A Conjoint Analysis of Consumer Preferences for Traditional Cheeses in Turkey: A Case Study on Tulum Cheese

In this study, consumer preferences toward traditional cheeses were investigated with Tulum cheese sample which is one of the traditional cheeses of Turkey. Type of milk used for Tulum cheese making was identified as the most important factor, fol-lowed by Tulum cheese’s texture, price, salinity, fat content, origin and flavour. The ideal Tulum cheese profile for the overall consumers was made with cow milk, a hard texture, a price of 20 TL per kg, a low salt cheese, a full fat cheese, the regional cheese which belongs to Izmir region and a mild-flavoured cheese.A cluster analysis revealed there were two clusters with dif-ferent ideal product profiles. Cluster 1’s ideal Tulum cheese comprised a soft texture, a mild-flavoured cheese, a cheese made with cow milk, a full fat cheese, a low salt cheese, the regional cheese which belongs to Izmir region and a price of 10 TL per kg. Cluster 2 differed from cluster 1 in that its ideal Tulum cheese was a hard textured cheese and priced at 20 TL per kg. The consumers in cluster 2 were less price sensitive than those in cluster 1. In addition to, the consumers in both segments are ready to pay extra money for regional Tulum cheese versus non-regional Tulum cheese. We found that the older ones were more willing to pay as compared to younger individuals. Young people are critical target consumers for Tulum cheese marketers. The findings on cluster 1’s ideal Tulum cheese of this study could therefore provide guidance to marketing managers. Key wors: traditional cheeses, consumer preferences, conjoint analysis, Turke