Meat Science 155 (2019) 91–101

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Meat Science
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/meatsci

Relations between consumer's concern with own health and their perception T
about frankfurters with functional ingredients
⁎
Yana Jorge Polizer Rocha , Regina Lucia F. de Noronha, Marco Antonio Trindade
Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Animal Science and Food Engineering, University of São Paulo, Pirassununga, Brazil

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: This study investigated possible relationships between the consumer's concern about their own health and their
Shopping list perception of frankfurter sausages incorporated with functional ingredients. A 5-step online questionnaire was
Projective techniques applied as follows: identification and recruitment; application of the completion test; the shopping list technique
Meat products (to determine the consumers' impressions about food incorporated with dietary fibre and omega-3 fatty acids);
Dietary fibre
attitudinal issues; socioeconomic matters. The addition of dietary fibre and omega-3 to the frankfurters provided
Omega-3
predominantly positive associations. Consumers perceived the neutral shopping list as having been written by
individuals who are unconcerned with healthy eating habits and/or have allegedly normal eating habits while
the healthy shopping list was perceived as having been written by an individual with healthy eating habits/
lifestyle, who is concerned about his/her weight. The predominantly positive attitude towards added dietary
fibre and omega-3 to frankfurters and the consumers' perception of these functional ingredients show that
formulating meat products with both ingredients may be successful for the consumer's market.

1. Introduction
In the current scenario of a competitive food industry, it is essential
to improve or create innovative ideas for new products (Banović,
Krystallis, Guerrero, & Reinders, 2016). The companies continually
develop new products in order to meet necessities, desires and fluctu-
ating preferences of their target audience and, also, to ensure the
growth and competitive advantage in the market (Hung & Verbeke,
2018).
Increased consumers' awareness about the progress of nutrition
science provides companies with opportunities to develop a plethora of
new functional products (Kraus, 2015). The global market for func-
tional food and beverages generated US$244 billion in sales in 2016,
54% higher compared with 2006 (Euromonitor International, 2017).
While the dairy industry controls the functional food and beverages
market, the expanding demand for such products has created new op-
portunities for the meat industry to improve the health perception of
their product formulations by adding ingredients that offer health
benefits (Grasso, Brunton, Lyng, Harrison, & Monahan, 2016; Tobin,
O'Sullivan, Hamill, & Kerry, 2014; Zhang, Xiao, Samaraweera, Lee, &
Ahn, 2010). Several ingredients considered beneficial to health, such as
omega-3, vitamin E, dietary fibre, probiotics, coenzyme Q10 and ve-
getable extracts, may be incorporated into meat products, resulting in
functional foods (Decker & Park, 2010; Grasso et al., 2016; Mehta,
Ahlawat, Sharma & Dabur, 2015; Zhang et al., 2010).
It is difficult for the food industry to foresee which products to in-
vest in, to achieve a successful commercial outcome. The consumers'
needs and opportunities for choosing to buy particular foods need to be
considered in the initial phases of the development of successful health-
promoting foods (Ares & Gámbaro, 2007; Kraus, 2015; Van Kleef, van
Trijp, Luning, & Jongen, 2002). The challenge for product developers is
to integrate technical feasibility with consumer preference research
(Kraus & Popek, 2013). Although some consumers are focused on
promoting a healthier lifestyle and, consequently, make healthier food
choices, changing the eating habits of the population, in general, is a
complex issue (Lalor, Madden, McKenzie, & Wall, 2011; Miklavec,
Pravst, Grunert, Klopčič, & Pohar, 2015). The consumers' attitudes to-
wards health is a relevant factor in the acceptance and consumption of
healthy foods (Urala & Lähteenmäki, 2004; Vidigal, Minim, Carvalho,
Milagres, & Gonçalves, 2011).
While qualitative techniques allow exploring the perception and
decisions to buy a particular product (Roininen, Arvola, & Lähteenmäki,
2006), understanding how consumers perceive food products is chal-
lenging to the investigators since consumers have difficulties in ex-
pressing themselves or ignore the implicit reasons to buy certain pro-
ducts or to choose one product over another (Donoghue, 2000). Thus,

