Consumer Research & Focus Group Testing

Consumer Research & Focus Group Testing

This page indexes research reports related to FSIS' food safety education programs and includes a list of outside resources for more research findings related to consumer behavior.

Grocery cart; raw meats separated from produce

Be Food Safe Research
Social marketing research supports FSIS' new mass media campaign.

Qualitative Research with Transplant Recipients and Caregivers: Food Safety Messages and Delivery Mechanisms (Jun 2006) | PDF (1.3MB)
Report describes focus group testing of a food safety booklet targeted to bone marrow and solid organ transplant recipients and their caregivers. Appendices included in PDF only.

Checking casserole temperature with food thermometer

A Report of the "Is It Done Yet?" Social Marketing Campaign To Promote the Use of Food Thermometers (Dec 1, 2005; PDF Only, 1.5MB)
Development and implementation of this campaign, objectives, evaluation of the pilot, and next steps in food thermometer education efforts by FSIS.

At-Risk Consumers

Qualitative Research with Transplant Recipients and Caregivers: Food Safety Messages and Delivery Mechanisms (Jun 2006) | PDF (1.3MB; Includes appendices)
Listeriosis Food Safety Messages and Delivery Mechanisms for Pregnant Women (Feb 23, 2001) | PDF

Be Food Safe Mass Media Campaign

Focus Group Report on Creative Concept Testing for Food Safety Mass Media Campaign (Jan 3, 2006; PDF Only; 822kb)
Focus Group Report on Message and Creative Concepts for Food Safety Mass Media Campaign (Apr 19, 2005; PDF Only; 630 kb)
Review of Literature to Support the Development of a Multi-Year Mass Media Campaign Plan: Identifying Target Audiences and Influencing Their Safe Food Handling Behaviors (Dec 9, 2004; PDF Only)
Theoretical Framework: Multi-Year Mass Media Campaign Plan (Dec 9, 2004; PDF Only)
Review of Media Landscape to Support Development of a Multi-Year Mass Media Campaign Plan: Identifying Media Opportunities to Reach Target Audiences and Influence Their Safe Food Handling Behaviors (Dec 9, 2004; PDF Only, 1MB)

Food Thermometer Use

A Report of the "Is It Done Yet?" Social Marketing Campaign To Promote the Use of Food Thermometers (Dec 1, 2005; PDF Only, 1.5MB)
Food Thermometer Use Among Boomburb Family Observational Research Participants (Feb 1, 2005; PDF Only)
Focus Groups to Test Materials for the "Is it DONE yet?" Campaign (Dec 31, 2004; PDF Only, 1MB) | Appendices (PDF Only, 2.5 MB)
Evaluation of Slogans and Concepts for USDA's Food Thermometer Education Campaign (Feb 24, 2004; PDF Only, 4MB)
Communications Guide for Boomburbs Families (Oct 2003; PDF Only)
Food Thermometer Education Campaign - "Boomburbs" Communications Concept Testing (Mar 2003; PDF Only)
Thermometer Usage Messages and Delivery Mechanisms for Parents of Young Children and Appendices (Mar 1, 2002; PDF Only)
Final Research Report: A Project to Apply Theories of Social Marketing To the Challenge of Food Thermometer Education In the United States (Dec 21, 2001)
Thermometer Slogan Focus Group Study (Aug 31, 1999; PDF Only)
Food Thermometer Campaign Consumer Focus Groups: Summary Report (Jul-Aug 1999; PDF Only)
Individual reports:
Focus Groups on Barriers that Limit Consumers' Use of Thermometers when Cooking Meat and Poultry Products, Phase One (Jan 1998; PDF Only)

Pathogen Reduction/HACCP Final Rule: Changes in Consumer Behavior

Changes in Consumer Knowledge, Behavior, and Confidence Since the 1996 PR/HACCP Final Rule; Final Report (Sep 3, 2002) | PDF
Changes in Consumer Knowledge, Behavior, and Confidence Since the 1996 Pathogen Reduction/HACCP Final Rule; Final Report (Dec 5, 2001) | PDF
Focus Group Study on Food Safety Messages and Delivery Mechanisms (Aug 21, 2000; PDF Only)

Premature Browning of Hamburger

Study was a collaborative effort by USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and FSIS.
- Cooked-to-Brown Burgers May Not Tell the Truth (Feb 2, 2001)
Lighting Influences the Perception of Cooked Color of Ground Beef Patties (Jul 31, 1998)

USDA Food Safety Mobile

Evaluation of the USDA Food Safety Mobile: Findings from Focus Groups with Visitors (PDF Only, 116MB)

Other Resources

USDA Resources

Intergovernmental Resources and Other Partners

Consumer Research on Foodborne Illness, Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN), Food and Drug Administration and the University of Maryland
Science and Research Page at www.FoodSafety.gov
Consumer Research Information, Partnership for Food Safety Education

Last Modified: October 25, 2006


			Food Safety Education Programs


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				Food Safety Mobile

				Thermy™

				Is It Done Yet?

				Fight BAC!®

				Food Safety Education Month


			USDA Meat & Poultry Hotline

			Ask Karen

			For Kids & Teens

			Fact Sheets

			be FoodSafe: The FSIS Magazine

			Food Defense & Emergency Response


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