Comparing distributors' judgements to buyers' preferences

Purpose – This paper attempts to determine effective push‐pull marketing strategies concerning olive oil in Greece, based on the analysis of consumers' and distributors' values and the comparison of importance that each group gives to different product characteristics.Design/methodology/approach – In this paper, multicriteria analysis is used in order to identify olive oil market segments and the factors that affect the purchase behaviour of olive oil consumers. Consumers' preferences, attitudes and perceptions with regard to special characteristics of olive oil such as quality, packaging, image, odour, colour, etc. are explored. In addition, description and analysis of the marketing channels of olive oil in Greece is presented. Finally, consumers' preferences are compared to the judgments of distributors in order to identify useful similarities‐dissimilarities in their perceptions and attitudes, concerning the attributes of the product.Findings – The study of the olive oil market in Greece shows the impo...

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