Profiling consumers based on information use and trust in a developing economy

Abstract

In the wake of the intense debate about the effect of poultry imports on domestic poultry industries in sub‐Saharan Africa, information campaigns have evolved to encourage the consumption of domestic poultry meat products. Nevertheless, consumers use numerous channels to find information, and thus, the extent to which resources should be allocated to these channels to reach segments of consumers is vital. The purpose of this paper is to identify consumer groups based on use and trust in information sources and then profile the segments using sociodemographic variables, purchase motives, and meat consumption. Face‐to‐face interviews were used to collect data amongst 500 urban consumers in Ghana, which were analysed with factor analysis and two‐step cluster analysis. Results show that consumers frequently use personal sources of information about chicken. Cluster analysis revealed three consumer segments: cautious consumers (18.2%), enthusiastic consumers (53.0%), and optimistic consumers (28.8%). The segments differed significantly regarding the type of information searched for, sociodemographic characteristics, purchase motives, and chicken meat consumption patterns. The findings can aid actors and institutions seeking to increase the consumption of domestic poultry meat in developing targeted communication strategies that suit the characteristics, motivations, and information needs of different consumers.

A Consumer Segmentation Study of Nutrition Information Seeking and Its Relation to Food Consumption in Beijing, China

“…One representative study found that consumers can be segmented based on their use of and attitudes toward nutrition labels, and that such segmentation can provide valuable information for a targeted communication approach [14]. A few recent studies have identified consumer groups based on the use of and trust in information sources [15] and profiled the segments using sociodemographic variables [16], purchase motives [17], and consumption behavior [18]. To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first in which consumer segments based on nutrition information-seeking behaviors have been related to food consumption in China.…”