Importance of Regional and Traditional EU Quality Schemes in Young Consumer Food Purchasing Decisions

Abstract

Purpose: The general objective of this paper was to evaluate the significance of EU designations such as Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) in the food purchasing decisions made by consumers. Specific objectives include: determining familiarity with products bearing EU designations, identifying factors affecting the purchase, determining the type of most frequently purchased products and identifying their purchase locations. Design/Methodology/Approach: The evaluation was carried out using PAPI and CAWI surveys (survey questionnaire). The surveys were carried out in 2016 among 1.364 students from four countries: Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia and Ukraine. Findings: The results of the surveys point to a relatively small significance of EU designations in the purchasing decisions made by young consumers of food products. The surveys made it possible to identify the most important determinants of the choice of food products, including: product price, freshness and best before date. Analysing the behaviours of buyers from respective countries it can be observed that the evaluations of the significance of factors determining the choice of a product are not much different, which can be explained by progressing globalization and unification of consumer behaviours. In addition, it can be noted that the surveyed buyers are not very fluent in differentiating between respective types of designations such as PDO, PGI and TSG. Practical Implications: The survey made it possible to evaluate the behaviour of young consumers on the food market to the extent of the choice of products with EU designations and to formulate recommendations for producers and sellers as well as identify the directions of further research. Originality/Value: The added value of this paper is cross-sectional analysis of multiple factors shaping decisions on the choice of EU-certified food products by young consumers using the example of selected EU member states in comparison to a non-EU country-Ukraine.

Consumer Perception and Understanding of European Union Quality Schemes: A Systematic Literature Review

“…The most critical factors that determine the young consumer to purchase are nutritional factors, freshness, and price. Young consumers caring about their health choose the most suitable product to pay as economical as possible and get the best outcome for their budget [21,27,36,37,68].…”

“…The reviewed studies set out the different concepts that explain consumers' motivations to buy traditionally produced agri-food products, certified with quality schemes. Regarding the decision to purchase certified agri-food products by young consumers, while recent studies reveal a relatively small significance of EU quality schemes in food purchasing decisions taken by young consumers [36,37]. Young consumer behavior is strongly influenced by globalization, social media, online behavior, and current trends, as they frequently do not differentiate between quality schemes such as PDO, PGI, and TSG [37].…”

The Role of Promoting Agricultural and Food Products Certified with European Union Quality Schemes

“…The strategic positioning and advertising of certified products have been shown to significantly impact consumer engagement on EU-certified food products [ 51 , 63 ]. The questionnaire gauges the effectiveness of advertising and product strategies, informed by studies highlighting their importance in driving consumer awareness and purchase intent for certified agri-food products.…”

“…Non-consumers were requested to identify the reasons for not consuming Romanian agricultural and food products certified with EU quality schemes. These barriers to the non-consumption of products certified with such schemes are identified in the literature as being the price [ 65 , 76 , 77 ], reduced awareness of these certified products due to insufficient promotion at the consumer level [ 63 , 78 ], limited availability [ 73 , 79 , 80 ], and skepticism [ 78 , 81 , 82 ]. The reasons for non-consumption are presented in Figure 1 .…”

Application Research: Big Data in Food Industry

“…Consumers are no longer satisfied with having enough to eat; food quality has become a key factor in determining consumer choice [ 1 ], and their demands and preferences change with the season, time, weather, mood, and other factors [ 2 ]. However, food choice is a luxury not every person enjoys.…”