Three issues in consumer quality perception and acceptance of dairy products

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 five different 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 modification are used as examples.

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