Impact of different chicken meat production systems on consumers’ purchase perception

ABSTRACT

1. The objective of this study was to evaluate specific sensory attributes of chicken meat from different production systems to evaluate the emotional responses related to information available on the packages, as well as to investigate consumers’ perceptions regarding this information.

2. The survey was conducted using the Temporal Dominance of Sensations analysis, which identified differences in taste and texture between samples belonging to the organic, conventional and natural systems.

3. The specific emotional lexicon for chicken meat, defined by the consumers through the EmoSemio questionnaire, provided a list of positive emotions for packages that indicated some type of information about the rearing or feeding system.

4. The qualitative data obtained using the Attitude Questionnaire demonstrated that packaging and labelling are not self-explanatory, posing more doubts for the consumer at the time of purchase. It was shown that packaging and labelling were extrinsic attributes that influenced the evaluation and acceptability of products. Besides that, consumers were interested in buying products that attest to animal welfare, provided that the price is attractive.

5. Poultry companies can have a greater chance of making their products more attractive if they learn more about the attitude and expectations of the consumer in relation to the products, as well as the importance of the animal welfare attributes that are communicated.

KEYWORDS:

• Animal welfare
• meat quality
• free range
• temporal dominance of sensations

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.