Open Access
Country of origin and ethnocentrism: a review from the perspective of food consumption
(Asociación de Economistas Agrarios de Chile, 2013) Schnettler, Berta; Sánchez García, Mercedes; Orellana, Ligia; Sepúlveda, José; Gestión de Empresas; Enpresen Kudeaketa
Como consecuencia del incremento del comercio internacional de alimentos, se han desarrollado numerosos estudios enfocados en estudiar las preferencias de los consumidores hacia los alimentos domésticos e importados. Estos estudios se han realizados desde la perspectiva del “efecto país de origen” y desde el punto de vista del etnocentrismo en el consumo. A pesar de la numerosa literatura existente, aun no existe consenso en la importancia que tiene el país de origen en las preferencias del consumidor, ni en las variables que inciden en un comportamiento etnocéntrico en el consumo. El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo presentar y analizar los resultados de los principales estudios realizados desde la perspectiva del “efecto país de origen” y del etnocentrismo relacionados con la compra de alimentos. En ambos enfoques se incluyen investigaciones realizadas en el ámbito internacional y se finaliza con una revisión de los principales estudios realizados en el ámbito chileno.
Open Access
Agri-food 4.0: drivers and links to innovation and eco-innovation
(Elsevier, 2023) Calafat-Marzal, Consuelo; Sánchez García, Mercedes; Marti, L.; Puertas, R.; Gestión de Empresas; Enpresen Kudeaketa
Digital transformation affects all stages of the agri-food value chain. Digitalisation is being combined with innovations and eco-innovations to gain a competitive advantage and ensure greater sustained competitiveness. However, not all technologies have been implemented in the same way and at the same pace by the different companies in the agri-food sector. The aim of this research is to identify the internal and external drivers of digitalisation in agri-food companies and to develop a synthetic index to rank companies based on those drivers, before examining the relationship between the position in the ranking and innovation. The results reveal that the decisive drivers are management support and competitive pressure rather than external support from government policies or suppliers. Higher ranking companies in terms of the digitalisation process are more proactive in introducing product and radical innovations and are the most eco-innovative and thus sustainability-oriented. Finally, results show that the digitalisation of the sector is marked by the depth of technology implementation, specifically IoT, big data and artificial intelligence. Blockchain technology does not currently make a difference as it is not widely used.
Open Access
Business strategies, profitability and efficiency of production
(Instituto Nacional de Investigacion y Tecnologia Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), 2013) Alarcón Lorenzo, Silverio; Sánchez García, Mercedes; Gestión de Empresas; Enpresen Kudeaketa
The strategy choices of market-oriented companies are a topic now under wide investigation in the analysis of business performance antecedents. The purpose of this study is to examine the outcomes of the combination of three different organizational strategies (market orientation, innovativeness and entrepreneurial orientation) on business performance indicators. Models using profitability and efficiency indicators are proposed with the specific aim of obtaining a deeper analysis of the relative roles played by each. The empirical work takes place in the agro-food industry in the Ebro Valley, one of Spain’s most competitive regions. The estimates from profitability quantile and truncated regressions of the efficiency scores reveal that market orientation has a positive effect on economic and productivity performance. The impact of pro-active, innovation-seeking, and risk-averse entrepreneurship is nevertheless more debatable, despite some influence of these entrepreneurial styles on observed performance values. This enables conclusions regarding the possibility of combining a market-oriented business culture with innovation and entrepreneurial activity with a view to obtaining business performance gains.
Open Access
Frequency of consumption and changing determinants of purchase decision: from attributes to values in the organic food market
(Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), 2010) Barrena Figueroa, Ramo; Sánchez García, Mercedes; Gestión de Empresas; Enpresen Kudeaketa
El creciente fenómeno de saturación, maduración y globalización de los mercados agroalimentarios, obliga a la oferta al diseño de innovadoras estrategias de actuación, con el fin de conseguir aceptables niveles de rentabilidad de sus negocios. Una de sus opciones potenciales es conocer en profundidad el comportamiento del actual y potencial comprador para adaptar las actuaciones comerciales a sus prioridades. Este trabajo, en este contexto, contribuye identificando el proceso de compra para compradores habituales y ocasionales de alimentos ecológicos. El análisis de dicho comportamiento del consumidor se realiza utilizando la metodología de Means-End Chain, que considera, además del interés por los atributos del producto, el conocimiento de sí mismos que tienen los compradores, y su implicación personal en el proceso de elección en alimentos ecológicos. Los resultados indican que las elecciones de compra difieren entre ambos grupos. Para los consumidores habituales los dos factores claves en la elección de compra son la salud y la buena valoración personal. Pueden, por lo tanto, estos aspectos de la persona ser utilizados tanto en el posicionamiento de mercado como en las actuaciones de diferenciación del producto, reduciendo las barreras del conocimiento que siguen limitando el desarrollo de este mercado.
