Consumer Rating of Importance of "All Natural" and "Omega 3" in Pork Sausage Products

Abstract

Consumers are increasingly more concerned about the how “natural” a product is, and the nutrients they contain. This project was conducted in cooperation with Wampler’s® which produces Wampler All Natural Sausage as well as Wampler’s® sausage in Lenoir City, TN. Product was picked up frozen at “Cash & Carry” in Cookeville. Products were cooked by an experienced chef. During the “Annual Cookeville Rotary Club Pancake Breakfast” a random 23 volunteers of 275 attendees were used in this study. Participants were asked to taste both sausage products, 1) pork sausage and 2) “All Natural” pork sausage. Participants were not told which product was on either platter, they were simply marked as “Sample 1” and “Sample 2.” After consuming both freshly cooked sausage products, participants were asked to rate each sausage product on a 1 – 3 scale, where 1 = poor, 2 = average, and 3 = good. After rating both products, participants were asked to respond to two questions, based on a 5-point Likert Scale, where 1 = not important, 3 = no opinion, and 5 = very important. Questions were: A) How important is a product that is “All Natural?” B) “How important to you is a product that is high in Omega 3 fatty acid?” Responses to the question regarding All Natural: 1=1, 2=0, 3=3, 4=10, 5=9. For the question on the importance of high Omega 3, 1=0, 2=0, 3=1, 4=13, 5=9. This random sample viewed “All Natural” as important, but high Omega 3 more important.