Consumer Perception and Willingness to Pay for Local Food

Bazzani, Claudia (2015) Consumer Perception and Willingness to Pay for Local Food, [Dissertation thesis], Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna. Dottorato di ricerca in Scienze e tecnologie agrarie, ambientali e alimentari, 27 Ciclo. DOI 10.6092/unibo/amsdottorato/7154.
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Abstract

A growing number of empirical studies recently investigated consumers' valuation for local food products. However, different aspects related to the local food consumption still remain vague or unexplored. As such, the objective of the present research is to fulfill the existing literature using a mixed methodological approach for the investigation of consumers' preferences and Willingness to Pay (WTP) for local food products. First of all, local food is still a blurred concept and this factor might be source of individuals' misperception for the local origin meaning. Therefore, a qualitative research has been performed in order to investigate the meaning and the perception of the local food in the Italian food market. Results from this analysis have been used as inputs for the building of a non-hypothetical Real Choice Experiment (RCE) to estimate consumers' WTP for locally and organically produced apple sauce. The contribution of this study is three-fold: (1) consumers' valuation for the local origin is interpreted in terms of regional borders, over the organic food claim in case of an unusual food product in the area of interest, (2) the interaction between individuals' personality traits and consumers’ preferences for local and organic foods is analyzed, (3) the role of Commitment Cost creation in consumers' choice making in case of uncertainty due to the use of a novel food product and of an unconventional food claim is investigated. Results suggest that consumers are willing to pay a higher price premium for organic over locally produced apple sauce, possibly because of the presence of a regulated certification. In accordance with Commitment Cost theory, the organic label might thus decrease consumers' uncertainty for the features of the product in question. Results also indicate that individuals' personality can be source of heterogeneity in consumers' preferences.

Abstract
Tipologia del documento
Tesi di dottorato
Autore
Bazzani, Claudia
Supervisore
Co-supervisore
Dottorato di ricerca
Scuola di dottorato
Scienze agrarie
Ciclo
27
Coordinatore
Settore disciplinare
Settore concorsuale
Parole chiave
local, organic, real choice experiment, food consumer, apple sauce, consumer preferences, willingness-to-pay, commitment cost, discrete choice models
URN:NBN
DOI
10.6092/unibo/amsdottorato/7154
Data di discussione
12 Giugno 2015
URI

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