Assessment of consumers' perception and cognition toward table grape consumption in China
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to understand consumers' perception and cognition toward table grapes, which focuses on the most important attributes, consumption consequences and personal values of grape consumption and the relations among them.
Design/methodology/approach
The study related grape consumption with consumers based on Means-end chain analysis. The data were gathered with both laddering interviews (n=37) and questionnaire survey returned by 843 individuals in 31 provinces of China. The data were firstly processed by SPSS software and descriptive statistics was adopted to evaluate consumers' awareness. Furthermore, MECanalyst software was opted for, to construct the hierarchical relations of table grape consumption.
Findings
The findings are that consumers consume grapes based on their functional cognition and sensory perception. The quality-orientated characters are deemed to be the most important grape attributes, healthy and practical function are the main expected benefits and desired values in table grape consumption.
Practical implications
The findings can provide some implications to producers, administers and operators in the grape industry and inspire them to design products that will better satisfy consumers. Stakeholders in grape industries should take measures to inform consumers of grape benefits so as to increase grape consumption and expand the market.
Originality/value
The paper fulfils the combinations of laddering interview and structured questionnaire to conduct the large-scale samples survey about consumers' perception based on MEC analysis. Findings from this study reinforce the importance of research into the relationship between products and consumers.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by China Agricultural Research System (CARS-30).
Citation
Jianying, F., Xia, W., Zetian, F. and Weisong, M. (2014), "Assessment of consumers' perception and cognition toward table grape consumption in China", British Food Journal, Vol. 116 No. 4, pp. 611-628. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-04-2012-0101
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited