IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i2p628-d1316960.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Regional Products and Sustainability

Author

Listed:
  • Marco Haid

    (Division for Management in Health and Sport Tourism, UMIT TIROL—Private University for Health Sciences and Health Technology, 6060 Hall in Tirol, Austria)

  • Julia N. Albrecht

    (Department of Tourism, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand)

  • Pascal Tangl

    (Division for Management in Health and Sport Tourism, UMIT TIROL—Private University for Health Sciences and Health Technology, 6060 Hall in Tirol, Austria)

  • Alexander Plaikner

    (Department of Strategic Management, Marketing and Tourism, Universität Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria)

Abstract

The production, sale, and consumption of regional products can positively influence a region’s sustainable development. Despite this significance, there is little research on how consumers perceive regional products using a sustainability lens. This study investigates the perception of regional products in terms of sustainability and related customer purchasing behaviour. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 participants in Tyrol, Austria. Data analysis employs a deductive-inductive coding approach and shows a high awareness of sustainability among respondents. The main reasons for purchasing regional products are supporting the local economy and regional agriculture. Shorter transport routes or the cultural landscape maintenance are also important factors due to environmental concerns. Most participants report that sustainability was a decisive factor in their purchase decision pertaining to regional products. Regional products and sustainability are thus intertwined from a customer perspective and are shown to have decisive roles in related purchasing behaviour.

Suggested Citation

  • Marco Haid & Julia N. Albrecht & Pascal Tangl & Alexander Plaikner, 2024. "Regional Products and Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-17, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:2:p:628-:d:1316960
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/2/628/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/2/628/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nadine Waehning & Raffaele Filieri, 2022. "Consumer motives for buying regional products: the REGIOSCALE," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 215-236, June.
    2. van Ittersum, Koert & Candel, Math J. J. M. & Meulenberg, Matthew T. G., 2003. "The influence of the image of a product's region of origin on product evaluation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 56(3), pages 215-226, March.
    3. Konrád Kiss & Csaba Ruszkai & Katalin Takács-György, 2019. "Examination of Short Supply Chains Based on Circular Economy and Sustainability Aspects," Resources, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-21, September.
    4. Peter M. Fischer & Katharina P. Zeugner-Roth, 2017. "Disentangling country-of-origin effects: the interplay of product ethnicity, national identity, and consumer ethnocentrism," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 189-204, June.
    5. Sama, Celia & Crespo-Cebada, Eva & Díaz-Caro, Carlos & Escribano, Miguel & Mesías, Francisco J., 2018. "Consumer Preferences for Foodstuffs Produced in a Socio-environmentally Responsible Manner: A Threat to Fair Trade Producers?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 290-296.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marc Herz & Adamantios Diamantopoulos & Petra Riefler, 2023. "Consumers' use of ambiguous product cues: The case of “regionality” claims," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(3), pages 1395-1422, July.
    2. Saeed Samiee & Brian R. Chabowski, 2021. "Knowledge structure in product- and brand origin–related research," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 49(5), pages 947-968, September.
    3. Antonino Galati & Giuseppina Migliore & Alkis Thrassou & Giorgio Schifani & Giuseppina Rizzo & Nino Adamashvili & Maria Crescimanno, 2023. "Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Agri-Food Products Delivered with Electric Vehicles in the Short Supply Chains," FIIB Business Review, , vol. 12(2), pages 193-207, June.
    4. Klockner, Heike & Langen, Nina & Hartmann, Monika, 2010. "The role of taste perception for the success of country of origin labeling in the case of organic pepper," 2010 Annual Meeting, July 25-27, 2010, Denver, Colorado 61728, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. Enrica , Sofia Anna & Cavalleri & Grünbühel, Clemens M. & Tanwattana, Puntita, 2023. "Urban-Rural Links for Sustainable Food Consumption in Bangkok," International Journal on Food System Dynamics, International Center for Management, Communication, and Research, vol. 14(01), January.
    6. Lorenz, Bettina A. & Hartmann, Monika & Simons, Johannes, 2014. "Impacts from Region-of-Origin Labeling on Consumer Product Perception and Purchasing Intention – Causal Relationships in a TPB based Model," 2014 International Congress, August 26-29, 2014, Ljubljana, Slovenia 182975, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    7. Jiafeng Gu, 2021. "Spatial Dynamics between Firm Sales and Environmental Responsibility: The Mediating Role of Corporate Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-18, February.
    8. Petra Šánová & Jitka Svobodová & Adriana Laputková, 2017. "Using Multiple Correspondence Analysis to Evaluate Selected Aspects of Behaviour of Consumers Purchasing Local Food Products," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 65(6), pages 2083-2093.
    9. Marine Desorge & Anne Marie A. M. Lacroix & Laurent Muller & Charles Pernin & Celia Potdevin & Bernard Ruffieux, 2017. "L'étiquetage au service d'une alimentation durable : le point de vue des consommateurs," Working Papers halshs-01537806, HAL.
    10. Ana I. Sanjuán‐López & Helena Resano‐Ezcaray, 2020. "Labels for a Local Food Speciality Product: The Case of Saffron," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(3), pages 778-797, September.
    11. Thøgersen, John, 2023. "How does origin labelling on food packaging influence consumer product evaluation and choices? A systematic literature review," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    12. Purevdorj Tuul & Silva Susana Costa e, 2018. "What Mongolia Produces that the World Should Know About? Consumers’ Information Processing Mechanisms," Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Oeconomica, Sciendo, vol. 63(1), pages 73-89, April.
    13. Resano, Helena & Sanjuán, Ana I. & Albisu, Luis M., 2012. "Consumers’ response to the EU Quality policy allowing for heterogeneous preferences," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 355-365.
    14. Hindsley, Paul & McEvoy, David M. & Morgan, O. Ashton, 2020. "Consumer Demand for Ethical Products and the Role of Cultural Worldviews: The Case of Direct-Trade Coffee," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    15. Ewa Halicka & Joanna Kaczorowska & Krystyna Rejman & Agata Szczebyło, 2021. "Parental Food Choices and Engagement in Raising Children’s Awareness of Sustainable Behaviors in Urban Poland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-18, March.
    16. Dentoni, Domenico & Tonsor, Glynn T. & Calantone, Roger J. & Peterson, H. Christopher, 2009. "The Direct and Indirect Effects of ‘Locally Grown’ on Consumers’ Attitudes towards Agri-Food Products," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 38(3), pages 1-13, December.
    17. Meng Wang & Vikas Kumar & Ximing Ruan & Mohammed Saad & Jose Arturo Garza-Reyes & Anil Kumar, 2022. "Sustainability concerns on consumers’ attitude towards short food supply chains: an empirical investigation," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 76-92, June.
    18. Suter, Mariana Bassi & Borini, Felipe Mendes & Floriani, Dinorá Eliete & da Silva, Dirceu & Polo, Edison, 2018. "Country-of-origin image (COI) as a country-specific advantage (CSA): Scale development and validation of COI as a resource within the firm perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 46-58.
    19. Zeugner-Roth, Katharina Petra & Bartsch, Fabian, 2020. "COO in print advertising: Developed versus developing market comparisons," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 364-378.
    20. Lv, Zhe, 2025. "Key determinants of purchase intentions for geographical indication agricultural products: A hybrid PLS-SEM and ANN approach," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:2:p:628-:d:1316960. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.