Irish consumers’ perception of food safety risk in minced beef

Understanding consumer perception of risk and how it affects behaviour is a key issue for both consumers and the food industry. This paper aims to assess the food safety risks consumers associate with purchasing minced beef and to ascertain the most prevalent of these risks. Results show that consumers are most concerned about the physical, psychological and performance risks associated with minced beef. Physical risk pertains to perceived threats the product poses to the health of the consumer, while psychological risk refers to perceived worries or concerns of the consumer regarding the safety of a product. Performance risk relates to the risk associated with the product not reaching consumer expectations in terms of taste, nutrition or value for money. These three dimensions account for 58 per cent of the variance in overall perceived risk. An understanding of the perceived risk concept enables retailers and manufacturers to develop effective risk communication and marketing programmes.