Latent class analysis and individuals' preferences mapping: the new consumption orientations and perspectives for craft beer in North-West Italy
ISSN: 0007-070X
Article publication date: 10 August 2021
Issue publication date: 23 February 2022
Abstract
Purpose
In Italy, the craft beer (CB) market has undergone a trend of exponential growth in recent years, showing, at the same time, differences among different geographical areas. This research aimed to define the consumer preferences towards different CB attributes by involving a sample of individuals from Piedmont (from North-West Italy). Furthermore, the experimentation was designed to distinguish heterogeneous individuals' consumption profiles each characterised by different CB preferences, drinking habits and socio-demographic characteristics.
Design/methodology/approach
The exploration of individuals' preferences towards 12 CB quality attributes was made throughout a choice experiment based on the Best-Worst Scaling (BWS) methodology approach. In addition, the BWS results were employed in the latent class analysis to identify the best sample segmentation in relation to attributes preferences.
Findings
The “Brand knowledge”, “I have already tried it” were the most important attributes for CB choice. On the contrary, the “Type of packaging” and “Price” were the least important for CB choice. The “Loyal”, “Attentive to quality composition” and “Territorial brand” clusters were defined in function of CB consumers preferences and described in terms of individuals consumption habits and socio-demographic characteristics.
Originality/value
The BWS methodology allowed the definition of a preference index for each selected CB attributes. These indications could have concrete importance on production and marketing choices in an increasingly extended and globalised market, also at large-scale distribution level. Furthermore, the definition of different consumption profiles allowed to highlight the heterogeneity of consumption (preferences and habits) towards CB.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Funding: This research received no external funding.
Author contributions: Conceptualization, V.M.M., S.M., S.B. and D.B.; methodology, V.M.M.; software, V.M.M.; validation, V.M.M. and A.B.; formal analysis, V.M.M. and A.B.; investigation, A.B.; data curation, V.M.M. and A.B.; writing—original draft preparation, V.M.M. and A.B.; writing—review and editing, V.M.M, D.B., S.B. and S.M.; supervision, V.M.M., D.B., S.B. and S.M.; project administration, S.M. and D.B. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Conflicts of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Citation
Massaglia, S., Merlino, V.M., Blanc, S., Bargetto, A. and Borra, D. (2022), "Latent class analysis and individuals' preferences mapping: the new consumption orientations and perspectives for craft beer in North-West Italy", British Food Journal, Vol. 124 No. 4, pp. 1049-1065. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-03-2021-0278
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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