Marco Platania

Typical products and consumer preferences: the “soppressata” case

Purpose – The paper sets out to analyse consumer preferences relating to a typical product, soppressata (a traditional Calabrian salted meat with PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) certification).Design/methodology/approach – A multivariate analysis technique (factor analysis) was used on a sample of consumers, identified by a specific market research survey. Identification of groups of homogenous purchasers, according to one or two variables, is the objective of the segmentation approach which breaks up the reference market into homogeneous subgroups as regards their expectations and purchasing behaviour. Factor analysis lends itself to this use, allowing the weight of each component extracted from the interviewee to be graded.Findings – Soppressata is a well‐known product. The main reason for purchase is that it is very tasty. Consumers appreciated the traditional culture it represents.Originality/value – The possible strategies for quality and development offer new opportunities for producers as the...

Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards patients with HIV/AIDS in staff nurses in one university hospital in Sicily

them knew what is the ‘window period’ (62%) and were acquainted with HIV pathophysiology (65%). no statistically significant differences in terms of risk perception were found between nurses who had previously attended an HIV/aIdS workshop, lecture or specific course (43%) and nurses who did not (57%). level of knowledge was positively associated to age (P=0.000) and to education (P=0.016), and it was found higher in nurses working in a o.u. of Infectious diseases. concluSIonS: data from our study show that also in developed countries, such as Italy, nurses could have some misconceptions and concerns about HIV/aIdS. the importance of examining the impact of continuing education on nurses’ preparedness to care for patients with HIV/aIdS and to prevent the risks of occupational HIV transmission is discussed.