99 research outputs found
One size does (obviously not) fit all: Using product attributes for wine market segmentation
No full textThe intense competition affecting the wine industry in recent decades has forced wineries and retailers to reshape their marketing strategies on the basis of consumer preferences. The current study aims to identify such preferences and the effects they might have in influencing consumer decisions. Preferences for different wine attributes as well as the psychographic traits of respondents were revealed through a web-based questionnaire administered to 504 wine consumers living in the wider metropolitan area of New York. Best-worst scaling (BWS) was used to detect consumer preferences for eleven wine attributes. Based on individual best-worst scores, a latent class segmentation analysis was implemented to classify consumers into four segments on the basis of psychographic characteristics such as involvement, subjective knowledge, innovativeness and loyalty proneness. The four segments identified (i.e. experientials, connoisseurs, risk minimizers and price-sensitive) differ significantly in terms of their preferences towards wine and psychographic characteristics, suggesting that a mass marketing approach is no longer suitable. Accordingly, managers need to adapt their marketing strategies to meet the preferences of different target groups. The results provide broad implications for marketers, wineries and retailers interested in successfully targeting consumers in a highly competitive market
Consumer Preferences for Quality Foods from a South European Perspective: A Conjoint Analysis Implementation on Greek Olive Oil
No full textThe objective of the present study is to describe the preferences of younger, more educated and higher income Greek consumers for "quality" olive oil brands - quality being defined as a bundle of extrinsic quality cues such as quality assurance labels, health-related information, country-of-origin indication, bottling material and price. The aim of the research is, with the implementation of a conjoint analysis task, to describe and analyze consumer preferences using a random, stratified, sample of urban consumers. The extrinsic quality attributes of olive oil, strongly linked to a previous qualitative, Means-end Chains (MEC) analysis survey, is used as starting points for the development of conjoint profiles. Special emphasis is given to the development and evaluation of different quality marketing mixes and the analysis of the importance consumers attach to the series of extrinsic quality cues used. The identification of different consumer segments in terms of this importance and the development of their socio-demographic and behavioral profile is also mphasized. The final step of the research is the measurement of demand for quality through the calculation of potentially larger market shares across segments of different quality hypothetical) brands in comparison to the common (real).Quality extrinsic cues, Conjoint analysis, Segmentation, Market shares, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,
Consumers' literacy and preferences for sustainability labels: An exploratory analysis on Italian young adults
No full textAbstract: Activists and policy makers strongly encourage consumers to act as
responsible citizens when purchasing everyday products. Accordingly, retailers
and brands are competing on the market introducing a plethora of sustainability
labels that should address increasing customer demand. Nevertheless, the
usefulness of these labelling schemes in aiding consumers to make
informed purchase decisions is still heavily debated. Results of a survey on
Italian young consumers (N = 500) reveal low levels of individuals’ familiarity
with sustainability labels and highlight that several socio-demographic
characteristics and food habits have a significant impact on consumers’
knowledge of these labels.
Keywords: sustainability labels; consumers; multivariate probit; Italy
New trends in the Chinese diet: cultural influences on consumer behaviour
No full textChina is one of the most dynamic regions in the world in terms of economic growth and development. Such development has inevitably influenced the structure and habits of Chinese society. Whilst the economic condition of the middle class and high-income segment has steadily improved, cultural changes are also under way: ancient Chinese traditions now include major elements from other cultures, most notably the West. The above scenario is the background to this paper. A structured research-administered survey was developed to investigate the changes in the Chinese consumer food culture: 500 urban participants were randomly selected from six reference cities, covering geographically almost the whole country. This study aims not only to analyze the propensity of consumers to include food products from other countries in their ancient Chinese culinary culture, but also represents an initial attempt to perform a market segmentation of Chinese consumers according to their degree of cultural openness towards non-Chinese food, taking into account socio-demographic, cognitive and psychographic variables
Motivations and Cognitive Structures of Consumers in their Purchasing of Functional Foods
No full textThe present study initially fulfils a two-fold aim: first, to identify the functional foods most frequently purchased by a homogeneous group of well-educated consumers; and second, to define the most important functional food attributes that affect consumers’ purchasing decisions when examined in two separate age groups (young adults and early-middle-aged). By employing the MEC analysis methodology, the study further fulfils two additional aims: third, to obtain insights into the functional food-related buying motives of consumers; and fourth, to design a MEC hierarchy of consumption-relevant cognitive structures per age group in order to explain their functional food-related purchasing behaviour. The results of the study highlight health enhancement and health risk prevention through appropriate dietary choices as the most important motives of functional food purchasing for the two age groups, respectively. A special interest in eating enjoyment that results from functional food consumption and in trust that must surround those foods also emerge from both age groups. Moreover, some differences among the two age groups are prominent, such as that the early-middle-aged consumers show a great interest in knowing the origin of the functional product; while the young adults emphasize on functional foods’ convenience and (low) price. These results lead to the conclusion that functional foods should deliver their health benefits above and beyond the standard (high) perceived quality required by consumers from any common food product
The Concept of Authenticity and its Relevance to Consumers: Country and Place Branding in the Context of Food Authenticity
No full textRepertoire and frequency of consumption in wine: are heavy buyers more loyal to product attributes?
No full textFrequency of consumption has always been an important criterion for characterising and segmenting buyers. The aim of this paper is to provide a deeper understanding of the repertoire and loyalty structures between heavy and light wine buyers. Based on a study conducted with stated preference data, basic brand performance measures are estimated through Juster purchase probabilities of brand choice. The polarisation index φ (phi) is used as a measure to model loyalty. Results show that light buyers have a wider repertoire than heavy buyers, buying more small brands. In terms of loyalty, heavy buyers are more loyalty prone than light buyers, both as regards the brand name and the wine attributes examined in this study.
Health claims as communication tools that enhance brand loyalty : the case of low-fat claims within the dairy food category
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