1. Burgundy School of Business
Tell me a story about terroir: Analysing the appeal of different terroir stimuli for consumers
Steve CHARTERS
Lara AGNOLI
Valériane TAVILLA
Burgundy School of Business
Dijon, France
11th Conference of the
American Association of Wine Economists
Padova, 28th June to 2nd July 2017

2. Terroir and the market
A terroir product is a product with a story to tell
‘Terroir is used across the world as a justification for and endorsement of the quality of wine’ (Charters, 2010, p. 3)
Consumers  consider terroir products as a kind of ‘refuge’ products (Guy, 2011; Batat, 2013)
Food Producers  adopt the "terroir strategy" to be competitive and sell at a premium price (Elaydi and McLaughlin, 2012)
Different dimensions to interpret the concept of ‘terroir product’ (Aurier et al., 2005; Spielmann and Charters, 2013)

3. Gaps in literature
Little research is devoted to analyse terroir from a consumer perspective
Few studies analyse the role of terroir in products from outside Europe
Few studies are focused on terroir products other than wine
Even when terroir is analysed in products different from wine, single-product approach to the topic

4. Objectives
Analyse the appeal of different stimuli for the consumer of different terroir products coming from the New and the Old World
how consumer perceptions toward terroir changes from product to product
consumer preferences for the different label attesting the legal recognition of terroir
different perception of terroir linked to different country of origin
the cultural differences in the perception of terroir
We opted for a choice experiment to explore these.

5. Surveyed Population and Products Surveyed Terroir Products
Method
Surveyed Population and Products
Surveyed Terroir Products
Surveyed Markets UK
France
Italy
Cheese
Stilton x
Roquefort
Gorgonzola
Ham
Carmarthen Ham
Jambon de Bayonne
Prosciutto Crudo di Norcia
Wine
Californian Cabernet Sauvignon

6. The hypothetical choice
Method
The hypothetical choice
"You are going to give a dinner party for some friends who are visiting from the United States. You want to show them some of the great food that Europe has to offer, including cheese and ham. You also want to give them the chance to have some wine from their own country – so that they won’t feel too homesick."

7. Discrete Choice Experiment
Method
Discrete Choice Experiment
Attributes
Levels
Origin
1. Country
2. Region
3. Village
Collective brand
1. Shown
0. Not shown
Terroir Story
1. Territory
2. Family
3. Production process
4. Climat
Private label
Price
€/£

8. A pilot study in France

9. The experimental design
3 efficient Dz-designs
12 choice task
3 blocks  4 choice tasks for cheese, ham and wine

10. Data collection Convenience sample Online recruitment 209 respondents
63.6% females
71.8% is 25 years-old or less

11. Attribute importance: part-worth utilities
From slide 13:
- The PDO is more important than PGI and AVA in driving choice and provide consumers with utility
The collective brand is more important than the origin when the product is national
There is a kind of increase in importance of terroir story and origin when the product comes from outside your country and even more outside your continent
Terroir sotory is more improtant for wine, even if the wien comes from a coutnry that is not associated to terroir byu tradition
The presence or not of a private label is more important when the product is not national - but it is a negative cue for the European PGI ham!

12. Level importance: MNL Model
National Cheese
European ham
US wine
Coeff. SE
Origin
Country (reference)
Region
0.100
0.121
0.150
0.169
0.437
***
0.132
Village
0.697
0.348
-0.331
0.209
0.223
0.357
Private label
Shown
0.028
0.213
-0.265
0.114
0.127
0.200
Collective brand
0.889
0.199
0.333 **
0.193
0.224
0.188
Terroir Story
Territory (reference)
Family
0.116
0.153
0.259
0.232
0.426
0.164
Production process
0.168
0.172
0.654
0.276
-0.249
0.192
Climat
0.575
0.325
-0.109
0.226
0.126
0.307
Price
-0.793
0.381
-0.008
0.112
0.020
0.027
COO
UK (reference)
Italy -
1.298
0.120
No-choice
-2.550
0.800
-0.597
-0.028
0.267
Goodness of fit
Number of cases
209
Number of replications
836
Number of parameters (Npar) 9 10
Log-likelihood (LL)
Rho square
13.3
38.1
11.7
***p≤0.01; **p≤0.05
For the domestic product Village is the most important origin cue. For PGI ham it is COO. For American wine it is Region.
Terroir story also varies according to the product.

13. Conclusion
The role of terroir dimensions is pivotal in driving food choice
They are collectively more important than price in driving choice!
The terroir dimension connected to the origin of the product is the most important terroir stimuli when the product is not national
The legal representation of terroir, expressed by the denomination of origin, is focal for a national product
Different terroir stories drive consumer choices of different food products

14. Thank you for the attention!