What Kind of Meat-Eater Are You?
At the Reciprocal Meats Conference hosted by the American Meat Science Association this summer, I listened to a great talk about consumer approaches to meat purchasing. The presenter, Dr. Bridget Wasser, was from a market research firm called Midan Marketing. Using surveys from people who purchase meat, they had categorized people into five meat-buying approaches.
- Protein Progressives love all proteins and especially meat. They are eager to try new things including plant-based proteins and they are interested in food trends.
- Family-First Food Lovers value mealtime as a means to connect with their family. They enjoy meat and poultry and love to cook and explore new recipes.
- Aging Traditionalists place meat at the center of their plate and aren’t interested in changing that. They are not likely to try the latest trend.
- Convenience Chasers are price-conscious and driven by saving time in their busy lives. They seek out easy meal solutions that are also easy on their budget.
- Wellness Divas are interested in maximizing their own health and sense of wellness. They seek out meat and other proteins that they believe will help them do that and are interested in reducing their meat intake.
As you can imagine, the presentation went much deeper into the minds of each of these consumer profiles, with insights of how best to reach them and persuade them to purchase meat. But what are we, producers of pork, to take away when thinking about consumers in these categories?
First, despite what might be trendy to talk about, most consumers are interested in purchasing meat. While they have different motivations for what they select in the store, meat is on their shopping list. Even though I am a meat scientist, I can feel pessimistic about the outlook for meat and animal proteins when I focus too much on the latest hype. At the end of the day, though, most people do include meat in their diet and many, like the aging traditionalist and the family-first food lovers, center their meals around it.
Second, speaking to ‘the consumer’ takes more than one message. What is motivating to one group of consumers may not resonate with another. While the convenience chaser might be attracted to a meal they can have on the table in less than 20 minutes, for the wellness divas among us, that doesn’t hold the same appeal. While the family-first food lover is intrigued by a recipe that puts pork in a new light, the aging traditionalist would rather you left their pork roast with mashed potatoes alone, thank you very much!
The question of ‘how can we get consumers to purchase more pork?’ has to start with an understanding of what attracts them to meat in the first place. Applying validated consumer survey methods to identify nuanced purchaser profiles has clear advantages and stands to benefit our efforts. As the list of consumer profiles continues to diversity, you might consider asking yourself, what type of meat-eater am I?
More from Anna Dilger:
Want Better Pork? Use a Meat Thermometer
Meat Matters: Is Bigger Better?
