What Is the Value of a “Mountain Product” Claim? A Ranking Conjoint Experiment on Goat’s Milk Yoghurt

Abstract

Rural development is complex in marginal and disadvantaged areas, such as mountains, which impose high labour costs and restrict farmers in their choices of crop and livestock. To recognise this problem, the European Union regulates the use of the optional quality term “Mountain product” on the label. Consumers may recognise this label and be more willing to pay for it, resulting in higher revenues for producers using it. This study estimates the willingness to pay (WTP) for a mountain quality label. This WTP is then compared to that of functional and nutrition claims. For this purpose, we used a ranking conjoint experiment, using goat’s milk yoghurt—a typical mountain product—as a case study. Using a rank-ordered logit, we show that mountain quality labels generate a significant WTP, higher than that of functional claims. WTP differs by the demographic profile of the consumer. The study provided useful insights about the combination of the mountain quality label with different attributes. However, future studies are needed to adequately understand the potential of mountain certification as a supporting tool for farmers in marginal areas and for rural development.

Turkish Consumers’ Purchase Motivation towards Erzurum Stuffed-Kadayif with Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) at the Dessert Retailers

“…It was reported in the prior researches that it was firstly attempted to determine consumers' purchase motivations by taking into account the hedonic food attributes, a part of the marketing mix focused on consumers' visual sense (price, brand, labeling, package weight, and size, geographical indications, purchase convenience, reaching to retailers, conformity and comfort at retail stores, health claims) (Edenbrandt and Nordström, 2023;Fakhreddine and Sanchez, 2023;Petrontino et al, 2023;Yeh and Hirsch, 2023;Zanchini et al, 2023;Zeng et al, 2023), and then the sensorial food attributes based on a variation of the nutritional composition at farming and manufacturing process (taste, aroma, flavor, colour, texture, appearance, sound, content or ingredient, juiciness, sweetness) (Bejaei and Xu, 2023;Fakreddine and Sanchez, 2023;Giannoutsos et al, 2023;Kleih et al 2023;Lavui et al, 2023) impacting on their purchase models at retail levels.…”