Consumer Satisfaction Research

New Zealand Pork undertook substantial market research in the early 1990’s in an attempt to understand how the consumer perceived the product. This research under-pinned much of their marketing strategy in the decade and did lead to an increase of consumption per capita over time.

Table 2: Consumption of meat in New Zealand (kg per capita)

Source: Statistics New Zealand
(in: New Zealand Meat and Wool Board's Economic Service Annual Review of the Sheep and Beef Industry, 1999-2000)

At first sight one might argue that poultry and pigmeats are bucking a trend for reduced meat consumption. What is not shown in this graph however is the percentage of consumed pigmeat sourced from overseas countries. The consumption of fresh New Zealand pork has actually declined.

Throughout the early ’90’s New Zealand Pork commissioned extensive market research into both “Traditional Pork” and “Trim Pork” and developed strategies to improve the utility of the product by conducting cooking demonstrations and producing promotional recipes.

The attributes that scored highest in the September 1990 report were:

§         quick and easy

§         different

§         price/specials

§         shopping to a list (purchase decision almost finalised)

§         what the children/family would like best

§         appearance of the product

§         packed on date

§         what is healthy

§         two meals from one

The “quick and easy” and “different” imply that the person purchasing also does the cooking. Her first interest is in the process of cooking and NZP has invested considerable effort in getting information to her on how this might be achieved.

The “different” and “what the children / family would like best” implies that her cooking efforts (and the product attribute) will be judged by the family. Two factors conspire against an agreeable outcome in this area – the tendency of some pork to undergo significant cooking loss (PSE) and the perception that pork must be well done.

The “packed on date” reflects food safety concerns and the “what is healthy” element nutritional health concerns.

There will also be a range of unspoken needs that are always difficult to elicit using standard market research techniques. The ability to act on these unspoken needs usually rests with the more affluent segment of the population where price plays a relatively less important role. Examples are:

§         product consistency

§         food safety perceptions regarding the product (e.g. Listeriosis, Trichinosis and Toxoplasmosis).

§         animal welfare.

§         chemical and anti-biotic use.

§         traceability (a response to the above concerns)

The key question is what is the role of the industry set of quality systems in meeting both the spoken and unspoken needs the purchaser has with respect to pork?

Table 3: Consumer needs and Quality Response

The one theme that kept coming through in all this research was never going to be solved by marketing, and that was “Pork is often dry and tough”.

It is a fact that part of the problem is that consumers often over-cook pork in the belief that it needs it or food safety reasons. This was true at the end of the 19^th century when the parasite Trichinella spiralis was common in North America and Europe, but it was never a significant hazard in New Zealand. Unfortunately the immigrants bought their perceptions with them and handed them on to the ensuing generations.

As cooking couldn’t explain the total problem there was a need to look at the product and, assuming the consumers were right, find out what was causing this toughness.