How Can Consumer Science Help to Reduce the Risk of Market Failure? An Academician-Practitioner Approach in the Italian Olive Oil Industry

The olive oil business worldwide has flourished over recent years and new competitive challenges have emerged. Given the changes in the competitive scenario and the risk related to the international reputation of this product, today Italian producers must understand how to manage traditional features of their products and under what conditions country of origin can be managed as a strategic asset. This chapter explores the influence of origin on quality perception of Mediterranean extra virgin olive oil. Moving from a deep analysis of the competitive framework of the business at a global level in the period between 2009 and 2016, this work describes how a company employed information about quality perception to plan a successful marketing strategy. After a description of the business environment, we introduce the experimental sessions that have adopted consumer science tools. Then, emerging outcomes are discussed. Finally, suggestions addressed to both academics and practitioners are provided.