Questionnaire Survey (n=1499)

A questionnaire was developed to gain an overview of the consumers in Denmark concerning acceptance and attitude towards functional meat products and the consumers’ willingness to compromise on taste. The questions were designed to provide background information on the individual or to be categorized within one of the three key concept groups described by (Bornkessel et al., 2011). Those were Consumer characteristics, Purchasing situation and Product characteristics and inspire the questionnaire. Operationalization of the three key concepts was completed and presented in Table 3. The operationalization is a utility to concretize the underlying concepts of consumer attitudes towards functional meat products ((Riis, 2005) and intends to define the key concepts and their dimensions so specific and understandable questions can be formulated to identify attitudes of the Danish consumers towards functional meat products. The key concepts are presented in the first column in the operationalization table (Table 3) and was defined in the conceptual framework in chapter 2.6 Acceptance of functional foods. The second column defines the associated dimensions. In column three the questions was formulated from each key concept and followed by a column, which presents response options for each question. The questions were of three types: i) Attitude questions to elicit norms, attitudes or values. ii) Factual questions to clarify behavior, habits and beliefs. iii) Background questions. These are emphasized in the last column of category.

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Table 3 (page1): Questionnaire overview. The key concepts Consumer characteristics, Purchasing situation and Product characteristics are presented in the first column and are identified dimensions of consumer acceptance towards functional food products. The second column defines the associated dimensions. In column three the questions are formulated from each key concept. The fourth column presents response options for each question.

The abbreviations are labels used for the analysis and fulgurate in the following figures and the Category indicates type of data.

Concept Dimension Question wording (English) Response categories Abbreviation Catagory

Key concepts The key concepts dimensions

Questions for the questionnaire Answer possibilities Label in the plot Data Background Age, gender,

Hypertension Do you suffer from high blood pressure?

You prioritize products, that you

believe, have special health

You believe that functional foods

(e.g. Becel butter or probiotic

Becel butter have a lowering effect on the blood cholesterol

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Table 3 (page2): Questionnaire overview. The key concepts Consumer characteristics, Purchasing situation and Product characteristics are presented in the first column and are identified dimensions of consumer acceptance towards functional food products. The second column defines the associated dimensions. In column three the questions are formulated from each key concept. The fourth column presents response options for each question.

The abbreviations are labels used for the analysis and fulgurate in the following figures and the Category indicates type of data.

Concept Dimension Question wording (in Danish) Response categories (in Danish)

Code Catagory

Purchasing situation

Recommendations To what extent do you agree with this statement?

You would purchase new products

you normally do not eat if you have the impression that they benefit your

It increases your interest in a product if Hjerteforningen's logo is visible on

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Table 3 (page 3). Questionnaire overview. The key concepts Consumer characteristics, Purchasing situation and Product characteristics are presented in the first column and are identified dimensions of consumer acceptance towards functional food products. The second column defines the associated dimensions. In column three the questions are formulated from each key concept. The fourth column presents response options for each question.

The abbreviations are labels used for the analysis and fulgurate in the following figures and the Category indicates type of data.

Concept Dimension Question wording (in Danish) Response categories (in Danish)

Code Catagory

Product characteristics

Quality attributes If the Hjerteforeningens logo is visible on the product package,

You would purchase meat products

with added processed proteins, if it

Quality attributes Would you buy a product, which claims to help you maintain a

Would you purchase meat products

with processed proteins added?

yes/no/don't know BuyProcessMeat F

NA= not analysed in this study. 1-7 scale where; 1=Strongly disagree, 4= indifferent, 7= Strongly agree, Don't know. Category: F = Factual data, A= attitude data, H=Habitual data.

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Finally the questionnaire was generated online in the online software program Defgo.net (www.defgo.com, Copyright 1997-2012, defgo.net). The respondents were shown a brief introduction, which clarified the purpose and how the data would be used. The questionnaire was containing 19 questions with sub-questions, which had to be answered by checking one answer choice, unless other options were indicated.

It was not possible to click forward without answering the previous question. Completion of the questionnaire was estimated to take approximately 10 minutes. A print view of the original questionnaire in Danish can be seen in appendix B. An overview of the questions translated to English is listed in Table 3.

4.3.1 Recruitment of respondents

By using the electronic questionnaire rather than mail delivery, it was assumed that the response rate would increase, as the answers were relatively easy and quick to fill out (Riis, 2005). Electronic questionnaires will also make the data analysis easier. The questionnaire was sent to the Panel of Denmark through Interresearch A/S. It is assumed that this is the easiest way to reach the Danish population. The Panel of Denmark is recruited through invitations on a sample of the largest Danish websites including Krak.dk. Krak.dk has been identified as one of the most visited website in Denmark with the widest combination of visitors. The total recruitment base is two million Danish internet users (Interresearch.dk.

question your knowledge.). All panelists were invited randomly. They had received the invitation via a pop-up window where they could accept or reject. No participants were self-recruited to this questionnaire.

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