Open Access
The impact of the territorial gradient and the irrigation water price on agricultural production along the first phase of the Navarra Canal in Spain
(Elsevier, 2023) Martínez Aldaya, Maite; Gutiérrez-Martín, Carlos; Espinosa-Tasón, Jaime; Ederra, Idoia; Sánchez García, Mercedes; Gestión de Empresas; Enpresen Kudeaketa; Institute on Innovation and Sustainable Development in Food Chain - ISFOOD
Water is an issue in Spain, where it is generally scarce, and its availability is highly variable in different areas and times, particularly in agriculture, the main water consumer. Water pricing is one of the policy instruments used to control irrigation water use. However, specific contextual studies to provide greater details, understand farmers’ behaviour, and clarify the consequences and effectiveness of water pricing are generally unavailable. Here, we developed and applied a simulation model based on two Positive Mathematical Programming (PMP) methods, which makes the model more robust, to better understand and quantify the impact of the north–south territorial gradient on farmers’ decisions concerning agricultural water pricing in the first phase of the Navarra Canal irrigation area in northern Spain. This model couples water use with rainfed and irrigated areas, farmer revenue, and labour. The results show spatial north–south variability in the 50 km of the first phase of the Navarra Canal. In northern and middle regions, when water prices are increased, rainfed crops are chosen to substitute irrigated crops due to abundant rainfall and a lack of the appropriate climate and soil to grow other crops. Meanwhile, southern regions depend mainly on irrigation and are more sensitive to water price increases. These very productive southern regions also show larger gross margins and paid labour values. In every canal region, with an increase of 0.1 EUR/m3 in the water price, economic losses can reach up to 400 EUR/ha. Meanwhile, an increase in water prices over 0 EUR/m3 leads to decreased water use per hectare.
Open Access
Geographical and cognitive proximity effects on innovation performance: which types of proximity for which types of innovation?
(Wiley, 2024) García Martínez, Marian; Zouaghi, Ferdaous; Sánchez García, Mercedes; Gestión de Empresas; Enpresen Kudeaketa; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
The purpose of the paper is to explore the multi-dimensional and intersecting nature of proximity to drive innovation performance. Applying a multidimensional proximity framework, the study provides a deeper understanding of the importance of substitution and overlap mechanisms in the relation between geographical and cognitive proximity dimensions in innovation performance. The paper further analyses the moderation effect of organisational innovation in this relationship. Multivariate analysis proves the interaction effects between geographical and cognitive proximity, where cognitive proximity both substitutes and complements geographical proximity. However, external knowledge search for innovation along proximity dimensions differs depending on the type of innovation. Our findings corroborate the proximity paradox caused by lock-in effects with the optimal level of proximity influenced by the interdependencies between proximity dimensions. This inverse U-shaped relationship is flatter for firms that have adopted organisational innovation. External knowledge linkages should be tailored to the favourable characteristic of proximity to enhance firm innovation performance.
Open Access
What dimensions of risk perception are associated with avoidance of buying processed foods with warning labels?
