Profiling European traditional food consumers

Abstract

Purpose -The paper seeks to provide a picture of the profile of European traditional food consumers (TFC) in terms of their socio-demographics, attitudes, life-style orientations and behavioural characteristics. Design/methodology/approach -Cross-sectional data were collected through a pan-European consumer survey (n ¼ 4,828) conducted in November and December 2007, with samples representative for gender, age and region, collected from six European countries: Spain, Italy, France, Belgium, Poland and Norway. First, information about the consumption of traditional food and the image of a typical TFC was provided through descriptive analysis. Next, the actual characteristics of TFC were assessed using partial least squares regression and these were discussed in the context of the theory of self-image congruity. Findings -Traditional food consumption patterns are stronger in the south than in the north of Europe. TFC across Europe are typically middle-aged to elderly, health-conscious, ethnocentric, food connoisseurs, who are attached to familiarity in their food choices and who very much enjoy cooking. Practical implications -The information about the profile, the image and the actual characteristics of TFC has practical implications for marketing and communicating about traditional foods, including their identification, differentiation, research and development and positioning in the European food market. Originality/value -Traditional food is currently undergoing a revival, with increased sales, consumer and regulatory interest. This paper provides cross-cultural results from a large pan-European consumer sample that provides highly relevant and useful information about the market potentials of the traditional food industry, which mostly consists of small-and medium-sized enterprises. The application of the self-image congruity theory to validate the results contributes to the originality of the paper.

General image and attribute perceptions of traditional food in six European countries

“…Further, when investigating the association between traditional food consumption and motives for food choice in Europe, Pieniak, Verbeke, Vanhonacker, Guerrero, and Hersleth (2009) found healthiness and convenience constructs to have significant negative associations with traditional food consumption, while familiarity and natural content constructs showed positive significant associations. These results corroborate Vanhonacker, Lengard, Hersleth, and Verbeke (2010) whom in their work of profiling European traditional food consumers found that the attitudes and behaviours of traditional food consumers significantly differed from those of non-traditional food consumers in diverse domains including health, cooking, food shopping, convenience and ethnocentrism. These publications give information about European consumers' definition of, associations to and consumption attitudes for TFP, but they neither give information about the standing and the reputation of TFP in the food market, nor about the consumers' perceptions of TFP attributes.…”

Opportunities for predicting and manipulating beef quality

“…Traditional food consumption patterns are stronger in the South than in the North of Europe whereas consumers from the North of Europe place far more trust in commercial brands (Vanhonacker, Lengard, Hersleth & Verbeke, 2010). The PGI system is well known in Italy but not so much in other countries whereas the TSG system is the less known.…”

Consumer Preferences for Olive-Oil Attributes: A Review of the Empirical Literature Using a Conjoint Approach

“…For the former, olive oil can be considered as a traditional food product. In this respect, the literature shows some important associations between the consumption of such traditional products and cultural aspects such as values, beliefs and life-style orientations (Vanhonacker et al, 2010). In this respect, as noted by Govers and Schoormans (2005), some studies have tested how consumers prefer products or brands with a particular symbolic meaning, compatible with the image they wish to convey of themselves.…”