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Consuming Portugal through food:
representations and determinants of choice
from Portuguese and foreigner consumers
Teresa Forte, DCSPT –UA, teresaforte@ua.pt
Elisabete Figueiredo, DCSPT –UA, elisa@ua.pt
Celeste Eusébio, DEGEIT-UA, celeste.eusebio@ua.pt
Alexandre Silva, ICS-UL, alexandre.silva@ics.ulisboa.pt
Mónica Truninger, ICS-UL, monica.truninger@ics.ulisboa.pt
STRINGS - Selling The Rural IN (urban) Gourmet Stores –establishing new liaisons between
town and country through the sale and consumption of rural products (PTDC/GES-
OUT/29281/2017/ POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029281)
Background
➢Rural provenance food has been gauging interest among consumers increasingly
aware and knowledgeable about what they eat (Caputo et al., 2018)
➢Consumers preference for rural provenance food shares current determinants of
food choice, namely concerns for health, wellbeing and environment, hedonic
and sensorial appeals and valorisation of provenance
➢These factors provide cues on how these products are represented according to
consumers’ beliefs, values and identities (e.g. the increasingly acknowledged
phenomenon of consumers ethnocentrism and/or nationalism)
Background
➢The growth of urban specialty stores have accompanied this interest, and,
besides providing a venue to sell them, they also model how rural provenance
products are portrayed and communicated (Silva et al., 2021)
➢One of the topics underexplored in this context is how these products reach, are
represented and chosen by national and foreign consumers (tourists and
residents)
Aims
This paper contributes to the topic, by exploring:
➢how portuguese and foreign consumers represent rural
provenance food products and rural territories of origin
➢what criteria do portuguese and foreigner consumers
privilegie to choose these products
Methods
➢A survey conducted between
June 2020 and June 2021
targeting the customers of 24
specialty food shops located in
three Portuguese cities
(N=1553) –Aveiro, Lisbon and
Porto.
➢These shops were randomly
selected based on a
hierarchical cluster analysis of
a universe of 119 shops
located the 3 cities.
Methods
➢Three clusters of shops:
➢The Wine Focused (selling wine and other beverages);
➢The Rural Provenance Focused (selling rural provenance foods)
and
➢The Generalist (including diverse products from various
provenances) (Silva et al., 2021)
➢This paper focuses on the national (n= 1175) and
foreign customers (N=373) of those shops. In the data
collection and analysis, only Portuguese food products
were considered.
Methods
➢The questionnaire was prepared both in Portuguese and in
English and is divided in two parts:
➢1. Consumption of traditional rural national-based products
(e.g. representations of rural contexts and rural food
products, products acquired, frequency, region of origin,
reasons to acquire them)
➢2. Consumers sociodemographic profile.
➢The groups were compared using Chi square test and t-
test regarding their representations of rural territories of
origin, provenance food products, products purchased
and criteria of choice of rural provenance food.
Representations of
rural contexts
Chi-square test shows only
differences in the
representation of authentic,
traditional and unique- The
representation of rural
contexts as more authentic
and traditional is more likely
to be shared by Portuguese
Categories
Portuguese
Foreigners
Gaze,
Tranquility and Well-Being
423
148
Environment
and Natural
Elements
343
118
Farming
215
57
Roots
and Nostalgia
195
53
Authentic
, Traditional and
Unique
189
43
Abandonment
, Isolation and
ageing
184
72
Places, Villages and Ways of Life
162
45
Food
Products and
Characteristics
138
45
Undeveloped and problematic
63
21
Growth and Diversity
43
8
Representations of Rural Food Products
Representation of rural contexts as more
authentic and traditional by Portuguese
is also reflected in the most common
representation of rural products as
related to farmers and production
processes.
Meat and animal-based products- more
likely to be found in the group of
foreigner
Farmers and farming- more associated to
Portuguese
The verbatim evocations more frequent
are similar, suggesting that it is indeed an
important part of the representation of
rural provenance food products: cheese,
quality, wine and taste.
