Consumer Acceptance of Vacuum Packaged Ground Beef as Influenced by Product Color and Educational Materials

Questionnaires were completed by 1750 grocery store shoppers to determine the effect of product color and educational materials on purchase intent for vacuum packaged (VP) ground beef. Consumers (74%) indicated that color was important in their product purchase intent decision. Half the consumers received product information (informed). Informed consumers were more likely (P<0.0001) to indicate a positive purchase intent for VP ground beef than uninformed consumers. Informed consumers were as likely to purchase the purplered VP product as the bright cherry red product they are accustomed to purchasing. It appears possible to effectively educate the consumer to accept the purple‐red color of VP ground beef.