any aspect involving a range in quality in the general state of a product
(Tijskens, 1999). Thus, acceptance describes the state of a product, while
acceptability describes the interaction of that product with the consumer
and existing conditions. Other definitions of acceptability include “the
level of continued purchase or consumption by a specified population”
(Land, 1988, p. 476, cited by Shewfelt, 1999) and “actual utilization
(purchase, eating) may be measured by preference or liking for a spe-
cific item” or “an experience or feature of an experience, characterized
by a positive (approach in a pleasant) attitude” (Amerine et al., 1965,
p. 543, cited by Brückner and Auerswald, 1999).
Approaches
Likewise numerous approaches to the study of quality or application
of basic principles of quality have been described, as listed in Table 16.3.
Specific models that have been advanced range from the hard, clearly
defined outputs of Quality Function Deployment (Bech, 1999) to the
soft, more flexible outputs of Soft Systems Management (Prussia, 1999).
These models incorporate rather generalized concepts like Total Qual-
ity Management and Efficient Consumer Response to very specific ap-
plications such as Integrated Quality Management (Viaene et al., 1999).
Product distribution is emphasized in Supply Chain Management (Jon-
gen, 1999; Viaene et al., 1999), while consumer response is critical in
Quality Enhancement (Shewfelt, 1999) and the Total Food Quality
Model (Bech, 1999). Quality has been viewed from the standpoint of
the product with respect to gene-technological modification (Wehling,
1999), maturity (Nilsson, 1999) and grades and standards (Florkowski,
1999). It has been viewed from the standpoint of the consumer with re-
spect to consumer demand (Pecher and von Oppen, 1999), food choice
(Adani and MacFie, 1999) and quality limit, which integrates the con-
cepts of quality and acceptability (Tijskens, 1999). Quality has also been
viewed from the standpoint of market valuation (Florkowski, 1999).
Measurement of quality has been related to the objective/subjective
framework of a product orientation (Pecher and von Oppen, 1999; Bech,
1999) and to the purchase/consumption of a consumer orientation
(Shewfelt, 1999; Brückner and Auerswald, 1999; Florkowski, 1999).
When expectations do not match reality, stakeholders experience prob-
lems, and it is these problems that can serve as a point of integration for
research (Kuchenbuch et al., 1999).