Influence of information on origin and technology on the consumer response: the case of soppressata salami

Nine soppressata salami types were investigated: three traditional Campania samples, three traditional Calabria samples and three industrial ones. Focus group interviews were conducted in Campania and Calabria in order to gain information on typicality descriptors. Sensory profile analysis of the nine salami was performed by using eight trained judges. Consumer tests were performed in two different sessions. In the first one, both Campania and Calabria consumers evaluated blind the samples. In the second one, prior the consumers evaluated liking expectations of information about origin and technology; next, rated the three types of salami each labeled according to its origin and technology.
Industrial made soppressata received the lowest expected score by both groups of consumers. Campania consumers have higher expectations for traditional Campania while the opposite situation was observed for Calabria consumers. Discrepancy between expected and blind scores was found, suggesting that negative disconfirmation of expectations occurred for all traditional made samples. Finally, differences in sensory attributes perception between consumers groups were observed.