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

Executive summary 1. 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 United Kingdom. The study consisted of a series of focus groups and of an extended form of conjoint analysis which enables an estimatation of means-end structures. 2. 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. 3. The most important quality aspects of beef are that it tastes good, is tender, juicy, fresh, lean, healthy and nutritious. 4. Purchasing motives as well as quality aspects are uni-dimensional in Germany, Spain, and the UK, while they are multi-dimensional in France. This implies that French consumers have a more sophisticated purchasing behaviour than consumers in the other countries. 5. Place of purchase and quality perception are related in all four countries, ie the butcher is regarded as a sort of guarantor of high quality. This applies less in the UK than in the other countries, however. 6. 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 a unimportant. German consumers prefer dark meat, whereas Spanish consumers tend to prefer light meat. 7. Information about country of origin and breeding and feeding has no effect on quality perception. 8. 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.