The importance of intrinsic and extrinsic cues to expected and experienced quality: an empirical application for beef

This study explains how consumers form in-store expectations about beef quality, and how these insights can help us to determine optimum levels of beef quality. Consumers infer the quality of beef on the basis of intrinsic (colour, freshness and visible fat) and extrinsic (price, promotion, designation of origin and presentation) quality cues. During consumption consumers evaluate experienced quality based on expected quality and quality attributes such as taste, tenderness and juiciness, confirming or disproving their previously formed expectations. Expected quality is a partial predictor of experienced quality, which confirms the importance of sensory perception at the time of consumption.