International Dairy Journal 10 (2000) 575}584

Three issues in consumer quality perception and acceptance

of dairy products
Klaus G. Grunert*, Tino Bech-Larsen, Lone Bredahl
MAPP, The Aarhus School of Business, Haslegaardsvej 10, DK-8210 Aarhus V, Denmark
Received 9 March 2000; accepted 16 July 2000

Abstract

It is argued that consumer quality perception of dairy products is characterised by four major dimensions: hedonic, health-related,
convenience-related and process-related quality. Two of these, viz., health and process-related quality, are credence dimensions, i.e.
a matter of consumer trust in communication provided. Drawing on "ve di!erent empirical studies on consumer quality perception of
dairy products, three issues related to the communication on credence quality dimensions are discussed: providing credible
information, the role of consumer attitudes, and inference processes in quality perception. Organic products, functional products, and
products involving genetic modi"cation are used as examples.  2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Consumers; Quality; Communication; Organic products; Functional foods; Genetic modi"cation

1. A consumer-oriented concept of quality attributes of the product as perceived by the consumer.

Consumer acceptance is the "nal criterion for new
dairy products on the marketplace, and the high failure
rates for new products introduced on the market show
that the considerations consumers apply when accepting
or rejecting new products are far from being understood.
This holds in spite of the fact that considerable funds are
expended on new product testing and market research,
that some of the large international dairy producers have
established consumer science departments, and that there
is a considerable literature on sensory evaluation and
preference with regard to dairy products.
Part of the reason for this state of a!airs is that, from
the consumer point of view, quality of a dairy product
involves much more than the sensory properties of the
product. Quality is a complex concept, and in order to
understand a consumer-oriented concept of quality it is
useful to distinguish between various quality dimensions,
and to analyse how these quality dimensions are embed-
ded in consumer perceptions of product characteristics
and in consumer purchase motives (Grunert, 1995; Gut-
man, 1982; Olson & Jacoby, 1972; Peter, Olson, &
Grunert, 1999). Product characteristics are concrete
* Corresponding author. Tel.: #45-89-486487; fax: #45-86-150177.
E-mail address: klg@asb.dk (K.G. Grunert).
Purchase motives are abstract entities which motivate
consumer behaviour across a wide range of products.
Quality dimensions can then be de"ned as product-speci-
"c characterisations which consumers form based on the
product characteristics, and which they believe indicate
the usefulness of the product in ful"lling purchase mo-
tives. An example will make this clear: consumers are
interested in the fat content of a cheese (product charac-
teristic) because they believe it is related to the taste
(quality dimension) of the cheese, which will lead to
enjoyment (purchase motive) while eating. For other
consumers the fat content may be related to healthiness
(quality dimension), which is related to a long and happy
life (purchase motive).
A useful classi"cation of quality dimensions for food in
general and dairy products in particular is into hedonic,
health-related, convenience-related and process-related
dimensions (Grunert, Hartvig Larsen, Madsen, & Baads-
gaard, 1996). Hedonic quality is related to sensory pleas-
ure and is therefore mainly linked to taste, smell, and
appearance. Health-related quality is concerned with
ways in which consumption of the product will a!ect
consumers' physical health. Convenience-related quality
is related to the time and e!ort which has to be expended
while buying, storing, preparing and consuming the
product. Process-related quality refers to characteristics
of the production process which consumers have taken

