PR - CONSUMER PREFERENCES WITH REGARD TO RED MEAT: AN EYE-TRACKER CASE STUDY

Abstract:
Modern day consumers are exposed to various advertising messages by means of different media channels such as retail shops, newspapers, magazines and internet sites on a daily basis. This extent of advertising creates the need for a product to be differentiated from the products of close competitors. Eye- tracking technology can be used to investigate packaging options and rebranding options in terms of the product's logo and/or brand name. To date, only limited eye-tracking research has been done on South African consumers. The aim of this study is to investigate red meat consumer preferences amongst campus employees of the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein. In total 16 participants were used for this study. After completion of the eye-tracker tests participants also completed a post-test questionnaire. This one of its kind study used eye-tracking technology to investigate South African consumers’ preferences when purchasing red meat. From the results it is evident that most of the consumer attention is on the price label with the price of the pack, sell-by date and weight of the pack receiving the largest deal of attention. It has also been found that most participants prefer cherry red meat when looking at packs of meat.
Keywords: Red meat, Eye-tracking, Labelling, Branding, Packaging