A Study on Perceptions towards Organic and Local Production, and Individuals’ Socio-Demographic and Geographical Affiliation Influencing Fruit and Vegetable Purchasing Preferences of EU Households

Abstract

This study investigates the preferences and the consumption models in the three most relevant F&V EU markets (France, Germany and Italy) in the function of individual attitudes towards local and organic production models. A structured questionnaire was submitted to a sample of 3000 consumers interviewed from December 2021 to January 2022 in the three selected geographical areas. Data were analyzed with the Principal Component Analysis and using the k-means cluster approach. Four main components (European is Better, Organic is Local, Quality is Origin-Related, and Clothes Do Not Make the Product) were defined and used to identify four different consumer clusters (organic and local-sensitive, origin and quality assessment, credence and intrinsic attributes, Global quality evaluation) across the entire sample of consumers. The main findings explain the importance of the origin of the F&V, which, however, is evaluated differently depending on the organic certification, the guarantees made by a brand/logo, and the evaluation of product quality cues. Furthermore, awareness of the logos significantly affects cluster composition and consumption orientation. Finally, the MLR model was applied, highlighting how certain socio-demographic variables, as well as the specific country, explain group membership very well.