No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Agrifood markets worldwide have focused on searching for new quality attribute differentiators, which capture the attention of consumers and meet their needs. The purpose of this research was to determine the importance of a set of quality attribute differentiators associated with a beef cut on the choice behavior of the Chilean consumer. The evaluated differentiating characteristics were: price, origin, production method, and quality assurance. A total of 750 subjects were surveyed in the following cities: Talca, Rancagua, and Santiago. Conjoint analysis was carried out to estimate the impact of the assessed attributes on the purchase decision of the consumers polled. Findings point out that the quality attribute differentiators significantly influence consumer choice behavior, with price being the least important for the majority of consumers polled (21.07% relative importance for the whole sample). In this context, the quality assurance attribute is shown as the most relevant which guides the decision-making process of beef consumers (29.75% relative importance for the whole sample). Even though some limitations are shown within this study, it must be emphasized that the results follow similar trends already described in previous research carried out in other countries. These tendencies should be considered, therefore, to establish differentiation strategy tools when designing a marketing mix focused on the domestic market.

With low adoption rates of soil conservation measures (SCM) widespread, we examine determinants of current and potential future adoption in the ‘Secano Costero’ region of Central Chile. Randomly selected farmers (N = 140) spent an equivalent of 48 000 CLP/year (∼79 US$) on SCM. Contingent valuation of a hypothesized soil conservation programme revealed a willingness‐to‐pay of 30 610 CLP/year (∼50·4 US$) for future adoption. Social‐psychology variables from Protection Motivation Theory (PMT; response efficacy, perceived barriers) were used to predict current and potential future adoption. Current spending on SCM is influenced by perceptions of (1) erosion problem severity, (2) response efficacy of SCM, (3) farming problems and (4) barriers (lack of labour and draught animals). In addition, farm size and education were significant predictors. Willingness‐to‐pay for future adoption of SCM is influenced by farmer perception of (1) response efficacy of SCM, and (2) community support to the programme as well as farm size, age and gender. Our results suggest that formal psychometric scale development for social‐psychology predictors for the adoption of SCM, e.g. based on PMT, is a promising avenue for the analysis of soil conservation decisions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.