Segmenting Olive Oil Consumers Based on Consumption and Preferences toward Extrinsic, Intrinsic and Sensorial Attributes of Olive Oil

Anita Silvana Ilak Peršurić

doi:10.3390/su12166379

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to identify and describe segments of a study population that consumes olive oil. Therefore, a survey was conducted in 2019 on a sample of 705 German and 175 UK consumers. In both samples, three consumer segments were identified. These three segments differed significantly with regard to purchase and consumption patterns, as well as attitudes toward the extrinsic, intrinsic, sensorial, and health attributes of olive oil. Their main preferences related to health properties of olive oil, followed by hedonic attributes; therefore, these aspects should be marketed in German markets. For UK consumers, validation of extrinsic attributes, such as region, micro-location, and protected designation of geographical origin (PDO), should be used in marketing campaigns in light of economic sustainability on local family farms and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Since UK consumers rely heavily on vendors’ recommendations, more effort should be made in the UK market to establish habits of consumption and an olive oil culture that would be sustainable in long-term time frames.

Highlights

The agricultural market is under continual pressure from global economic and environmental demands to address to changing demands, habits, and purchase and consumption patterns of consumers around the world
Based on a verbal communication with several members of the German Panel who worked for established German companies, laboratories, and state authorities, we found out that German olive oil consumers prefer a hint of sweetness in taste and a low intensity of green notes, green leaves, grass, and olives in smell and taste
The health aspects of olive oil were very highly valued by German consumers, as they perceived that olive oil improves the blood vessels’ health (0.960) and heart health (0.857), and that it lowers the cholesterol in the blood (0.801)

Summary

Introduction

The recent surveys about olive oil prevail in leading producing countries, such as Italy [1,2], Greece [3], and Spain [4], as well as a few about other markets like Argentina [5], Chile [6], Brazil [7], Germany [8], or the UK [9]. Several authors support the hypothesis that olive oil consumption can be increased by analyzing consumers’ preferences, especially in countries where olive oil is a non-traditional product, like Argentina [5], Chile [6], and the UK [9], due to its external attributes and hedonic and health dimensions, which prove to be highly important in its rejection or acceptance. Recent studies on food products showed the importance of country of origin, suggesting that a certain product image reflects the image of the region or country of production [13,14,15]

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Conclusion