(MDPI, 2020) Adasme Berríos, Cristian; Aliaga Ortega, Luis; Schnettler, Berta; Sánchez García, Mercedes; Pinochet, Consuelo; Enpresen Kudeaketa; Institute on Innovation and Sustainable Development in Food Chain - ISFOOD; Gestión de Empresas
Nutritional Warning Labels (NWLs) inform consumers about processed foods that exceed critical nutrient levels activating the risk perception in consumers. However, this information is limited. The objective was to identify the dimensions of risk perception and to study their associations with avoidance of buying processed foods with warning labels. A survey was applied to 807 decision-makers who choose what to eat at home. The four dimensions of risk perception (performance, financial, physical, and psychological) were identified through exploratory factor analysis. Through a multiple regression model, we determined the dimensions of risk perception and sociodemographic variables that affect the intention to avoid buying processed foods with NWLs. The results show that the performance risk, physical risk, and psychological risk positively affect the intention of avoiding processed foods with NWLs. In addition, the female gender considers NWLs to purchase foods. Nevertheless, the high frequency of consumption and belonging to a lower-income socioeconomic group are barriers to the use of NWLs. In conclusion, NWLs help people to choose processed food that does not impact negatively their food expectations, as well as their mental and physical health. However, health authorities must invest in nutrition education. Specifically, in groups who pay less attention to NWLs. Such groups include people with high daily consumption of processed foods, males, and low-income socioeconomic groups.
Open Access
Predicting grower choices in a regulated environment
(Wageningen Academic, 2017) Castillo Valero, J. S.; Sánchez García, Mercedes; García Cortijo, M. C.; Gestión de Empresas; Enpresen Kudeaketa
The analysis of farmers’ decision making process in the framework of agricultural policy is particularly complex as they take action within a structure of interacting opportunities, preferences, benefits and social factors which ultimately account for their behavior. This paper will study viticulturists’ behaviour vis-à-vis this scenario. Their decisions in the face of different possible alternatives are analysed using a multinomial logit model and a sample of 74,502 plots in Castilla-La Mancha (Spain). The conclusion is that viticulturists from this region are more prone to maintaining the status quo in their plots due to the current public support security issues, uncertain scenarios and their natural risk aversion.
Open Access
The reformulation of a beef patty enriched with n-3 fatty acids and vitamin D3 influences consumers' response under different information scenarios
(MDPI, 2020) Beriain Apesteguía, María José; Gómez Bastida, Inmaculada; Sánchez García, Mercedes; Insausti Barrenetxea, Kizkitza; Sarriés Martínez, María Victoria; Ibáñez Moya, Francisco C.; Institute on Innovation and Sustainable Development in Food Chain - ISFOOD
The objective of this study was to investigate the sensory acceptability and willingness to pay (WTP) for a beef patty elaborated with beef from a local breed that was enriched with nutritional ingredients (vegetable oil mixture and vitamin D3). The experiment was conducted under two information scenarios (blind; full: ingredients used to enrich the patties in n-3 PUFA and vitamin D3). An in-home use test was carried out by 180 consumers to study consumer liking of two low-fat beef patties (C: conventional, M: modified). There were no differences in color and odor for the raw patties (p> 0.05). The sensory parameters of the cooked patties were assessed as being similar (p > 0.05) regardless of the information scenario. The sensory parameters remained crucial criteria for product acceptance and repeat purchase. Consumers positively evaluated the M patty. The information provided to consumers on the composition of the product influenced the response of consumers. It was also observed that the higher the education level of the consumer, the higher their scores for M beef patties in the blind scenario. It is thus necessary to implement appropriate marketing strategies in order to highlight the nutritional properties of the modified patties, making them competitive ahead of conventional patties.
Open Access
Knowledge drivers, business collaboration and competitiveness in rural and urban regions
(Springer, 2020) García-Álvarez Coque, José María; Roig Tierno, Norat; Sánchez García, Mercedes; Mas Verdu, Francisco; Gestión de Empresas; Enpresen Kudeaketa; Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua, PI035 BINACS
Many rural regions are characterised by low technology-intensive activities. Their predominant focus is often on primary, agri-food, and natural resources and services sectors, and there is a competitive gap with respect to urban regions. The objective of this article is to determine the contribution of the innovation system to regional development, distinguishing between rural and urban regions. Qualitative comparative analysis was used to study 256 EU NUTS 2 regions. The analysis helped identify 'recipes' of drivers of regional competitiveness in rural and urban regions. These innovation recipes consist of varying combinations of private and public R&D expenditure, the presence or absence of top-ranked universities and the percentage of SMEs that collaborate in innovation activities. In rural regions, excellence in higher education combined with strong public and private R&D offers an important recipe for regional competitiveness. Alternative pathways include the presence of business collaboration as a driver of competitiveness.