⁎
Corresponding author at: Avenida Duque de Caxias Norte, 225, CEP: 13635-900, Pirassununga, São Paulo, Brazil.
E-mail address: yana.polizer@usp.br (Y.J. Polizer Rocha).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meatsci.2019.05.003
Received 16 November 2018; Received in revised form 11 March 2019; Accepted 1 May 2019
Available online 02 May 2019
0309-1740/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Y.J. Polizer Rocha, et al.
market researchers are increasingly using projective techniques in
qualitative consumer research (Boddy, 2005; Donoghue, 2000;
Eldesouky, Pulido, & Mesias, 2015; Steinman, 2009). These techniques
are appropriate to identify market opportunities, create ideas and hy-
potheses, explore and develop new concepts, and understand con-
sumers' perspectives before quantitative research. Projective techniques
offer an indirect way to understand consumers' attitudes since they
involve less structured tasks than quantitative approaches, allowing a
thorough investigation of consumers' behaviour (Lawless & Heymann,
2010).
The completion test approach is a kind of projective technique in
which an incomplete stimulus is presented (sentence, story, argument
or dialogue) to the respondents, who are instructed to complete it as
they wish (Donoghue, 2000; Gordon & Langmaid, 1988; Will, Eadie, &
MacAskill, 1996). This procedure may be applied in combination with
the use of images. The completion test is frequently employed, due to
the significant quantity of information that may be obtained in a short
time (Steinman, 2009). Considering the potential of online consumers'
research and the relevance of the employment of projective techniques,
the completion test is regarded as an interesting approach to be utilised
online (Viana, Silva, Deliza, & Trindade, 2016).
The shopping list technique was proposed by Haire (1950) to assess
impressions about food indirectly. In this technique, one or more pro-
ducts are added to a shopping list, and the respondents are asked to
describe their impressions about the shopper who made that list (Saher,
Arvola, Lindeman, & Lähteenmäki, 2004). Adding the product or target
attribute to the shopping list is a way to distract the participants' at-
tention from the real aim of the study (Fennis & Pruyn, 2007; Steinman,
2009). According to Haire (1950), the decision to purchase, or not, a
certain product is associated with reasons that are not verbalised, either
because they are socially unacceptable, difficult to verbalise convin-
cingly or not even recognised. Hence, the shopping list technique is a
possible strategy to evaluate such reasons for consuming certain pro-
ducts indirectly. Based on this information, the current study aimed to
evaluate possible relationships between consumers' concerns about
their own health and their perceptions about frankfurters with added
functional ingredients (dietary fibre and omega-3 fatty acids).
2. Material and methods
2.1. Questionnaire preparation
The questionnaire used to collect information in the present study
was developed in an online platform using Google Docs (www.docs.
google.com), which presented the necessary tools for the research
scope. The choice to employ the online questionnaire was based on
previous studies (Eldesouky et al., 2015; Koutsimanis, Getter, Behe,
Fig. 1. Stimuli used in the completion test to identify chararteristics/factors that encourage and restrict the purchase of traditional frankfruter.
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Meat Science 155 (2019) 91–101
Harte, & Almenar, 2012; Viana et al., 2016; Wright, 2005). Such in-
vestigations tested and verified this approach as useful, due to the in-
creasing popularity of the Internet, enabling to collect information from
consumers in different geographical locations and to reach more seg-
ments in society, and at reduced cost compared with presential surveys.
The questionnaire was tested, evaluated and corrected for any errors,
by researchers involved or not with the research, to obtain the final
format. The questionnaire was structured in five main steps, as follows:
questions for identification and recruitment, completion test applica-
tion, shopping list technique, attitudinal questions, socioeconomic
questions.
This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the College of
Animal Science and Food Engineering at the University of São Paulo
(FZEA–USP), São Paulo, Brazil, according to the opinion number
2.032.587 (CAAE: 66661516.9.0000.5380).
2.1.1. Identification and recruitment (step 1)
The first three questions presented in the questionnaire collected
information about the respondent (name [optional], e-mail [optional]
and age [mandatory]). A multiple-choice question related to the fre-
quency of frankfurter consumption then followed. Participants that
reported consuming a frankfurter sausage at least every 15 days, at
home or otherwise, were selected for recruitment. The participants that
did not have the expected frequency of consumption received a thank-
you message and did not have access to the next steps of the ques-
tionnaire.
2.1.2. Completion test (step 2)
The questionnaire presented four completion tests combined with
images, in which the same image was used for all the four dialogues. A
picture of a couple in the supermarket close to the refrigerated foods
sector was used as the stimulus. The picture presented speech bubbles,
and there were instructions beside each picture for the participant to
complete the dialogue with the first words or phrases that came to their
mind. In the questionnaire, the participants were instructed to be
comfortable to express themselves and that there was no right or wrong
answer. The picture selected for the questionnaire had good resolution,
represented ordinary consumers, and presented adult characters
wearing everyday clothes (neither worn out nor sophisticated) and had
calm facial expressions, contributing to the experience of filling in the
dialogues as a daily shopping situation, as proposed by Vidal, Ares, and
Giménez (2013). For the first and second stimuli, the dialogues were
elaborated with the objective of identifying characteristics/factors that
respectively, encourage and restrict the purchase of traditional frank-
furters (Fig. 1). The dialogues of the third (Fig. 2) and fourth (Fig. 3)
completion tests instructed the consumers to reveal their perceptions or
associations regarding the addition of dietary fibre and omega-3 to
Y.J. Polizer Rocha, et al.
Fig. 2. Stimulus used in the completion test to identify the consumer’s per-
ception regarding the addition of dietary fibre in frankfruters.
Fig. 3. Stimulus used in the completion test to identify the consumer’s per-
ception regarding the addition of omega 3 in frankfruters.
frankfurters. The sentences were projected according to the re-
commendations of Eldesouky et al. (2015), Masson, Delarue, Bouillot,
Sieffermann, and Blumenthal (2016), Viana et al. (2016) and Vidal
et al. (2013). Each picture corresponded to a session in the ques-
tionnaire, and each session was presented to the consumer individually;
namely, the consumer answered the test associated with the first pic-
ture, and this was completed before they had access to the test related
to the second picture.
2.1.3. Shopping list (step 3)
The consumers' impressions towards food with dietary fibre and
omega-3 fatty acids were determined through the shopping list tech-
nique. This approach is considered useful in improving the under-
standing of consumers' behaviour (Anderson, 1978; Lane & Watson,
1975; Steinman, 2009). Therefore, it was applied in the current study to
obtain a deeper understanding of the consumers' behaviour towards
dietary fibre and omega-3 that could somehow contribute to retrieving
additional information about understanding the consumer's perception
of sausage incorporated with these two ingredients. Two shopping lists
were designed for this present study; a list with a neutral health image
and another with a positive health image (Saher et al., 2004). The first
list, considered neutral, had conventional products, including the target
product in the study (traditional frankfurter). The second list, which
was considered relatively healthier, had the same products as on the
neutral list but, whenever possible, these products were presented with
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Meat Science 155 (2019) 91–101
Table 1
Different lists presented to consumers during the shopping list test.
Neutral list Healthy list
Sliced bread (loaf) Whole-grain sliced bread (loaf)
Rice Whole-grain rice
Noodle Whole-grain noodle
Tomato sauce Tomato sauce
Soda Orange juice
Egg Egg with added omega-3
Ham Cereal bar
Prato cheese (typical aged cheese from Turkey breast
Brazil)
Frankfurter (hotdog) Minas Frescal cheese (typical fresh
cheese from Brazil)
Minced meat Minced meat
Yoghurt Yoghurt with added dietary fibre
Whole milk Skimmed milk
Banana Banana
Apple Apple
healthier versions. Dietary fibre and omega-3 fatty acids were added to
the list, along with yoghurt and egg since, in Brazil, yoghurt containing
dietary fibre, and egg with added omega-3 fatty acids, are largely
commercialised, and frankfurters with these added ingredients are not
available for commercialisation. Products that are consumed by a great
part of the Brazilian population were selected for the elaboration of the
lists. The shopping lists are presented in Table 1. The participants were
requested to evaluate both lists and report, according to their opinion, a
brief description about the personality of both shopping list's pur-
chasers (Saher et al., 2004; Vidal et al., 2013). A gap was provided for
each participant to write as many words or phrases they wanted. The
participants only had access to both shopping lists at the end of the
completion tests.
2.1.4. Attitudinal questionnaire (step 4)
After completing the previous task (step 3), the participants were
directed to a new session in the questionnaire (step 4), in which the
consumer was requested to check how much they agreed to a series of
statements comprising an attitudinal questionnaire. The statements
were extracted from the Health Consciousness Scale (HCS) ques-
tionnaire developed by Ophuis (1989). This questionnaire was designed
to assess how people are prepared and willing to do something for their
health. The questionnaire comprises 11 statements, of which, seven are
related to being concerned about health, and four with no concern
about health (Table 3). The questionnaire was translated and validated
into Portuguese by Dantas, Minim, and Deliza (2003), enabling its ap-
plication to Brazilian consumers. A nine-point scale was used, varying
between (1) “strongly disagree” to (9) “strongly agree”.
2.1.5. Socioeconomic questions (step 5)
The last part of the questionnaire collected data that allowed clas-
sifying the respondent according to the Brazilian Criteria of Economic
Classification (Associação Brasileira de Empresas de Pesquisa, 2016).
2.2. Questionnaire promotion
The questionnaire was promoted through e-mail lists of universities,
research groups, social networks and a personal database. A non-
probability sample was considered as the most appropriate for this
study since, as a rule of thumb in qualitative research, this study did not
intend to represent all Brazil's population but rather obtain inferences
and understand the consumer's behaviour towards frankfurters with
added functional ingredients (dietary fibre and omega-3). The non-
probability sample method is commonly used in studies with qualitative
techniques that intend only to obtain an understanding of a specific
topic (Eldesouky et al., 2015; Kinnear & Taylor, 1996).
Y.J. Polizer Rocha, et al. Meat Science 155 (2019) 91–101

2.3. Statistical analyses Table 2

Socioeconomic characteristics of consumers.
2.3.1. Attitudinal questionnaire Characteristic Total (n) %
A cluster or grouping analysis was conducted to identify groups of
consumers with different behaviours. An agglomerative hierarchical Gender
Female 206 67.1
cluster analysis was undertaken, based on the results of the attitudinal
Male 101 32.9
questionnaire, using Ward's method was considered with application of Age group (years)
Euclidean distance. The attitudinal questionnaire results were sub- 18–25 124 40.4
mitted to an analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey's test, to compare 26–35 118 38.4
the averages at a significance level of 5% and thereby identify the 36–45 35 11.4
46–55 21 6.9
sentences with significant differences among the clusters. The clusters
≥56 9 2.9
were also evaluated regarding the socio-economical characteristics of School level
the consumers. Other possible differences among the groups were as- Secondary incomplete 6 1.9
sessed through the chi-square (χ2) test. Secondary 8 2.6
Undergraduate 99 32.3
Graduate 52 16.9
2.3.2. Completion test and shopping list Post-graduate 142 46.3
The data analysis was developed the same way for both methods. All Economic class
the associations (sentences and/or words) provided by the participants A 60 19.5
were considered, and the analysis started with the search for recurring B1–B2 172 56.1
C1–C2 73 23.8
terms for each stimulus. Subsequently, a categorisation was done,
D–E 2 0.6
whereby terms with similar meanings were grouped in the same cate-
gory, by three independent researchers, who considered their personal
interpretation of the meanings and synonyms of the words. After in- 111 consumers (36.16%). Significant differences were found by eval-
dividual evaluation of the data, the three researchers met to discuss the uating the clusters regarding all the sentences in the questionnaire
classifications independently made, in which the final categories and (Table 3).
their names were determined by consensus. This triangulation method The lowest average scores (p < 0.05) for the sentences 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
has been reported in earlier studies involving qualitative techniques 6 and 11 were attributed to the consumers of cluster 3, which indicates
(Guerrero et al., 2009; Modell, 2005; Viana, dos Santos Silva, & that these consumers are less prepared and willing to do something for
Trindade, 2014). The categories that were considered for the posterior their health. In other words, they are less concerned about health since
analysis presented terms mentioned by > 5% of the participants these statements are related to health awareness. Besides, these re-
(Piqueras-Fiszman, Velasco, Salgado-Montejo, & Spence, 2013; spondents showed a higher degree in agreement (p < 0.05) for state-
Roininen et al., 2006; Vidal et al., 2013). ments 7, 8, 9 and 10, which refer to the lack of awareness and health
The χ2 test was then commenced to evaluate the following: statistic concern. Conversely, the participants in cluster 1 showed higher
differences among clusters and reasons pointed out by consumers that awareness and concern about health since this cluster provided higher
encourage/restrict the purchase of traditional frankfurter; statistic dif- scores (p < 0.05) for the sentences 2, 3, 4, 6 and 11 and the lowest
ferences in the consumer's perception of two types of frankfurters scores (p < 0.05) for the statements 7, 8, 9 and 10.
(source of dietary fibre and with added omega-3); statistic differences Cluster 2 presented an intermediate degree of agreement
between clusters associations for frankfurters as a source of dietary (p < 0.05) for most statements compared with the other clusters, il-
fibre and with added omega-3; the existence of statistic differences in lustrating that this group has a certain concern about health. However,
the consumer's perception between the two different shopping lists and its members are not highly compromised and willing to accomplish
between the lists and the identified clusters. When the value for the healthier actions. Therefore, cluster 1 may be considered a group
global χ2 test was significant, the χ2 by cell test was used to determine comprised of consumers with high awareness regarding health, cluster
the variation source of the global χ2 test (Symoneaux, Galmarini, & 2 as the consumers with an intermediate awareness regarding health,
Mehinagic, 2012). The software XLSTAT (AddinSoft, USA, 2017) was and cluster 3 by consumers with a comparatively lower awareness re-
used for all the statistical analyses. garding health.
Regarding the socioeconomic characteristics of the consumers
3. Results and discussion grouped in the different clusters, the χ2 test confirmed the existence of
significant difference (at the 5% level) only for the age range (Table 4).
3.1. Participants The consumers in cluster 1, previously classified as those individuals
with high awareness regarding health, were mainly aged 26–35 years
A total of 976 people answered step 1 of the online questionnaire while those aged 18–25 years were predominantly in cluster 2 (con-
(recruitment), but only 307 people suited the criteria for the proposed sumers with intermediate awareness regarding health) and cluster 3
recruitment (consume frankfurters at least every 15 days at home or (consumers with low awareness regarding health).
otherwise) and completed all the steps of the questionnaire. The so- Da Silva et al. (2014) reported that concerns about consumers'
cioeconomic characteristics of these consumers are shown in Table 2. health are related to age and gender. The younger consumers tend to
experience less guilt and to attribute less importance to food healthiness
3.2. Attitudinal questionnaire and healthier habits (Roininen, Lähteenmäki, & Tuorila, 1999; Steptoe,
Pollard, & Wardle, 1995; Wardle et al., 1992). When analysing the
The agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis done on the attitu- profile of consumers interested in nutritional and health claims,
dinal questionnaire responses (Table 3) separated three groups (clus- Cavaliere, Ricci, and Banterle (2015) confirmed that the interest in
ters) of consumers. Each group identified shows consumers with similar health care is lower among younger consumers, which corroborates the
levels of agreement for each sentence of the attitudinal questionnaire. result obtained in the current study.
Fig. 4 provides the dendrogram obtained from the consumers' ag-
glomeration.
Cluster 1 comprised 61 consumers (19.87% of 307 consumers);
cluster 2 comprised 135 consumers (43.97%) and cluster 3 comprised