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576 K.G. Grunert et al. / International Dairy Journal 10 (2000) 575}584
interest in. While these may be related to the other three
quality dimensions, some consumers have taken interest
in aspects of the production process even when these
aspects have not necessarily an e!ect on the "nal physical
product. Examples are organic production, production
involving genetic modi"cation, and animal welfare con-
siderations. Consumer interest in these aspects of pro-
duction is often related to the social and environmental
dimensions of the production process.
These four quality dimensions are quite universal and
can be found to characterise quality perception in many
di!erent food products. Whereas the importance of the
hedonic and health-related dimensions seems to be rela-
tively stable, the importance of convenience has been
rising considerably (e.g. Grunert, Bruns+, & Bredahl,
1998) and is generally expected to keep increasing, and
the importance of process-related quality has been rising
at least within certain consumer segments (e.g. Balder-
jahn, 1988; Grunert & Juhl, 1995; Roberts & Bacon,
1997; Schi!erstein & Oude Ophuis, 1998; Schwepker Jr
& Cornwell, 1991). Consequently, new dairy products
being launched on consumer markets are to an increas-
ing extent positioned in terms of such bene"ts. Examples
are functional foods, which combine health and conveni-
ence, and organic products, which are positioned based
on a production process. However, the interest in pro-
duction processes also had led to consumer rejection of
certain types of technology. This goes mainly for the use
of genetic modi"cation, which has met with considerable
consumer resistance in Europe.
2. Quality expectations and quality experience
Another useful classi"cation of quality dimensions,
based on theory on the economics of information, is into
search, experience, and credence dimensions (Nelson,
1970, 1974; Darby & Karni, 1973). Search dimensions are
those dimensions by which the buyer can ascertain the
quality at the time of purchase, like the appearance of
a cheese. Experience dimensions are those dimensions by
which the quality can be ascertained only after the pur-
chase, like the taste of the cheese. Finally, credence di-
mensions are those dimensions by which the average
consumer can never ascertain the quality for him-/herself,
but has to trust the judgement of others*like whether
the cheese is healthy or organically produced.
None of the four basic quality dimensions men-
tioned*hedonic, health, process, convenience*is
a search dimension (with a few exceptions*sometimes
cheese can be tasted before buying, which turns the
hedonic dimension into a search dimension). This means
that in general consumers cannot ascertain the quality of
a dairy product before or during the purchase. In order
to make purchase decisions, consumers, therefore, have
to form quality expectations.
Expectations are formed based on the information
available at the time of purchase (Olson & Jacoby, 1972;
Steenkamp, 1990). Thus, expectations about taste can be
formed based on appearance, price, or the store in which
the product is bought. Expectations can also be formed
based on previous experience with the same product, if
the product is recognisable, for example by its brand
name. The formation of quality expectations is thus
a question of inference processes.
The ability to experience the product's quality, and
hence also the possibility of using this experience to form
expectations in the context of future purchases, is re-
stricted to the hedonic and convenience quality dimen-
sions. As for the health and process-related dimensions,
these are of the credence type, which means that con-
sumers have no possibility of actually experiencing the
presence of, e.g. a certain degree of healthiness or organic
production.
Health- and process-related quality is therefore a ques-
tion of credible communication. Marketing dairy prod-
ucts based on health aspects requires the health bene"ts
to be communicated in a way which consumers regard as
credible. The same goes for the communication of the use
or non-use of certain production methods.
When product quality becomes a matter of commun-
ication, with no means of con"rming or discon"rming
the message by own experience, this opens up for
much increased importance of consumer attitudes for
the acceptance or rejection of products. When consumers
have a negative opinion about the taste of low-fat
food, this opinion can potentially change due to own
sensory experience. When consumers have a negative
opinion about the healthiness of low-fat food,
counter-argumenting in market communication is
the only way in which this opinion can be changed.
Depending on the strength of the original attitudes,
the e!ectiveness of such counter-arguments will vary.
The role of strong consumer attitudes as regards the
acceptance of new dairy products has been especially
pronounced in the context of the application of genetic
modi"cation.
We can thus distinguish three major issues regarding
the acceptance of new dairy products:
E communication about credence quality dimensions,
E strong consumer attitudes with regard to credence-
related product characteristics,
E inference processes in quality perception.
In the remainder of the paper, results from "ve empirical
studies on consumer behaviour with regard to dairy
products will be used to highlight these three issues. The
studies are described in more detail in the appendix. The
credence dimensions used as examples are organic pro-
duction, health characteristics of functional foods, and
the use of genetic modi"cation.
 K.G. Grunert et al. / International Dairy Journal 10 (2000) 575}584 577

