Sustainability Perception of Local Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Consumers’ Attitude: A New Italian Perspective

Abstract

Extra virgin olive oil sustainability shows that it is strictly connected to local production and certifications. However, consumers’ behaviour toward a local product is tied with the information exchange between producers and consumers. The aim of the research is to analyse, using a logistic regression model, if the attitudes, habits, and behaviours of the consumers influence their opinion on the sustainability of local extra virgin olive oil, relative to the three dimensions of sustainability (environmental, socio-cultural, and economic). This study tries to combine studies about agri-food sustainability and consumers’ behaviour about local consumption, in an attempt to evaluate their attitude towards an agroecology food regime. Indeed, this information can be useful in order to plan adequate and specific interventions to improve the sustainability of the extra virgin olive oil production. The results indicate that the opinion about the sustainability of local extra virgin olive oil is linked to the information exchange between producers and consumers. This confirms that local alternative trade channels require numerous interventions in order to simplify and improve such exchange, both from a managerial and political point of view. Moreover, it can be useful to develop the information and communication technologies, in order to ensure the reliability, the transparency, and the security of the information exchange. This can also be useful to prevent frauds that are very common for this product.

Consumer Preferences for Origin and Organic Attributes of Extra Virgin Olive Oil: A Choice Experiment in the Italian Market

“…These answers show a good knowledge and consumer attitudes towards organic and geographical indication certifications of EVOO. These results share a number of similarities with those of Polenzani et al [ 90 ], who associate traditional consumption of EVOO and general knowledge of the product and its main attributes.…”

Blockchain Technology for Sustainable Supply Chain Management: A Systematic Literature Review and a Classification Framework

“…Consumer's behavior, however, is tied to information exchange between consumer and other supply chain participants. The development of blockchain technology-based solutions to improve this information exchange from a managerial and political point of view shall lead to the prevention of fraud [51]. Table 6 shows the distribution of the research papers in this category.…”

Food Innovation Adoption and Organic Food Consumerism—A Cross National Study between Malaysia and Hungary

“…The locality of the organic food supply could potentially off-set the high price concern linked to organic foods. Consumers believe that locally produced greens produce a smaller carbon-footprint and are thus more environmental friendly and sustainable [59,60]. Timmins [12] found that 60% of his respondents were interested in locally sourced crops.…”