Factors associated with consumer perception and conduct toward certified beef from Brazil.

The aims of this study were to establish a relationship between consumers' socioeconomic aspects, key meat attributes, and consumer perception and conduct toward traced beef in Brazil. The authors applied a structured form in 52 supermarkets in eight Brazilian cities, through interviews with 2.949 consumers, in 2012. Federal or state inspection stamp was the attribute that most influenced the consumers' purchase decision (14.1%). Most of the interviewees (57.3%) had never heard about bovine traceability. Among those who had heard about bovine traceability, 63.2% would be willing to pay more for beef with certified origin. Consumers with higher education and income had a better knowledge about this type of certification, as well as older consumers, and therefore they would be willing to pay more for certified beef. This research suggests that educational level was the reason that most influenced Brazilian consumers during beef purchase.

Fatores associados à percepção e atitude de consumidores de carne bovina com certificação de origem / Factors associated with perceptions and attitude of consumers of meat with certification of origin

O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar quais fatores socioeconômicos estão relacionados com a decisão de compra de carne comcertificação de origem, além de levantar o perfil de percepção e atitude dos consumidores de carne bovina em São Luís/MA.Foi realizada a descrição das variáveis e construído um modelo múltiplo Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) de regressãologística visando a identificar possíveis associações entre as características socioeconômicas dos consumidores e os principaisatributos da carne que influenciam a decisão para sua compra levantada por meio das entrevistas entre 400 entrevistados no mêsde março de 2012. O selo de qualidade na aquisição da carne foi o atributo que mais influenciou (32,5%) a decisão de comprados consumidores. A maioria dos entrevistados (68,7%) nunca ouviu falar sobre rastreabilidade bovina. Dentre os que já ouviramfalar, a maior parte (71,2%) está disposta a pagar mais pela carne com certificação de origem, apesar de considerar que hádesvantagens associadas à rastreabilidade, principalmente em relação ao aumento no preço da carne. Consumidores com maiorgrau de escolaridade apresentam 2,62 mais chances de já terem ouvido falar em carne rastreada e 1,90 mais chances de considerarque o principal benefício da carne rastreada é oferecer mais segurança alimentar; enquanto os com maior renda apresentam3,23 mais chances de aceitar pagar mais pela certificação da carne. Ou seja, pessoas com maior escolaridade apresentarammelhor conhecimento sobre esse tipo de certificação, enquanto aqueles com maior renda mostraram maior aceitação em pagarmais caro pela carne bovina rastreada.

The aim of this study was to verify which socioeconomic factors are related to the decision to purchase meat with certification oforigin, as well as raising the profile of perception and attitude of consumers of meat in São Luís/MA. The description of the variableswere performed and constructed a multiple model Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) of logistic regression model using thestatistical package SPSS 18.0, to identify possible associations between socio-demographic characteristics of the consumers andthe main attributes of the meat that influence the decision for its purchase raised through interviews among 400 respondents inMarch 2012. The seal of quality for acquisition of the meat was the attribute that most influences (32,5%) the purchasing decisionsof consumers. Most respondents (68,7%) never heard about bovine traceability. Amongst these who had heard about traceability,most (71,2%) would be willing to pay more for meat with certification of origin, although considering that there are disadvantagesassociated with traceability, especially in relation to the increase in the price of meat. Consumers with greater levels of schoolingpresent 2,62 more chances of having already heard of traced meat and 1,90 more chances of considering that the main benefitof traced meat is to offer more food security, while the ones with bigger income present 3,23 more chances of accepting to paymore for the certification of the meat. This means that people with greater schooling present better knowledge about this type ofcertification, while those with bigger income show bigger acceptance to spend more money on traced meat.