Cross-Cultural Differences in the Perception of Lamb between New Zealand and Chinese Consumers in New Zealand

This study investigated differences between general New Zealand consumers and ethnic Chinese consumers living in New Zealand regarding the importance of lamb attributes at the point of purchase and opinions of New Zealand lamb. A central location test survey was undertaken with 156 New Zealand consumers living in Dunedin, New Zealand, and 159 Chinese consumers living in Auckland, New Zealand. In terms of importance at the point of purchase, Chinese consumers rated a number of attributes as more important than New Zealand consumers by a difference of >1.0 on a 9-point Likert scale for importance: animal origin, feeding, age, presence of hormones/residues, traceability, food safety, place of purchase, brand/quality label, and label information (p < 0.05). New Zealand consumers rated the price of other meats and animal welfare as more important than Chinese consumers (p < 0.05); however, the differences in scores were <1.0. In terms of opinions, Chinese consumers also considered New Zealand lamb to be better value for money, more additive-free, and more likely to make people feel good (p < 0.05), by scores >1.0 on a 7-point Likert scale for agreement. New Zealand consumers considered New Zealand lamb more traditional and boring (p < 0.05); however, the differences in scores were <1.0.


Introduction
In New Zealand, a nation with strong historical ties to lamb production [1], the consumption of lamb by local consumers has declined drastically in recent years. Lamb consumption in New Zealand is reported to have dropped 45% over the past decade [2], and total sheep meat consumption in New Zealand dropped from 25.5 kg per capita in 2002 to 3.5 kg per capita in 2019 [3,4]. In the meantime, the consumption of poultry and pork in New Zealand has increased [2,4], and veganism, vegetarianism, and flexitarianism are also on the rise [5].
The reasons for this decline in lamb consumption by New Zealand consumers is likely to be a result of a range of factors. Consumer concerns on issues such as the cost of lamb relative to other meats, the nutritive properties of lamb, environmental footprint of red meat production, the taste experience of lamb, perceived lack of versatility, as well as animal welfare, may all play a role in declining consumption. When considering lamb perception in other cultures, a wide range of attributes have been identified to be important to consumers when deciding to purchase lamb. For example, recent studies have shown that factors such lamb and, on average, consumed lamb at least once per month, and were aged 18-75 years old. The data for the New Zealand consumers were collected and stored in accordance with University of Otago Human Ethics application number 15/092. The data for the Chinese consumers were covered by general approval for sensory and consumer research from the Human Ethics Committee at the New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research. Participants provided informed consent and were assured that their responses would remain confidential and that they could withdraw from the study at any time.

Questionnaire
The questionnaire used in this survey, conducted as central location test, asked identical questions to the online survey conducted in China and results published in [21]. A copy of the questionnaire can be found in Appendix A. The survey captured information on demographic data, dietary habits, meat qualities of interest at the point of purchase, and the lamb products the consumers typically purchase. To understand consumer considerations at the point of purchase, consumers indicated the level of importance of varying aspects of lamb meat purchase on a scale of one ("not important") to nine ("very important"). This included animal and other production factors, pricing factors, intrinsic cues of the meat, convenience factors, personal knowledge of commercial cuts and aspects related to descriptive information and branding. To capture their opinion on New Zealand lamb meat, consumers rated the degree of agreement on several descriptions of the lamb meat on a scale of one ("strongly disagree") to seven ("strongly agree"). These describe New Zealand lamb meat in several ways, including, but not limited to, being nutritious, safe, good value for money, produced sustainably and convenient. All New Zealand consumers received the English version of the questionnaire, while Chinese consumers received the Mandarin version of the questionnaire (Appendix A). A couple of native speakers of Mandarin translated the questionnaire from English into Mandarin. Chinese scientists in Auckland (Plant and Food Research, New Zealand) subsequently validated the translation.

