ABSTRACT
Self-reported approaches such as surveys are a common way in which consumers' preferences and needs can be assessed but this approach can provide incorrect results. Few studies combine data from cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and marketing. Among these techniques, eye-tracking can be used to elucidate how observers' overt visual attention is acted upon, and it can also be employed to evaluate and compare individuals' graphic search behaviour in a number of settings. Using eye-tracking technology, the purpose of this article is to identify how beef consumers pay attention to the information on price labels and to compare that to their self-reported attention ratings. The dataset used in this study consists of 307 participants. Kendall's W tests were used to identify and rank consumers' preferences from eye-tracking and post-test questionnaires. Pearson's correlations were used to correlate consumers' demographic information against their eye-tracking data. Results from the eye-tracking test showed that the aspects that received the most attention from the participants were the price of the pack, butchery name, and classification of the meat. The price of the pack was looked at more times by the largest share of consumers, and for the most extended period of all labelling, aspects presented. Results also showed that the butchery's name was the labelling aspect consumers mostly paid attention to first. Fewer consumers tended to look at the packaging date, sell-by date and cut name. A difference was found between the aspects that the participants indicated were the most important when buying red meat and what aspects they actually paid attention to when looking at packs of beef. Correlation results suggest that younger consumers are more likely to pay attention to the price labelling aspects and for a longer period. However, it will be at a later stage than older consumers. Also, price label information seems to be more important to higher educated beef consumers. The vital role that eye-tracking can play in improving the accuracy of research has been highlighted in the study. Marketing agents will also be able to use eye-tracking to ensure that products meet the demands of their customers. Future studies must be performed to confirm the results of this study before they can be generalised. It would be worthwhile to also test consumers' understanding of beef price label information.
ABSTRACT
Heartwater is a dangerous tick-borne disease for livestock farmers in South Africa and results in annual economic losses for the livestock industry. This study determined the total economic impact of heartwater in South Africa by calculating this disease's direct and indirect costs. Survey data from 272 livestock farmers from six provinces of South Africa was used for this study. Available heartwater research in South Africa only focused on the prevention and control of and vaccination against heartwater, with no research having undertaken an in-depth study of the total economic impact of this disease. The highest cost due to heartwater at provincial level was calculated for the Eastern Cape Province, followed by the North West and Mpumalanga Provinces. Heartwater has an enormous impact on the cattle industry, with an approximate R1 059 million losses experienced each year. The sheep industry experiences a total cost loss of approximately R168 million per year, with the goat industry experiencing about R39 million per year. The total economic impact of heartwater on the South African livestock industry is estimated at R1 266 million per annum. The direct cost contributed 66.47%, and indirect costs contributed 33.57% to the total cost of heartwater. The annual cost of heartwater vaccines contributed the least to the total cost of heartwater, with only 10% of the participants administering the heartwater vaccine. A total of 84.29% of the respondents indicated a need for a new and improved heartwater vaccine. This study emphasises the importance of heartwater in South Africa and farmers' high costs because of this disease. If an improved heartwater vaccine can be developed, the direct cost of heartwater will reduce, which is the bulk of its economic impact. This research can serve as a basis for future research on heartwater, where cost-benefit analyses could be conducted on heartwater's different prevention and control methods.
