Consumer satisfaction with food products

An important problem facing public policy makers is how best to measure market performance. Economists have traditionally used criteria such as the existence of monopoly forces, entry barriers, and externalities in production and consumption. Increasingly, however, policy makers are viewing the measurement of consumer satisfaction as an important additional approach to the assessment of market performance, even though consumer attitudes may lack some of the precision and objectivity of the economist's measures.¹ Responding to the growth of the consumer movement, policy makers are assigning a relatively high priority to the development of programmes designed to protect the consumer interest. Effective consumer protection programmes depend on the availability of information which can provide a basis for comparing levels of consumer satisfaction across a range of products and services, for identifying problem areas, and for effectively allocating limited consumer protection resources. Given the number of alternative foods on the market and the central role of food consumption in everday life, effective resource allocation is of special importance to policy makers concerned with food and agriculture. © 1980, All rights reserved.

Duke Scholars

Author John Quelch DKU Faculty