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Y.J. Polizer Rocha, et al. Meat Science 155 (2019) 91–101

Table 3
Statements in the scale of awareness regarding health and the average score for each one of the three identified clusters.
Statement Average score

Cluster 1 (n = 61) Cluster 2 (n = 135) Cluster 3 (n = 111)

b a
1. I have the impression that I sacrifice a lot for my health 5.2 3.7 3.3a
2. I consider myself very health conscious 7.9c 6.6b 4.8a
3. I am prepared to leave a lot, to eat as healthy as possible 7.5c 5.9b 3.1a
4. I think that I take health into account a lot in my life 7.8c 6.4b 3.9a
5. I think it is important to know well how to eat healthily 8.5b 8.1b 7.1a
6. My health is so valuable to me that I am prepared to sacrifice many things for it 7.2c 5.5b 4.1a
7. I have the impression that other people pay more attention to their health than I do 3.6a 5.9b 7.0c
8. I do not continually ask myself whether something is good for me 2.5a 4.6b 6.1c
9. I don't really often think about whether everything I do is healthy 2.5a 4.5b 6.6c
10. I don't want to ask myself all the time, whether the things I eat are good for me 3.1a 5.62b 6.9c
11. I often dwell on my health 7.7c 5.7b 4.2a

The different overwritten values within a line indicate that the average score is significantly different at the 5% level of significance, according to Tukey's test.

3.3. Completion test
No significant differences were found among the different groups
(clusters) of consumers regarding the attitudinal questionnaire for the
reasons indicated by the consumers as encouraging (χ2 = 7.52,
p = 0.162) and restricting (χ2 = 14.36, p = 0.278) the purchase of
frankfurter (Tables 5 and 6). It suggests that the identified clusters
perceive this product similarly, irrespective of the level of the con-
sumers' awareness of their own health.
The categories identified in the completion test about the con-
sumer's perception towards the addition of dietary fibre and omega-3 to
frankfurters provided predominantly positive associations. The fre-
quency of mentions of the identified categories for both types of
frankfurters presented a significant difference (χ2 = 76.47,
p < 0.0001) (Table 7). The χ2 by cell test allowed the identification of
categories that were significantly more or less mentioned for each type
of frankfurter.
For both frankfurters (source of dietary fibre and with added omega-
3), the three categories with the most cited positive associations were
“curiosity to taste”, “functionality” and “benefits for the body”.
However, there were different percentages of mentions for the im-
portance of the order of these categories for each type of frankfurter.
The category “curiosity to taste” was mentioned more times for the
frankfurter as a source of dietary fibre, whereas, for the frankfurter
incorporated with omega-3, the most frequency of mentions was in the
category “benefits for the body”. According to Lyly, Roininen,
Honkapää, Poutanen, and Lähteenmäki (2007) and Sabbe, Verbeke,
Deliza, Matta, and Van Damme (2009), the willingness/curiosity to
consume a product with the addition of healthy ingredients is mainly
promoted by hedonic reasons, instead of health benefits perceived or
expected. Such factors may justify the higher percentages of positive
associations for the frankfurter as a source of dietary fibre (75.6%); in
other words, why more consumers were willing to taste it compared
with the frankfurter with added omega-3 (72.6%). Moreover, in con-
trast to the frankfurter with added omega-3, the negative associations
with the frankfurter incorporated with dietary fibre were not related to
flavour issues. In this respect, the image of healthiness of the ingredient
is a requisite, but it is not considered enough for the product to be
successful in the market since the higher the expectation level regarding
the sensory characteristic of a food product, the greater the opportu-
nities to select and consume it (Deliza, MacFie, & Hedderley, 1999; Siró,
Kápolna, Kápolna, & Lugasi, 2008; Vidigal et al., 2011).
“Limited sources” was a category related only to frankfurter in-
corporated with omega-3, meaning the consumer recognises the bene-
fits for the organism provided by this ingredient but highlight the lack
of availability of this ingredient in the market. Given this information, it

