Factors affecting consumers’ preferences for US beef

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze factors affecting US beef consumption intention in the future, to identify the causes of US beef import growth and to derive implications and strategies for domestic beef producers. Since the KORUS FTA was signed in 2012, US beef imports in 2017 totaled 379,064 tons, an annual increase of 3.5 percent. US beef imports have been steadily increasing due to cuts in FTA tariffs and changes in consumer preferences. The data used in this study utilized a sample of 3,290 grocery purchasers from the Korea Rural Economic Institute's 2016 Food Consumption Behavior Survey. The analytical method used the Ordered Logit Model to analyze what factors influence a consumer's subjective evaluation. As a result, the major factors affecting US beef consumption intention in the future are price, taste and safety. In particular, it has to do with the recent surge in U.S. imports of good-tasting chilled meat. Because chilled meat does not differentiate the market from Hanwoo beef produced in Korea, it is necessary to have differentiated taste and low price through cost reduction. By age and family group, people aged 30 40 years and single-person households are the main consumption group. As a result of this study, it is necessary to establish marketing strategies for producers such as rational pricing, safety, taste promotion, and small-scale sales to extend the demand for Hanwoo beef in the younger generation to enhance the competitiveness of the domestic beef market.