The
consumption of healthful olive oil (OO) has grown considerably over the
past 20 years, particularly in areas outside of Europe. To meet this
demand, worldwide production of OO has doubled over this time period.
Greece, Italy and Spain remain the major producers of this commodity;
however, significant growth in production has also occurred in countries
such as Australia and the United States. OO consumption is closely associated with
the traditional Mediterranean diet. It is likely that the potential
health benefits of using OO as a primary dietary fat have been a driver
of increased intake, but undoubtedly other factors will be involved. An
understanding of the factors that influence consumers’ perceptions,
attitudes, liking and preferences for OO will be of benefit to the OO
sector. Olive growers, OO manufacturers, packaging specialists and
marketers, etc. can utilize these insights to aid in the development and
delivery of OO products in line with consumer needs and wants, and help
drive further growth in this sector particularly with regard to new and
emerging markets. The following chapter details information on the
intrinsic and extrinsic factors that have demonstrated an influence on
consumer perception, attitudes, liking and preferences for OO.
1. Introduction
The consumption of
olive oil (OO) has grown considerably over the past 20 years. For
instance, approximately 1.7 million tons of OO was consumed worldwide in
1990–1991 and this increased to approximately 3.1 million tons in
2013–14. To meet the demand, worldwide production of OO has doubled
over this time period. Greece, Italy and Spain are the major producers
of OO [1]; however, significant growth in production has also occurred in countries such as Australia and the USA [1, 2].
For instance in Australia, 500 tons of OO was produced in 1998–99 and
this increased to 13,500 tons in 2013–14. A similar growth rate has
also been noted for the USA, producing 1000 tons of OO in 1998–99 and
12,000 tons by the years 2013–14 [1, 2].
While dietary fats are often maligned in terms of health, OO,
particularly extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) and virgin olive oil (VOO),
holds a special place as consumption is closely associated with the
traditional Mediterranean diet and the health benefits associated with
this diet [3, 4].
It is likely that the potential health benefits of using OO as primary
dietary fat have been a driver of increased intake, but undoubtedly
other factors will be involved.
An understanding of the
factors that influence consumers’ perceptions, attitudes, liking and
preferences for OO will be of benefit to the OO sector. Olive growers,
OO manufacturers, packaging specialists and marketers, etc. can utilize
these insights to develop and deliver OO products in line with consumer
needs and wants, and help drive further growth in this sector
particularly with regard to new and emerging markets.
Consumers make multiple judgments about the foods and beverages they
choose to eat and drink on a daily basis and these evaluations are based
on conscious reflection as well as automatic, habitual and subconscious
decisions. Underlying these reflections and decisions are the quality
evaluations consumers make using both intrinsic and extrinsic product
cues. Intrinsic product cues relate to the physical attributes of a
given product (i.e., color and flavor). Extrinsic product cues, on the
other hand, are the attributes that are related but not contained within
a given product such as brand and product origin [5]. The Total Food Quality Model by Grunert [5]
provides a framework of how intrinsic and extrinsic product attributes
influence consumer quality perception of products. This model
distinguishes quality perception before and after a product’s purchase
and demonstrates that before purchase, consumers make a judgment of
product quality using several intrinsic and extrinsic cues. These
intrinsic and extrinsic quality cues are connected to consumer
knowledge, expertise and beliefs about what is good quality.
Furthermore, Grunert [5]
proposes that for the majority of food purchases, major quality
dimensions of a product (for example, taste) cannot be ascertained
before the purchase, and for such purchase decisions to be made,
consumers have to form quality expectations. Post-purchase, the product
will lead to some type of quality experience.
It is also important to note that an OO sensory wheel has
been developed, acting as a valuable tool in describing EVOO and VOO and
establishing the importance of particular intrinsic product attributes
for the perceived quality of the oil. The attribute profiles of EVOO and
VOO can be linked to consumer preferences and can be used partly as a
prediction model for certain consumer groups. Although the sensory
aspects of OO have been deemed to be important, extrinsic product
attributes have also been noted to be of importance [6].
The
following chapter details information on the intrinsic and extrinsic
factors that have demonstrated an influence on consumer perception,
attitudes, liking and preferences for OO. Please note for the purpose of
this chapter the term OO will be used to encompass EVOO, VOO and the
more refined OO when discussing this oil more generally. When a specific
type of OO has been examined in the literature reviewed, it will be
specified. More