Conventional Drinking Milk Consumption Satisfaction with the Region of Origin and Willingness to Pay: Case of TRA1 Region

Consumption of food products with Protected Designation of Origin, Protected Geographical Indications and Traditional Specialty Guaranteed has

provided a great importance due to contributing to both human healthy and the

farms performing at the production and supply chain in recent years.

Willingness to pay for the foods with these attributes considered as the most

important quality and credence element looking for food products consumption

has increased considerably in the world. In light of these developments, the

main aim of the study is to determine the consumers’ drinking milk consumption

satisfaction and willingness to pay based on the factors and their levels

impacting on the consumption preferences of drinking milk with Northeastern Anatolia, Eastern Black Sea and

Marmara/Aegean Region origins. For these aims, the primary data obtained

from 765 households in TRA1 region (Erzurum, Erzincan and Bayburt) were the

main material of this study. Conjoint

analysis was used to determine the product profiles related to the relative

importance of the factors and the part utilities of their levels maximizing the

consumers’ total utilities on their consumption preferences towards drinking

milk with the region of origin, and their willingness to pay for them. The

results of the study highlighted that while the region of origin (25% and 23%)

and production technique (20% and 22%) factors attributed a great importance

for heavy and medium users, production technique (23%) and the region of origin

(23%) had a big effect for light users. On the other hand, the highest

willingness to pay (WTP) for drinking

milk with Eastern Black Sea origin from

3 TL/liter (low price) for the heavy, medium and light users were 33%, 27% and

28%, but that from 9 TL/liter (high price) by increasing %200 for those were

analyzed as 9%, 8% and 11%, respectively. Positioning Eastern Black Sea origin drinking milk with low and high-price for

all segments at retail level could provide a very important contribution on the

consumption satisfaction of target consumer masses.