El efecto país de origen en la estructura de preferencias de los importadores de aceite de oliva

Laburpena

The country of origin of a product is a key element for purchase decision both for consumers and intermediaries. An adequate promotion of the origin can generate advantages in the market, especially in an economic crisis situation to faces a higher market competition. The country of origin effect is known as �all the strengths and weakness related to the country of origin, that add or remove the value supplied by a brand or service to the producer or/ and to its clients� (Papadopoulos and Heslop, 2003). In general terms, this thesis analyzes the value that the international olive oil importers, collaborating with the Project Alimentos de Extremadura-Foods From Spain developed by the Public company Extremadura Avante, give to the origin attribute, focused on the Spain Brand, in comparison with the origin of other olive oil producer countries, like Italy or Greece. To achieve this objective, we will study how important is the origin attribute for the international importers with purchase decision (specifically in the German, Mexican and North American markets), compared with other attributes, such as production, packaging and price. Conjoint analysis is used as a tool for processing and analyzing the data collected through questionnaires sent to the total census of those importers. The findings of the research show the importance of the origin attribute preferences of importers of olive oil, noting in this regard the Spanish origin in the three countries. In addition, show different behaviors between the different segments analyzed.