Rosaria Viscecchia

Italian wine demand and differentiation effect of geographical indications

Purpose – Geographical indications (GIs) provide a strong differentiation tool for firms. Whether this statement is confirmed at aggregate level in terms of market independence of different GIs is not tested yet. The purpose of this paper is to provide demand estimates and elasticities (own‐price and substitution) in order to test this hypothesis and verify the differentiation effect of GIs at aggregate level.Design/methodology/approach – The analysis consists of the application of a quadratic almost ideal demand on a four equation system. Estimates are obtained through an iterated version of a generalized method of moments, which corrects for endogeneity determined by expenditure and prices in case of promotional activities.Findings – Estimates prove the existence of a differentiation effect of GIs in terms of magnitude of elasticities and substitution effects. GIs corresponding to higher quality generate lower price sensitiveness and product substitution, contrarily to wine without GI. Controlled origin...

Adult obesity, food access, and eating habits in Italy: an empirical analysis

Purpose – Improving access to healthy foods is currently on the European Union health policy agenda, as a means to mitigate obesity. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between access to food stores and adult BMI in Italy, accounting also for the synergic role of individuals’ eating habits. Design/methodology/approach – To study the relationship between access to different food outlets, eating habits, and adult BMI in Italy, the authors combine three years of individual-level data with region-level food stores’ density measures and account for store location endogeneity using a Generalized Method of Moment estimator. Findings – While large stores and specialty fruit and vegetable stores show a BMI decreasing effect, local/convenience stores show little to no effect on adult BMI. The effect of access on adult BMI varies conditionally on dietary habits, since access to food outlets and healthy eating can have a synergic impact on reducing Italian adults’ BMI. Originality/value – The aut...

Valutazione economica di una politica di riorientamento dei consumi alimentari finalizzata alla riduzione dell’obesità

Modern lifestyle is one among the most relevant causes of alimentary disorder and environmental problems. Preventing both of them implies a win-win strategy for the improvement of social wellness (i.e. health and environmental benefits). A suitable strategy could be addressed to the partial substitution of caloric food (e.g. beef meat), which is also responsible for a large amount of greenhouse gas (ghgs) emissions, with less caloric food (e.g. vegetables), which is proved of exerting a lower impact on climate change. The analysis is referred to the Italian case study, based on data from the Italian Statistical Institute (istat). The relationship between obesity and ghgs emissions is here explained experimentally through a 5-stage methodology. In the first step, a regression model (ols method) is adopted to explain obesity rate in terms of ratio of people consuming meat more than once a week, and the ratio of people consuming vegetables less than once a day. The outcome of this analysis allows simulating a policy target in terms of obesity abatement, provided by a reasonable change in food demand. In the third step, a meta-analysis of Life Cycle Assessment (lca) studies has been performed in order to calculate the CO2 emissions of the food types we considered. In the fourth step, the observed change in food demand from the previous step is combined with lca indicators, in order to evaluate the impact of food industry on climate change. Finally, in the fifth step, the benefits of the obesity reduction are calculated considering the cost saving for health care of the obesity, which amounts to 1.700 Eur per person. In addition, the value of the CO2 emission have been compared with the value of the European Union Allowance (eua) of CO2 emissions, which was evaluated in 2009 in terms of 21.45 eur/t CO2. Consequently, we found that the effect of the policy can be estimated in terms of 1,032 Million eur, of which the impacts on human health is the most important (about 1.020 Million eur). The study shows the evidence that the consumption of food with low content of calories has a most relevant effect in the reduction of obesity, but very limited economic effect in terms of CO2 emissions.

Insights for the Development of a Functional Fish Product : Drivers and Barriers, Acceptance, and Communication of Health Benefits

ABSTRACT This study aims to explore consumer acceptance of a new functional fish burger using a qualitative approach based on four focus group discussions conducted in selected major Italian cities. Results show that the development of functional fish products may bypass fish consumption barriers, combining convenience and health benefits delivered by functional ingredients. The acceptance of new functional fish products seems to be influenced positively by the enrichment of functional ingredients naturally present in fish, particularly omega-3 fatty acids. Consumer acceptance of this new product is also influenced by the use of different nutritional and health claims. Implications for marketers and policy makers and insights for further research are discussed in the conclusions.

Supplements consumption, health oriented behaviour and beyond

The dietary supplements use is constantly growing as proof that people pay always more attention to their diet and their physical status. Italy recorded the highest growth in the European market within 2008 and 2012. The reasons and the factors behind the consumption of dietary supplements are complex, combining social, psychological, knowledge and economic factors. In order to provide consumers’ profiles and to estimate the following relationship between them and the socio-demo, lifestyle, health-related behaviour, a survey study was conducted on a sample of 400 Italian consumers. The main results highlight the presence of four different profiles, distinguished mainly by different lifestyle, health needs and self-perceived health status. Through a logit regression it was also estimated the probability to consume the different categories of supplements for each profile. In this way, this study could provide useful hints to implement public health guidelines and to avoid a no-proper use of supplements.

Il ruolo degli stili alimentari nella determinazione dell’obesità in età evolutiva

Obesity is one of Europe’s most serious public health challenges. The prevalence of obesity and overweight is reaching considerable levels especially in the South of Italy. There is a large body of literature about the determinants of obesity and political tools for its prevention and reduction. This paper aims to analyse the obesity phenomenon through the study of teenagers’ eating habits. Unhealthy lifestyles, in particular alcohol, snack and junk food are investigated. The study is based on a case study referred to a population of 900 students (age 11-19) in the city of Foggia. Results of cluster analysis show three segments Sedentary people (47%), Dynamic people (26%) and Moderate people (27%); results of regression show that BMI increases in each cluster for different causes and the effect of the same food product is different for the three segments. These results suggest that an integrated approach of marketing and public health may have a positive impact on the prevention of obesity and overweight.

Economics of obesity: Nutrition and physical activities substitution effect

from children and parents for obesity and taste gene testing. Results: The first stage of the follow-up will cover early childhood development from the prenatal period until the age of 3 years. The ongoing analysis will study how mothers weight gain during pregnancy affects child’s weight and whether the environmental and genetic influences in development of obesity can be separated. The effect of genetic variation in bitter taste receptor on child feeding, eating patterns and weight gain will also be examined. Conclusions: The research aims not only at gaining information about the correlations between different factors affecting childhood obesity, but also at producing results having more practical applications for use of childhood obesity prevention in children and families. Funding: The STEPS study is funded by Academy of Finland, Paivikki and Sakari Sohlberg Foundation, Turku University Foundation, Juho Vainio Foundation and Finnish Cultural Foundation: Varsinais-Suomi Regional Fund.