FRESH BEEF MARKET SEGMENTATION IN BRAZIL

Abstract

The present study aims to discuss a theoretical model for the segmentation of consumers’ markets of fresh beef  considering that this contribution will allow the economic agents of the  meat productive chain to allocate their resources aiming different target-markets from those which search for the comoditized product, with lower added value. Two basic premisses were adopted for the elaboration of this study: (a) the consumers’ markets segmentation proposals used in scientific studies may indicate relevant insights to the theoretic construction herein presented; and (b) the relevant variables in the consumers’ buying process should be considered in the discussion proposed. A revision of empirical and theoretic work related to the topic was carried out  through bibliographic research, aiming to determine the essential elements and the most important results of the analyzed studies. The data sources were international periodicals focussing on the behavior of food consumers. In a second stage, after the identification of the segmentation proposals for beef consumers markets, there was the identification of relevant variables in models which represent the food consumers’ buying process. These variables were chosen considering the number of times in which they appeared in distinct models. A scenario of  which variables would  be prioritized in the consumer’s choice of product was obtained. This allowed the construction of a theoretic model of segmentation based primarily on the identified variables. Therefore, considering the results verified in this study, the existence of four segments of beef consumers is suggested: “bovine protein oriented”, “health oriented”, “indifferent” and “sporadic”. This study presented the relevant variables in the consumers’ buying process, which effectively influence their behavior. That made it possible to develop an analytical instrument for the various segments of the beef consumers markets. Therefore, this study’s commercial implications lead to the possibility of formulation of strategies aiming the construction and positioning of beef trademarks in selected target-markets.