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College Student Egg Preferences
College Student Egg Preferences j . G. BERRY
Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907 (Received for publication March 14, 1977)
Poultry Science 56:1952-1955, 1977 Egg consumption on a per capita basis in the U.S. has been declining for the past 25 years. Egg producers, like others with products to sell, are continually concerned about sales and consumption of their product. Recent restructuring of the American Egg Board has made producers hopeful that egg promotion will either reverse the downward slope of the line on consumption charts or bring it more toward the horizontal. Several attempts have been made to identify factors that influence egg consumption. Ricter and Brenner (1960) named the most important factor that influences egg consumption as being breakfast habits of consumers. Another factor they mentioned was that less eggs were being used in home baking. Baker et al. (1965) reported that teenage boys eat more eggs than teenage girls and that younger homemakers tend to use less eggs than do their older counterparts. Berry and Mitchell (1969) found that college age men like eggs and eat eggs more often than do women in the same age group. In addition they reported flavor and nutrition were the main reasons that the students surveyed ate eggs. Convenience was identified by Clark et al. (1964) as a factor in consumer's choices of breakfast foods.
1 Journal Paper No. 6626 of the Purdue University Agricultural Experiment Station, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907.
Ideally, promotional efforts are designed to reach the consuming public in such a way that they have maximum effectiveness. Evaluating present consumer attitudes is difficult, but planning a program for sometime in the future is more difficult still. One possible way of planning effective promotion for future consumers is to survey today's college age people. Such a survey was recently conducted among students at Purdue University. Each of the 1,680 students completing the questionnaire was asked to answer 26 questions concerning personal background, egg preferences, and knowledge of egg advertisement. Questionnaires were distributed in campus residence halls and were voluntarily completed. By employing check or rank items, a minimum amount of the respondant's time was sought. RESULTS A summary of responses indicated that in general young people enjoy eating eggs. Having eggs as a regular item in the diet was preferred by 85.8% of the respondents (Table 1). In addition, as shown in Table 2, 87.1% said they liked eggs to be included on the cafeteria menu. College students' reasons for eating eggs remained unchanged since the report by Berry and Mitchell in 1969, who identified flavor and nutrition as the major factors influencing consumption. The favorite types of preparation were the common methods of frying and scrambling. The results, shown in Table 3, indicate that 42.7% of the students completing the questionnaire said they ate eggs 3 times per
1952
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at National Institute of Education Library, Serials Unit on June 15, 2015
ABSTRACT College students were surveyed in an effort to determine their preferences concerning eggs. A summary of responses indicated that in general young people enjoy eating eggs and 85.8% prefer to have them as a regular item in the diet. Of those surveyed 72.8% indicated that they eat eggs at least once each week. Concern about cholesterol had no influence on 62.5% of those who responded to the survey. When asked to rank sources of information they deemed most credible the physician—American Medical Association ranked first with 36% of the respondants indicating that choice. Men students were found to eat eggs more often than women. When the responding students were further categorized by either rural or urban background, no further differences of any significance were noted.
EGG PREFERENCES
1953
TABLE 1.-Percentage of surveyed students who felt eggs should be a regular item in the diet
Yes No No answer
Males
Females
Combined
85.0 12.9 2.6
87.4 12.4 0.1
85.8 12.6 1.6
information. The next sources of information in order of ranking were television, magazines, newspapers, college course work, and finally radio. In fact, a special category for sources that were to be written in ranked above radio. Advertising campaigns to promote eggs have been partially successful in reaching the group surveyed. Slightly more than half (56%) of the students questioned had read or heard egg advertising, but 71.4% said they had never heard the popular award winning terminology, "the incredible edible egg". In an attempt to identify the sources of information the students deemed most credible, they were asked to rank possible "authorities" on egg nutrition. As can be seen in Table 6, the physician—American Medical Association ranked first with 36% of the votes. College nutrition professors received the next highest ranking (21.9%) and the others in order were American Egg Board, American Heart Association and magazine nutrition writers. When respondents were divided according to either rural or urban backgrounds, further differences were identified. Of those students from rural areas 89.5% indicated that they thought eggs should be a regular part of the diet as compared to 84.2% from urban areas. Background accounted for a 3% difference in how often students eat eggs, (44.8% for rural vs. 41.7% for urban). Six percent fewer rural students than urban students concerned them-
