Dual quality issue and consumer expectation in the European food market: A study in Poland and Italy

This dissertation explores the consumer acceptance level (CAL) of quality differences in global branded food products (GBFP) across the EU Member States in the context of localization strategies. Face-to-face consumer interviews were conducted through a structured questionnaire of 637 consumers in Poland and Italy in summer 2019 to assess the CAL regarding i) the perception and acceptance of differences in product feature and ii) the perceived firms’ motivations to offer different varieties of the same GBFP in the different EU Member States. It was tested whether CAL of quality differences varies across countries. The clustering of variables method was used to group the strongly related homogeneous variables and create a meaningful structure. Analysis of Poland’s sample data suggests that some differences in taste, color, and texture of GBFPs can be acceptable to consumers. In contrast, differences in ingredients, composition, and even the product’s size are not acceptable. This suggests that if global branded firms adopt localization strategies in the Polish market, they may make changes in taste, color, and texture, but changes to ingredients and product size might increase consumer dissatisfaction. Breakdown of Italy sample data shows that ingredients and composition are linked to taste, color, and texture, included in the “pleasure feature group” with similar CAL of differences. However, CAL for Ingredients content percentages linked it to labeling under “information group.” The result suggests that differences in the pleasure feature group are less critical than those in the information group. Both countries are similarly indifferent about packaging and price differences, according to the samples. Interestingly, for both countries, rules and regulations are acceptable as a reason to have various qualities of food. Perhaps, consumers think that the rules and regulations protect them even if it causes some product changes.