Fig. 4. Dendrogram obtained from the agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis.

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Y.J. Polizer Rocha, et al. Meat Science 155 (2019) 91–101

Table 4 fibre than that with added omega-3. Negative associations, suspicion
Socioeconomic characteristics related to the groups based on attitudes. perceptions, risks, doubts and scepticism have already been determined
Characteristic p-value Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 as relevant factors that may influence the interest of consumers in
(n = 61) (%) (n = 135) (%) (n = 111) (%) functional foods (Bäckström, Pirttilä-Backman, & Tuorila, 2003;
Frewer, Scholderer, & Lambert, 2003; Verbeke, Scholderer, &
Gender 0.389
Lähteenmäki, 2009). By exploring the consumers' behaviour towards
Female 72.13 68.15 63.07
Male 27.87 31.85 36.93
meat products with added functional ingredients, Shan et al.,
Age group (years) 0.023⁎ 2017mentioned that the majority of the consumers were uncertain and
18–25 29.51 39.26 47.75 negative about the addition of any functional ingredient in processed
26–35 40.98 37.04 38.74 meat. In that study, the consumers were not convinced about the
36–45 18.03 10.37 9.01
benefits of functional meat products and emphasised that the addition
46–55 9.84 8.15 3.60
≥56 1.64 5.18 0.90 of healthy ingredients does not mean that the ingredients that are
School level 0.485 considered negative to health were replaced (e.g., salt, fat and chemical
Secondary 1.64 1.48 2.70 preservatives). These results were contrary to the ones found in the
incomplete
present work since the negative and neutral attitudes were substantially
Secondary 3.28 2.96 1.80
Undergraduate 26.23 29.63 38.74
lower than the positive attitudes towards the use of both functional
Graduate 16.40 15.56 18.92 ingredients in frankfurters.
Post-graduate 52.45 50.37 37.84 When evaluating the attitude of 548 Europeans towards meat pro-
Economic class 0.534 ducts and their consumption as a functional resource, Tobin et al.
A 21.31 22.96 14.41
(2014) demonstrated that the consumers were insecure about func-
B1–B2 55.74 54.81 57.66
C1–C2 21.31 21.48 27.93 tional meat products, due to a lack of familiarity with functional meat
D–E 1.64 0.75 0.00 products, whereas, consumers were more positive and showed more
confidence in the use of functional ingredients in yoghurts. According
⁎
No significant difference at the level of 5%. to Shan et al. (2016), familiarity is not the only issue that causes
scepticism in consumers around the use of healthier ingredients in meat
Table 5 products. Other explanations for this behaviour may be connected to
Number of mentions identified in the completion test for the stimulus “char- the purpose of eating meat products, the lack of confidence in their
acteristics/factors that encourage the purchase of traditional frankfurter” by
processing and the perception of non-healthiness attributed to these
clusters.
products.
Category Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 There is a lack of consensus in the literature about which products
the consumers consider more adequate to the addition of healthy in-
Good flavour 27 69 66
Convenience 15 43 28 gredients because of the consumers' different attitudes (positive or ne-
Affordable price 1 16 13 gative), depending on the type of product that contains the innovation
Consumption mode 4 12 8 (functionality or attribute of healthiness) (Annunziata & Vecchio, 2013;
χ2 7.52 Krutulyte et al., 2011; Van der Zanden, van Kleef, de Wijk, & van Trijp,
p-value 0.162⁎
2014). Some research indicates that consumers have predominantly
⁎
No significant difference at the 5% level. negative perceptions about the addition of healthy ingredients in food
products generally considered “unhealthy”, implying that foods con-
Table 6 sidered as already portraying a healthy image are perceived as more
Number of mentions identified in the completion test for the stimulus “char- adequate for the inclusion of functional ingredients (Ares & Gámbaro,
acteristics/factors that restrict the purchase of traditional frankfurter” by 2007; Shan et al., 2017; Van Kleef, van Trijp, & Luning, 2005). In
clusters. contrast, in other research, the consumers tend to consider it more
justifiable to attribute healthiness to a product that is considered “less
Category Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3
healthy” because the consumers consider it incoherent to make pro-
Harmful to health 10 22 17 ducts considered healthy even healthier (Lampila, van Lieshout,
Unhealthy 11 19 18 Gremmen, & Lähteenmäki, 2009; Peng, West, & Wang, 2006; Siró et al.,
Rich in sodium and fat 15 22 8
2008; Verbeke et al., 2009).
Artificial 3 17 19
Controlled frequency of consumption 7 16 13 Therefore, the image of the healthiness of the base product may
Carcinogenic 5 5 6 influence the consumer's attitude towards the addition of functional
Caloric 3 7 6 ingredients (Lampila et al., 2009; Van der Zanden et al., 2014). Some
χ2 14.36 previous investigations described processed meat as a category of food
p-value 0.278⁎
with both images, in which the healthiness image is related to nutri-
⁎
No significant difference at the 5% level. tional benefits if it is a source of protein, iron, zinc and vitamin B
(Decker & Park, 2010; Jiménez-Colmenero, Carballo, & Cofrades, 2001;
is possible to consider that this perception may have contributed to the Van Wezemael, Verbeke, de Barcellos, Scholderer, & Perez-Cueto,
lower “curiosity to taste”, the highest percentage of neutral association 2010). According to Shan et al. (2016), consumers consider processed
and, possibly, the “flavour issues” associated with this kind of frank- meat as an unhealthy choice even though they still consume these
furter. products and, therefore, any reformulation (including the addition of
The main negative perception mentioned by consumers that justi- functional ingredients) that makes this product a little healthier, is
fied the unwillingness to taste frankfurters with healthiness attributes desirable. Likewise, in the present paper, as mentioned above, frequent
was the scepticism towards a functional ingredient in the frankfurter consumers of traditional frankfurters consider frankfurters as an un-
(“scepticism/doubt”). The inadequate connection between a product healthy choice and harmful to the health and the characteristics/factors
and a healthy ingredient (“does not suit”) and the preference for other that encourage the purchase were not associated with any nutritional
categories of products as healthier options (“another option”) were benefit.
associated more frequently with the frankfurter as a source of dietary It has been suggested that claims for a healthy appeal are mostly
positively perceived by consumers of meat products but the type of

