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The purpose of this paper is to detect what experience and credence quality attributes contribute to the consumer decision to consume cactus pear fruit. The authors therefore try to measure the effect of each quality attribute on consumer choice.

As a theoretical basis, two principal quality attributes emphasised in the literature on consumer behaviour were analysed and adjusted to the specific fruit features. The empirical strategy was carried out by administering a telephone questionnaire survey of 270 interviewees who consume cactus pears in Italy. The questionnaire, consisting of 14 items expressed on a metric scale (five-point Likert scale), was used to rate the importance of cactus pear fruit quality attributes. An ordered logit model was employed for data analysis.

The results show that consumption of cactus pear fruit is mainly based on credence and experience attributes, which have different effects on the consumer decision to consume cactus pear fruit. Among experience quality attributes, the colour red, a low quantity of seeds, and being peeled are the attributes with major effects, following by credence attributes such as environmental sustainability, healthiness, and Italian origin.

The research was based on a particular fruit, and further comparative research is clearly needed. In fact, further advancement in cactus pear research would require that the validity of the empirical findings and their degree of generalisation be examined in other geographical areas.

The results of this study could help to identify some factors on which business could intervene to create a more effective consumer-based approach.

This study contributes to a better definition of cactus pear fruit quality for consumers with the aim of developing marketing strategies to increase farm business. To the best of the knowledge, no study has ever measured the effects of cactus pear fruit quality attributes on consumer choice.

Considers the technique of conjoint analysis as a method for acquiring insights into the preferences for food products. Applies the technique to establish the trade‐offs that consumers make between price, quality, convenience to prepare and location of purchase in the purchasing of fruit and vegetables. Also uses the technique to estimate indirectly willingness to pay for the included attributes according to income group. Quality was found to be the most important attribute. Reveals, through segmentation of the price attribute by income, that those on higher incomes had a higher marginal valuation of price. Also suggests that respondents understood the questionnaire, and answered it in a meaningful and consistent way. Suggests that the technique could successfully be used to establish consumer preferences for alternative food products that are commercially feasible.

Reports on research into the level of consumer awareness of the attributes of citrus fruit. Claims it is necessary to convert consumer attitudes towards healthy eating into appropriate consumer behaviour. Hypothesizes that consumer knowledge of some important attributes of fruit and vegetable products is low, and that better informed consumers might make better informed purchasing decisions. Describes the methodology and results of the survey which finds evidence that consumers are largely ill‐informed about the attributes of the citrus fruit that they purchase.

The purpose of this study is to determine French consumer perceptions and preferences for fresh fruit from different countries. French consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for citrus fruit and the factors affecting WTP are also determined.

An online consumer survey was conducted in France to collect data on consumer perceptions and preferences for fresh fruits from different countries. The contingent valuation method is used to estimate consumer WTP for fresh citrus fruit. A double hurdle model is used to determine the factors that have substantial impact on consumer preferences.

Results show that fresh fruit from China was perceived as the lowest quality, the least safe, and the cheapest among the fruit from various countries. French consumers had the highest stated WTP for fresh fruit from France, followed by fruit from Spain. In addition, consumer WTP for country of origin varies by type of fruit.

The contingent valuation method does not require consumers to purchase the product being evaluated, which may overestimate consumer stated WTP.

More domestically produced fresh fruit may be provided to satisfy consumer demand for fruit produced in their own countries. As second in consumer stated WTP, Spain should take advantage of the lower price high quality perceptions of their fresh fruit to gain a larger market share in France. Lower rated countries, such as China, Brazil, and Israel, need to improve consumer perception of the fruit from their countries to gain a better position in the fresh fruit market of France.

This is the first paper to present French consumer perception of fresh fruit and WTP for citrus fruit from different countries.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how variables related to lifestyle and ethnocentrism influence Chinese consumers' attitudes and intentions towards the purchase of domestic and imported fresh fruit.

A survey instrument was developed using established scales and focus groups. Data were collected in the city of Wuhan through structured intercept interviews with consumers at major supermarkets and fruit stores. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data.

Chinese consumers' purchase intention of imported fresh fruit is influenced by lifestyle groups, namely risk takers and traditionalists. Also consumers' ethnocentrism tendencies play an important role in shaping their purchase attitudes towards domestic fresh fruit.

Although the research investigated both the sensory and non‐sensory purchase attributes of fruits, it failed to shed light on the intended use of imported fruits, e.g. for gifts, self consumption, children, aged parents and ill patients. Additionally, future research should be conducted that is more product and country specific.

Marketers should ensure that both sensory and non‐sensory purchase attributes of fresh fruit are given due importance, as this will snowball into positive purchase intentions, customer satisfaction and overall profitability for firms.

Despite its potential importance, relatively little is known about consumers' buying behaviour of fresh produce in China. Findings of this study would thus be beneficial to practitioners and policy makers to formulate effective strategies designed to market fresh produce in China.

