Consumers’ Attitude and Perception toward Traditional Foods of Northwest Greece during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Traditional foods (TFs) have a significant impact on the society and the economy of the areas where they are produced. The COVID-19 crisis, with the restrictions on daily living, is expected to cause a long-term influence on peoples’ lives worldwide. This paper investigates the consumers’ attitude a...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-04-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/9/4080 |
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| author | Dimitris Skalkos Ioanna S. Kosma Eleni Chasioti Adriana Skendi Maria Papageorgiou Raquel P. F. Guiné |
| author_facet | Dimitris Skalkos Ioanna S. Kosma Eleni Chasioti Adriana Skendi Maria Papageorgiou Raquel P. F. Guiné |
| author_sort | Dimitris Skalkos |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Traditional foods (TFs) have a significant impact on the society and the economy of the areas where they are produced. The COVID-19 crisis, with the restrictions on daily living, is expected to cause a long-term influence on peoples’ lives worldwide. This paper investigates the consumers’ attitude and perception of TFs of northwest Greece in order to assess the possible impact of the pandemic toward the consumption of this kind of food. A questionnaire survey of self-response was carried out in fall 2020 on a sample of 510 participants through the Google platform. To analyze the data, basic descriptive statistical tools were used, combined with crosstabs and chi-square tests. The results revealed that the participants know the regional TFs well, continue to choose them due to a number of reasons, which include: the quality to price ratio, being local products with local raw materials, the nutritional properties, the social impact, as well as their positive impact to the regional economy and promotion. They buy them primarily from the supermarkets. They would recommend them to others, and they have increased their consumption during the pandemic, even though they consider their marketing inadequate, and they do not purchase them through the Internet yet. They believe that consumers in other regions of Greece would buy them if they had access to them. The foods of choice are traditional cheese and other dairy products, followed by wines, and aromatic herbs, which are the main regional TFs. These results indicate that the COVID-19 crisis has not interfered in consumers’ attitudes and perceptions regarding TFs; therefore, they have the potential to expand and grow further in the future. In fact, they can play a vital role as major economic drivers in the post-COVID-19 era for the regional and local economies of Europe and elsewhere. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T11:49:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-99444b88a01f4eefb9fe50cd9dd9d821 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T11:49:23Z |
| publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-99444b88a01f4eefb9fe50cd9dd9d8212023-11-21T17:49:40ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172021-04-01119408010.3390/app11094080Consumers’ Attitude and Perception toward Traditional Foods of Northwest Greece during the COVID-19 PandemicDimitris Skalkos0Ioanna S. Kosma1Eleni Chasioti2Adriana Skendi3Maria Papageorgiou4Raquel P. F. Guiné5Laboratory of Food Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, GreeceLaboratory of Food Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, GreeceLaboratory of Food Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, GreeceDepartment of Food Science and Technology, International Hellenic University, P.O. Box 141, GR-57400 Thessaloniki, GreeceDepartment of Food Science and Technology, International Hellenic University, P.O. Box 141, GR-57400 Thessaloniki, GreeceCERNAS Research Centre, Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, 3504-510 Viseu, PortugalTraditional foods (TFs) have a significant impact on the society and the economy of the areas where they are produced. The COVID-19 crisis, with the restrictions on daily living, is expected to cause a long-term influence on peoples’ lives worldwide. This paper investigates the consumers’ attitude and perception of TFs of northwest Greece in order to assess the possible impact of the pandemic toward the consumption of this kind of food. A questionnaire survey of self-response was carried out in fall 2020 on a sample of 510 participants through the Google platform. To analyze the data, basic descriptive statistical tools were used, combined with crosstabs and chi-square tests. The results revealed that the participants know the regional TFs well, continue to choose them due to a number of reasons, which include: the quality to price ratio, being local products with local raw materials, the nutritional properties, the social impact, as well as their positive impact to the regional economy and promotion. They buy them primarily from the supermarkets. They would recommend them to others, and they have increased their consumption during the pandemic, even though they consider their marketing inadequate, and they do not purchase them through the Internet yet. They believe that consumers in other regions of Greece would buy them if they had access to them. The foods of choice are traditional cheese and other dairy products, followed by wines, and aromatic herbs, which are the main regional TFs. These results indicate that the COVID-19 crisis has not interfered in consumers’ attitudes and perceptions regarding TFs; therefore, they have the potential to expand and grow further in the future. In fact, they can play a vital role as major economic drivers in the post-COVID-19 era for the regional and local economies of Europe and elsewhere.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/9/4080traditional foodsCOVID-19knowledgequestionnaire surveyfood supply chainhealthy food |
| spellingShingle | Dimitris Skalkos Ioanna S. Kosma Eleni Chasioti Adriana Skendi Maria Papageorgiou Raquel P. F. Guiné Consumers’ Attitude and Perception toward Traditional Foods of Northwest Greece during the COVID-19 Pandemic Applied Sciences traditional foods COVID-19 knowledge questionnaire survey food supply chain healthy food |
| title | Consumers’ Attitude and Perception toward Traditional Foods of Northwest Greece during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_full | Consumers’ Attitude and Perception toward Traditional Foods of Northwest Greece during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_fullStr | Consumers’ Attitude and Perception toward Traditional Foods of Northwest Greece during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Consumers’ Attitude and Perception toward Traditional Foods of Northwest Greece during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_short | Consumers’ Attitude and Perception toward Traditional Foods of Northwest Greece during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_sort | consumers attitude and perception toward traditional foods of northwest greece during the covid 19 pandemic |
| topic | traditional foods COVID-19 knowledge questionnaire survey food supply chain healthy food |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/9/4080 |
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