Factors Influencing Consumer Preference for Beef or Chevon in the Northern Region of Ghana

Abstract

The study examined the influence of husbandry practices and socio-cultural factors on consumers' preference for beef or chevon in the Northern Region  of Ghana. A descriptive crosssectional survey with 410 participants was used in this research. The participants were chosen using the convenience  sampling method. The significance of associations was determined by chisquare analysis, and binary logistic regressions were used to asses influence of  factors on meat preferences. Out of the 410 respondents, 65.6% were males, and the mean age was 33.5 years. Most of the respondents (59.0%)  indicated that their type of meat preference is beef as compared to 41.0% who preferred chevon. The meat type consumers usually purchased was beef  as indicated by 62.0% of the respondents. Both age and marital status had a significant association with meat type purchased. Among the husbandry  practices, quality and hygiene of animal feeds or watering were significantly associated with meat preference. Age of the respondent predicted meat  preference with those within the age group of 35 – 44 years more likely (5.8 times) to prefer chevon than beef as compared to those within the age group  of 24 years and below. The results further shows that single respondents were more likely to prefer chevon than beef, when compared with those  married. The religion of the respondents predicted meat preference with traditional religious belief more likely to prefer chevon over beef as compared  to those from Islamic religious belief. Generally beef was the most preferred meat type with husbandry practices and some socio-cultural factors such as  age, marital status and religious practice influencing choice of meat type. It is recommended that farmers on the basis of this study consider animal  husbandry practices such as feeding with quality housing very serious in order to attract meat consumers.