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Table 7
Results of the completion test on the perception of the selected attributes (addition of dietary fibre and omega-3) with examples of terms and frequency.
Type of association/category Example Frankfurter as a source of Frankfurter with added
dietary fibre (%) omega-3 (%)

Positive 75.6 72.6

Benefits for the body Fibres/omega-3 are good for health, benefit the body 9.45(−)* 25.08(+)*
Curiosity to taste I am going to taste because I am curious to know if the flavour is the same and 17.26(+)* 10.09(−)*
check that it did not influence the sensory characteristics
Functionality Because it is a functional food 13.03 11.07
Tasty/healthy Tasty product and at the same time healthy, tasty option and healthy 9.77 7.81
Healthy Because it has a healthy appeal, healthy option 6.51 7.81
Healthy preference I like healthier products, I like functional products 5.53 2.60
Limited sources There are a few sources of omega-3, the sources of omega-3 are limited, and 0.00(−)* 5.86(+)*
frankfurters would be an option
Neutral 5.51 6.88
Indifference There is no difference, maybe, I do not know 5.51 6.88
Negative 18.89 20.52
Scepticism/Doubt I think there is no dietary fibre/omega-3 in this product, false advertising, I do 6.84 6.18
not believe in this information
Does not suit I do not want fibre/omega-3 in frankfurters, it does not suit to have fibre/ 6.51(+)* 3.58(−)*
omega-3 in frankfurters
Flavour issues It must have a fish flavour, the flavour/taste must be bad 0.00(−)* 6.51(+)*
Another option I prefer other products with healthy appeal, I prefer another healthy option 6.18(+)* 2.60(−)*

*Indicates p < 0.05 in the χ2 by cell test. (+) or (−) indicate that the value observed is higher or lower than the theoretical value expected.

reformulation (addition or reduction of components) and, in the case of
addition of healthy ingredients, the choice of component influences
consumers' perception and evaluation (Haugaard, Hansen, Jensen, &
Grunert, 2014; Hung, de Kok, & Verbeke, 2016; Tobin et al., 2014).
When it comes to reformulation strategies, consumers mostly consider
the quantity of salt and fat present in these products as the main issue
contributing to the high level of uncertainty concerning the addition of
healthy ingredients to processed meat (Guàrdia, Guerrero, Gelabert,
Gou, & Arnau, 2006; Haugaard et al., 2014; Hung et al., 2016). In the
current work, even consumers considering salt and fat as main factors
that restrict the purchase of frankfurter, the perception of consumers
around the addition of fibre and omega-3 to frankfurters was pre-
dominantly positive, signifying a potential market for the addition of
these two ingredients in the formulation of meat products.
Significant differences pertaining to the addition of dietary fibre
(χ2 = 60.20, p < 0.0001) and omega-3 (χ2 = 30.17, p = .031) to
frankfurters were obtained among the group associations (clusters) of
consumers (Table 8).
Among the clusters, the category “functionality” was mentioned
with higher frequency for both types of frankfurter by the participants
belonging to cluster 1, that is, those with high levels of awareness re-
garding health. In comparison, for the frankfurter as a source of dietary
fibre, the categories “benefits for the body” and “healthy” were men-
tioned with less frequency by the consumers of cluster 3 (lower
awareness regarding health) but these consumers had a higher per-
ception of the connection of the product with the category “tasty/
healthy”. Among the three clusters, the participants of cluster 1 at-
tributed less importance to the possible “flavour issues” concerning the
frankfurter with added omega-3.
Consumers' concern about health is evidently one of the most im-
portant predictors of healthiness perception of foods, and the im-
portance consumers assign to the health of a product is key to pre-
dicting their attitudes towards functional foods (Tudoran, Olsen, &
Dopico, 2009; Urala, 2005; Urala & Lähteenmäki, 2007; Verbeke, 2005;
Verbeke et al., 2009). An important reason for the consumption of
functional food is the maintenance of good health status. Additional
factors that contribute to consumers' positive perception are the trust in
the information and knowledge of the health effects of a specific pro-
duct. These considerations may justify the lower positive perception of
“benefits the body”, “functionality” and “healthy” by consumers clas-
sified as having a lower awareness about health (cluster 3).
The awareness of health evaluates the degree of readiness to take
health actions (Ophuis, 1989; Schifferstein & Ophuis, 1998). The con-
sumers with higher awareness of their own health are concerned about
their wellness and are always motivated to improve and/or maintain
their good health and quality of life, as well as prevent diseases. The
impacts of health motivation are particularly relevant for products with
lower levels of pleasure, meaning that a higher level of healthiness

