Consumer preferences for country-of-origin and health claim labelling of extra-virgin olive-oil

Although several studies have investigated consumer preferences for olive oil country-of-origin labelling (COOL), very little is known on consumers’ preferences for new health claims (EC Reg. n. 1924/2006). This paper aims to analyse the introduction of these attributes, providing more insights into Italian consumer perception and preferences for different extra-virgin olive oil labelling schemes. After preliminary focus group and in-depth personal interviews with representatives of retailers and producers’ organizations, a choice experiment (CE) was employed on a sample of Italian consumers to analyse preferences for different extra-virgin olive oils. CE methodology allows to weight the relative importance of any given attribute for consumers, measuring the effects of interaction between different attributes. It can also provide an estimation of the marginal willingness to pay (WTP), or part-worth, of an attribute, such as health claim or indication of origin. The results provide supply chain actors with valuable information to develop marketing strategies, as well as concrete evidence for policy makers of consumers understanding of health claims and COOL labelling