Categories of
Evocations of Rural
Provenance Food
(%)
Portuguese Foreigner
Quality
761 241
Sensorial/
organoletic features of
products
232 82
Distinction and Authenticity
141 37
Nature
/Enviroment/Sustainability 133 40
Family/Nostalgia
58 17
Chemically free/ UnHealthy
53 18
Freshness
43 16
Selection/Monotony
41 11
Regional, local, from specific places
35 12
Trustworthy
25 8
Products
689 263
Meat
and animal-based products 203 94
Cheese and other milk derivatives
192 63
Vegetables, Cereals and Fruits
132 46
Wine
106 40
Honey, Jams and Sweets
56 20
Type
of production 278 70
Hand
-made, Traditional, Experience
and Know
-how 136 45
Farmers
and Farming 96 16
Organic
46 9
Positive
attributes 245 84
General quality
245 84
Gastronomy and Cuisine
24 6
Origin
20 3
National character
20 3
Price
11 1
Products purchased
Products
purchased
Portuguese
Foreigner
Total
Wine 229 64 293
Cheese 134 51 185
Olive oil 42 13 55
Alheira 35 15 50
Vegetables 35 14 49
Bread 34 14 27
Dried fruits 31 11 42
Honey 15 12 27
Sausages 24 226
Eggs 19 625
Liquor 17 724
Type
of products
Higher
frequency of purchase
(
significant diferences)
Cured
Meat and other
Portuguese
Meat
Portuguese
Honey
, jams and preserves
Foreigners
Craft
Foreigners
Wine is the most aquired product
by both Portuguese and
foreigners, followed by Cheese
Chi-square tests indicate
significant diferences
between Portuguese and
Foreigners in the acquisition
of Cured Meat; Meat;
Honey, jams and preserves
and Craft
Reasons to choose Rural Provenance Food
Reasons
Nationality Mean
Std.
Deviation
If
they taste better
Portuguese
4,39 0,87
Foreigner
4,21 0,89
That they are produced in
Portugal
Portuguese
4,30 0,86
Foreigner
4,09 0,93
Having
a fair price
Portuguese
4,22 0,94
Foreigner
4,09 0,89
If they are fresh produce
Portuguese
4,21 0,97
Foreigner
4,10 0,94
To support Portuguese
agriculture and rural areas
Portuguese
4,14 1,00
Foreigner
4,02 0,98
That they are local
Portuguese
4,13 0,94
Foreigner
4,08 0,91
To trust in the store and in its
specialized costumer
service
Portuguese
4,08 0,98
Foreigner
3,85 1,02
If they look good
Portuguese
4,08 0,95
Foreigner
4,10 0,94
To be produced in
Portuguese rural areas
Portuguese
4,02 1,04
Foreigner
3,80 1,06
If
their production carries a
low
environmental impact
Portuguese
3.96 1.09
Foreigner
3.92 1.06
The main reasons to acquire rural
provenance features are:
1) sensorial/organoleptic features (
‘their better taste’ is the most valued
criteria; ‘if the are fresh produce’;‘if
they look good)- t-test indicate
these are equally vaued by
Portuguese and Foreigners
2) National, local provenance and
impact ( ‘To support Portuguese
agriculture and rural areas; ‘That
they are local’), more valued by
Portuguese in line with consumers’
ethnocentrism and/or nationalism
phenomenon
1) Convenience and reach factors
(‘Fair price’, ‘To trust in the the
store), more valued by Portuguese
Regions
Trás-os-Montes, Beira Interior, Alentejo and Entre Douro e Minho are the
most frequent regions of the products purchased
Chi-square tests show no significant differences between Portuguese and
Foreign consumers regarding the food products acquired and their regions
of origin
Regions
Portuguese
Foreigner
Trás
-os-Montes
553
175
Beira Interior
341
126
Alentejo
240
46
Entre Douro e Minho
194
73
Beira Litoral
119
46
Açores
116
25
Ribatejo e Oeste
61
25
Algarve
8
1
Concluding remarks
.
➢The present study informs about differences on the image and choice of rural
provenance products that may provide a benchmark to guide attuned
communication and marketing of these foodstuffs.
The sensorial/organoleptic features (as taste, freshness and healthier character)
are valued by both Portuguese and foreigners
➢National and local provenance products and the positive socio-economic impact
of these productions in rural areas and Portuguese agriculture are specially valued
by Portuguese consumers, in line with the growing pattern of consumers’
ethnocentrism and/or nationalism. This preference, fuelled by a familiarity with the
products and convenience aspects, is of special importance to connect with the
entrepreneurship of urban specialty stores.
➢The specialty food shops have a paramount role in fostering the interest of
Portuguese and Foreign consumers for Portuguese rural provenance products.
Acting as showcases with direct connection with rural territories and bringing the
rural to the cities, they enable consuming Portugal through food, not only the
products but also the territories of origin
Limitations and research avenues
➢Much fewer participants in the group of foreign
consumers
➢Data collection in only three cities
➢The empirical evidence and analysis may also apply to
other Southern European Countries (e.g. Italy, Spain,
Greece) that share similarities in terms of diet,
agriculture and rural areas transformations and
consumption practices