Table 8
Results of the completion test on the perception of the selected attributes (addition of dietary fibre and omega-3 to frankfurter) by clusters.
Category Frankfurter as a source of dietary fibre (%) Frankfurter with added omega-3 (%)

Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3

Benefits the body 9.84 14.07(+)* 3.60(−)* 26.23 25.93 23.42

Curiosity to taste 11.47 15.55 22.52 11.47 10.37 9.00
Functionality 32.78(+)* 11.11 4.50(−)* 22.95(+)* 13.33 1.80(−)*
Tasty/healthy 3.28(−)* 7.41 16.21(+)* 6.55 8.89 7.20
Healthy 14.75(+)* 5.92 2.70(−)* 6.56 8.88 7.21
Healthy preference 820 5.18 4.50 4.92 2.22 1.80
Limited sources 0.00 0.00 0.00 8.20 5.92 4.50
Indifference 4.92 5.92 6.30 8.20 6.67 6.31
Scepticism/Doubt 3.28 5.18 10.81 3.28 9.63 3.60
Does not suit 3.28 4.44 10.81 4.92 1.48(−)* 5.40
Flavour issues 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.64(−)* 5.92 9.91(+)*
Another option 3.28 5.18 9.00 1.64 2.96 2.70

*Indicates p < .05 in the χ2 by cell test. (+) or (−) indicate that the observed value is higher or lower than the expected theoretical value.

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Y.J. Polizer Rocha, et al. Meat Science 155 (2019) 91–101

motivation may compensate for a product with inferior flavour com-
pared with the conventional one (Kraft & Goodell, 1993; Lyly et al.,
2007; Michaelidou & Hassan, 2008; Newsom, McFarland, Kaplan,
Huguet, & Zani, 2005; Verbeke et al., 2009). This tendency may be
verified in the present study since the participants of cluster 1 (high
awareness regarding health) showed a lower perception of the re-
lationship between “tasty/healthy” and the frankfurter as a source of
dietary fibre, and were less concerned about possible flavour issues
related to frankfurters with added omega-3.
The addition of dietary fibre and omega-3 to frankfurters provided
predominantly positive associations, irrespective of the level of
awareness concerning consumers' health, in turn, highlighting a po-
tentially successful product for the consumer's market. However, the
significant differences among the group associations (clusters) identi-
fied the segment of more receptive consumers favourable to the use of
dietary fibre and omega-3 in this category of product. Such information
may contribute to marketing strategies since defining consumers' seg-
ments and identifying those most vulnerable to the nature of the pro-
duct facilitates the product development process, and communication
and marketing strategies (Cavaliere et al., 2015; Van Trijp & van der
Lans, 2007).
3.4. Shopping list
There was a significant difference in the frequency of mentions of
categories considered in each shopping list (χ2 = 507.22, p < 0.0001)
and so the consumer's perception of the personality of the person that
wrote each shopping list was significantly different (Table 9). The χ2 by
cell analysis enabled identifying the categories most frequently cited for
each shopping list.
The neutral shopping list purchaser was perceived as someone who
is not concerned about healthy eating habits, has normal eating habits,
appreciates convenience because of being young and busy, and does not
have food restrictions. The healthy list was considered to be written by
someone who is concerned about healthy eating habits and health, is
concerned or needs to keep fit, watches their weight or follows a re-
strictive diet for health reasons.
It is possible to observe the agreement among identified categories
on the shopping lists with the characteristics/factors that encourage/
restrict the purchase of traditional frankfurter obtained in the com-
pletion test. Besides the perception of convenience, identified in both
tests, the category “mode of consumption” in the completion test may
be connected to the perception that these busy and young adults ela-
borated the neutral shopping list. Similarly, the restrictions cited by the
consumers as limiting the purchase of traditional frankfurter (“harmful
to health”, “unhealthy”, “moderate consumption frequency” and
“carcinogenic”) may justify the perception that the purchasers of items
on the neutral shopping list are individuals who are not concerned
about healthy eating habits and do not have health conditions or food
restrictions.
Consumers daily food choices are shaped around health, con-
venience, humour, sensory appeal, product component, price, weight
control, familiarity and ethics (Steptoe et al., 1995). The motives to
pursue a healthy diet may differ from person to person, in which the
main personal influences are related to the body mass index, diet status,
concerns about weight, health and preventing chronic diseases, per-
sonality traits, lifestyle or even ideological matters (Carels, Konrad, &
Harper, 2007; Soares, Deliza, & Gonçalves, 2006; Sobal, Bisogni,
Devine, & Jastran, 2006; Urala & Lähteenmäki, 2004; Verbeke, 2005).
A healthy lifestyle focuses on behaviours related to health determiners,
and the construction of such a lifestyle is operationalised by the in-
dividual who has a certain physical activity level, cares about health,
cares about the food they consume and pursues a balanced life (Bruns &
Grunert, 1995; Chen, 2009).
Cosgrove, Flynn, and Kiely (2005) and Shan, Henchion, et al. (2017)
stated that compared with the occasional consumers, frequent con-
sumers of processed meat are more likely to have an unhealthy diet.
This information is substantial to determine the consumer's profile
perceived through the healthy shopping list. In other words, those
people who are concerned about health, weight and are in good shape
(category: fitness) and, it also justifies the lower number of consumers
in cluster 1 (high awareness regarding health) and the high connection
among the associations on the neutral shopping list and the factors/
characteristics that encourage and restrict the purchase of frankfurters.
The kind of functional ingredient present in a specific food affects
the perception and acceptance of the benefits of this food by consumers
(Pounis et al., 2011). In this respect, the health image of a specific
functional ingredient represents a requirement that may contribute to
an allegedly successful commercial product (Siró et al., 2008). The
consumers' reactions to the claims are strongly connected not only to
their general interest in healthy eating and their own subjective the-
ories about health, but also to their familiarity and knowledge of the
positive effect of the constituent (Brunsø et al., 2002; Lähteenmäki,
2013; Miklavec et al., 2015). Based on the above, it may be possible to
consider that the consumers who participated in the present study ap-
preciate the positive influences of dietary fibre and omega-3. The
completion test results reflected this understanding since for both
frankfurters (as a source of dietary fibre and with added omega-3),
“functionality” and “benefits to the body” were the most cited cate-
gories with positive associations and “concern about healthy eating/
health” was the consumer's main perception connected to the shopping
list in which dietary fibre and omega-3 were added.

