An empirical examination of consumer preferences for honey in Croatia

ABSTRACT

In past years, beekeeping as an agricultural sector has become more organized, but there is still a gap in knowledge in considering consumer preferences for honey. The aim of the research was to determine consumer preferences for honey and their attitudes towards the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) label. Also, in the article is presented the current situation regarding the honey market and legislation of the PDO label at the EU and national levels. The result of the empirical research carried out on a sample of 1008 respondents showed that they mostly prefer a mild flavour and brighter colour of honey. According to the type, most of the respondents prefer acacia rather than floral and meadow honeys or other types of honey. The most common method of honey purchase is directly from the producers (75%). The results of the Principle Component Analysis (PCA) showed that the most important attributes are the intrinsic attributes of the honey and that the most common reasons for purchasing and consuming honey are for its health and medical benefits. The obtained results fill the gap in knowledge regarding consumer preferences for honey in the Croatian market and can be useful for the creation of new honey-marketing strategies for local beekeepers.

KEYWORDS:

• Honey
• consumer preferences
• PDO
• Croatia

JEL CLASSIFICATION:

• D12
• M31
• Q13
• Q18

Acknowledgement

We would like to thank students of the Grammar and Vocational School Juraj Dobrila from Pazin and their teachers, and especially to School Principle prof. Josip Šiklić for their cooperation, support and help as well as all participants in the research for their active involvement.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ The levels of the frequency of honey purchase defined in SPSS were as follows: on the scale from 1– once a week to 5 – once a year and 0 for other (Table 2).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Beekeeping Association ‘Lipa’ from Pazin, the Administrative Department for Agriculture, Forestry, Hunting and Water Management of Istria County and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Croatia. The research was carried out as part of the project of preparation of documentation for the registration of honey with protected designation of origin label PDO ‘Istarski med’.