Consumers’ Trust in Greek Traditional Foods in the Post COVID-19 Era

We are entering a new, unprecedented global economic and social era following the COVID-19 pandemic, in which there will be opportunities and threats for the goods and services provided. Traditional foods (TFs) could have their chances in the new food chain which will be developed, as long as they b...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Dimitris Skalkos, Ioanna S. Kosma, Areti Vasiliou, Raquel P. F. Guine
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-09-01
Series:Sustainability
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/17/9975
id doaj-28e7ec20c435416f9fa8cb753b250e79
record_format Article
spelling doaj-28e7ec20c435416f9fa8cb753b250e792021-09-09T13:59:10ZengMDPI AGSustainability2071-10502021-09-01139975997510.3390/su13179975Consumers’ Trust in Greek Traditional Foods in the Post COVID-19 EraDimitris Skalkos0Ioanna S. Kosma1Areti Vasiliou2Raquel P. F. Guine3Laboratory of Food Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, GreeceLaboratory of Food Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, GreeceLaboratory of Food Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, GreeceCERNAS Research Centre, Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, 3504-510 Viseu, PortugalWe are entering a new, unprecedented global economic and social era following the COVID-19 pandemic, in which there will be opportunities and threats for the goods and services provided. Traditional foods (TFs) could have their chances in the new food chain which will be developed, as long as they become the food of choice for the consumers of the future. This paper investigates consumers’ trust in Greek TFs, and northwest Greek TFs, in order to assess their potential consumption in the new economy. Trust was tested using the variables of safety, healthiness, sustainability, authenticity and taste, assessing consumers’ confidence and satisfaction with the TFs, their raw materials, and the technologies used for their production. A self-response questionnaire survey was carried out in May and June 2021 on a sample of 548 participants through the Google platform. In order to analyze the data, basic descriptive statistical tools were used, combined with crosstabs and chi-square tests. The results show that the participants trust the Greek TFs because they “strongly agree” by an average of 20%, and “agree” by an average of 50% that they are safe, healthy, sustainable, authentic and tasty. A similar pattern was recorded for the regional northwest Greek TFs as well. These results indicate that TFs could be the food of choice because they bear consumers’ trust in the coming “new normality”, where trust will be a major factor of choice for the purchase of goods and services.https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/17/9975traditional foodsconsumer trustconfidence and satisfactionquestionnaire surveypost COVID-19 period
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Dimitris Skalkos
Ioanna S. Kosma
Areti Vasiliou
Raquel P. F. Guine
spellingShingle Dimitris Skalkos
Ioanna S. Kosma
Areti Vasiliou
Raquel P. F. Guine
Consumers’ Trust in Greek Traditional Foods in the Post COVID-19 Era
Sustainability
traditional foods
consumer trust
confidence and satisfaction
questionnaire survey
post COVID-19 period
author_facet Dimitris Skalkos
Ioanna S. Kosma
Areti Vasiliou
Raquel P. F. Guine
author_sort Dimitris Skalkos
title Consumers’ Trust in Greek Traditional Foods in the Post COVID-19 Era
title_short Consumers’ Trust in Greek Traditional Foods in the Post COVID-19 Era
title_full Consumers’ Trust in Greek Traditional Foods in the Post COVID-19 Era
title_fullStr Consumers’ Trust in Greek Traditional Foods in the Post COVID-19 Era
title_full_unstemmed Consumers’ Trust in Greek Traditional Foods in the Post COVID-19 Era
title_sort consumers’ trust in greek traditional foods in the post covid-19 era
publisher MDPI AG
series Sustainability
issn 2071-1050
publishDate 2021-09-01
description We are entering a new, unprecedented global economic and social era following the COVID-19 pandemic, in which there will be opportunities and threats for the goods and services provided. Traditional foods (TFs) could have their chances in the new food chain which will be developed, as long as they become the food of choice for the consumers of the future. This paper investigates consumers’ trust in Greek TFs, and northwest Greek TFs, in order to assess their potential consumption in the new economy. Trust was tested using the variables of safety, healthiness, sustainability, authenticity and taste, assessing consumers’ confidence and satisfaction with the TFs, their raw materials, and the technologies used for their production. A self-response questionnaire survey was carried out in May and June 2021 on a sample of 548 participants through the Google platform. In order to analyze the data, basic descriptive statistical tools were used, combined with crosstabs and chi-square tests. The results show that the participants trust the Greek TFs because they “strongly agree” by an average of 20%, and “agree” by an average of 50% that they are safe, healthy, sustainable, authentic and tasty. A similar pattern was recorded for the regional northwest Greek TFs as well. These results indicate that TFs could be the food of choice because they bear consumers’ trust in the coming “new normality”, where trust will be a major factor of choice for the purchase of goods and services.
topic traditional foods
consumer trust
confidence and satisfaction
questionnaire survey
post COVID-19 period
url https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/17/9975
work_keys_str_mv AT dimitrisskalkos consumerstrustingreektraditionalfoodsinthepostcovid19era
AT ioannaskosma consumerstrustingreektraditionalfoodsinthepostcovid19era
AT aretivasiliou consumerstrustingreektraditionalfoodsinthepostcovid19era
AT raquelpfguine consumerstrustingreektraditionalfoodsinthepostcovid19era
_version_ 1717759083450204160