TABLE 2.—Percentage of surveyed students who felt eggs should be included in the menu
Yes No No answer
Males
Females
Combined
88.2 9.6 2.2
86.1 12.9 1.0
87.1 11.3 1.6
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at National Institute of Education Library, Serials Unit on June 15, 2015
week or more while 72.8% said they ate eggs at least once a week. As might be expected, 88.6% chose breakfast as the meal that they preferred to have eggs. However, almost half of the participating students (42%) said that they did not eat breakfast. These results support the previously mentioned research by Ricter and Brenner (1960) who identified breakfast habits of consumers as the most important factor in egg consumption. Certainly if more consumers in this age group ate breakfast, a significant change might be noted in the demand for eggs. The primary reasons indicated by the respondents for not eating eggs were flavor and health implications with 50.5% and 33.5%, respectively, making those choices (Table 4). Other reasons cited were that eggs are not offered on the menu and that they are too expensive. The number who were concerned about health is consistant with the 62.5% that said cholesterol had no influence on their eating eggs. There were 8.2% who indicated that difficulty in cleaning the cooking utensil was their reason for not eating eggs. A significant number (43.4%) of the participants indicated that they would eat more eggs if they planned their own menus. How surveyed students ranked their main sources of information on eggs is shown in Table 5. Forty-four percent of the respondents indicated that friends or peers supplied their
1954
J. G. BERRY TABLE 3.—Frequency of egg consumption by surveyed Males
Females
12.4 34.3 28.5 21.9 3.9
9.5 29.5 31.8 26.7 3.9
students Combined
(%) 10.9 31.8ab 30.1ab 24.3 b 3.9
^ h e total eating eggs three times a week or more was 42.7%. The total eating eggs at least once each week was 72.8%.
TABLE 4.—Reasons given forjiot eating eggs Males
Females
18.6 39.5 8.9 35.9 9.5 11.7
15.6 61.6 6.7 31.5 7.0 10.0
Combined*
(%) Not offered on menu Dislike taste Too expensive Health implications Pans difficult to clean after cooking Other
17.0 50.5 7.8 33.5 8.2 10.8
Total of percentages add to more than 100% due to some students marking more than one reason.
selves over cholesterol. The physician still ranked first as the most credible source of information about eggs among those with rural backgrounds, but the amount was only 30.6% as compared to 38.1% for those with urban backgrounds. When men and women students' egg preferences were compared, it was evident that men ate eggs more often than women since 46.7% of the men compared to 39% of the women said that they ate eggs at least 3 times per week
TABLE 5.—Rank of sources of egg information for surveyed students Percentage TV Radio People (friends or peers) Newspapers Magazine Coursework Other
25.0 4.9 44.0 12.8 17.6 11.6 8.4
Rank 2 7 1 4 3 5 6
(Table 3). Slightly more of the men (2%) said that they would eat more eggs if given the opportunity. These results are similar to those of Berry and Mitchell (1969). Part of the differences in frequency of egg consumption may be due to the difference in the number of men and women who eat breakfast. Approximately 7% more men than women reported that they eat breakfast. Also, more women than men (almost 6%) prefer eggs at meals other than breakfast. The most dramatic difference identified between men and women's egg preferences was their reasons for not eating eggs more often. Of the men surveyed, 39.5% indicated that dislike for the taste was the reason for not eating eggs (Table 4). The number of women who gave the same response was 61.6%. The most credible source of information for both groups was the AMA, however, fewer of the men (32.8% vs. 39.2%) ranked it first (Table 6). The American Egg Board also received a 9% lower rating from the men. College nutrition professors and the American Heart Association were the categories that received more of the men's votes.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at National Institute of Education Library, Serials Unit on June 15, 2015
Daily 3 - 6 times/week 1-2 times/week Occasionally Never
EGG PREFERENCES
1955
TABLE 6.—Sources of information deemed most credible concerning egg nutrition Percentage first place ranka Females
Combined
12.9 25.6 32.8 2.7 16.8
21.9 18.5 39.2 3.8 12.9
17.5 21.9 36.0 3.2 14.7
All participants did not respond so all columns do not add to 100%.
