Consumer preferences and labelling: an empirical analysis of the beef sector in Italy

Within the framework of European food safety measures, Reg. 1760/2000 and 1825/2000 have introduced mandatory traceability and relevant labeling into the beef sector. The paper analyses whether information on meat labels can be considered a useful instrument for consumers, facilitating the verification of quality. The purpose of the paper is, first, to evaluate if meat information is used during food purchase. Second, focusing on specific meat information, we assess the interest of consumer for some mandatory and voluntary information cues and identify the determinants affecting the use of them. Data were collected by a survey conducted in the Lombardy, region of the northern Italy, and employed a telephone questionnaire. The sample is composed by 1,025 consumers. We estimate 4 models based on the literature and for all the equations we used a binary logit model. The analyses revealed that meat label is widely used by Italian consumers in the formulation of their purchasing preferences. The use of the meat label is also positively connected to consumer attention towards quality signaling such as certification, expiry date and so on. The origin is confirmed to be an important information for a large part of interviewed. Among the voluntary information the system of cattle breeding is related to a consumer who pays particular attention in general to quality indicators whereas the cattle feeding seems to interest young consumers with high level of education.