Perception of traditional food products in six European regions using free word association

A total of 721 consumers were interviewed in order to obtain and compare consumer-driven associations to the word “ Traditional”, in a food context, in six European regions. Participants, who were individually interviewed, had to state the first words that came into their mind when the word “ Tradit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Food quality and preference 2010-03, Vol.21 (2), p.225-233
Main Authors: Guerrero, Luis, Claret, Anna, Verbeke, Wim, Enderli, Geraldine, Zakowska-Biemans, Sylwia, Vanhonacker, Filiep, Issanchou, Sylvie, Sajdakowska, Marta, Granli, Britt Signe, Scalvedi, Luisa, Contel, Michele, Hersleth, Margrethe
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
consumers
culture and humanities
European regions
Food and Nutrition
Food industries
foodways
Free word association
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
Life Sciences
Methods of analysis, processing and quality control, regulation, standards
new products
product development
retail marketing
sensory evaluation
Traditional food products
traditional foods
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Summary:A total of 721 consumers were interviewed in order to obtain and compare consumer-driven associations to the word “ Traditional”, in a food context, in six European regions. Participants, who were individually interviewed, had to state the first words that came into their mind when the word “ Traditional” was verbally presented. Frequencies of occurrence of associations were obtained and analysed by means of simple correspondence analysis. The different word associations obtained were classified in 55 classes and then grouped in ten principal dimensions by triangulation. In general, southern European regions tended to associate the concept of “ Traditional” more frequently with broad concepts such as heritage, culture or history. Central and Nordic European regions tended to focus mainly on practical issues such as convenience, health or appropriateness. As a final outcome of the analyses, a consensus conceptual map of traditional food products was obtained. The empirical findings of this qualitative exploratory free word association test provide valuable insights for product positioning, innovation and new developments in the traditional food market.
ISSN:0950-3293
1873-6343
DOI:10.1016/j.foodqual.2009.06.003