The document summarizes research from the New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited on factors that influence consumer preferences and choices regarding fruit quality. The research found that fruit flavor was about twice as important as price in determining consumer willingness to purchase. Studies on avocados showed that maturity level and ripeness significantly impacted consumer ratings of acceptability and flavor, with mid-maturity and early ripeness receiving the highest ratings. The research aims to help fruit producers understand quality attributes that increase consumer demand and pricing.

1. The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited
Consumer preferences and choice
of fruit: the role of Avocado quality
Roger Harker

2. Consumption
Top 4 reasons USA consumers eat and top 4 reasons USA
consumers are prevented from eating fruit
(n~5000, PBH, 2005).
100
80
60
(%)
40
20
0
Stay Healthy
Availability
Like the
Convenience
Disease
Spoilage
Price
Feel Well
Prevent
Taste
Fears
Reasons For Reasons Against
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited

3. Research on consumer liking for flavour
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited

4. Quality:
outcomes from laboratory-based studies
• Value of tomatoes (Norway): 14% increase in 1st year
and 40% increase in 2nd year.
• Wine (Gallo, USA): 6% increase in value in 1st year.
• All of these occurred without marked change in
marketing/promotion (i.e. driven by return sales and
word-of mouth).
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited

5. Measuring consumer liking
Likelihood of Purchase 70%
600-700
700
500-600
600 400-500
300-400
500
200-300
400 Price 100-200
(Yen) 0-100
300
200
100
150
140
130
0
120
110
22
100
Size of 20
18
90
fruit (g) 16
80
14 Taste category
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited

6. Increasing the reality of the situation
in laboratory-based studies
NEW APPLES (2 months storage) OLD APPLES (8 months storage)
From USA From NZ
‘Look good but poorer eating quality’ ‘Look bad but better eating quality’
Deliberately set up a context in which emotional and physical aspects
of freshness perception are in opposite directions
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited

7. Bids before and after tasting for
two participants
2
Tasted
1.8
1.6
1.4
Amount Bid ($)
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Bidding Round
“Even though I thought that the old apples were nicer in the tasting trial, I still
suspect that the new ones would be better overall”
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited

8. Consumers: flavour and price
• Poor flavour will decrease prices / demand
• Good flavour will increase prices / demand
• Flavour is about twice as important as price when
determining consumers willingness to purchase fruit.
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited

9. Avocado studies
Science Staff Acknowledgments
• Peter J. Hofman • Growers & Packhouses
• Roberto Marques • Martin Heffer (images)
• Barbara Stubbings • Joanna Embry
• Sara R. Jaeger
• Redlands Research Station
• Anne White
• TNS (recruitment of consumers)
• Christina Bava
• Online Research Unit
• Michelle Beresford
• Mark Wohlers • Avocados Australia Ltd
• Allan Woolf • Horticulture Australia Ltd
• Joanna Gamble
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited

10. Avocado: consumer tasting
• Effect of maturity (dry matter): 4 DM treatments.
• Effect of ripeness (firmness): 3 firmness treatments.
(107 Consumers)
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited

11. a
100 (A) a a a 7 (B)
b
6 c
80 b
d
Liking (Score 1 to 8)
5
Acceptability (%)
60 4
40 3
2
20
1
0 0
Immature Early Mid Late Immature Early Mid Late
(20% DM) (22% DM) (26% DM) (38% DM) (20% DM) (22% DM) (26% DM) (38% DM)
Maturity Maturity
(C) a
80
b
Purchase intent (% chance)
c
60
d
40
20
0
Immature Early Mid Late
(20% DM) (22% DM) (26% DM) (38% DM)
Maturity
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited

12. DM as a continuous variable
DM vs purchase intention
Purchase Intention
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited

13. DM summary
• DM levels that are lower than 22% resulted in lower
ratings of consumer acceptability.
• Consumer liking and willingness to pay increases with
increasing DM.
• Consumer willingness to pay reaches a plateau above
which there is no further increase at 28% DM
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited

14. Consumers: fruit convenience
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited

15. (A) a a
(B) a
100
b a
6
b
80
Liking (score = 1 to 8)
Acceptability (%)
60 4
40
2
20
0 0
Soft Medium Firm Soft Medium Firm
(0.45 kgf) (0.65 kgf) (1.05 kgf) (0.45 kgf) (0.65 kgf) (1.05 kgf)
Ripeness Ripeness
(C) a a
70
b
60
Purchase Intent (%)
50
40
30
20
10
0
Soft Medium Firm
(0.45 kgf) (0.65 kgf) (1.05 kgf)
Ripeness
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited

16. Firmness as a continuous variable
Firmness vs purchase intention
Purchase Intention
Firmness (Kgf)
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited

17. Firmness summary
• The ripeness (firmness) that was preferred by
consumers was 0.65 kgf or softer, which relates to a fruit
that deforms slightly under moderate hand pressure
(firmometer value of 80).
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited

18. Consumers: responses of fruit spoilage
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited

19. The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited

20. Treatments
Factor Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4
Price per $0.89 $1.39 $1.99 $2.49
Avocado
Level of 10% damage 25% damage 33% damage 50% damage
Defect
(% flesh
affected)
Incidence of Very infrequent Infrequent Quite frequent Persistent
Defect (1 in 10 fruit) (1 in 5 fruit) (3 in 5 fruit) (5 in 5 fruit)
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited

21. Price Bruise
Incidence
Relative importance:
• Bruise = 42.0%
• Price = 32.7%
• Incidence = 25.3%
(online study, n=422)
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited

22. Purchase intentions: influence of damage
Bruising Vascular Browning
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited

23. Internal damage summary
• The three experimental factors; price, severity of defect
and incidence of affected fruit significantly influenced
consumers’ future purchase intentions.
• Severity of defect had the highest relative importance
followed by price, then the incidence of affected fruit.
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited

24. Recommendations
• The study indicates that maturity standards be set
above 22% DM but no higher than 28% DM.
• Efforts to mimimise the severity of internal defects be
considered most important to maximise future purchase
intentions of avocado consumers.
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited

25. The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited
www.plantandfood.com
rharker@hortresearch.co.nz
The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited