Benli Hakan, Yildiz Duygu Gecgel
Department of Food Engineering, Cukurova University, Adana 01330, Turkey.
Anim Biosci. 2023 Aug;36(8):1274-1284. doi: 10.5713/ab.23.0003. Epub 2023 May 2.
Understanding consumer perception of meat quality in developing countries is an important issue since consumer perception of quality could be highly variable. In the current study, consumers' purchasing preferences affected by marbling and perception of quality were evaluated in a survey study. Furthermore, consumers' preferences for degree of doneness were investigated using both survey and consumer panel studies.
The study was carried out in two phases. Firstly, a survey was conducted in Adana Province, Turkey to collect data related to the attributes affecting consumers' meat purchase decision and consumers' degree of doneness preferences. In the second phase, boneless ribeye was used to investigate consumers' degree of doneness preferences in a consumer panel. In addition, proximate analyses of the samples were conducted.
The survey study using pictures of marbling illustrations indicated that higher degrees of marbling might be considered too fatty to be purchased by consumers. Consumers' perceptions regarding the relationship between marbling and beef quality further indicated that marbling might not be acknowledged as a cue of a higher quality meat. Nevertheless, the results of the importance of some attributes related to intrinsic and extrinsic quality cues showed that consumers were looking for the cues that indicated not only quality but also safety of the meat during meat purchase. The results of both survey and consumer panel studies revealed that consumers might prefer higher degrees of doneness while consuming meat since a majority of the consumers' preference of degree of doneness was at least well done.
This study revealed that consumer purchasing preferences might vary between countries regarding marbling and perception of quality. Furthermore, higher degrees of doneness could be the preference of these consumers. Thus, further studies are needed to increase consumer satisfaction in these countries.
了解发展中国家消费者对肉质的认知是一个重要问题，因为消费者对质量的认知可能差异很大。在本研究中，通过一项调查研究评估了受大理石花纹和质量认知影响的消费者购买偏好。此外，还通过调查和消费者小组研究对消费者对熟度的偏好进行了调查。
该研究分两个阶段进行。首先，在土耳其阿达纳省进行了一项调查，以收集与影响消费者肉类购买决策的属性以及消费者对熟度偏好相关的数据。在第二阶段，使用去骨肋眼牛排，在消费者小组中调查消费者对熟度的偏好。此外，还对样品进行了近似分析。
使用大理石花纹插图图片的调查研究表明，较高程度的大理石花纹可能会被消费者认为脂肪过多而不被购买。消费者对大理石花纹与牛肉质量之间关系的认知进一步表明，大理石花纹可能不被视为高质量肉类的一个指标。然而，一些与内在和外在质量指标相关属性的重要性结果表明，消费者在购买肉类时不仅在寻找表明质量的指标，还在寻找表明肉类安全的指标。调查和消费者小组研究的结果都显示，消费者在食用肉类时可能更喜欢较高的熟度，因为大多数消费者对熟度的偏好至少是全熟。
本研究表明，不同国家的消费者在大理石花纹和质量认知方面的购买偏好可能存在差异。此外，较高的熟度可能是这些消费者的偏好。因此，需要进一步研究以提高这些国家消费者的满意度。
