DOES THE ORGANIC CERTIFICATION INFLUENCE THE PURCHASING DECISIONS OF MILK CONSUMERS?

The "organic" attribute for food products has become an important driver for consumer decision-making in meeting requirements for safety, sustainability and quality. Our study investigated Italian consumer preference in different milk attributes and determined the importance of the organic attribute to better define the milk consumer profile. An intercepted survey was made in Piedmont (northwest Italy) during which 328 milk consumers were interviewed by means of a paper questionnaire. The factors determining consumer choice during milk purchase were examined through the Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The five-factor solutions for milk consumption accounted for 58% of the variance in the original data. A clusters analysis facilitated the definition of three milk consumer clusters (organic sensitive; price sensitive; local origin and quality sensitive). From our results emerged the importance of the organic milk attribute for a specific consumer profile defined as young with a high level of education and high average income. Additionally, these individuals were health conscious, brand sensitive, paid no attention to the local product origin, and evaluated organic certification as a discriminatory factor during the milk purchasing process.