Consumer knowledge about brand origin on the food market
(A2022-107649)

AUTHORS

Pawel Bryla, University of Lodz

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to identify selected characteristics of consumers which predict their knowledge about the origin of food brands. An online survey was conducted in a nationwide, representative sample of 1000 respondents aged 15 and more. Three measures of brand origin were used: 1) the distinction between domestic and foreign brands based on the location of production, 2) the distinction between domestic and foreign brands based on company ownership, and 3) the ability to provide the correct COO of the brand owner. Consumers tend to perceive food brands as domestic more often than it is in reality. If consumers do indicate a foreign origin of the brand, it is often a wrong foreign COO. It is hard to predict whether the consumer will identify the brand origin correctly, even if we have access to a wide variety of information on consumer characteristics (as suggested by low values of determination coefficients).