3. Communication about credence quality dimensions: Table 1

examples from organic products and functional foods Evaluation of information on organic products by German and Danish
consumers
Three major determinants of the e!ect of persuasive Factor
Mean
communication have been shown to be the credibility of
the source and the receiver's motivation and ability to Germany Denmark p
process the information (Petty & Cacioppo, 1981; Petty,
Unnava, & Strathman, 1991). When the information Demands for additional 3.92 4.48 0.00
information
concerns quality dimensions which consumers are inter- Satisfaction with amount of 3.10 2.63 0.00
ested in, we can assume that to some extent they are existing information
motivated to process the information, leaving credibility Con"dence in that products 2.80 3.99 0.00
and ability as two other major factors. labelled as &organic' actually
The credibility of information from sources with vested are organic
n 225 201
interests in the topic of the message is generally low, and
advertising information is therefore a priori a source with From study I. Based on random samples of consumers in major cities
low credibility. When consumers have no prospects of with main responsibility for shopping and preparing meals in their
being able to verify the claims made, as is the case with family.
credence quality dimensions, credibility is especially low,
Factors derived from a principal components analysis of 7 question-
naire items and subsequent computation of mean scores across items
as has been demonstrated empirically (Ford, Smith, loading highly on a factor. All factors standardised to a range of 1}7,
& Swasy, 1990). where higher "gures stand for more demands, more satisfaction, and
Marketing food products based on credence dimen- higher con"dence, respectively.
sions is therefore inherently problematic, and credibil- t-test, two-tailed.
ity-enhancing devices are necessary. The marketing of
organic dairy products provides a good example of this,
as di!erent means of enhancing credibility have been Table 2
employed in di!erent countries. In Denmark, for in- Determinants of store choice when buying organic food products
stance, organic food products are marked by a state- Determinant Regression coe$cient b exp(b) p

controlled label (a Danish &"' with the Royal Crown),
which is uniformly applied by all producers of organic Con"dence in labelling !0.39 0.67 0.00
products. In Germany, as another example, many di!er- Country !3.60 0.03 0.00
ent labelling schemes have been used, none of which are (Constant) 2.16 8.63 0.00
endorsed by government or other producer-independent From study I. Logistic regression with the logit of the probability of
institutions. buying organic products mainly outside regular supermarkets as de-
This has a clear e!ect on consumers' evaluation of the pendent variable. Same samples as in Table 1. Explained deviance 54.2,
information available on organic products. This can be 85.9% correctly classi"ed cases.
seen in Table 1 (from study I, see the appendix), which
Wald's test.
The parameter indicates that the probability of buying organic prod-
compares samples of German and Danish consumers ucts mainly outside regular supermarkets falls with increasing con"-
with regard to their con"dence in the information that dence in labelling.
a product is organic, their satisfaction with the measure Centred parameter with Germany"!0.5 and Denmark"0.5. The
of information available, and the degree to which they coe$cient indicates that the probability of buying organic products
have demands for additional information about organic mainly elsewhere than in regular supermarkets is signi"cantly higher in
Germany.
products. Danish consumers have considerably more
con"dence than German consumers, a result that can be
directly related to the di!erent ways of providing the
information that a product is organic. Interestingly, the trustworthy, one option is to turn to retail forms with
higher degree of con"dence goes along with less satisfac- higher credibility and/or more emphasis on guiding cus-
tion with the amount of information available and more tomers. As Table 2 shows the probability of buying
demands with regard to additional information. This is organic products mainly in regular supermarkets instead
quite in accordance with theory on the economics of of in health shops and other alternative retail forms
information: once one believes that information can be increases with con"dence in the labelling scheme. This
trusted, information becomes more useful and will be in still holds when di!erences in the distribution system in
higher demand (Maute & Forrester Jr, 1991). the two countries studied are taken into account (in
The di!erences in the sum of con"dence in the labelling Denmark, organic products in regular supermarkets are
of organic products also a!ect store choice. This is shown much more common than in Germany).
in Table 2, which is based on the same investigation as We would naturally expect that the increased con"-
Table 1. When labelling information is regarded as less dence in organic labelling leads to stronger beliefs in that
578 K.G. Grunert et al. / International Dairy Journal 10 (2000) 575}584

