A study on Italian consumers’ perception towards local dairy products.

Many definitions have been proposed for ‘local food’, with connotations ranging from political boundaries, sustainability dimensions, quality, and emotional criteria. This study aimed to understand whether the perception of Italian consumers towards sustainability aspects of local milk and cheese (related to environmental, social, and ethical dimensions) is related to the socio-demographic characteristics of individuals and their preferences towards products quality attributes. A total of 543 consumers from Apulia (South Italy, a region characterized by ancient dairy tradition) filled in a structured questionnaire developed to collect information about consumers’ socio-demographic traits, purchasing and consumption habits, preferences towards dairy products and opinions towards sustainability and market availability of local dairy products. Data were subjected to a Principal Component Analysis, from which four Principal Components were defined, named as Responsive to quality attributes, Local is better, Local is sustainable, and Availability request. We found that the attitudes of consumers are driven by quality attributes of dairy products rather than by sustainability aspects or perceived higher quality of local dairy products. The results of non-parametric tests showed that gender, age, place of residence and educational level of consumers significantly affected the abovementioned Principal Components. On the contrary, the financial situation and family size did not influence the definition of the perception of sustainability. Such results clearly highlight the need of targeting production and developing ad hoc communication strategies for different consumer profiles. Finally, dissatisfaction emerged about the availability and visibility of local dairy products at the market level, which suggests the need for better promotion (e.g. using specific labels) of local milk and cheese.