Do biodiversity factors really affect consumer preferences?

In the 2006, a study was carried out on consumers' preference and evaluation of food products linked to the biodiversity factors such as: pasture, cheese making, raw milk, traditional tools, and natural rennet. The aim was to show how consumers evaluated these products independently from their knowledge about the identity of the food they tasted. Dairy products obtained with traditional method of productions were compared to those obtained with industrial methods of production. For almost all the products in comparison, preferences and evaluations of the consumers were in favour of food highly related to the biodiversity (p<0.01). Concerning industrialized food, e.g. milk, the preference between the two products even if it is significant (UHT = 57% vs Pasteurized = 43%) is not as much strong as between traditional and industrial products (e.g.: cheese produced with raw milk = 73% vs cheese produced with pasteurized milk = 27%). This result invigorates the idea that industrial productions exposed without brand (e.g.: galbani), packaging that allows the product to be recognizable (e.g.: red can-coke) or description of the internal cues, do not have qualitative features able to influence consumers to clearly indicate preferences and likeness. On the contrary, food linked to the biodiversity is better evaluated than industrial products thanks to their qualitative components that are immediately recognizable by the consumers, independently from the presence of external cues.