It Seems Italian, Doesn’t It? An Exploratory Analysis of English and Spanish Consumers about Italian Appearance Food Products
The Italian export of agri-food products has been increasingly threatened by the unfair use of misleading Italian symbols (such as the national flag or the green-white-red colors) by non-Italian producers. This research paper investigated what English and Spanish consumers know about “Made in Italy”...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-05-01
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Series: | Foods |
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Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/11/10/1392 |
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author | Mariarosaria Simeone Morena Cinquegrana Carlo Russo |
author_facet | Mariarosaria Simeone Morena Cinquegrana Carlo Russo |
author_sort | Mariarosaria Simeone |
collection | DOAJ |
description | The Italian export of agri-food products has been increasingly threatened by the unfair use of misleading Italian symbols (such as the national flag or the green-white-red colors) by non-Italian producers. This research paper investigated what English and Spanish consumers know about “Made in Italy” food, and their attitude towards Italian appearance food products. Primary data were collected in Spain and England, and a probit model was used to identify the determinants of consumers’ vulnerability to misleading Italian symbols. We found that merely having Italian symbols on the package might lead almost half of the consumers in the sample to consider food as Made in Italy, regardless of the actual origin. This result confirms the severity of the problem. The econometric model provides suggestions for public actions to mitigate the issue. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:53:54Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-2d8ae5ffdf6e44d79dfe830a938b0600 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2304-8158 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:53:54Z |
publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
publisher | MDPI AG |
record_format | Article |
series | Foods |
spelling | doaj.art-2d8ae5ffdf6e44d79dfe830a938b06002023-11-23T10:58:29ZengMDPI AGFoods2304-81582022-05-011110139210.3390/foods11101392It Seems Italian, Doesn’t It? An Exploratory Analysis of English and Spanish Consumers about Italian Appearance Food ProductsMariarosaria Simeone0Morena Cinquegrana1Carlo Russo2Department of Law, Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods, University of Sannio, 82100 Benevento, ItalyBusiness Management Made in Italy, Bologna Business School, University of Bologna, 40136 Bologna, ItalyDepartment of Economics and Law, University of Cassino and Lazio Meridionale, 03043 Cassino, ItalyThe Italian export of agri-food products has been increasingly threatened by the unfair use of misleading Italian symbols (such as the national flag or the green-white-red colors) by non-Italian producers. This research paper investigated what English and Spanish consumers know about “Made in Italy” food, and their attitude towards Italian appearance food products. Primary data were collected in Spain and England, and a probit model was used to identify the determinants of consumers’ vulnerability to misleading Italian symbols. We found that merely having Italian symbols on the package might lead almost half of the consumers in the sample to consider food as Made in Italy, regardless of the actual origin. This result confirms the severity of the problem. The econometric model provides suggestions for public actions to mitigate the issue.https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/11/10/1392country of originunfair practicesItalian soundingfood culturefood attributes |
spellingShingle | Mariarosaria Simeone Morena Cinquegrana Carlo Russo It Seems Italian, Doesn’t It? An Exploratory Analysis of English and Spanish Consumers about Italian Appearance Food Products Foods country of origin unfair practices Italian sounding food culture food attributes |
title | It Seems Italian, Doesn’t It? An Exploratory Analysis of English and Spanish Consumers about Italian Appearance Food Products |
title_full | It Seems Italian, Doesn’t It? An Exploratory Analysis of English and Spanish Consumers about Italian Appearance Food Products |
title_fullStr | It Seems Italian, Doesn’t It? An Exploratory Analysis of English and Spanish Consumers about Italian Appearance Food Products |
title_full_unstemmed | It Seems Italian, Doesn’t It? An Exploratory Analysis of English and Spanish Consumers about Italian Appearance Food Products |
title_short | It Seems Italian, Doesn’t It? An Exploratory Analysis of English and Spanish Consumers about Italian Appearance Food Products |
title_sort | it seems italian doesn t it an exploratory analysis of english and spanish consumers about italian appearance food products |
topic | country of origin unfair practices Italian sounding food culture food attributes |
url | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/11/10/1392 |
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