Table 3
Evaluation of organic dairy products in terms of environmental friendliness, animal welfare, and working conditions in production as a!ected by
country, purchase
and con"dence in labelling

Organic production is ... Germany Denmark

No purchase Purchase No purchase Purchase

Better for the environment Mean 2.5 4.1 3.9 4.2

Analysis of covariance
Covariate e!ect con"dence F(1,433)"41.35, p"0.00
Main e!ect country F(1,433)"36.11, p"0.00
Main e!ect purchase F(1,433)"60.07, p"0.00
Interaction country/purchase F(1,433)"28.44, p"0.00
Better for animal welfare Mean 2.7 4.5 3.9 4.2
Analysis of covariance
Covariate e!ect con"dence F(1,438)"25.71, p"0.00
Main e!ect country F(1,438)"14.00, p"0.00
Main e!ect purchase F(1,438)"56.18, p"0.00
Interaction country/purchase F(1,438)"32.72, p"0.00
Better for working conditions Mean 2.6 4.3 3.2 3.1
Analysis of covariance
Covariate e!ect con"dence F(1,435)"23.85, p"0.00
Main e!ect country F(1,435)"3.62, p"0.06
Main e!ect purchase F(1,435)"31.02, p"0.00
Interaction country/purchase F(1,435)"47.17, p"0.00

From study I, 5-point-scale with anchors 1"&don't agree at all' and 5"&agree completely', same samples as in Table 1.

Has bought organic dairy products at least once during the last month.
Mean adjusted for the e!ect of con"dence in labelling.
Indicates whether amount of con"dence in labelling, country of residence, having bought organic products recently and the interaction of the two
last variables have a signi"cant e!ect on the evaluation of organic dairy products.

the products actually possess those characteristics com-
monly associated with organic production: production
methods which are better for the environment, better for
animal welfare, and better for working conditions during
production. Table 3 (also from study I) shows how con-
sumers in Denmark and Germany evaluate organic dairy
products on these dimensions. The expected e!ect of
con"dence is born out, along with a main e!ect of
purchase of these products by the consumers, showing
that the strength of the belief that an organic product
actually has these characteristics does indeed in#uence
consumers' purchase of these products.
The data also show a main e!ect for country (Den-
mark/Germany) and a purchase ; country interaction.
The country e!ect can be interpreted as a general life
cycle e!ect: organic products have been around in Den-
mark for a longer time and have a larger market share
than in Germany. A plausible interpretation for the inter-
action e!ect is then that the long-term availability of
a labelling scheme, which Danish consumers have con"-
dence in has resulted in widespread acceptance of the
belief that organic dairy products are better for the envi-
ronment, animal welfare, and working conditions. If
these beliefs are widespread, they will discriminate less
between buyers and non-buyers, and whether consumers
buy organic dairy products or not will depend on other
factors, like price and availability.
The results in Tables 1}3 clearly underline the import-
ance of credible information in communicating credence
characteristics like organic production. More speci"cally,
they underline the importance of the involvement of
a third party, here the government, in lending additional
credibility to a producer claim. The resulting consumer
con"dence has an impact both on store choice and on
product choice. Whereas beliefs in the actual existence of
positive process characteristics did not ensure purchase
in the study presented, they seem to be a necessary
though not su$cient condition for the purchase of or-
ganic dairy products.
Ability to process the information was mentioned as
another important factor in the communication of cre-
dence quality dimensions. The marketing of functional
foods is a good example of the importance of the ability
factor. Current legislation about health-related claims
being very restrictive, the marketing of functional foods is
often limited to mentioning the type of enrichment. While
consumers may be motivated to process such informa-
tion, many consumers will not have the ability to process
the information that a given product has been enriched
by, for example, omega-3 fatty acids, because they do not
have the necessary nutritional knowledge. Explicit claims
about the health e!ects of the enrichment will present the
information in a way which makes it more amenable to
consumers' ability to process it, with a higher degree of
 K.G. Grunert et al. / International Dairy Journal 10 (2000) 575}584 579

