Teresa Del Giudice

Consumers’ perception of quality in organic food

With this study we investigate the preferences of an important category of consumers of organic products (regular consumers of organic food or RCOFs) allowing for preference heterogeneity. A survey instrument was developed to elicit preferences for important qualitative and quantitative attributes of extra virgin olive oil. The survey was administered via questionnaire to a random sample of 198 RCOFs in organic food stores of Naples, Italy. The choice task was organised around a fractional factorial main effects orthogonal design. Each respondent made eight choices to rank‐order nine product profiles in terms of their individual preference. Product attributes included price, origin of production, type of certification and visual appearance. Interestingly, the set of observed responses appears to display significant preference heterogeneity for origin of production and price. Once heterogeneity and correlation among repeated choice by the same respondent are accounted for by means of random‐parameter panel logit models, the fit increases dramatically with respect to the more restrictive fixed‐parameter logit models. Results also suggest that price plays an important role as quality proxy, while visual appearance is not significant in preference modelling and the type of certification programme has a fixed effect.

Market Segmentation via Mixed Logit: Extra-Virgin Olive Oil in Urban Italy

The paper presents some results from a stated-preference study that compares three samples of urban consumers of extra-virgin olive oil from three representative Italian cities: Naples (South), Rome (Centre) and Milan (North). A series of multinomial logit models are estimated from choice experiments responses and tested for unobserved heterogeneity for EU labelling informing on PDO/PGI, organic and place of origin attributes. The consequences of such form of heterogeneity are flashed out with respect to issues of market segmentation on the basis of the pattern of correlation across preferences as estimated from mixed logit models. Results indicate that product origin matters differently in different cities, while the sample from Naples is the least heterogeneous the Milan and Rome samples display highest taste heterogeneity, but also stronger intensity of taste.

Environmental and Health Components in Consumer Perception of Organic Products: Estimation of Willingness to Pay

An increasing number of farms in Italy are converting to organic farming. In the slow process of shifting from a “niche” to broader consumption, consumer attitudes to organic produce appear complex as they involve both socioeconomic and psychometric characteristics. However, understanding the development of consumer preferences for organic products is of great importance to bring the organic sector out of its niche. In order to address this issue we conducted research using a qualitative-quantitative integrated approach. First, 45 consumers of organic products were interviewed in person (face to face) using laddering techniques (qualitative analysis) to determine deep motivations for buying organic products. Then, in the second quantitative step, data from 203 telephone interviews, using a representative sample of consumers from Campania (a southern Italian region) were analysed by means of Multinomial Logit to attach a monetary value to deep motivations. The main innovative aspect of our research lies in the two-step approach (qualitative/quantitative analysis), enabling researchers to identify and quantify in monetary terms the importance of environmental and health components in consumer preferences for organic products.

Country-of-origin effects on Russian wine consumers

In recent years, Russia has experienced significant economic growth. The wine industry is among those most affected by increases in disposable income. As a consequence, Russian wine importers have widened the range at the upper end of the quality spectrum. In the current scenario, some key questions arise concerning consumer attitudes toward wine and the way it is perceived in this evolving market. This article attempts to investigate such concerns through a choice experiment approach conducted by means of a questionnaire-based survey submitted to 388 Russian households located in the countrys three largest cities (Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Novosibirsk). In the experiment, respondents were asked to choose their favorite wine among seven dry red wines. The stated choices are analyzed using a random utility model to obtain an estimation of the price effect through a triangular distribution. Our results indicate the presence of three distinct market segments in the Russian wine market: a segment with only high-quality, highly priced Italian and French wines, a medium-quality segment currently limited to Spanish wines, and a much lower quality segment of wines in which demand for alcohol is essentially satisfied.

Il sistema agroalimentare ed il consumatore postmoderno : nuove sfide per la ricerca e per il mercato

The paper is an attempt to analyze the role of consumers and some of the most important trends in the food systemin the Eght of a new interpretative key that refers to the concept of postmodernity which has been generated in the field of sociology and progressively outlined from the first 80s. In postmodern society the act of consumption becomes an expression of culture and identity creation, products as material objects lose their importance and they become marks, symbols and a way to communicate personality. These phenomenons are difficult to interpret with the standard theory of neoclassical consumer, although several attempts in this direction have been carried out. For example, the proposal to introduce a function of happiness to express the features and behavior of the postmodern consumer is a possibility to be explored but certainly not yet a new theory. In the first part of the report the concept of postmodernism, its origin and evolution is discussed. Later, in the light of this new interpretative key the changing role of the consumer is analyzed. Finally, as case studies, the strategies of modern distribution and the problem oftypical Italian food products in foreign markets are also discussed. All the analysed cases, illustrate very well the traditional rules can lead to political intervention pontentially erroneous, as for example, an excess of expenditure in food safety policy or policies of the national mark.

