Assessing consumer preferences and attitudes towards sea buckthorn products: A case study in Romania

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to reveal consumer preferences for sea buckthorn products in Romania to serve as valuable information to provide assistance to new producers in the sea buckthorn field. The research was conducted in the North-Western region of Romania. Data were collected using an in-person survey, which was carefully designed to capture decision information for management marketing purpose. The most familiar sea buckthorn products are: syrup (75%), tea (65%) and oil (57.50%). The majority of respondents buy for medicinal use. Only 12.50% showed no interest at all in buying such products. Although the internet commerce is highly used in other types of markets, the ‘bio customers’ prefer to purchase mostly from specialty stores (77%), the most appreciated characteristic of the product being its quality (85%). Most of the people are familiar with at least 3 types of sea buckthorn products and are open to the idea of new products and producers.Â