World Journal of Engineering Research and Technology

Skoumpa S.*, Cunha Neves A., Carroll R., Cleary J. and Phelan D.

ABSTRACT

Meat consumption and purchasing patterns are dependent on numerous sociodemographic factors such as age, country of origin and income. This study explored and compared the differences between the purchasing patterns of consumers originating from Republic of Ireland and Greece and how these choices are affected by origin and marketing of meat products. A survey was created in both English and Greek languages and was distributed in a third level institution in each country, with 722 participants in total (n = 518 for Ireland; n = 204 for Greece). No significant differences were found among the twopopulations who were positive in regards to meat consumption (89.0 % Irish; 93.6 % Greeks) while “Environment” and “Health” reasons were mainly responsible for meat abstinence. Irish participants showed a higher preference for pre-packed cut products, while Greek participants showed a higher preference for offal, fresh-cut and free-range products. In addition, more Greeks chose “Butchers” as the place of purchase while more Irish chose “Supermarket. “Price” was the most determining factor for both populations regarding product characteristics importance while “Traceability” was also found to be of importance to the majority of consumers from both countries. Finally, “Internet” was the most preferred source of information for both populations. This study’s aim was to determine the meat purchasing patterns of Greek and Irish consumers. These findings will enable us to correlate these choices with actual nutritional value of various origin meat products in future work.

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