Table 4 4. Consumer attitudes and credence-related product

Utility functions for functional foods in Denmark, Finland and the US characteristics: the example of rejection of genetic
with buying intention as dependent variable (conjoint analysis) modi5cation
Denmark Finland US
Another credence characteristic of dairy products
Enrichment which may come to play a considerable role in consumer
No enrichment 3.3 0.2 1.8 acceptance of new dairy products refers to the use of
Omega-3 ⴚ1.5 0.0 ⴚ0.7 genetic modi"cation in production. This, as well, is
Oligosaccharides ⴚ1.8 ⴚ0.2 ⴚ1.1
a characteristic which consumers cannot experience
Claim themselves when consuming the product, and is thus
No claim ⴚ1.3 ⴚ1.1 ⴚ1.2 a question of communication. However, the communica-
Physiological claim 0.6 0.5 0.4
Health claim 0.7 0.6 0.8 tion problem is di!erent from the two problems discussed
in the preceding section, referring to health and organic
Price production. There, the communication problem was to
normal price 0.3 0.6 0.3
normal price #20% ⴚ0.3 ⴚ0.6 ⴚ0.3 convince consumers about the truthfulness of the claims
on health e!ects and organic production. When it comes
Naturalness to genetic modi"cation, the communication problem is
Conventional 0.6 ⴚ0.2 0.4
Organic ⴚ0.6 0.2 ⴚ0.4 not so much whether the product actually involves gen-
etic modi"cation (although the opposite claim, that
Interaction ewects a product is free of genetically modi"ed material, may be
Juice;omega-3 !0.1 ⴚ0.4 ⴚ0.1
Juice;oligosaccharides 0.0 ⴚ0.4 !0.1 more di$cult), but whether genetic modi"cation is in-
Juice;no enrichment 0.1 0.8 0.2 herently bad or not bad.
It is well known that European consumers have been
Yoghurt;omega-3 !0.1 ⴚ0.6 !0.1
Yoghurt;oligosaccharides 0.1 ⴚ0.4 ⴚ0.1 very sceptical towards the new technology. They seem to
Yoghurt;no enrichment 0.0 1.0 0.2 associate considerable risk with the new technology
(Bredahl, Grunert, & Frewer, 1998; European Commis-
Spread;omega-3 0.2 1.0 0.2
Spread;oligosaccharides !0.1 0.8 0.2 sion, 1997; Frewer, Howard, & Shepherd, 1995), even
Spread;no enrichment !0.1 ⴚ1.8 ⴚ0.4 though most experts dismiss the possibility of serious
risks arising from the application of genetic modi"cation
Conventional;omega-3 ⴚ0.6 0.1 ⴚ0.3
Conventional;oligosaccharides ⴚ0.4 0.2 ⴚ0.4 (Scholderer, Balderjahn, & Will, 1998). Other critical
Conventional;no enrichment 1.0 ⴚ0.3 0.7 aspects raised in the public debate are ethical issues, the
right to choose, and general issues about the indus-
Organic;omega-3 0.6 !0.1 0.3
Organic;oligosaccharides 0.4 ⴚ0.2 0.4 trialisation of food production.
Organic;no enrichment ⴚ1.0 0.3 ⴚ0.7 Fig. 1 (from study III, see the appendix) shows how
a sample of German consumers perceived a product
n 513 513 507
concept for a yoghurt produced using a genetically modi-
From study II. The "gures indicate how the various product at- "ed starter culture, resulting in a low-fat product which
tributes and their interactions increase or decrease buying intention for has the right creamy texture without using additives. The
the product as measured on a 7-point scale. Figures in bold indicate "gure shows how consumers mentally associate various
that coe$cients are signi"cant at 0.05 (t52.11). Three carriers are used: characteristics of the product with quality dimensions
spread, yoghurt and juice.
and purchase motives. Even though the bene"ts of using
the genetically modi"ed starter culture, namely low-fat
content and no additives, are perceived by the respon-
dents and are associated to healthiness and in turn to
persuasion, i.e. a higher degree of perceived health-re- happiness, inner harmony and a long healthy life, the
lated quality, as a result. Table 4 (from study II, see the fact that the product involves genetic modi"cation leads
appendix) shows results from a conjoint analysis of to a host of negative associations: less healthiness
functional food concepts, in which products with no less enjoyment, morally wrong, harms nature, cannot
claims, with physiological claims (&omega-3's increase trust, etc.
the blood circulation in the legs'), and with health This result is not a unique or extreme case. In another
claims (&omega-3's reduce the risk of heart disease') study (study IV, see the appendix), respondents in four
were investigated. The results clearly show the positive Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden)
impact of both physiological and health claims on were confronted with "ve cheese product concepts, four
buying intention. Actually, the results indicate that, of which involved an application of genetic modi"cation.
without such claims, there is little interest for enriched The applications di!ered as to whether it involved a gen-
products. etically modi"ed starter culture or whether genetically
580 K.G. Grunert et al. / International Dairy Journal 10 (2000) 575}584

