The food system changes from being producer-driven to consumer-driven. Simultaneously, food systems are becoming increasingly confronted with fast-changing demands of consumers. These tendencies must be viewed in the context of the consumer society. Today’s food consumer behavior is both influenced by “traditional” concerns such as price or product quality, and by “modern” ones such as variety or process-oriented quality. Particularly the latter concerns are important to gain trust from consumers. To elaborate on this idea, four different consumer images are presented. These images contain various assumptions on food consumption. They are tested among a sample of consumers in the Netherlands.


*Agricultural Economics Research Institute (LEI), P.O. Box 29703, The Hague 2502 LS, The Netherlands, E-mail: h.j.m.hansman@lei.wag-ur.nl / j.c.dagevos@lei.wagur.nl

download journal