Beef customer satisfaction: role of cut, USDA quality grade, and city on in-home consumer ratings

• Published in: Journal of animal science 1998-04, Vol.76 (4), p.1027-1033
• Main Authors: Neely, T.R, Lorenzen, C.L, Miller, R.K, Tatum, J.D, Wise, J.W, Taylor, J.F, Buyck, M.J, Reagan, J.O, Savell, J.W
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; ANALISIS ORGANOLEPTICO; ANALYSE ORGANOLEPTIQUE; Animals; APPETABILITE; BEEF; Biological and medical sciences; BISTEC; CALIFORNIA; CALIFORNIE; CARNE; CARNE DE RES; Cattle; CHICAGO; CLASIFICACION DE PRODUCTOS; CLASSEMENT; COMPORTAMIENTO DEL CONSUMIDOR; COMPORTEMENT DU CONSOMMATEUR; Consumer Behavior - statistics & numerical data; CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR; CONSUMER PREFERENCES; CONSUMER SATISFACTION; CONSUMER SURVEYS; Consumers; ENCUESTAS AL CONSUMIDOR; ENQUETE AUPRES DES CONSOMMATEURS; ETUDE DE MARCHE; FLAVEUR; FLAVOR; FLAVOUR; Food industries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; GRADING; HOUSTON; Humans; ILLINOIS; INVESTIGACION DE MERCADOS; JUICINESS; Least-Squares Analysis; MEAT; Meat - classification; Meat - standards; Meat - statistics & numerical data; Meat and meat product industries; Middle Aged; ORGANOLEPTIC ANALYSIS; PALATABILIDAD; PALATABILITY; PENNSYLVANIA; PENNSYLVANIE; PHILADELPHIA; Ratings & rankings; SABOR; SAN FRANCISCO; STEAK; STEAKS; TENDERNESS; TENDRETE; TERNURA; TEXAS; United States; United States Department of Agriculture - standards; URBAN AREAS; VIANDE; VIANDE BOVINE; ZONAS URBANAS; ZONE URBAINE
• ISSN: 0021-8812; 1525-3163; 0021-8812
• DOI: 10.2527/1998.7641027x

An in-home beef study evaluated consumer ratings from moderate-to-heavy beef users as influenced by cut (top loin, top sirloin, and top round steaks), USDA quality grade (Top Choice, Low Choice, High Select, and Low Select), and city (Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, and San Francisco). Consumers (n = 2,212) evaluated each steak for overall like (OLIKE), tenderness (TEND), juiciness (JUIC), flavor desirability (DFLAV), and flavor intensity (IFLAV) using 23-point hedonic scales (23 = like extremely, extremely tender, extremely juicy, like extremely, and an extreme amount of flavor; 1 = dislike extremely, not at all tender, not at all juicy, dislike extremely, and no flavor at all). A USDA grade x cut interaction existed for OLIKE (P .05). Consumers rated top loin steaks highest (P .05) in OLIKE and ranked Top Choice highest of all steaks (P .05). Within the top loin, consumers were not (P .05) able to distinguish OLIKE differences between Low Choice and High Select or between High Select and Low Select. For OLIKE, top sirloin was rated intermediate (P .05) of the three cuts, and consumers were not able to detect (P .05) USDA quality grade differences. For OLIKE, top round was the lowest-rated (P .05) cut. However, consumers preferred (OLIKE, P .05) Top Choice to the other USDA grades offered. Grade and city interacted to affect TEND, JUIC, DFLAV, and IFLAV. The cut x city interaction was significant for all palatability attributes. Cut and city affected customer satisfaction more than USDA quality grade. Tenderness and flavor were important and equal contributors to OLIKE, r