Anti-Waste Labeling and Consumer Willingness to Pay

ABSTRACT Food waste is an important topic in the general context of food consumption sustainability and ethical consumption. Several studies have focused on environment-friendly labeling schemes based on different “ethical attributes,” such as organic, fair trade, and locally grown. However, the effect of a labeling scheme based on food waste prevention has never been studied. In the current work, experimental auctions were used to investigate the effect of a certification about containing food waste within a certain threshold on participants’ willingness to pay. The product chosen for the auctions was the French baguette (500 g) packaged with a paper wrapper. Furthermore, we examined whether the effect would be moderated by different communication strategies about the consequences of wasting. Specifically, two different frames of reference were used: the first is based on the carbon footprint, the other on the water footprint. Our results showed that waste prevention–based labeling positively affected participants’ willingness to pay and that this effect was enhanced by the carbon footprint frame of reference.

Attributi di processo e di prodotto nella filiera carne suina: un’analisi europea delle preferenze dei consumatori attraverso un modello generalizzato ad utilità stocastica

This article evaluates consumers’ preferences among different pig production systems using a generalized random-parameter logit model for ranked outcome. The aim is to indagate whether process attributes are considered relevant by European consumers. Differences of preferences across subpopulations, among northern and mediterranean European countries, are also tested. The study’s background includes consumers’ concern of both farm animal welfare and environmental impact of livestock production. A self-administered structured electronic survey was developed to investigate product and process attributes of pork meat. It was completed by a sample of 2,437 representative individuals from five European countries. Each respondent made 14 choices, rank-ordering 15 pig production profiles in terms of their individual preference. The choice was organized around a fractional factorial main effect orthogonal design. Each profile consists of five different attributes, including product’s and process’s ones: stocking density and floor type process attributes have been included as proxies of animal welfare production characteristics; impact on soil, air and water were included to underline environmental related process attributes; fat contents and chain type/product were used to include in the choice set also traditional product attributes. A generalization of conditional logit model for ranked outcomes was implemented, accounting for heterogeneity and correlation among the respondent’s choices. Our analysis highlights the fundamental strategic role played by the process attributes considered. Such an influence in choices, however, does not seem connected to psychographic or particular lifestyle variables. This might suggest that a floor type more conducive to animal welfare and considerable effort made by the farm to limit environmental impact both represent for consumers indirect indicators of food health and safety. In addition, for a mature product, as is pork in current European consumption models, to focus on intrinsic attributes such as fat quantity and quality would not appear efficient. This is confirmed by the result obtained for the “obese” segment, for whom fat quality is unimportant in their choice to purchase pork.

Extra‐virgin olive oil: are consumers provided with the sensory quality they want? A hedonic price model with sensory attributes

BACKGROUND Over the years, niche-differentiation strategies and food policies have pushed quality standards of European extra-virgin olive oil towards a product that has a sensory profile consisting of fruity, bitter and pungent notes, with such oils having excellent healthy features. However, it is unclear whether typical consumers are ready for a richer and more complex sensory profile than the neutral one historically found on the market. This potential discrepancy is investigated in the present study aiiming to determine whether current demand is able to appreciate this path of quality enhancement. Implicit prices for each and every attribute of extra-virgin olive oil with a focus on sensory characteristics were investigated using a hedonic price model. RESULTS Although confirming the importance of origin and terroir for extra-virgin olive oil, the results of the present study strongly confirm the discrepancy between what is currently valued on the market and what novel supply trends are trying to achieve in terms of the sensory properties of such products. CONCLUSION Increasing consumer awareness about the direct link between the health quality of oils and their sensory profile appears to be necessary to make quality enhancement programs more successful on the market and hence more effective for companies.

Evaluating italian attitude and behaviour toward Fair Trade products

In the context of food consumption, several issues have been widely discussed in reference to a large array of attributes and product types used as evidence of growing consumer feeling toward ethical issues linked to moral and social consciousness. Animal welfare, fair prices for farmers, social aspects of production, and preservation of cultural features, are some of the product attributes for which consumer behaviour has been analyzed in the context of ethical consumerism. This paper aims at providing insights into consumer motivational systems and their relations with fair trade product purchasing behaviour. In order to pursue this goal, the effectiveness of two alternative approaches, proposed in the literature and tested in Belgium and Germany, were formally assessed in Italy. The two sets of scales were tested for predicting purchasing behaviour by using a sample of Italian consumers.

Consumatori cinesi e cibo: tra tradizione millenaria e influenze culturali occidentali

China is one of the most dynamic economies of the planet. The dramatic economic development in recent decades has greatly influenced the structure and habits of Chinese society. This although still characterized by strong disparities between the poorer classes and the wealthy, shows a growing middle class and an increasingly high-income segment. These segments of society are, as expected, evolving from a cultural point of view beginning to incorporate into the ancient Chinese tradition elements of other cultures, most notably the Western one. As was the case for other new economies, especially the rich part of the population is showing an increasing inclination towards all aspects of Western culture. This opening is also affecting the food consumption habits, transforming the dynamic and vibrant Chinese market into a major destination for European food products. The following research by submitting a questionnaire to 500 Chinese consumers residents in metropolitan areas had a dual objective. The first involved the analysis of the propensity of consumers to enter into the ancient Chinese culinary culture food products from other countries. The second was represented by the attempt to segment consumers, depending on the degree of cultural openness towards non- Chinese food, using both socio-demographic and psychographic variables.