Probit analysis of fresh meat consumption in Belgium: Exploring BSE and television communication impact

This article focuses on factors influencing consumer decision making toward fresh meat consumption in Belgium. Discrete choice models are specified for explaining consumer decisions to decrease fresh meat consumption since the BSE-crisis and toward to the future. Demographic consumer characteristics, consumption frequency and attention to television coverage are included as explanatory variables in the models. A major focus is the impact of television, which has carried several negative reports about meat safety during recent years. Television coverage is found to have a highly negative impact on decision making toward fresh red meat consumption. Model estimation and computation of predicted probabilities reveal that the likelihood of cutting fresh meat consumption increases with greater attention given to television messages, as well as with the presence of young children in the household and with increasing age of the consumer. Interaction between attention to television and age reveals that younger people's decisions are more susceptive to media coverage. Heavy meat consumers are least likely to cut fresh meat consumption. Findings include implications for future livestock production and communication by the meat industry. [Econ-Lit citations: D120, L660, M390] © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.