Data Analysis
XLSTAT 2017 (Addinsoft 2012) software was used to analyze survey data. For data on demographic factors, diet, and consumption patterns, a Chi-square test was performed to find differences between ethnicities. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to the data on consumers' consideration of lamb meat attributes at the point of purchase and their opinion on New Zealand lamb meat to find differences in scores between ethnicities (fixed effect). Table 1 summarizes the demographic characteristics of the two consumer groups that were sampled. The general New Zealand consumer group was comprised of a majority of New Zealand Europeans (87%), with smaller proportions of other ethnicities (such as Maori, Samaon, Cook Island Maori, and Chinese), while the Chinese group was comprised of only people of Chinese ethnicity (100%). Gender balance was similar between the two groups, while age distribution did differ slightly-more of the Chinese consumers were aged 26-35, and more of the New Zealand consumers were aged 46-60. Educational background also differed, with a higher proportion of Chinese consumers having a tertiary qualification, and a higher proportion of New Zealand consumers having a trades certificate or only a high school qualification. New Zealand consumers and Chinese consumers were similar in terms of occupation types, apart from a slightly higher number of New Zealand consumers working as trades people and a lower number as home makers. Income was also similar between the two groups, with the exception of a higher proportion of Chinese consumers earning NZD40,001 to NZD55,000, and a higher proportion of New Zealand consumers earning more than NZD150,000. The number of adults in the household was similar between the two groups; however, having 1 child in the household was slightly more common for Chinese consumers, while having 2 or more children in the household was slightly more common for New Zealand consumers.

Diet and Consumption Patterns
Results from Table 2 show that diet differed significantly between New Zealand and Chinese consumers, with a much greater proportion of Chinese consumers following low salt, low sugar, and low calorie diets (p < 0.05). In terms of consumption frequency of animal protein sources, Chinese consumers generally consumed significantly greater quantities of lamb and pork than New Zealand consumers (p < 0.05), and significantly less poultry and beef (p < 0.05). No significant differences in fish consumption were found between the two groups (p > 0.05) ( Table 2).

Preferred Level of Cooking, Meat Qualities of Interest, Purchase Location and Types of Lamb Products Typically Purchased
Many of the preferences measured in terms of cooking, location of purchase, and types of lamb products differed significantly between New Zealand and Chinese consumers (p < 0.05) ( Table 3). A higher proportion of Chinese consumers preferred meat cooked well-done, while a higher percentage of New Zealand consumers preferred meat cooked rare (p < 0.05). A higher proportion of Chinese consumers sought out leanness and meat colour when purchasing meat, whereas a higher proportion of New Zealand consumers were interested in portion size (p < 0.05). No difference in the proportion of consumers looking at price when purchasing red meat was observed (p > 0.05). Although the proportion of Chinese consumers that look for marbling when purchasing lamb was higher (p < 0.05) than New Zealand consumers, the proportion of consumers looking for marbling was relatively low for both ethnicities. Similar proportions of New Zealand and Chinese consumers typically purchased leg roast lamb. A greater proportion of New Zealand consumers typically purchased lamb chops, lamb mince, and lamb sausages, whereas a greater proportion of Chinese consumers typically purchased lamb steaks, lamb shanks, and lamb shoulder roast (p < 0.05). In general, both New Zealand consumers and Chinese consumers rated most lamb attributes at the point of purchase as important (scores > 5.0). Most notably, both New Zealand consumers and Chinese consumers rated taste attributes (flavour and texture in particular), food safety, and price, as important lamb attributes at the point of purchase. Furthermore, both New Zealand consumers and Chinese consumers also rated animal sex and the time of day as relatively unimportant attributes at the point of purchase (scores < 5.0) ( Table 4). However, comparisons between New Zealand consumers and Chinese consumers for each attribute revealed significant differences for 20 of the 25 attributes (p < 0.05) ( Table 4). While the magnitude of some differences was small (differences in scores <1.0), some notable effects were observed: Chinese consumers rated animal origin, feeding, age, presence of hormones/residues, traceability, food safety, place of purchase, brand/quality label, and label information as more important than New Zealand consumers by a difference of 1.0 or more (p < 0.05). New Zealand consumers rated animal welfare and the price of other meats as significantly more important than Chinese consumers (p < 0.05), although the magnitude of differences with Chinese consumers was less than one. There were no significant differences between New Zealand consumers and Chinese consumers in their ratings of the importance of lamb price, fat content, trust in the butcher, dish to be prepared with and value for money (p > 0.05).

