Purpose

The paper aims at investigating whether and how the product designation of origin (PDO) label influences consumers' acceptance, attributes' perception and purchase intention of PDO foods.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employs an experimental lab study based on the affective test of acceptance methodology with a nine-point hedonic scale. Three PDO foods are compared with similar non-PDO samples concerning cheese, cured ham and olive oil categories.

Findings

The presence of PDO labels enhances the consumers' acceptance as well as their perception of sensory attributes. A critical role of the brand name as an enhancer of consumer acceptance also emerges, highlighting the relationship between brand-name and PDO label.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation is related to the lab study methodology, which employs a small number of participants and occurs far from a “normal” situation of consumption. The acceptance test, moreover, does not provide explanations about motives underlying the differences in consumers' perception and preferences.

Practical implications

Practical implications are suggested for food companies concerning the management of both PDO labels and brand strategies and the product's properties that could improve the sensory perception of consumers and their overall product's acceptance.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the debate on consumer behaviour towards PDO foods by adding evidence about the positive influence of such a certification on individual preferences on the basis of a sensory methodology that has been little employed for studying the domain of product certifications.

中文翻译：

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PDO标签和食物偏好：感官分析的结果

目的

本文旨在调查原产地标记（PDO）是否以及如何影响消费者对PDO食品的接受程度，属性认知和购买意图。

设计/方法/方法

该研究采用了基于九点享乐量表的接受方法的情感测试的实验性实验室研究。将三种PDO食品与类似的非PDO样品进行了比较，涉及奶酪，腌火腿和橄榄油类别。

发现

PDO标签的存在增强了消费者的接受度以及他们对感官属性的感知。品牌名称作为提高消费者接受度的关键角色也应运而生，突出了品牌名称与PDO标签之间的关系。

研究局限/意义

主要的局限性与实验室研究方法有关，该方法仅雇用少量参与者，并且与“正常”的消费情况相去甚远。而且，接受测试并未提供有关消费者感知和偏好差异的动机的解释。

实际影响

建议食品公司在管理PDO标签和品牌策略以及产品特性方面有实际意义，这可以改善消费者的感官知觉及其整体产品的接受度。

创意/价值

这项研究通过在感官方法学的基础上增加了有关此类认证对个人喜好的正面影响的证据，从而为消费者对PDO食品的行为进行了辩论，该方法很少用于研究产品认证领域。