Evaluation of publicity measures relating to the EU beef labelling system in Belgium

In response to growing consumer concerns about beef safety, the European Commission enacted several regulations concerning the identification and registration of bovine animals and compulsory labelling of beef and beef products. Additionally, the Commission provided funds for informing consumers about the guarantees offered by the traceability systems and the indicators on labels. This paper focuses on the evaluation of such publicity measures in Belgium during September 2000. The publicity campaign included a mass media advertisement with direct response components, and the distribution of a detailed information leaflet. The evaluation methodology includes cross-sectional data collection through consumer surveys pre and post the publicity event. The compulsory beef label indicators emerge as the least important and least attended cues by beef consumers. While the mass media advertisement scored well in terms of recall rate, informative content evaluation, and restoration of consumer confidence in beef, the direct response component and leaflet distribution were less successful. Implications pertain to the future planning and implementation of similar consumer information policies and publicity campaigns. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.