When the men and women students' responses were further divided by background, no large differences were noted in their answers except in the case of their concern over cholesterol. More of the men and women from urban backgrounds, 5.2% and 6.6% respectively, expressed concern over cholesterol in eggs. Based on results from this survey it can be concluded that urban consumers may need t o be the target for promotion programs presented to the public since it was they that indicated more concern over cholesterol. It was also this same group who had a lesser percentage that felt eggs should be a regular item in the diet, and it was they who did not eat eggs as frequently as those from rural areas. The student's ranking of their sources of information would seem to give an indication where advertising efforts should be focused to reach this particular consumer group. Based on this ranking, radio and perhaps newspapers should be bypassed in favor of television and magazine promotions. Since a sizable number of the college students surveyed had not seen any egg advertisements, it would also appear advantageous for more of the promotional efforts to be designed for this particular audience. After all, in the future it is this group who will be doing the purchasing. If young women are to be persuaded to include eggs in their diets more frequently the results would indicate the need for more
emphasis on ways to incorporate eggs into meals other than breakfast. Another factor that must be considered is that these egg dishes should be such that the dominant flavor is not that of the egg. Because the physician or the AMA was rated as the most credible source of information concerning egg nutrition, it would seem that the inclusion of more nutrition courses in medical school curricula is a must. Physicians should be educated and informed of current nutritional research of egg products and other foods. They should be aware of the responsibility they hold due to their position as physicians and as such they should prepare themselves to be wise informants. Information such as this should aid in directing future promotional endeavors.
REFERENCES Baker, R. 1_, C. M. Coughenour and M. G. Knapp, 1965. Who will eat tomorrow's eggs? Poultry Sci. 44:1350. Berry, Joe G., and J. David Mitchell, 1969. Egg consumption patterns and preferences of Kansas college students. Poultry Sci. 48:1467—1470. dark, T. C , F. D. Rollins, R. C. Angus and A. A. Kurnick, 1964. Some consumer opinions about eggs as affected by selected egg carton copy. Poultry Sci. 43:1308. Ricter, J., and M. Brenner, 1960. What housewives say about egg. Poultry Tribune, 66: No. 8, pp. 14.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at National Institute of Education Library, Serials Unit on June 15, 2015
American Egg Board College nutrition professor Physician—American Medical Association Magazines—Nutrition feature writer American Heart Association
Males
Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907 (Received for publication March 14, 1977)
Poultry Science 56:1952-1955, 1977 Egg consumption on a per capita basis in the U.S. has been declining for the past 25 years. Egg producers, like others with products to sell, are continually concerned about sales and consumption of their product. Recent restructuring of the American Egg Board has made producers hopeful that egg promotion will either reverse the downward slope of the line on consumption charts or bring it more toward the horizontal. Several attempts have been made to identify factors that influence egg consumption. Ricter and Brenner (1960) named the most important factor that influences egg consumption as being breakfast habits of consumers. Another factor they mentioned was that less eggs were being used in home baking. Baker et al. (1965) reported that teenage boys eat more eggs than teenage girls and that younger homemakers tend to use less eggs than do their older counterparts. Berry and Mitchell (1969) found that college age men like eggs and eat eggs more often than do women in the same age group. In addition they reported flavor and nutrition were the main reasons that the students surveyed ate eggs. Convenience was identified by Clark et al. (1964) as a factor in consumer's choices of breakfast foods.
1 Journal Paper No. 6626 of the Purdue University Agricultural Experiment Station, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907.
Ideally, promotional efforts are designed to reach the consuming public in such a way that they have maximum effectiveness. Evaluating present consumer attitudes is difficult, but planning a program for sometime in the future is more difficult still. One possible way of planning effective promotion for future consumers is to survey today's college age people. Such a survey was recently conducted among students at Purdue University. Each of the 1,680 students completing the questionnaire was asked to answer 26 questions concerning personal background, egg preferences, and knowledge of egg advertisement. Questionnaires were distributed in campus residence halls and were voluntarily completed. By employing check or rank items, a minimum amount of the respondant's time was sought. RESULTS A summary of responses indicated that in general young people enjoy eating eggs. Having eggs as a regular item in the diet was preferred by 85.8% of the respondents (Table 1). In addition, as shown in Table 2, 87.1% said they liked eggs to be included on the cafeteria menu. College students' reasons for eating eggs remained unchanged since the report by Berry and Mitchell in 1969, who identified flavor and nutrition as the major factors influencing consumption. The favorite types of preparation were the common methods of frying and scrambling. The results, shown in Table 3, indicate that 42.7% of the students completing the questionnaire said they ate eggs 3 times per
1952
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at National Institute of Education Library, Serials Unit on June 15, 2015
ABSTRACT College students were surveyed in an effort to determine their preferences concerning eggs. A summary of responses indicated that in general young people enjoy eating eggs and 85.8% prefer to have them as a regular item in the diet. Of those surveyed 72.8% indicated that they eat eggs at least once each week. Concern about cholesterol had no influence on 62.5% of those who responded to the survey. When asked to rank sources of information they deemed most credible the physician—American Medical Association ranked first with 36% of the respondants indicating that choice. Men students were found to eat eggs more often than women. When the responding students were further categorized by either rural or urban background, no further differences of any significance were noted.