Opinion about New Zealand Lamb
In general, both New Zealand consumers and Chinese consumers agreed with the positive statements presented on New Zealand lamb characteristics (scores > 4.0), and also both showed disagreement with the two negative statements presented on New Zealand lamb characteristics (scores < 4.0), boring and hard to digest (Table 5). However, there were also significant differences between New Zealand consumers and Chinese consumers in the degree of agreement/disagreement about New Zealand lamb for 15 out of 18 characteristics (p < 0.05). Specifically, Chinese consumers' opinion of New Zealand lamb was higher than New Zealand consumers for the following characteristics: nutritious, healthy, safe, good value for money, natural, produced sustainably, convenient, readily available, high quality, contains no additives, makes people feel good, tastes good, and supports the New Zealand economy (p < 0.05). However, the magnitude of the differences was small in most cases (differences in scores < 1.0), except for the attributes good value for money, makes people feel good, and contains no additive (differences in scores > 1.0). Interestingly, New Zealand consumers' opinion of New Zealand lamb was higher than Chinese consumers for two characteristics: traditional product and boring (p < 0.05), although the magnitude of the differences was less than one. There was no significant difference between the opinions of New Zealand consumers and Chinese consumers for well-known, unique, and hard to digest (p > 0.05).

Differences in Diets, Cooking and Purchasing Habits between Chinese and New Zealand Consumers
As expected, results showed a number of differences between Chinese consumers and New Zealand consumers in their diet and purchasing behaviour with meat ( Table 2). This may occur as a result of differences in a wide range of social (e.g., cultural traditions, religion, family style), economic (e.g., salary, lifestyle or employment status), and environmental (e.g., water, soil, geography) factors that New Zealand consumers and Chinese consumers would have experienced growing up [27]. In general, Chinese consumers are well-known to be health-conscious consumers [28], and the present study's finding that a significantly higher proportion of Chinese consumers in New Zealand followed diets low in salt, sugar, and calories, supports this concept. Although results indicated that a higher proportion of Chinese consumers look for marbling when purchasing lamb compared to New Zealand consumers, results also indicate a relatively low proportion of consumers from both ethnicities look for marbling when purchasing lamb compared to most other quality attributes. Large differences in the types of lamb products purchased were also seen between Chinese and New Zealand consumers, which again was expected as a result of differences in food culture such as food familiarity, flavour preferences, and cooking styles [18,20,27,29]. Chinese consumers tended to prefer to cook their lamb more thoroughly than New Zealand consumers, which may again reflect differences in cooking styles between cultures. For example, the most common cooking methods for sheep meat in China are stewing, cooking in hot pot or roasting [23], which normally cook meat to a high degree of doneness.

Differences in the Importance of Lamb Attributes at the Point of Purchase between Chinese and New Zealand Consumers
It is well-known that Chinese consumers place high importance on the quality, safety, and traceability of meat [22,23,30], often seeing these attributes as more important than consumers in other western nations [17]. Results in this study support this notion, as higher ratings of importance for food safety-related attributes such as traceability, brand/quality label, label information, food safety, knowledge of commercial cuts and place of purchase were found for Chinese consumers compared to New Zealand consumers. Several animal factors (origin, feed, and age) were also more important to Chinese consumers than New Zealand consumers ( Table 4). The higher value of importance of animal attributes by Chinese consumers may stem from a high level of distrust in Chinese food production systems and Chinese food products [31,32]. Animal welfare was an exception, where New Zealand consumers considered it more important than Chinese consumers when purchasing lamb. Recent studies suggest that animal welfare is becoming an increasingly important issue with Chinese consumers [33][34][35]; however, the results of this study indicate that it may still be a more important issue for consumers from a western background. In New Zealand, consumers generally expect the food they purchase to be safe for consumption; this high degree of trust may lead to greater attention on animal welfare issues.
In terms of the importance of sensory attributes, while Chinese consumers gave slightly higher overall ratings than New Zealand consumers (meat appearance, colour, flavour, texture), both consumer groups considered these attributes important when purchasing lamb (Table 4). In fact, meat flavour and texture were of a comparative level of importance to food safety for New Zealand consumers (food safety was more important than flavour and texture for Chinese consumers). Previous studies assessing the importance of sensory attributes on food choice suggest that sensory appeal is important to both Chinese and western consumers [36]. Interestingly, Prescott et al., 2002, [37] compared motives of food choice between New Zealand consumers and Japanese, Taiwanese, and ethnically Chinese Malaysian consumers, and found that sensory appeal was more important for New Zealand consumers than consumers from the other nations.

