PDOs’ role in reassuring consumers: the “Parmigiano Reggiano Terremotato” case

The earthquake swarm that shook the Emilia Romagna (Italy) region in May 2012 caused 26 deaths and diffuse economic damage in the traditional production area of Parmigiano-Reggiano Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), including several dairies’ warehouses where the cheese is produced and aged. It has been estimated that the loss to the Parmigiano-Reggiano producers exceeded 150 million euros. The broad mobilization to help the stricken people revealed the “social embeddedness” of this specific food, giving rise to the sale of “Parmigiano-Reggiano damaged by earthquake” (PR-T). This paper aims to investigate the main determinants of PR-T purchasing, using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) as a conceptual framework. A new concept of sustainability is explored, departing from the ability of the PDO brand name to reassure consumers’ trust. A preliminary focus group was formed and a survey on 200 consumers was carried out for this purpose; data were collected during face-to-face interviews in stores and markets where the PR-T has been sold. The relative importance of attitude, descriptive norms and perceived behavioural control (PBC) in influencing the intention to purchase PR-T and the behaviour itself were investigated. Other concepts were added to the analysis, such as formal and informal trust, moral attitude, PDO perception, sense of belonging to the region, and other socio-economic variables. The revised TPB model predictors accounted for 70 percent of the variance in intention to purchase PR-T in the future and 32 percent of the variance in behaviour. PBC, trust in formal communication sources and PDO quality warranty are the main predictors of intentions. Behaviour is positively affected by descriptive norms, sense of belonging, age and intentions, and negatively affected by food scares, past behaviour and educational level. The PDO granted to Parmigiano Reggiano cheese played a powerful role in reassuring consumers, avoiding the “worst-case scenario”(market crisis). This seems interesting since PDO may make food chains resilient in front of adverse events with a probable economic impact, maintaining the trust and providing food chain sustainability. Prices of Parmigiano-Reggiano remained stable, and both the producers and the Consortium played an active role. These empirical findings also provide evidence of the solidarity aspects of collective purchases of Parmigiano-Reggiano in the aftermath of the 2012 earthquake swarm, as well as the importance of increasing people’s capability and trust to effectively reach the goal of facing alarming food scares.