EGG PREFERENCES
1953
TABLE 1.-Percentage of surveyed students who felt eggs should be a regular item in the diet
Yes No No answer
Males
Females
Combined
85.0 12.9 2.6
87.4 12.4 0.1
85.8 12.6 1.6
information. The next sources of information in order of ranking were television, magazines, newspapers, college course work, and finally radio. In fact, a special category for sources that were to be written in ranked above radio. Advertising campaigns to promote eggs have been partially successful in reaching the group surveyed. Slightly more than half (56%) of the students questioned had read or heard egg advertising, but 71.4% said they had never heard the popular award winning terminology, "the incredible edible egg". In an attempt to identify the sources of information the students deemed most credible, they were asked to rank possible "authorities" on egg nutrition. As can be seen in Table 6, the physician—American Medical Association ranked first with 36% of the votes. College nutrition professors received the next highest ranking (21.9%) and the others in order were American Egg Board, American Heart Association and magazine nutrition writers. When respondents were divided according to either rural or urban backgrounds, further differences were identified. Of those students from rural areas 89.5% indicated that they thought eggs should be a regular part of the diet as compared to 84.2% from urban areas. Background accounted for a 3% difference in how often students eat eggs, (44.8% for rural vs. 41.7% for urban). Six percent fewer rural students than urban students concerned them-
TABLE 2.—Percentage of surveyed students who felt eggs should be included in the menu
Yes No No answer
Males
Females
Combined
88.2 9.6 2.2
86.1 12.9 1.0
87.1 11.3 1.6
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at National Institute of Education Library, Serials Unit on June 15, 2015
week or more while 72.8% said they ate eggs at least once a week. As might be expected, 88.6% chose breakfast as the meal that they preferred to have eggs. However, almost half of the participating students (42%) said that they did not eat breakfast. These results support the previously mentioned research by Ricter and Brenner (1960) who identified breakfast habits of consumers as the most important factor in egg consumption. Certainly if more consumers in this age group ate breakfast, a significant change might be noted in the demand for eggs. The primary reasons indicated by the respondents for not eating eggs were flavor and health implications with 50.5% and 33.5%, respectively, making those choices (Table 4). Other reasons cited were that eggs are not offered on the menu and that they are too expensive. The number who were concerned about health is consistant with the 62.5% that said cholesterol had no influence on their eating eggs. There were 8.2% who indicated that difficulty in cleaning the cooking utensil was their reason for not eating eggs. A significant number (43.4%) of the participants indicated that they would eat more eggs if they planned their own menus. How surveyed students ranked their main sources of information on eggs is shown in Table 5. Forty-four percent of the respondents indicated that friends or peers supplied their
1954
J. G. BERRY TABLE 3.—Frequency of egg consumption by surveyed Males
Females
12.4 34.3 28.5 21.9 3.9
9.5 29.5 31.8 26.7 3.9
students Combined
(%) 10.9 31.8ab 30.1ab 24.3 b 3.9
^ h e total eating eggs three times a week or more was 42.7%. The total eating eggs at least once each week was 72.8%.
