Price Fairness of Processed Tomato Agro-Food Chain: The Italian Consumers’ Perception Perspective

Abstract

Food consumers are increasingly searching for emotions and values when purchasing and consuming food. They search for products that ensure social and environmental sustainability, in addition to more common extrinsic product attributes, such as price, packaging, origin, and brand. In particular, there is increasing interest towards product price fairness. The current study aims at exploring consumers’ perception and understanding of price fairness, focusing on the processed tomato products agro-food chain. The study interviewed 832 people. Data were collected through an online questionnaire with the support of Qualtrics software, and data elaboration was carried out with Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). The elaboration includes an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) to identify existing latent factors in the consumers’ perception of enabling agro-food system elements influencing farmers’ reception of fair prices. Then, factor mean values were cross-analysed with socio-economic characteristics and processed tomato consumption habits with Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results support the idea that consumers are limitedly aware of the processed tomato agro-food chain dynamics and consider farmers as the most unfairly remunerated partner. Women and frequently purchasing consumers of processed tomato products believe farmers should be treated more fairly. There is a difference between what consumers perceive as fair price distribution and actual price distribution among processed tomato chain actors. Further studies may focus on how fairness attribute impacts on consumer purchasing behaviour.

The Effect of Perceived Risk, Brand Image and Perceived Price Fairness on Customer Satisfaction

“…In other words, the perceived risk is an assessment of a risky situation, which is highly dependent on the psychological characteristics and characteristics of the situation. This is in line with (Samadou and Kim, 2018); (Samoggia et al, 2021) who agreed that the level of risk perceived by the customer depends on the knowledge, previous experiences and the level of risk perceived or suffered by the customer. According to (Qalati et al, 2021); (Simbolon et al, 2020); (Tho et al, 2017) perceived risk has negative and significant effect on customer satisfaction.…”

“…(Tho et al, 2017) explained that the perceived risk in traditional retailers is a form of fraud against the quality of the products sold. Furthermore, (Samoggia et al, 2021); (Tho et al, 2017) described the perceived risk as the possibility of a gain or loss without considering the positioning, advertising, brand image and value added between the trustor and the trustee. (Wu et al, 2011) also mentioned that the perceived risk is a type of subjective loss, whereas it is a risk experienced during the process of buying a product or service, and the customers cannot consider the pros or cons of the purchase result, and the consequences resulting from an uncertain or dubious assessment.…”

“…Customer Satisfaction. According to (Qalati et al, 2021); (Samadou and Kim, 2018); (Samoggia et al, 2021); (Simbolon et al, 2020); (Tho et al, 2017), traditionally, customer satisfaction is considered to be (i) a cognitive state, (ii) influenced by previous cognitions, and (iii) having a relative character. Recently, however, there has been an increasing recognition among researchers focusing on the customer satisfaction that a purely cognitive approach may be inadequate in modeling satisfaction evaluations.…”

“…According to (Samadou and Kim, 2018); (Samoggia et al, 2021); (Tho et al, 2017) the brand image is a set of beliefs, ideas, and impressions that a person has of a brand. Therefore, the customer attitudes and actions towards a brand are determined by the brand image.…”

Exploring the Governance and Fairness in the Milk Value Chain: A Case Study in Vietnam

“…Governance, sustainability, and fairness are central to the global food value chain. In recent years, these concepts have gained notable attention from both practitioners and scholars [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. Moreover, governance, sustainability, and fairness in the global food value chain have significantly changed over time and are influenced by various factors, most notably regulatory interventions.…”