Country of Origin Effect for Food Products from Developing and Transition Countries: A PLS Analysis of German Consumers’ Perception

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the importance of the country of origin (COO) effect in German consumers’ perception of chocolate quality using the example of chocolate made from Ecuadorian raw cocoa. From earlier COO and consumer perception research, a complex research framework grounded in schema and attribution theory has been developed acknowledging the multifactorial character of consumers’ food quality perception. Based on this framework, a PLS analysis of primary data from an online survey of 205 German chocolate consumers is conducted. The results demonstrate the overall applicability of the research framework and give evidence on the underlying complex consumer perception process of COO-labeled food products. For the case of chocolate made from Ecuadorian cocoa, PLS estimations show a strong COO effect in German consumers’ quality perceptions and identify characteristics of the target consumer group. Protecting geographical indications may offer a potential for products from developing and transition countries to differentiate in the German market, a prime example for European markets, and should be promoted more strongly by government offices and NGOs.

KEYWORDS:

• Cocoa/chocolate
• country of origin effect
• Germany
• PLS
• protected geographical indication
• structural equation modeling

Notes

The PGI label certifies that one of the value-added stages in the production, processing or preparation of a food product occurred in a certain region. In contrast, the protected designation of origin (PDO) label also embodied within Regulation (EC) 1151/2012 indicates that all the steps took place in a certain region (European Commission, 2012) and is, therefore, not taken into further consideration in this study due to the study’s focus on imported raw products.

It was a precondition for participation in the survey that respondents purchase and consume chocolate at least once per month. Thereby, it was ensured that the purchase had not been made by another person. This filter question was answered at the very beginning of the questionnaire; respondents who did not fulfill this requirement were directly transferred to the end of the questionnaire.

At the beginning of the questionnaire, respondents were asked about their age and gender. In order to achieve representability, a quota was established.