Irish consumer preferences for honey: a conjoint approach

Abstract

The ideal honey profile for 153 Irish consumers of honey was one with a thick texture, a dark golden colour, made by a small‐scale producer, at a price of IR£1.95 and packaged in a 454g (1lb) plain glass jar. Least squares regression was used to estimate part worths for the conjoint analysis. Using the scale attribute as a basis for segmentation three distinct segments were identified. Market simulation experiments simulated market shares for 11 products; the ideal products for each segment (three in total), two existing mass‐produced honeys, four from small‐scale local farm producers and one from a farm producer produced on a larger scale. The first cluster was the least price sensitive, with the most important attribute being small‐scale producer source. Mass‐produced honeys had a very small market share in this segment. The second cluster was distinguished by deriving a high utility from a light‐coloured honey. Again mass‐produced honeys had the smallest market share. In the first two clusters, in addition to some of the ideal products, honey/s from small‐scale producers had high market shares. The third cluster was the most price sensitive and the mass‐produced honeys commanded their largest market share in this segment. This segment also derived the highest utility of all segments from a honey produced on a mass scale. The results show that adjusting pricing and promotional approaches could increase market share for honey producers.