TABLE 4.—Reasons given forjiot eating eggs Males
Females
18.6 39.5 8.9 35.9 9.5 11.7
15.6 61.6 6.7 31.5 7.0 10.0
Combined*
(%) Not offered on menu Dislike taste Too expensive Health implications Pans difficult to clean after cooking Other
17.0 50.5 7.8 33.5 8.2 10.8
Total of percentages add to more than 100% due to some students marking more than one reason.
selves over cholesterol. The physician still ranked first as the most credible source of information about eggs among those with rural backgrounds, but the amount was only 30.6% as compared to 38.1% for those with urban backgrounds. When men and women students' egg preferences were compared, it was evident that men ate eggs more often than women since 46.7% of the men compared to 39% of the women said that they ate eggs at least 3 times per week
TABLE 5.—Rank of sources of egg information for surveyed students Percentage TV Radio People (friends or peers) Newspapers Magazine Coursework Other
25.0 4.9 44.0 12.8 17.6 11.6 8.4
Rank 2 7 1 4 3 5 6
(Table 3). Slightly more of the men (2%) said that they would eat more eggs if given the opportunity. These results are similar to those of Berry and Mitchell (1969). Part of the differences in frequency of egg consumption may be due to the difference in the number of men and women who eat breakfast. Approximately 7% more men than women reported that they eat breakfast. Also, more women than men (almost 6%) prefer eggs at meals other than breakfast. The most dramatic difference identified between men and women's egg preferences was their reasons for not eating eggs more often. Of the men surveyed, 39.5% indicated that dislike for the taste was the reason for not eating eggs (Table 4). The number of women who gave the same response was 61.6%. The most credible source of information for both groups was the AMA, however, fewer of the men (32.8% vs. 39.2%) ranked it first (Table 6). The American Egg Board also received a 9% lower rating from the men. College nutrition professors and the American Heart Association were the categories that received more of the men's votes.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at National Institute of Education Library, Serials Unit on June 15, 2015
Daily 3 - 6 times/week 1-2 times/week Occasionally Never
EGG PREFERENCES
1955
TABLE 6.—Sources of information deemed most credible concerning egg nutrition Percentage first place ranka Females
Combined
12.9 25.6 32.8 2.7 16.8
21.9 18.5 39.2 3.8 12.9
17.5 21.9 36.0 3.2 14.7
All participants did not respond so all columns do not add to 100%.
When the men and women students' responses were further divided by background, no large differences were noted in their answers except in the case of their concern over cholesterol. More of the men and women from urban backgrounds, 5.2% and 6.6% respectively, expressed concern over cholesterol in eggs. Based on results from this survey it can be concluded that urban consumers may need t o be the target for promotion programs presented to the public since it was they that indicated more concern over cholesterol. It was also this same group who had a lesser percentage that felt eggs should be a regular item in the diet, and it was they who did not eat eggs as frequently as those from rural areas. The student's ranking of their sources of information would seem to give an indication where advertising efforts should be focused to reach this particular consumer group. Based on this ranking, radio and perhaps newspapers should be bypassed in favor of television and magazine promotions. Since a sizable number of the college students surveyed had not seen any egg advertisements, it would also appear advantageous for more of the promotional efforts to be designed for this particular audience. After all, in the future it is this group who will be doing the purchasing. If young women are to be persuaded to include eggs in their diets more frequently the results would indicate the need for more
emphasis on ways to incorporate eggs into meals other than breakfast. Another factor that must be considered is that these egg dishes should be such that the dominant flavor is not that of the egg. Because the physician or the AMA was rated as the most credible source of information concerning egg nutrition, it would seem that the inclusion of more nutrition courses in medical school curricula is a must. Physicians should be educated and informed of current nutritional research of egg products and other foods. They should be aware of the responsibility they hold due to their position as physicians and as such they should prepare themselves to be wise informants. Information such as this should aid in directing future promotional endeavors.
REFERENCES Baker, R. 1_, C. M. Coughenour and M. G. Knapp, 1965. Who will eat tomorrow's eggs? Poultry Sci. 44:1350. Berry, Joe G., and J. David Mitchell, 1969. Egg consumption patterns and preferences of Kansas college students. Poultry Sci. 48:1467—1470. dark, T. C , F. D. Rollins, R. C. Angus and A. A. Kurnick, 1964. Some consumer opinions about eggs as affected by selected egg carton copy. Poultry Sci. 43:1308. Ricter, J., and M. Brenner, 1960. What housewives say about egg. Poultry Tribune, 66: No. 8, pp. 14.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at National Institute of Education Library, Serials Unit on June 15, 2015
American Egg Board College nutrition professor Physician—American Medical Association Magazines—Nutrition feature writer American Heart Association
Males