Beef Consumer Insights

Millennials are focus of new checkoff-funded consumer research.

by Kasey Miller, Angus Productions Inc.

DENVER, Colo. (July 26, 2012) — “You might be a millennial if you sleep with your phone in or next to your bed,” noted Rick McCarty, vice president of issue analysis and strategy for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). While this does sound a bit like Jeff Foxworthy’s “You might be a redneck,” the statement can be substantiated with data.

John Lundeen (left), NCBA executive director of market research, and Rick McCarty, vice president of issues analysis and strategy, explain that consumers choose beef because of taste, safety, value and consistency. Limiters to consumption include price, nutrition, inconvenience and quality/safety concerns.

Eighty-three percent of millennials are so connected to their cell phone that they sleep with it next to them, according to a 2011 Pew Research Institute study. That’s important because millennials are the next big generation of beef consumers, and marketing to them is a whole different beast than marketing to other generations.

Millennials are taken into consideration in two core strategies of the Beef Industry Long-range Plan — improve domestic consumer preference for beef and strengthen the image of beef and the beef industry, said John Lundeen, senior executive director of market research at NCBA.

To provide a benchmark measure called for in the long-range plan, the Consumer Image Index (CII) study of 1,205 consumers was conducted online in January 2012. The intent of the checkoff-funded research was to establish a benchmark of public perceptions of beef and the beef industry.

About 75% of survey respondents said beef positives either strongly or somewhat strongly outweighed negatives, noted Lundeen. Moderate beef eaters (those who eat beef one or two times a week) represent 42% of all consumers. Moderates are a marketing target because they are the consumers most likely to add at least one more beef meal a week.

Studies showed that moderates have some cognitive dissonance when it comes to animal welfare, McCarty said, citing as an example that while 76% approve of the end beef product, only 59% approve of beef production. Part of that dissonance is their perception of beef production. When shown images of pastures, consumers indicated they didn’t believe them to be true reflections of the beef industry; whereas images of feedlots, feedbunks and a syringe they did consider reflective of the beef industry.

When asked their comfort level with specific antibiotic uses, consumers showed comfort with treating sick animals when prescribed by a veterinarian and in accordance with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations. There were many who indicated they were neutral about the entire antibiotics issue, but a surprisingly low number said that they are never comfortable with the use of antibiotics, McCarty said. The more antibiotics were explained, the more comfortable the consumers indicated they were with their use.

Many advances in science and technology received consumer approved, McCarty shared, especially if the technology improved food safety or care and comfort of animals, or optimized diet and nutrition and environmental efficiency.

Consumers said they choose beef because of its taste, safety, value and consistency, though price is starting to be an issue. Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) has improved consistency, and Lundeen said that is a story that needs to be shared.

The biggest limiters to beef consumption, said McCarty, are:

• price — at both restaurants and grocery stores;
• nutrition — believing chicken and seafood are healthier or that beef can’t be eaten every day;
• preparation — it can’t be cooked in the microwave; and
• quality and safety — citing lean, finely textured beef, cattle pumped full of hormones and antibiotics.

Many of these limitations are based on misperceptions. The solution, Lundeen said, is sharing true information. Many consumer opinions change, he said, after talking to ranchers and farmers.

To keep value from being a limiter, he said, “We need to think about portion size; it’s something that resonates with consumers.”

Specific nutrition facts do more good in messaging, said Wendy Neuman, NCBA director of market research. Just concentrating on lean messaging isn’t as effective, she adds. Consumers want to know the specific beneficial nutrients.

Safety perceptions are more positive, said McCarty, but there is still work to be done. Consumers are most concerned with E. coli, salmonella and listeria, but food safety experts at the Beef Industry Safety Summit said salmonella is most concerning because it is harder to eliminate.

More details are available online at beefresearch.org, following the Market Research tab.

To read other summaries from this conference, click here.