suffering from diabetes) may have most positive impact on consumer acceptance.

Closing the gap between values and behavior--a means-end theory of lifestyle

Abstract Means–end chain theory and lifestyle are reconstructed within a dual-process framework, incorporating bottom–up and top–down information processing routes. The bottom–up route is defined as a hierarchical categorization process, and the top–down route as goal-directed action. Lifestyle, then, is a system of individual differences in the habitual use of declarative and procedural knowledge structures that intervene between abstract goal states (personal values) and situation-specific product perceptions and behaviors. Access to the intervening knowledge structures is considered a necessary condition for both information processing routes to reach their ends, predicting a strict mediation model. The model is tested on survey data gathered in France in 1998, using the list of values as a measure of abstract goal states, the food-related lifestyle instrument as a measure of intervening knowledge structures, and a newly constructed behavior list as a measure of behavior. Data were analyzed by means of structural equation modeling. Compared against five alternative model structures, the strict mediation model fitted the data best, thus confirming the predictions derived from the reconstructed theory.