TY - JOUR
T1 - Marketing Olive Oil Products in the Tunisian Local Market
T2 - The Importance of Quality Attributes and Consumers' Behavior
AU - Mtimet, Nadhem
AU - Zaibet, Lokman
AU - Zairi, Chokri
AU - Hzami, Hamida
N1 - Funding Information:
We acknowledge funding by the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation and Development and the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Research under the project reference A/6285/06-A/010128/07. We also thank the editor/reviewer of this journal for his valuable comments to improve the quality of the article.
PY - 2013/4
Y1 - 2013/4
N2 - This article is, to the best of our knowledge, the first investigation of Tunisian olive oil consumer behavior by the use of the conjoint analysis technique. The conjoint experiment was based on carefully selected olive oil attributes: type, taste, color, packaging, region of origin, and price. The results have important implications to improve the marketing of olive oil in the local market by focusing on key preferred attributes. Consumers were found to prefer more extra-virgin, followed by virgin olive oil, to pomace oil. They also showed higher preference for green colored olive oil with strong flavored taste. Contrary to a common belief in Tunisia, the region of origin attribute did not show significant effect on consumers' purchasing decisions. The results show also that Tunisian olive oil consumers are price sensitive and therefore any price strategy to introduce bottled products should take into account consumers' preferences for bulk purchase.
AB - This article is, to the best of our knowledge, the first investigation of Tunisian olive oil consumer behavior by the use of the conjoint analysis technique. The conjoint experiment was based on carefully selected olive oil attributes: type, taste, color, packaging, region of origin, and price. The results have important implications to improve the marketing of olive oil in the local market by focusing on key preferred attributes. Consumers were found to prefer more extra-virgin, followed by virgin olive oil, to pomace oil. They also showed higher preference for green colored olive oil with strong flavored taste. Contrary to a common belief in Tunisia, the region of origin attribute did not show significant effect on consumers' purchasing decisions. The results show also that Tunisian olive oil consumers are price sensitive and therefore any price strategy to introduce bottled products should take into account consumers' preferences for bulk purchase.
KW - Tunisia
KW - conjoint analysis
KW - consumers
KW - discrete choice models
KW - olive oil
KW - willingness to pay
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U2 - 10.1080/08974438.2013.736044
DO - 10.1080/08974438.2013.736044
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84875986162
SN - 0897-4438
VL - 25
SP - 134
EP - 145
JO - Journal of International Food and Agribusiness Marketing
JF - Journal of International Food and Agribusiness Marketing
IS - 2
ER -