Simona Naspetti

Consumer motivations in the purchase of organic food: A means‐end approach

The paper presents partial results from an Italian study on consumer perception and knowledge of organic food and related behaviour. Uses the means‐end chain model to link attributes of products to the needs of consumers. In order to provide insights into consumer motivation in purchasing organic products, 60 respondents were interviewed using “hard” laddering approach to the measurement of means‐end chains. The results (ladders) of these semi‐qualitative interviews are coded, aggregated and presented in a set of hierarchical structured value maps. Even if organic products are perceived as difficult to find and expensive, most consumers judge them positively. All consumers associate organic products with health at different levels of abstraction and want good, tasty and nourishing products, because pleasure and wellbeing are their most important values. Results show that differences exist between groups of consumers with respect to their frequency of use (experience) of organic products and level of information (expertise). Reports and discusses results on consumer cognitive structures at different level of experience.

Organic label as an identifier of environmentally related quality: A consumer choice experiment on beef in Italy

This paper uses a hypothetical choice experiment to investigate Italian consumer preferences and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for organic, conventional and genetically modified (GM)-fed beef, utilizing intrinsic, search cues (price, color and visible fat) and extrinsic, credence cues. Data are gathered from three different locations in northern, central and southern Italy using a sequential Bayesian approach. Results showed that consumers attach higher value to organic meat. WTP for GM-fed beef, which is not yet sold in Italy, is well below current conventional beef prices. Organic beef is attractive to consumers because it is associated with higher animal welfare standards and environment-related issues (food miles and biodiversity preservation). No differences are found in marginal WTP estimates by gender, age, education, being a parent or having a higher level of knowledge about organic production. Ethical/environmental issues (credence cues) appear to be more relevant in explaining variation in WTP for organic beef than ordinary product characteristics (search cues).

Cheese liking and consumer willingness to pay as affected by information about organic production.

The present study aimed to assess the effect of information about organic production on Pecorino cheese liking and consumer willingness to pay. Mean scores of perceived liking were similar for organic cheese (OC) and conventional cheese (CC). Expected liking scores were higher for OC than for CC (P<0.001). For OC the expected liking was significantly higher (P<0.001) than the perceived liking expressed in blind conditions (negative disconfirmation), whereas for CC the expected liking was significantly lower (P<0.001) than the perceived liking expressed in blind conditions (positive disconfirmation). Consumers assimilated their liking for OC in the direction of expectations, as the difference actual vs. perceived liking was significant (P<0.001). However the assimilation was not complete, as also the difference actual liking vs. expected liking was significant (P<0.001). Consumers showed a willingness to pay OC (mean+/-se=4.20+/-0.13 euro/100 g) higher than the local retail price for conventional (1.90 euro/100 g) and even organic cheese (3.00 euro/100 g). We conclude that the information about organic farming can be a major determinant of cheese liking and consumer willingness to pay, thus providing a potential tool for product differentiation, particularly for small scale and traditional farms.

Consumer preference for chicken breast may be more affected by information on organic production than by product sensory properties

Conventional chicken from a fast-growing strain (CC), organic chicken from a slow-growing strain (OSG), and organic chicken from a fast-growing strain (OFG) were used to assess descriptive sensory differences between organic and conventional breasts, to verify whether differences were perceived by consumers and to evaluate the effect of information about organic production on liking. A conventional quantitative-descriptive analysis was performed by a trained panel of 10 members on breast slices (1 cm thick) grilled at 300°C. A 150-member consumer panel (from southern, central, and northern Italy) rated CC, OSG, and OFG breasts according to 3 types of evaluation: tasting without information (perceived liking), information without tasting (expected liking), and tasting with information (actual liking). Breasts from different sources were clearly discriminated by the trained panel as meat from CC was perceived more tender than OFG (P < 0.05) and OSG (P < 0.001), more fibrous than OFG (P < 0.05) and OSG (P < 0.001), and leaving more residue than OFG (P < 0.05) and OSG (P < 0.001), whereas OSG was assessed as less juicy before swallowing than OFG and CC (P < 0.05) and less fibrous than OFG (P < 0.05). No significant differences were observed by consumers for perceived liking. However, consumer expected liking scores were higher for organic than for conventional products (P < 0.001) and actual liking of organic breasts moved toward the expectancy. In particular, actual liking scores were higher than perceived liking in blind conditions (P < 0.001 and P < 0.01 for OFG and OSG, respectively). We conclude that trained panelists were able to discriminate chicken breasts from different sources, whereas untrained consumers were not. However, consumer liking was markedly affected by the information given on the organic production system, thus providing a tool to differentiate the product in an increasingly competitive market.

Innovations in low input and organic dairy supply chains—What is acceptable in Europe?

The growth in organic and low-input farming practices is driven by both market demand for high quality, safe food, and European Union policy support, and these types of farming practices are considered in European Union policies for sustainable production, food quality, healthy life, and rural development. However, many constraints to the development of low-input and organic dairy farming supply chains have been identified, including economic, political, and technical constraints. In order for these types of supply chains to develop and provide further benefits to society, innovations are required to improve their sustainability. However, an innovation will only be taken up and result in desirable change if the whole supply chain accepts the innovation. In this paper, Q methodology is used to identify the acceptability of dairy supply chain innovations to low-input and organic supply chain members and consumers in Belgium, Finland, Italy, and the United Kingdom. A strong consensus existed across all respondents on innovations that were deemed as unacceptable. The use of genetically modified and transgenic organisms in the farming system and innovations perceived as conflicting with the naturalness of the production system and products were strongly rejected. Innovations that were strongly liked across all participants in the study were those related to improving animal welfare and improving forage quality to be able to reduce the need for purchased concentrate feeds. Only minor differences existed between countries as to where the priorities lay in terms of innovation acceptability.