Fig. 1. Perceptions of a yoghurt product involving a genetically modi"ed starter culture by a sample of German consumers. From study III.
Hierarchical value map based on laddering interviews with 50 consumers, cuto!"5. The map indicates how consumers linked concrete product
attributes (bottom of diagram) to abstract product attributes and consequences of product use (middle of diagram) and life values (top of diagram). The
diagram summarises the most important associations across the sample of respondents. &!' indicates a negative association.

modi"ed micro-organism were used in enzyme produc-
tion, and as to whether the respective material is present
and active/living in the "nal product. The product con-
cepts were described by potential bene"ts of the genetic
modi"cation and by supposed risks, as shown in Fig. 2.
The major unequivocal results were that consumers over-
whelmingly preferred the conventional product, even
though most of the bene"ts of the application of genetic
modi"cation were acknowledged. Fig. 2 also shows
a multiple correspondence analysis of the frequencies
with which certain product characteristics and conse-
quences of product use were associated with the "ve
cheese product concepts.
When quantifying the way in which the lack of trust in
genetic modi"cation on the one hand and the perception
of product bene"ts on the other hand a!ect consumers'
intention to buy the product, one "nds that trustworthi-
ness by far overshadows the perceived bene"ts. Fig. 3
(from study V, see the appendix) shows a model (adapted
from Bredahl et al., 1998) which was estimated to explain
consumers' intention to buy the yoghurt product
which was also the basis for Fig. 1. It is clear that
the attitude towards buying the product, which in turn
determines intention to buy the product, is mostly
in#uenced by the perceived trustworthiness of the
product, and only to a much lesser extent by the per-
ceived product quality, which here includes taste,
texture, handling and wholesomeness. Beyond that,
it becomes clear that both perceived trustworthiness of
the product and perceived quality of the product to a
large extent are determined by the respondents' general
attitude towards the use of genetic modi"cation in food
production.
The results presented show some of the problems
manufacturers of dairy products will encounter when
trying to launch products involving genetic modi"ca-
tion*even when the application of such technology
leads to product characteristics which are tangible bene-
"ts for the consumer, like better taste or texture. The lack
of trust in the use of genetic modi"cation overcompen-
sates for potential positive e!ects on hedonic, health-
related or convenience-related quality, and both trust
and perception of possible quality bene"ts are framed by
the existing general attitudes towards the use of genetic
modi"cation, which means that both communication
trying to establish more trust and communication ad-
vocating tangible bene"ts of the use of genetic modi"ca-
tion face an uphill "ght against the existing (and mostly
negative) general attitudes.
5. Inference processes in quality perception: the example
of making inferences from organic production
A phenomenon well documented in the consumer
behaviour literature is that consumers make inferences
from those product characteristics or quality dimen-
sions about which information is available to those
about which information does not exist (e.g., Broniarczyk
& Alba, 1994; Dick, Chakravarti, & Biehal, 1990;
 K.G. Grunert et al. / International Dairy Journal 10 (2000) 575}584 581

Fig. 2. Consumer perceptions of four cheese product concepts involving genetic modi"cation and one conventional product concept. From study IV.
Multiple correspondence analysis based on frequencies of associating the product concept with product attributes and consequences of eating the
product, total n"285. The closer a product attribute or a consequence is to a product concept in the diagram, the more often respondents have
associated it with that particular product concept.

