Improving meat tenderness using exogenous process: The consumer response

The aim of this paper is to investigate purchase intention (PI) for meat obtained through a tenderization process based on a treatment with exogenous proteolytic enzymes. Particularly, perceived risks and perceived benefits on the consumer acceptance of tender meat produced through this emerging technology have been evaluated. In order to achieve the stated objective, a survey was conducted on a national representative sample of Italian consumers (N = 1006), who received information about the traditional and the emerging tenderization pro-cesses. Principal Component Analysis and Structural Equation Model were applied to the collected data. Results show that consumer purchase intention for meat treated with exogenous proteolytic enzymes was strongly influenced by perceived benefits and weakly influenced by perceived risks. Another important result is that perceived benefits are mainly affected by trust in science. Finally, a Cluster Analysis was performed to distinguish consumer segments with different response patterns.