Effect of familiarity of ready-to-eat animal-based meals on consumers' perception and consumption motivation

Because consumers are the last key step in the food-production chain, an identification of conditions affecting their behavior patterns is useful. That understanding would enable sectors of the food industry to more closely meet consumers' expectations, demands, and needs. The objective of this study was to determine the perception and motivations for the consumption of ready-to-eat animal-based meals by Spanish and Argentine consumers. An on-line survey was implemented comprising a word-association test involving 5 images of ready-to-eat animal-based meals (chicken with tomato, meatballs, pil-pil cod, barbecued pork ribs, and veal ossobuco), thereafter working with a sample of 452 respondants-those being 13 % Spanish and 87 % Argentine consumers. A correspondence analysis was applied to visualize the relationship among the associations of each consumer group. The total number of validated words obtained was 6408 plus 956 for the associations of animal-based products with the motivations underlying their consumption. In general, both consumer groups had positive associations for meatballs, pork ribs, and ossobuco; whereas the pil-pil cod, and chicken failed to elicit the same expected associations. Convenience, liking, and health and price considerations were the most relevant aspects determining the consumption of ready-to-eat animal-based meals for both types of consumers.