Regional marketing of dried fig based products: an exploratory consumer study

Strategies for exploiting typical products represent a topic of great interest, in so far as proper marketing may make them better-known and promote their distribution. The "dried fig", is a product deeply rooted in the local food tradition and with a high penetration index, although its market share has decreased in favour of substitute sweets which provide some added advantage but not the same high qualitative characteristics to the consumer. The area selected for this study is Calabria, in South Italy, where the fig cultivation is predominant and the processing plants are highly concentrated, taking into account the strategic role of dried figs for the preservation of local resources and the promotion of regional development. This paper probes into the potential of this traditional product applying descriptive statistical analysis to a sample of consumers. The X2 test has allowed to define the independent relation between the main characteristics of this product for the consumer. It may be concluded that the consumer behaviour is determined not only by family tradition or habit but also by the intrinsic characteristics (taste) of these products which are closely related to the local culture in terms of origin and production methods.