The degreening process for citrus accelerates natural colour break which changes fruit from an “unripe” green colour to the characteristically ripe orange/yellow colour. Degreening is used by producers both to extend the citrus season to make short‐term financial gains and to make fruit more attractive to consumers. This study reviews how, in an attempt to improve fruit appearance, other quality attributes may be sacrificed. The process is known to be detrimental to external fruit quality and is also suspected to be detrimental to consumption quality and shelf life. In the context of a dynamic and competitive fruit market, any reduction in product quality and consequent loss consumer satisfaction inevitably will have a negative economic impact on producers and traders. Further technical and marketing research is necessary, but among the conclusions drawn is that there is sufficient evidence already to be cautious about the widespread use of degreening.

One way to increase the availability and to add more value to exotic Brazilian fruits is to develop new products. However, prior to product development, there is a need to know consumer’s preferences and target audience. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of different characteristics of Cerrado fruit preserves on the intention to purchase using conjoint analysis.

Conjoint analysis evaluated three factors with three levels each, defined by focus group technique. The attributes and levels evaluated were: flavor (marolo, marolo and soursoup, marolo, soursoup and sweet passion fruit), nutritional information (light, diet and absent) and health claims (aids reduction of cardiovascular disease risk; aids reduction of blood cholesterol; aids activation and regulation of the gastrointestinal system).

The results of conjoint analysis led to three consumers’ groups. Group 1 (majority) were more influenced by flavor (IR=26.5 percent) and nutritional information (IR=59.3 percent). Groups 2 and 3 were greatly influenced by flavor and nutritional information, respectively. Health claims influenced weakly on the intention to purchase regardless the groups. Thus, the concept of Cerrado fruit preserves for each group was different.

This research contributes to future studies, supporting the development of products based on Cerrado fruits and the variety of products on the market. There are few research works using conjoint analysis to evaluate consumer preferences in the early stages of new product development, which makes this paper even more relevant.

The present study aims at analysing consumer preferences for the pomegranate fruit, focussing on the effect of ready-to-eat format (i.e. packaged arils) on the purchasing choice, together with several products’ attributes as the origin, the packaging typology and the price.

The paper presents a choice experiment (CE) among 626 Italian consumers from Veneto region through an online survey. The study estimates both a conditional logit (CL) and a latent class logit model (LCM).

By segmenting the sample based on the heterogeneous preferences of consumers, it can distinguish “eco-friendly consumers”, “time-saving lovers”, “nationalists” and “price sensitive” subjects. Interestingly, the marginal willingness to pay for ready-to-eat arils is positive for the “time-saving lovers” that are mainly young consumers. The Italian origin has always a positive effect on the choice, whereas a negative effect is found for the price. Finally, the eco-friendly package has both a negative and a positive effect.

The sample of this study is not representative of the population and the CE has a hypothetical nature. It follows that further research will link the economic analysis to a consumer test on a more representative sample.

This study can be useful for the pomegranate producers and the industry because it provides original evidence that could drive their business and marketing strategies, for instance, the preference for ready-to-eat arils.

This study is one of the first seeking to determine the factors that affect consumers' preferences for pomegranate arils.

Supply chains in new and emerging agricultural industries typically lack information linking product quality with consumer behaviour. This case study of the emerging persimmon industry in Australia and New Zealand demonstrates how adopting a supply chain orientation can address this situation. Assessing and modelling consumer response to product quality provides information that demonstrates to supply chain stakeholders how better product quality management can improve the performance of the whole chain. Emerging fruit industries, therefore, have more incentive to adopt a supply chain orientation if they understand quality‐related factors that drive consumer satisfaction and repeat buying behaviour.

The purpose of this study was to characterize fruit properties of pomegranate cultivars grown in South Africa in order to provide information to assist in selecting cultivars for food and industrial purposes, as well as to optimize postharvest handling and processing.

The physical, textural and chemical properties as well as volatile profile and free radical scavenging capacity of eight cultivars (cvs “Acco”, “Arakta”, “Bhagwa”, “Ganesh”, “Herskawitz,” “Molla de Elche”, “Ruby”, and “Wonderful”) were quantified to demonstrate the diversity among the characters of the commercially grown cultivars.

Statistically significant differences were found between cultivars for most of the evaluated characters, primarily highlighting the genetic diversity among the cultivars. The classification of fruit cultivars based on quality traits (such as size, texture, colour, soluble solids, acidity, juiciness and phenolics) showed the great potential of the cultivars for processing and fresh market. The relationship among these quality traits was analysed by principal component analysis (PCA) resulting in the separation of the investigated cultivars into two groups (cluster 1=Ruby, Arakta and Ganesh; Class 2=Bhagwa, Acco and Herskawitz) and two ungrouped cultivars (Molla de Elche and Wonderful). Specific understanding about quality traits of each cultivar was established using the correlation coefficients obtained.

This study provides valuable fundamental information that can be useful for commercial and industrial purposes, as well as the development of optimal postharvest handling and processing parameters for the investigated South African grown pomegranate cultivars.