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 paperaims to analyse the introduction of these attributes, providing more insights into Italian consumer perception andpreferences for different extra-virgin olive oil labelling schemes. After preliminary focus group and in-depth personalinterviews with representatives of retailers and producers’ organizations, a choice experiment (CE) was employed ona sample of Italian consumers to analyse preferences for different extra-virgin olive oils. CE methodology allows toweight the relative importance of any given attribute for consumers, measuring the effects of interaction betweendifferent attributes. It can also provide an estimation of the marginal willingness to pay (WTP), or part-worth, of anattribute, such as health claim or indication of origin. The results provide supply chain actors with valuableinformation to develop marketing strategies, as well as concrete evidence for policy makers of consumersunderstanding of health claims and COOL labelling.