Marketing Strategies Based on Consumer Preferences of Karnavas Mullberry Molasses with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO)

The aim of the study is to determine the integrated marketing tactic and strategies based

on the main factors affecting the preferences and purchase patterns related to Karnavas

Mullberry Molasses with PDO of the consumers dwelling in Erzurum. The main material

of the study was provided by the primary data obtained from a survey conducted on 401

households residing in Erzurum during 2015, and consuming Karnavas Mullberry

Molasses. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Two-step Cluster Analysis were used

to determine the main factors impacting on their purchase decisions, and then to segment

homogenous clusters according to their purchase frequencies by taking into consideration

the data, respectively. The results of the study indicated that the heavy and medium users

who consume Karnavas Mullberry Molasses pointed out the necessity of the augmented

and actual product image positioning at retail level under local individual brands

considering the attributes of the holistic quality with PDO label and those of the sensory

quality obtained from traditional production methods to contribute to rural development

under the direct marketing approaches, respectively. On the other hand, the light users

also focused on the increase of market penetration effect via promotion mix and the

product positioning under the local branded actual product image implementing

traditional production method and hedonic quality approaches. It could be applied the

positioning and promotion strategies according to the consumers’ utility expectation and

the product images, therefore, by considering their requirements and desires in each

segment.