Consumer segmentation based on convenience orientation and attitudes towards quality attributes of lamb meat

Food consumption patterns in general and those of meat in particular are constantly changing. These changes are due to wide-ranging, socio-economic and cultural trends but also to the specific lifestyles of increasingly diversified groups of consumers. One of the main trends in meat consumption relates to convenience orientation and meat avoidance. We have used a modified food-related lifestyle (FRL) framework to analyse the current state of lamb meat consumption in a region of Spain, where this has steadily decreased over the past few years. We have focused on two aspects of the FRL framework: cooking habits and consumption situations, in order to establish customer convenience orientation. Other aspects of the FRL, referring to consumers' perception of quality and shopping methods, together with various socio-economic features, are used to characterise the convenience profiles of consumers and analyse their differences. Data were collected by means of a probabilistic stratified postal survey and analysed with multivariate techniques (Multiple Correspondence Analysis and Cluster Analysis). The objective was to identify, characterise and compare profiles of lamb meat consumers according to their convenience orientation. These consumer profiles could be termed traditional, uninvolved, adventurous and careless. Satisfaction derived from cooking and time spent on cooking, tendency towards eating out, preference of foreign vs. traditional recipes and for the diversification of meals, were the most important factors to distinguish between consumer profiles. Other factors relating to eating out on working days, the importance placed on planning meals, celebration meals, or a preference for informal dinners, did not discriminate between consumer profiles. In relation to the perception of intrinsic quality attributes, no differences were observed for the importance placed on fat content and type of animal, although a fresh appearance and light colour of the meat were more highly valued by traditional consumers. With regard to extrinsic quality attributes, easy cooking was very important for uninvolved consumers. In general, the presence of a quality label, the local origin of the meat and a feeding system based on pasture or green forages rather than on grains were highly valued by most consumer profiles. In socio-economical terms, convenience orientation was more related to age, place of residence and level of studies than to income and gender. The identification of different convenience orientations towards lamb meat and the associated perceptions of different quality attributes and socio-demographic features may provide an opportunity for the industry to develop consumer-led products, especially in highly undifferentiated meat products such as lamb. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.