AGRIFORM, GRANA PADANO CONSORTIUM AND THE TERRITORY AND AGRO-FORESTRY SYSTEMS DEPARTMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PADUA, PRESENT THE RESEARCH STUDY "INVESTIGATING ATTITUDES, KNOWLEDGE AND PREFERENCES OF CONSUMERS IN COMPARISON OF THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF GRANA PADANO PDO ".
At the end of 2019, as a part of the European research project 3S_4H, the Department of Territory and Agro-forestry Systems of the University of Padua,led by Prof. MARA THIENE, proposed an interesting initiative: to investigate the consumers' habits, knowledge and preferences towards the different types of Grana Padano PDO and verify the premium price according to the distinctive characteristics of the product.
The survey involved the collection of information through an online questionnaire to a representative sample of consumers on a national scale (2000 contacts), then a consumer purchasing test to be carried out inside a store.
The strong practical value of the issues touched upon, the level of innovation in the proposed work methodology, as well as the absolute reliability of the scientific partner had a determining role in the immediate consent for this project.
Going into the details of the project, the questionnaire was organized in two sections:
1. The first section contained questions aimed at investigating the knowledge and attitudes of
consumers towards Grana Padano. Specifically, the section aimed to identify which characteristics of the product were potentially most attractive to consumers (nutritional properties, health benefits, taste, novelty, etc.).
Thanks to this information it will be possible to promote the product in a targeted manner among consumers.
2. The second, on the other hand, had the purpose of identifying the determinants of the choice of Grana Padano cheese and quantifying the willingness to pay (premium price) of consumers for the purchase of the product. In this part the methodology of the Choice Experiments was used. This technique requires that respondents are offered multiple choice scenarios, each of which contains different product alternatives, among which the respondent indicates the preferred one.
These scenarios make it possible to determine the levels of preference for the different characteristics of Grana Padano and the willingness to pay "a premium" price for each of them.
Ninety couples, after filling out the questionnaire, took part in April in a Consumer Purchasing Test carried out in Agriform's retail shop in Sommacampagna (Verona). Subsequently, these couples were asked to fill in, after consumption, another questionnaire that gave an account of the level of satisfaction of the product purchased.
We are confident that the results of this survey, which will be available at the end of July 2021, will help provide useful information to producers, aimed at optimizing the product offer
The survey involved the collection of information through an online questionnaire to a representative sample of consumers on a national scale (2000 contacts), then a consumer purchasing test to be carried out inside a store.
The strong practical value of the issues touched upon, the level of innovation in the proposed work methodology, as well as the absolute reliability of the scientific partner had a determining role in the immediate consent for this project.
Going into the details of the project, the questionnaire was organized in two sections:
1. The first section contained questions aimed at investigating the knowledge and attitudes of
consumers towards Grana Padano. Specifically, the section aimed to identify which characteristics of the product were potentially most attractive to consumers (nutritional properties, health benefits, taste, novelty, etc.).
Thanks to this information it will be possible to promote the product in a targeted manner among consumers.
2. The second, on the other hand, had the purpose of identifying the determinants of the choice of Grana Padano cheese and quantifying the willingness to pay (premium price) of consumers for the purchase of the product. In this part the methodology of the Choice Experiments was used. This technique requires that respondents are offered multiple choice scenarios, each of which contains different product alternatives, among which the respondent indicates the preferred one.
These scenarios make it possible to determine the levels of preference for the different characteristics of Grana Padano and the willingness to pay "a premium" price for each of them.
Ninety couples, after filling out the questionnaire, took part in April in a Consumer Purchasing Test carried out in Agriform's retail shop in Sommacampagna (Verona). Subsequently, these couples were asked to fill in, after consumption, another questionnaire that gave an account of the level of satisfaction of the product purchased.
We are confident that the results of this survey, which will be available at the end of July 2021, will help provide useful information to producers, aimed at optimizing the product offer
Agriform è parte di: 