Ford & Smith, 1987; Kardes, Kim, & Lim, 1994; Olson, Quality perception about credence dimensions is there-
1978; Ross Jr & Creyer, 1992; Winter & Uleman, 1984). fore always a matter of inferences, whereas quality per-
As mentioned earlier, all basic quality dimensions of ception about experience dimensions is a question of
dairy products are experience or credence dimensions. inferences at least at the time of purchase.
582 K.G. Grunert et al. / International Dairy Journal 10 (2000) 575}584

Fig. 3. Determinants of intention to buy yoghurt product involving a genetically modi"ed starter culture. From study V. Pooled Danish (n"229),
German (n"247) and UK (n"240) survey data of consumers who regularly consume yoghurt. Structural equation model using LISREL, only the
structural model is shown. &Perceived quality' covers perceptions of taste, texture, handling and wholesomeness. &Perceived trustworthiness' covers
familiarity, con"dence, naturalness and knowledge of long-term consequences of product use.

Table 5
Quality perception of organic products with regard to taste and healthiness as determined by country and purchase

Organic products ... Germany Denmark

No purchase Purchase No purchase Purchase

Are healthier Mean 2.4 4.3 3.9 4.4

Analysis of variance
Main e!ect country F(1,448)"11.54, p"0.00
Main e!ect purchase F(1,448)"144.03, p"0.00
Interaction country/purchase F(1,448)"17.52, p"0.00

Taste better Mean 2.0 4.3 3.2 4.0

Analysis of variance
Main e!ect country F(1,449)"9.93, p"0.00
Main e!ect purchase F(1,449)"160.88, p"0.00
Interaction country/purchase F(1,449)"31.74, p"0.00

From study I. 5-point-scale with anchors 1"&don't agree at all' and 5"&agree completely'. Same samples as in Table 1.

Has bought organic dairy products at least once during the last month.
Indicates whether country of residence, having bought organic products recently and the interaction of the two last variables have a signi"cant e!ect
on the evaluation of organic dairy products.

