Abstract
In the last decades, the European Union (EU) agricultural policy has encouraged extensive livestock farming systems as a sustainable way of production, while more recently, voluntary certification schemes on mountain origin and autochthonous breeds have been put in place to further contribute to the preservation of biodiversity and economic activity in mountainous areas. The aim of this study is twofold: first, to investigate the role of the mountain origin and local autochthonous breed certification on urban consumer’s acceptability; and second, to compare consumer’s overall acceptability at central location versus home-based. These two specific objectives are designed to better ascertain the suitability of these voluntary certifications as a marketing tool that helps to bridge the gap between urban consumers’ beef choices and rural sustainability. Main methods of analysis included internal preference mapping and cluster analysis. Findings suggested that both claims, mountain origin (Pyrenean in particular) and autochthonous breed conveyed relevant information to consumers at the moment of testing, while the former played a stronger role on hedonic valuations. We have found that the environmental setting significantly influences acceptability with higher ratings obtained in the home test. A small niche market for Pyrenean cattle breeders was also detected, while reaching the larger and more product involved segment of urban consumers would require further marketing actions.
Highlights
A potential rise in urban demand for pre-packaged and labelled fresh meat could be expected accompanying the current trends in purchasing habits, where the traditional channel is losing weight in favor of super/hypermarkets or online shopping
Main methods of analysis included internal preference mapping and cluster analysis. Findings suggested that both claims, mountain origin (Pyrenean in particular) and autochthonous breed conveyed relevant information to consumers at the moment of testing, while the former played a stronger role on hedonic valuations
Central location tests are the usual approach to analyze consumers’ acceptability, and in this paper, we explore if moving to an environmental setting closer to a daily consumption situation has an impact on the hedonic preferences and the response shift elicited following the information display
Summary
A potential rise in urban demand for pre-packaged and labelled fresh meat (and beef in particular) could be expected accompanying the current trends in purchasing habits, where the traditional channel (i.e., butcher’s) is losing weight in favor of super/hypermarkets or online shopping. Central location tests are the usual approach to analyze consumers’ acceptability, and in this paper, we explore if moving to an environmental setting closer to a daily consumption situation has an impact on the hedonic preferences and the response shift elicited following the information display. This last aspect is relevant as it allows a closer approximation to the potential performance of the products in the market place
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