What’s behind organic certification of extra-virgin olive oil? A response from Italian consumers

ABSTRACT

Organic certification represents a growing business in international food market. In this article, an analysis of the factors influencing the purchase of organic extra-virgin olive oil is done for Italian consumers. A k-means cluster analysis was used to identify market segments. Results showed that it is possible to classify the Italian market into three clusters, respectively, indicating high, intermediate, and low willingness to pay a premium price (WTP) for organic certification of extra-virgin olive oil. Safety, nutritional, and health aspects appear to influence WTP. Factors concerning environmental sustainability and the supports to Italian food system are considered important, but do not play a fundamental role in increasing the consumer’s WTP.

KEYWORDS:

• Organic
• extra-virgin olive oil
• food quality
• certification
• consumer behavior