Table 9
Categories identified in the shopping list technique with examples of terms and frequencies.
Category Example Percentage of mentions (%)

Neutral list Healthy list

Concerned about healthy eating/health Concerned about health, care about health, worried about keeping healthy eating habits, and 4.56(−)* 65.15(+)*
lifestyle
Lack of concern about healthy eating No concerns about health, no concerns about consuming fat and caloric products, not concerned 29.32(+)* 0.00(−)*
/health about a balanced diet
Common Traditional, normal diet, common, common purchasing profile, standard food habit 22.80(+)* 0.00(−)*
Practical Appreciates convenience, practical 16.29(+)* 1.95(−)*
Concerned about weight Concerned about weight, is on a diet, needs to lose weight 0.00(−)* 10.10(+)*
Health issues/ restrictive diet Restrictive diet for health issues, health issues, (diabetes and hypertension), cares about eating 0.00(−)* 9.77(+)*
habits because of a health condition
Fitness Fit person 0.00(−)* 8.79(+)*
Young adult Student, young adult who lives alone, university student 8.14(+)* 0.00(−)*
Busy Very busy person, does not waste time cooking, has a short time to cook, very exciting life 5.54(+)* 0.00(−)*
No health conditions and special No food restrictions, not diabetic, does not need restrictive diets 6.84(+)* 0.00(−)*
requisites

* Indicates p < 0.05 in the χ2 by cell test. (+) or (−) indicate that the observed value is higher or lower than the expected theoretical value.

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Y.J. Polizer Rocha, et al. Meat Science 155 (2019) 91–101

Table 10
Categories identified in the shopping list technique by clusters.
Category Neutral list Healthy list

Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3

Concerned about healthy eating/ health 4.92 2.96 6.30 67.21(+)* 70.37 57.66(−)*
Lack of concern about healthy eating/health 39.34(+)* 30.37 22.52(−)* 0.00 0.00 0.00
Common 13.11 24.44 26.13 0.00 0.00 0.00
Practical 14.75 18.52 14.41 0.00(−)* 2.22 2.70
Concerned about weight 0.00 0.00 0.00 4.92 10.37 12.61
Health issues/ restrictive diet 0.00 0.00 0.00 3.28(−)* 10.37 12.61
Fitness 0.00 0.00 0.00 4.92 8.15 11.71
Young adults 4.92 5.92 12.61 0.00 0.00 0.00
Busy 3.28 3.70 9.01 0.00 0.00 0.00
No health conditions and special requisites 4.92 4.44 10.81 0.00 0.00 0.00
χ2 19.97 15.51
p-value 0.028 0.037

*Indicates p < 0.05 in the χ2 by cell test. (+) or (−) indicate that the observed value is higher or lower than the expected theoretical value.

For the healthy shopping list, the “concern about healthy eating/
health” was different among the identified clusters (Table 10), in which
the highest concern was expressed by the consumers in cluster 1 and the
lowest concern by the consumers in cluster 3. Consequently, the group
formed by the consumers with high awareness regarding health (cluster
1) attributed higher associations for the lack of concern about healthy
eating/health and the group formed by the consumers with lower
awareness regarding health (cluster 3) attributed lower associations to
this category for the neutral shopping list. The high awareness re-
garding health, as expected, resulted in a higher concern about healthy
eating/health. Compromising is an important characteristic that shapes
consumers' response to the food product (Hung et al., 2016).
“Practical” and “health issues/restrictive diet” were categories less
connected to the healthy shopping list by the consumers of cluster 1. An
important reason for the consumption of functional foods is the main-
tenance of good health conditions (Urala, 2005). The consumers in-
terested in this product category have high nutritional knowledge, and
their choices are shaped, considering the effects of consuming these
foods on their health status and prevention of diseases. Besides, these
consumers rarely prioritise convenience of preparation (Cavaliere et al.,
2015; Sobal et al., 2006).
4. Conclusion
The present study indicates that flavour, convenience and afford-
able prices have a decisive impact on the purchase of frankfurters.
However, consumers of this product consider the product harmful to
health and unhealthy. These consumers' perceptions were identified,
regardless of the level of health awareness; in other words, they are
characteristics that are strongly spread among frankfurter consumers.
Both the predominantly positive attitude towards the addition of
dietary fibre and omega-3 to frankfurters and the consumer's percep-
tions of these functional ingredients show a potential market for the
addition of both ingredients in the formulation of meat products.
However, the particularities and differences perceived by the con-
sumers among the types of frankfurters, the uncertainty and scepticism
expressed by the minority of consumers and the extension of influence
on different segments of consumers that were identified by the
awareness regarding health must be considered during the development
and when strategising the marketing communication of these products.
Acknowledgements
This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de
Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) -
Finance Code 001. The authors Yana Jorge Polizer Rocha and Marco
Antonio Trindade are members of the MARCARNE network, funded by
CYTED, Spain (ref. 116RT0503).
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