Consumer perception of developing high quality pork meat

Abstract

As part of the „Research on safety of food relating to physiological and diagnostical studies through international cooperation in Kaposvár University” project, it is possible to produce more tender pork meat. During the primary research, our aim was to evaluate the consumer perception of pork meat, as well as to compiling the basis of a marketing strategy of pork meat regarding marketing tools. Focus group interviews in two locations and a nation-wide representative questionnaire were carried out.
The results of the research show that the principal values of pork meat that it can be prepared in various ways, tasty and easy to access. The frequency of consumption is below the European average, most Hungarians consume pork meat every 1-2 weeks, while those who consume more frequently represent about the same proportion. The frequency of consumption would increase in case of lower prices, more tender and more delicious pork meat. The results also revealed that more than half of the consumers find it the easiest to purchase pork meat at butchers, but hyper- and supermarkets are also common origin of pork meat supply. Respondents’ purchasing decision was based on the color and the price of pork meat, followed by the convenience in access. Only a few respondents were willing to pay higher price for tastier pork meat, and there was no one influencing their purchasing decisions. Suggested marketing tools belonging to product strategy could be as follows: distinctive branding strategy, attractive packaging, unique product features and the development of target market-oriented quality level. It is an important aspect concerning price strategy that consumers would accept only a slightly higher price for higher „taste experience”, hence initially, a pricing aligned to the competitors would be beneficial. For consumers, reliability, and thus higher value is rooted in a more direct purchasing, therefore marketing strategy should be planned accordingly. Clearly targeted communication towards the end users (pull strategy) with the aim of raising awareness would be advantageous in order to receive a favorable position for high quality pork meat against mass products.