Although scientific literature is still uncertain towards the real causes that can link headache episodes with moderate wine consumption, a growing proportion of consumers seems to address sulphites as possible culprits. Hence, the objective of this study is to assess consumers` willingness to pay for wine bearing a sulphites-free label in two traditional wine producing countries, Italy and Spain. The methodological framework is based on the specification of the Becker-DeGroot-Marschak (BDM) type of auction applied to consumers purchasing wine in the supermarket stores of both countries. A left censored Tobit model is used to analyse the bidding behaviour for conventional and 'Non-Added Sulphite' (NAS) wine. Results in both countries show that consumers who link the headaches with the consumption of sulphite are willing to exchange the habitually consumed bottle of wine with a NAS wine and pay extra premium prices. Keywords: Experimental auctions, Non-added sulphite wines, Consumer behavio
1 March 2020 in Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services
Nutritional and health claims are a useful tool for promoting healthier food choices and prevent non-communicable disease[s] (NCDs). Exhaustive literature that has investigated consumer evaluation of the presence of nutritional and/or health claim(s) during the decision-making process suggests that consumers’ sensitivity towards nutritional claims (NCs) and health claims (HCs) are still fragmented and should be further investigated. Our objective is to study the relationship between choice behaviour, attitudes and socio-demographic characteristics in order to evaluate the effectiveness of consumer characteristics in predicting Spanish consumers’ choice of products with NCs and HCs. A discrete choice experiment for yoghurt was conducted on a sample of 218 Spanish consumers, stratified by age, gender, education level, and income. Applying a latent class approach has enabled us to identify a niche of individuals, sensitive of NCs and HCs and to characterize them with respect to the rest of population. Results suggest that consumers positively valued most claims, however, the valuation was heterogeneous, and three consumer segments were identified: ‘health-claims oriented’, ‘nutritional- and health-claim oriented’ and ‘indifferent’. The results supply insights for the development of more targeted promotion campaigns, as well as for further actions in food marketing.