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Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2015, Vol. 14 Issue (6): 1142-1152    DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(14)60997-7
Section 5: Food Safety and International Experiences Advanced Online Publication | Current Issue | Archive | Adv Search |
Consumer perceptions of food safety risk: Evidence from a segmentation study in Albania
Edvin  Zhllima, Drini  Imami, Maurizio  Canavari
1、Department of Economics and Rural Development Policies, Agriculture University of Tirana, Tirana 1001, Albania
2、Department of Agricultural Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Bologna 40127, Italy
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摘要  Albania is facing serious problems with the national food safety control system in terms of legislation, control and enforcement. The objective of this paper is to analyse consumer perceptions about safety of small ruminant meat in Tirana, in a context of weak enforcement of the food safety system. Applying two-step clustering analyses, consumers were classified in four socio-demographic clusters, and it was found that the cluster composed of female consumers with lower education and income levels, and the two clusters composed of male consumers perceive consumed meat as safe. Consumers in the cluster composed of females with university education and higher income are, on average, more concerned with current meat safety measures and tend to place more trust in the veterinarian stamp on meat carcasses rather than in local butchers.

Abstract  Albania is facing serious problems with the national food safety control system in terms of legislation, control and enforcement. The objective of this paper is to analyse consumer perceptions about safety of small ruminant meat in Tirana, in a context of weak enforcement of the food safety system. Applying two-step clustering analyses, consumers were classified in four socio-demographic clusters, and it was found that the cluster composed of female consumers with lower education and income levels, and the two clusters composed of male consumers perceive consumed meat as safe. Consumers in the cluster composed of females with university education and higher income are, on average, more concerned with current meat safety measures and tend to place more trust in the veterinarian stamp on meat carcasses rather than in local butchers.
Keywords:  food safety       consumer perception       demographic segmentation       two-step cluster       Albania  
Received: 18 July 2014   Accepted:
Fund: 

This paper is partially based on a study (survey) that was commissioned by United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Project “Improving the Performance of the Livestock Sector in Albania” to provide inputs for their strategy to support the Albanian small ruminants sector. The study was developed/designed by the authors of this paper.

Corresponding Authors:  Drini Imami, Tel: +355-684030630,E-mail: dimami@ubt.edu.al     E-mail:  dimami@ubt.edu.al

Cite this article: 

Edvin Zhllima, Drini Imami, Maurizio Canavari. 2015. Consumer perceptions of food safety risk: Evidence from a segmentation study in Albania. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 14(6): 1142-1152.

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