The specific focus of the research will be on credence attributes, which are qualities believed by a consumer to be present in a product even though they are not directly observed with purchase. Examples include food safety, animal welfare, environmental protection, cultural authenticity, country of origin and functional health food.

The aims of the research are:

• To understand how consumers in selected key export markets (including China, India, Indonesia, Japan and the United Kingdom) understand and value credence attributes associated with New Zealand land-based exports;
• To estimate the potential value to New Zealand producers of investing in brands that incorporate these credence attributes;
• To evaluate modern communication technologies and key messages for delivering this potential value to New Zealand producers and processors.

 The research team will prepare an update of our work every three months of the research programme. It will also produce more detailed research reports as each stage is completed. These updates, reports and other material will be freely accessible from this website.

To date, this project has produced three Research Reports, which are available:

• MER Research Report 1: Consumer behaviour and trends for credence attributes in key markets and a review of how these may be communicated. Sini Miller, Tim Driver, Noelani Velasquez and Caroline Saunders. AERU Research Report No. 332, July 2014;
• MER Research Report 2: Communicating New Zealand's credence attributes to international consumers. Nic Lees and Caroline Saunders. AERU Research Report No. 334, January 2015;
• MER Research Report 3: Consumer attitudes to New Zealand food product attributes and technology use in key international markets. Caroline Saunders, Meike Guenther, Tim Driver, Peter Tait, Paul Dalziel and Paul Rutherford. AERU Research Report No. 333, May 2015;
• MER Research Report 4: Consumer attitudes towards attributes of food and beverages in export markets relevant to New Zealand. Meike Guenther, Caroline Saunders, Paul Dalziel, Paul Rutherford and Timothy Driver. AERU Research Report No. 336, November 2015.