The development of an analytical tool for integrating 'the voice of the consumer' in new product development

The development of new products and how the process is organised and managed within the firm is a key area in management research due to the high failure rate of new products and the consequent waste of limited resources. Developing new products and being innovative requires companies to have deep understanding of the consumer, the market and the environment but most importantly to effectively apply this knowledge in the development of new products that meet consumer's expectations. This paper aims at developing an innovative framework to incorporate the 'voice of consumer' at early stages of the new product development (NPD) process. To that end, the paper will consider the practical implementation of the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) in the development of new food products. QFD is considered as the most complete and comprehensive methodology for planning the goals of a stream of processes in order to align them with customer's requirements. QFD forces the design team to place customer needs in first place and ensures that this customer focus is kept through the NPD process. In doing so, QFD reduces two types of risks: first, the non- correspondence between product specifications and the wants of a predetermined target consumer group; and second, the risk that final products do not comply with product specifications. To date, QFD has been partially applied in the food area with only a handful of studies venturing in this research area.quality function deployment, new product development, voice of consumer., Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis,

Sensory Experiences and Expectations of Organic Food. Results of Focus Group Discussions

This executive summary describes the main objectives and findings from a qualitative survey on consumers’ sensory experiences, expectations and preferences with respect to organic food. The survey was conducted in the frame of the European Commission funded project ECROPOLIS in 2009 in Germany (DE), France (FR), Italy (IT), Netherlands (NL), Poland (PL) and Switzerland (CH). The objectives of this research were to explore: - the range of experiences, expectations and preferences for specific sensory properties of organic food. - words that are used by consumers to differentiate the taste of organic products amongst themselves and compared to conventional ones. - symbolic’ meanings and images which participants relate to sensory characteristics of organic food. - consumers’ sensory expectations and preferences related to the variability and standardisation of organic food. - consumers’ experiences to marketing of sensory characteristics of organic food. - possible differences in consumers’ sensory expectations and preferences between the participating countries

Developing supply chain innovations - requirements for research and challenges for the food industry

The European food system serves 480 million people each day with food and drink (Raspor, McKenna & de Vries, 2007). It is of intense current research interest to understand how food purchase choice will impact on resource use, climate change and public health (Deloitte, 2007). It is clear that the current food needs of consumers in developed nations are becoming more complex with consideration of environmental impact, social responsibility, functional foods, nutraceuticals, obesity and food miles, amongst many issues, driving the emergence of new products (UK Cabinet Office Strategy Unit, 2008). The research reported here shows how aspects of food manufacture can enhance the quality control, decrease environmental impact and improve traceability of products in food supply chains. We specifically use examples of accounting for carbon dioxide emissions, water use and food production / transport approaches in supply chains to show how manufacturers can improve their operational awareness of such factors and stimulate innovative solutions. The research presented also considers the impact of developing comprehensive sensory and consumer research when new manufacturing practices are utilised

Eye-tracking tests in consumer perception of food

Summary Eye-tracking analyses provide an opportunity to record the eye movements of the participants, and then to evaluate the data obtained. The application of eye-tracking cameras is not yet typical in the food industry in Hungary, as opposed to the practice in Western Europe, where this technology is an important and commonly used tool of product development and marketing support. To the best of our knowledge, no eyetracking analyses related to beets have been published so far in the domestic and international literature. During the research, eye-tracking analyses were carried out in the Sensory Analysis Laboratory of the Faculty of Food Science of Szent István University, using a Tobii X2- 60 eye-tracker and the Tobii Studio (version 3.0.5, Tobii Technology AB, Sweden) data processing software. The results draw attention to the fact that the decisions of the consumers interviewed were only slightly influenced by their knowledge of the treatment of the beets analyzed. On the other hand, extra information regarding the antioxidant content changed their decision regarding the selection. Eye-tracking analysis results showed that consumer decision can be monitored much more accurately than using traditional market research methods. The reason for this is that eye movement is very hard to control consciously, and so objective information can be obtained about consumer decision mechanisms which is practically impossible to get using subjective questionnaire methods based on self-declaration or focus group testing

Assessing the Consumer Acceptance and Market Potential of Alternative Meats

Introduction, project objectives and project background: This initiative to this project, including the original project proposal, goes back to Professor Kevin Chen (he is no longer with the Department of Rural Economy). The project was initially scheduled to begin on 2004/05/01. When I took over this project and started to work as Principal Investigator on January 1, 2005, the following objectives were to be fulfilled (taken from Professor Kevin Chen's initial proposal): 1) Documentation of consumer awareness, attitude, and choice regarding alternative meats "At what level and to what extent are consumers aware of alternative meats?" What is consumer interest level in alternative meats and their willingness to change consumption behavior (i.e. how much are they willing to pay for alternative meats)? "What kinds of alternative meats are consumers eating?" What kinds of alternative meats are consumers most likely to try in the future? "Where are consumers buying and eating alternative meats (meat specialty store, direct market, supermarket, restaurant, and others)?" What attributes do consumers find desirable in alternative meats (leanness, nutrition, adventure, taste, and others)?" What are the main barriers affecting purchase of alternative meats (price, awareness of availability, exotic nature, cooking instructions, nutrition labeling, and others)? 2) Compilation of a consumer profile related to purchase of alternative meats "How do various socioeconomic and demographic factors affect consumer awareness, attitude, and acceptance of alternative meats?" What are the distinct consumer market segments that Alberta's alternative livestock and meat producers might target? 3) Development of marketing strategies and implications for the Alberta alternative livestock industry "What are the implications of the findings in 1) and 2) for developing effective advertising and promotion strategies to support the further development of Alberta's alternative livestock industry?"What are the implications of the finding in 1) and 2) for producing alternative meat products that are consumer friendly? "What are the implications of the findings in 1) and 2) for selecting the main marketing and distribution channels for alternative meat products? 1 A decision was made together with the DLFOA to focus our research efforts on three species: bison, elk and lamb. The overall purpose of our research was to improve the understanding of consumer perceptions towards the consumption of alternative meats, notably the above three species. More specifically, the objectives were to: 1) Document the attitude and purchasing choices for three alternative meats which are strategically important to Alberta's alternative livestock industry. 2) Analyze the effects of socio-economic factors of Alberta consumers in purchasing the above alternative meats. 3) Explore possibilities for market segmentation and marketing implications, also for other alternative meats (other than bison, elk and lamb). In order to achieve these objectives, this study has taken the following steps: 1) A preliminary survey was developed and received feedback from Professor Robert Hudson, University of Alberta. 2) This preliminary survey was revised by using four focus groups with Alberta consumers. 3) Three separate web-based surveys were constructed for bison, elk and lamb. In each of these surveys, a switching model was developed that employs revealed preference data in stated preference experiments. As consumers indicate their (un)willingness to switch away from beef, towards alternative meats, we addressed many issues; among them were: How important are which information sources in the purchasing decisions of alternative meats? 2 What role does farm origin traceability play in consumers' choice? To what extent do consumers care about Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) in producing those meats?Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,