Differences in Opinion of New Zealand Lamb between Chinese and New Zealand Consumers
The largest difference observed between New Zealand consumers and Chinese consumers in the opinion of New Zealand lamb was around price, where Chinese consumers considered New Zealand lamb as much better value for money than New Zealand consumers (Table 5). This result may again be due to the high value Chinese consumers place on food safety and quality attributes in lamb, attributes which the results of this study suggest Chinese consumers see in New Zealand lamb ( Table 5). The fact that New Zealand consumers are known to view the price of food as the most important attribute when making purchasing decisions [38], is also likely to contribute to this result. New Zealand consumers rated the price of other meats as more important than Chinese consumers at the point of purchase (Table 4), and New Zealand consumers' familiarity with New Zealand lamb, where safety and quality are expected, may temper concerns for some other attributes and put greater emphasis on price. Furthermore, Chinese consumers had a higher overall opinion of New Zealand lamb than New Zealand consumers (Table 5). Although the magnitude of differences was relatively small, results suggest that Chinese consumers considered New Zealand lamb as more additive-free, likely to make people feel good, natural, healthy, sustainable, and high quality than New Zealand consumers; whereas New Zealand consumers viewed New Zealand lamb as more traditional than Chinese consumers (Table 5). In addition, Chinese consumers disagreed even more than New Zealand consumers with the statement that New Zealand lamb is boring. These results suggest that the New Zealand lamb industry has a significant opportunity to market lamb and lamb-based products to Chinese living in New Zealand, but also highlights that strategies need to be developed to address the concerns of general New Zealand consumers that New Zealand lamb is too expensive. While results in this study suggest that New Zealand consumers continue to believe that New Zealand lamb is unique, well-known, and of high quality, it is interesting that New Zealand consumers appear to be largely indifferent towards New Zealand lamb attributes despite its strong international reputation [1,39].

Limitations of This Study
This study recruited participants who were diverse in terms of sex, age, educational background, occupation, income, and household size. However, the age distribution of the New Zealand sample was skewed slightly towards the 18-25-and 46-60-year-old age categories, and skewed slightly towards males, compared to the total New Zealand population [40]. The age distribution of the Chinese sample was skewed slightly towards the younger/middle age categories (26-45 years old), and towards females, compared to the total Chinese population in New Zealand [41].
The results of this study show cross-cultural differences between New Zealanders and Chinese living in New Zealand; however, results cannot be generalized to cross-cultural differences between New Zealand consumers and Chinese consumers from China. A comparison of responses of Chinese consumers from this study, with those obtained from an online survey with Chinese consumers in China using identical questions [21], shows only moderate differences in the results.

Conclusions
This study showed that, in terms of importance at the point of purchase, Chinese consumers rated a number of attributes as more important than New Zealand consumers by a difference of >1.0 on a 9-point Likert scale for importance: animal origin, feeding, age, presence of hormones/residues, traceability, food safety, place of purchase, brand/quality label, and label information (p < 0.05). New Zealand consumers rated the price of other meats and animal welfare as more important than Chinese consumers (p < 0.05); however, the differences in scores were <1.0. Both Chinese and New Zealand consumers rated sensory properties of lamb (meat colour, meat appearance, meat flavour, and meat texture) as important relative to other attributes; however, Chinese consumers still rated sensory properties as significantly more important than New Zealand consumers (p < 0.05), despite the differences in scores being <1.0.
In terms of opinions, Chinese consumers also considered New Zealand lamb to be better value for money, more additive-free, and more likely to make people feel good (p < 0.05), by scores >1.0 on a 7-point Likert scale for agreement. New Zealand consumers considered New Zealand lamb more traditional and boring (p < 0.05); however, the differences in scores were <1.0.
These insights may prove valuable for the New Zealand lamb industry to develop strategies to address declining domestic lamb consumption in New Zealand.