In search for something "real" - consumers' perceptions of authenticity in regional food brands
Cultural capitalAuthenticityRegional foodConsumer perceptionManagement of enterprisesFöretagsledningManagementBusiness and Economics
Marketing research has acknowledged the concept of authenticity. It is argued that consumers in modern society increasingly search for something real, in contrast to what they perceive as mediated and distorted. Producers of regional food brands has acknowledged this trend, and started to market their products as being authentic. Given the potential practical and theoretical contributions in studying the concept of authenticity in this context, this study aims to explore how consumers perceive these claims of authenticity. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to extend knowledge on how consumers come to perceive a regional food brand as authentic. The purpose is pursued using a qualitative research strategy including interviews with ten informants. As previous research has made notions that the amount of cultural capital resources held by consumers affect perceptions of authenticity, five informants with high amounts of cultural capital resources and five informants with low amounts of cultural capital resources are included. Using the logic of hermeneutic interpretation, themes are developed from the informants narratives. Five dimensions of authenticity in regional food brands related to the product and the producer are identified. These are: certification, stylistic attributes, specific product ingredients, sincerity of producer and small-scale production. It is further revealed informants with different amount of cultural capital resources differ in their relation to the concept. It is found that informants with high amount of cultural capital resources seek autonomy in their assessment, whereas informants with low amount of cultural capital resources seek familiarity. Implications for brand management are discussed.