Tradition, origin, and family food habits: College students’ opinions of extra virgin olive oil

Aim of the study is to analyze the knowledge, consumption drivers and opinions of young people about the quality attributes of extra virgin olive oil, and to make a segmentation of their profiles. A survey was carried out with 421 Italian college students. Descriptive and multivariate methods were applied. Results underlined the relevance of tradition and family food habits as the strongest drivers of oil consumption. The origin of the oil, its geographical designation, and traceability are considered the most relevant attributes of quality, while intrinsic attributes are not as important. The level of knowledge of the differences between extra virgin and other olive oils is not so high, and uncertainties remain on some technical and health characteristics. Socio-demographic factors are significant in differentiating many phenomena. The cluster analysis reveals four segments of students with different profiles. Study findings have implications under a demand perspective, as well as for improving and better targeting the marketing strategy of producers.