We have discussed above how quality perception of
credence characteristics is a question of consumer con"-
dence, and have seen the importance of con"dence-build-
ing labelling schemes in the purchase of organic
products. Once a label has gained consumer con"dence,
it can also become the basis for consumer inferences*i.e.
other quality dimensions, in addition to what the label
stands for, can be inferred based on the label.
With regard to labels for organic products, the conse-
quence could be that consumers infer other quality di-
mensions like taste and health from the label &organic', if
that label has gained consumer con"dence. We have seen
in a previous section that the organic label in Denmark
has gained more consumer con"dence than similar labels
in Germany, and comparing consumers in these two
countries can therefore serve as an interesting basis for
the study of inference processes.
As the results in Table 5 (from study I) show, Danish
consumers have a stronger tendency to infer good taste
and healthiness from the characteristic &organic' than
German consumers, as we would expect based on the fact
that in Denmark the labelling scheme for organic prod-
ucts has considerably more consumer con"dence. In
addition, we "nd that such inferences are stronger for
 K.G. Grunert et al. / International Dairy Journal 10 (2000) 575}584
consumers who actually buy such products, and we also
"nd a signi"cant interaction country ; purchase. The
latter can be interpreted in such a way that, when
a labelling scheme with consumer con"dence has been in
existence for a period of time, inferences based on the
label will be common even for consumers who do not
regularly purchase such products.
While an inference to the health dimension may seem
less surprising, an inference to the taste dimension is
more interesting, since expectations with regard to good
taste can be discon"rmed by experience, and since there
is no systematic evidence that organic dairy products
have better sensory properties. However, there is evid-
ence that consumers' sensory perception can be in-
#uenced by information about the product under certain
conditions (e.g. Helgesen, Solheim, & Nvs, 1998; Lange,
Rousseau, & Issanchou, 1999; Tuorila, Andersson, Mar-
tikainen, & Salovaara, 1998), and the present result is
in-line with such evidence.
6. Discussion and conclusions
The results presented here taken together underline the
major importance which information about the product
has, rather than the physiological properties of the prod-
uct itself, and will have, in the future, on consumer
acceptance of dairy products.
Of course, this does not mean that the physiological
properties of the product, and especially its sensory
properties, become unimportant. Especially, taste will
continue to be a prime consideration in consumer
food choice, also with regard to dairy products.
However, we have shown three phenomena which em-
phasise the importance of communication about the
product.
Firstly, considerations about health and about the way
the product is produced, for example by organic produc-
tion methods or with regard to animal welfare, character-
ise the quality perception of today's consumers. Such
quality dimensions are not amenable to sensory impres-
sion and are, from the consumers' point of view, a ques-
tion of faith. Providing credible information which
consumers are able to understand and process is a pre-
requisite for launching such products with success. Third
party guarantees of the veracity of the information help
in obtaining credibility. Translating product ingredients
into bene"ts for consumers, for example by translating
functional ingredients into health claims, helps in under-
standing and processing.
Secondly, once credible information about a certain
quality dimension has been established, it may evolve
a life of its own, because consumers may use it in infer-
ence making, inferring quality dimensions beyond those
actually covered by the information. For example, cred-
ible information about organic production has been
583
shown to lead to inferences about hedonic- and health-
related quality.
Thirdly, providing credible information is especially
di$cult when such information is discongruent with es-
tablished consumer attitudes. Many European con-
sumers have negative attitudes towards the use of genetic
modi"cation in food production, an issue of some im-
portance to the dairy sector. Such attitudes lead to dis-
trust in dairy products involving genetic modi"cation,
inhibit the perception of bene"ts of the technology, and
prevent the formation of purchase intentions with regard
to such products.
Appendix A. Studies referred to
Study I: Analysis of purchase of organic food products
in Denmark and Germany. Random sample of con-
sumers in major cities, since purchase of organic food
occurs mainly in larger cities. All respondents had main
responsibility for shopping and preparing meals in their
household. Data collection in the fall of 1998. E!ective
sample size n"225 in Germany and n"201 in Den-
mark. Basis for results in Tables 1 and 2, 3 and 5.
Study II: Conjoint analysis of functional food concepts
in Denmark, Finland and USA. All respondents had
main responsibility for shopping for food in their house-
holds. Nationwide random samples; e!ective sample size
n"513 in Denmark, n"513 in Finland, n"507 in
USA. Respondents rated 24 product concepts generated
according to a reduced factorial design with regard to
buying intention on a 7-point scale. Data collected in
spring 1999. Basis for results in Table 4.
Study III: Qualitative study on consumer perceptions of
two food products involving genetic modi"cation in Ger-
many, Denmark, Italy and the UK. n"50 per product
per country. Interviews were conducted following the
laddering method, which allows mapping how con-
sumers relate product characteristics to quality dimen-
sions to purchase motives. Data collected in fall 1997.
Funded by the European Commission through contract
FAIR-PL96-1667. Details can be found in Bredahl
(1999). Basis for results in Fig. 1.
Study IV: Qualitative study on consumer perceptions of
three food products involving various applications of
genetic modi"cation, in four Nordic countries: Denmark,
Finland, Norway, Sweden. Total n"285. Data collected
in spring 1999. Interviews conducted following the lad-
dering methods. Funded by the Nordic Industrial Fund
through contract P98098. Details can be found in
Grunert, LaK hteenmaK ki, Poulsen, Ueland, and As stroK m
(2000). Basis for results in Fig. 2.
Study V: Survey in four European countries on con-
sumer attitudes to genetic modi"cation in food produc-
tion and buying intentions with regard to genetically
modi"ed food products. Data collection in Denmark,
584 K.G. Grunert et al. / International Dairy Journal 10 (2000) 575}584
Germany, Italy and the UK. Random sample of con-
sumers of yoghurt and of beer. Total n"2031. Data
collected in fall 1998. Funded by the European Commis-
sion through contract FAIR-PL96-1667. Details can be
found in Bredahl (2000). Basis for results in Fig. 3.
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