Importance of the country of origin in food consumption in a developing country

There has been a clear increase in imports of agricultural products into Chile in the last few years. A survey was made of 800 consumers in the cities of Temuco and Talca in the south of Chile to determine the importance of food origin in the purchase decision. It was concluded that the majority of those surveyed consume imported foods due to their lower price or good price/quality ratio. Using a conjoint analysis, it was demonstrated that the origin was more important than either the price or the packaging in the decision to purchase beef. For rice, however, the importance of these three cues was ranked similarly. In general, consumers preferred domestic alternatives, although there was a high rejection rate in the case of meat imported from Brazil in particular. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.