Greek consumers attitudes and motivations against PDO/PGI Agrifoods

Abstract

The study was set out to investigate the factors affecting consumers’ purchasing attitudes and their intention to buy PDO/PGI food products. A total of 615 consumers took part in the study from the municipality of Attica, Greece. The majority of the respondents consider PDO/PGI products of better quality and higher safety than the conventional ones, and they are also able to identify them. However, respondents are unsure whether these products are superior in terms of health benefits, less expensive and tastier than the conventional ones. Furthermore, consumers, who pay attention to the origin, the health claims, the label of a product, and have a high level of consumer awareness, are more likely to buy PDOs/ PGIs. Understanding the main factors that influence consumers to purchase PDO/PGI products, is a vital step towards the promotion of special labeled agri-foodstuffs, which could contribute to the local sustainable development.