Organic supply chain collaboration: a case study in eight EU countries

This study aims at contributing to a better understanding of the linkage between supply chain performance and possible performance improvement with respect to food quality and safety. Therefore, the article addresses the question whether the level of collaborative planning and close supply chain relationships could help improve the quality and safety of organic supply chains. The study was conducted as part of the multi-disciplinary EU-wide survey of organic supply chains, carried out in eight European countries. In this article we report the results of the study regarding the structures and performance of six different organic supply chains in these eight European countries for: milk (CH, UK), apples (DE, CH), pork (UK, NL), eggs (DE, UK), wheat (HU, IT, FR) and tomatoes (IT, NL). In-depth interviews with key-informants were carried out in 2006 to investigate the structures, performance, and relationships within the supply chains. Results show a low level of collaboration among various actors especially in cost and benefit sharing. Highly integrated supply chains show higher collaboration especially in the domain of Decision Synchronization. Trust and collaboration appear to be related with increased performance, whereas the higher the perceived risk for quality and safety, the higher the probability of supply chain collaboration.

Automatic Analysis of Eye-Tracking Data for Augmented Reality Applications: A Prospective Outlook

Eye-tracking technology is becoming easier and cheaper to use, resulting in its increasing application to numerous fields of research. Recent years have seen rapid developments in this area. In light of the foregoing, in the context of Cultural Heritage (CH), the definition of a modern approach to understand how individuals perceive art is challenging. Despite the art perception is highly subjective and variable according to knowledge and experience, more recently, several scientific study and enterprises started to quantify how subjects observe art by the application of the eye-tracking technology. The aim of this study was to understand the visual behaviour of subjects looking at paintings, using eye-tracking technology, in order to define a protocol for optimizing an existing Augmented Reality (AR) application that allows the visualization of digital contents through a display. The stimuli used are three famous paintings preserved at the National Gallery of Marche (Urbino, Marche Region, Italy). We applied eye-tracking to have a deeper understanding of people visual activities in front of these paintings and to analyse how digital contents eventually influence their behaviour. The description of the applied procedure and the preliminary results are presented.

Organic Consumption as a Change of Mind? Exploring Consumer Narratives Using a Structural Cognitive Approach

An innovative qualitative approach to analyze consumer narratives and biographies was applied to gain insight into consumer decision making and dynamic behavioral patterns in the purchase of organic foods. We adapted Gardners (2004) change-of-mind framework to organic food consumption. Regular consumers trust organic products because they believe that they are healthier and tastier than the equivalent nonorganic product. This belief is built upon day after day by their experiences and by word of mouth: a growing stock of information supports their food choice and confidence in organic food. Occasional consumers have strong beliefs about the better taste and the higher quality of organic food in general. The choice to (regularly) buy organic food is a matter of largely unnoticed inner development. The results allow us to draw some conclusions relating to the determinants of the future demand for organic food in Italy.

Consumatori e certificazione dei prodotti da agricoltura biologica : un'analisi empirica

According to the new organic (Regulation (ec) No 834/2007, a mandatory eu logo for organic food was introduced as well as new guidelines to label organic products. In the new labelling the indication of origin of the raw materials is compulsory: ‘eu Agriculture’, ‘non-eu Agriculture’ or ‘eu/non-eu Agriculture’. When all agricultural raw materials came from the same country, the terms ‘eu’ and ‘non-eu’ can be replaced or supplemented by the name of that country. The name of the Organic certifier can be also signalled to final consumers by the product labelling. In some eu countries (Denmark and Germany) the product label based on a third-party certification, private or public, make them trust the underlying certification scheme. Although consumers often lack knowledge on organic certification and organic farming practices in general, several studies highlight that scepticism and uncertainty towards organic logos and certification prevent consumers from buying more organic food. The present study analyses how consumers perceive some of the most important aspect of the new labelling regulation (the origin of raw materials and the organic certifier for organic food). Few studies exist on consumer views on organic labelling for organic food and willingness to pay for trust in the organic food quality (Burrell et al., 2006). The recommendations drawn from our findings can help stakeholders in the Italian organic sector. 415 consumers in three Italian locations (Ancona, Milano, Bari) participated to a survey in March 2010. The results show that the organic consumers prefer organic products from Europe and trust products certified by Italian (more than from foreign countries) and public certification bodies (more than private). These findings suggest the need for transparency of the complexity of the organic certification and accreditation system, unknown to most of the consumers. There is a need to make them clear what the new label characteristics stand for and remove consumer concerns of the standards and the trustworthiness of the inspection system.

Using Q methodology to facilitate the establishment of the 2030 vision for the EU organic sector

A participatory application of Stephenson’s Q methodology known as InQuiry was used to investigate stakeholder perspectives on a desired future for the organic sector in Europe in order to develop a shared vision. A selected group of experts from different organisations and nationalities were asked to provide their viewpoints on what should be the vision for the organic sector in Europe in 2030, sorting 48 statements containing possible future visions about the organic sector. Results indicated two distinct and common positions about the future of EU organic sector, which helped in drafting the IFOAM EU 2030 vision for the organic sector in Europe.