Measuring consumer quality judgements

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Abstract
Many on-farm-processed products frequently command a premium price, characterised as they are by unique sensory properties and image. Examines the nature of consumer judgements about product quality for farmhouse Cheddar cheeses based on utilities derived from the product attributes, and the trade-off against price. Determines key Cheddar cheese attributes through in-depth interviews with specialist cheese consumers and employs conjoint analysis to estimate the utilities associated with these attributes based on a wider choice-experiment survey of farmhouse Cheddar consumers. A “price sensitivity meter” technique was used to establish acceptable price ranges as perceived by the latter group. Results from market simulations suggest that the consumer price sensitivity for farmhouse cheese is likely to be low. The analysis also revealed that those attributes associated with the traditional characteristics of farmhouse Cheddar have the highest utilities and that any characteristics similar to industrial Cheddar were largely unattractive to the consumers of farmhouse cheese.

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