A new study from the beef checkoff program and Kansas State University examines the factors consumers use to make beef purchasing decisions and gives insight to how consumers are expected to behave not just now, but also five or 10 years from now.

"We're trying to look at what beef demand determinants are five to 10 years out," explains Ted Greidanus, California beef board member, in a recent beef checkoff interview. "We'll take that and use it in advertising campaigns, we'll use it in promotional products and so forth."

The biggest drivers, the research found, are product safety, quality and price. Greidanus emphasizes safety.

"To me the primary key message is: if we don't have a safe product, and we don't have beef safety, none of the other drivers matter," he says. "So, safety is priority number one. And after that taste, tenderness, flavor come in very high."

To read more about consumer preferences for beef, click here.

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