The impact of national quality labels and protected designations of origin on Hungarian cheese consumers’ preferences

Nowadays, the interest in food labels research is steadily increasing (Hoffmann et al., 2020). Consumers seek guarantees that they can objectively verify the origin, chemical-free production, safety or quality of food (Repas and Keresteš, 2018; Kendall et al., 2019). Certifications on food products help them to find their way around; the labels can build consumer trust that helps the consumers making informed decisions (Rupprecht et al., 2020). The research problem is that manufacturers are responding to increasing consumer interest with a growing range of labels, but too many food labels can result in consumers ignoring these labels because they do not understand or read them (Fraser and Balcombe, 2018; Moreira et al., 2019). This situation requests for further study to investigate the role of different labels in influencing purchases for different food groups and different countries. The 60% of 901 European food labelling schemes are oriented towards the origin of production (Gracia and de-Magistris, 2016); the role of the country of origin or provenance of the product having long been a central theme in research on consumer behaviour (Thøgersen et al., 2017). Communicating food origin can be done in unregulated and regulated ways (Thøgersen et al., 2017). The latter include mandatory markings (e.g. “Made in”) and voluntary origin markings. The importance of regulated and optional labels is justified by the fact that, under the EU Community Customs Code, in the case of a manufacturing process involving several countries, the country of origin must be indicated as the country where the last essential step has been carried out. The rule is subject to varying interpretations, which is why the use of voluntary origin labelling is gaining ground as an appropriate legal solution to ensure the origin of the product (Fernández-Ferrín et al., 2019).

Voluntary origin labels that communicate the authenticity of food products are the EU quality labels (EUQL), also known as geographical indications (GI) (Dias and Mendes, 2018), and national origin certification marks, also known as national quality labels (NQL) (Sadílek, 2019). The protection of a GI implies that the quality and prestige of a product can be shown to derive from its origin from a particular geographical area, and thus the GI acts as a link between the origin, quality and reputation of the product (Dias and Mendes, 2018). These labels are the Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG), the Protected Geographical Indications (PGI) and the Protected Designations of Origin (PDO). The GI are guarantees of quality for consumers, while references to territoriality refer to concepts that encourage consumers to buy (Napoli et al., 2014). A NQL is a so-called certification mark, which is distinguished from other trademarks by the following features: it can only be used in accordance with approved standards; it cannot be used by the owner of the certification mark, whose role is limited to the control of these certified characteristics. It can be used by anyone whose product complies with the regulations (Repas and Keresteš, 2018). The most widely used and best known NQL in Hungary is the Hungarian Product (HP) certification mark, which is awarded to products manufactured in Hungary from Hungarian raw materials, owned by the Hungarian Product Non-profit Ltd. (Szakály et al., 2016).

The role of EUQL in influencing purchases has been extensively researched in the international literature, but in the Central and Eastern European region these labels are less known by consumers (Jantyik and Török, 2020; Sadílek, 2019; Skubic et al., 2018), and the role of NQLs is therefore becoming more important in this region. The Český výrobek NQL is preferred among Czech consumers (Sadílek, 2019), Slovak respondents have a high awareness of the NQL “Značka kvality SK” (Košičiarová et al., 2016), and Serbian consumers prefer the NQL “Serbian Quality” (Jovanić et al., 2018). These studies have shown the consumer preference for NQLs, but have not investigated the underlying reasons influencing them, such as consumer ethnocentrism (CE) or perceived credibility (PC).

The aim of this research is filling this scientific gap by investigating the role of EUQL and NQL in influencing purchases by simulating a real-life shopping situation, and the impact of CE and PC on consumer preference for these labels. For dairy products and meat, customers are more attentive of labelling (Skubic et al., 2018; Bernabéu et al., 2018), so this research focuses on cheese.

This study contributes to the international scientific literature by helping to understand the role of labels and the impact of factors influencing label preference in this food category. In the light of the results, it provides useful advice to industry actors and points out that in the EU’s Central and Eastern European region, where consumer awareness and preference for GI is relatively low, the use of NQL can give producers a competitive advantage. This study is unique in that it investigates the preferences of Hungarian consumers for NQL in cheese purchasing, as opposed to EUQL. Key novel aspects include: 1) First-time comparison: It uniquely simulates real-life purchases of both expensive and inexpensive cheese to evaluate the roles of PDO and NQL labels. 2) Regional focus: It addresses a gap in the literature by highlighting the importance of NQLs in Central and Eastern Europe, where awareness of EU quality labels is low. 3) Consumer ethnocentrism: The study examines how CE shapes preferences and perceived credibility of NQLs, an area previously underexplored. 4) Advanced methodology: Using regression analysis and moderated mediation techniques, the study reveals how patriotic feelings influence the perceived credibility of NQLs and their utility, while also assessing the moderating role of price sensitivity.

Cheese can be made from different types of milk, by using different processing techniques, and matured for different lengths of time, resulting in a variety of nutrient-rich dairy products with a wide range of textures, flavours and shapes (Nájera et al., 2021). Cheese consumption has been growing in all regions of the world (Statista, 2021), and in the EU it has been increasing both overall and in terms of per capita consumption (Balogh, 2016). The prevailing cheese market model is mainly based on majority and homogeneous manufacturing and consuming, but regional origins and traditional (artisanal, family farm) production methods are increasingly attractive alternatives for consumers (Bryła, 2015). Increasing dairy product consumption through community marketing tools is an important strategic task for Hungary (Szakály et al., 2018).

To ground the empirical research, studies that simulated real cheese purchasing situation by using conjoint analyses (CA) to examine the most important aspects of purchasing were considered. Two opposing trends are likely to emerge in the cheese market: on the one hand, customers’ demand for modified and completely new products has been increasing, and on the other hand, they are seeking geographical and cultural identification, which requires products with guaranteed origin, authenticity and tradition (Schröck, 2014).

According to a summary study, consumers are also willing to pay a higher price for cheeses with a PDO label (Braghieri et al., 2014). In the case of ham (Torok and Jambor, 2016), and cheese (Balogh and Jámbor, 2017) GI is positively related to the comparative advantages manifested, and the competitiveness of a product’s trade is strongly influenced. Based on a meta-analysis of 27 research, the price premium attended with GI is positive for highly prepared products such as cheese (Deselnicu et al., 2013).

Spanish consumers value the PDO label as a certificate of food safety and quality, and the place of origin is more important to them than other characteristics (Bernabéu et al., 2010), the PDO label positively influences the price of cheese (Karipidis et al., 2008). In Spanish, female, older consumers and those with a university degree are intending to pay more for cheeses with a PDO label (de-Magistris and Gracia, 2016). A study with a sample of 1,111 people, showed that Spanish consumers ranked price as the most important principle when buying cheese, followed by fat content and then salt content (Maceín et al., 2019).

Both French and Norwegian consumers’ propensity to purchase traditional cheese was strongly influenced by price, conformity and pasteurization. In the case of traditional cheeses, consumers favour innovations that confirm the authentic and traditional character of the cheese (Almli et al., 2011).

A representative panel sample of 13,000 German households showed that German consumers prefer organic cheese to PDO cheese. The effect of the country of origin and GI was significantly smaller (Schröck, 2014). By using CA to analyse US consumers’ preferences and willingness-to-pay revealed a quality-seeking group with strong preferences and a significantly higher willingness-to-pay of 15–25% for each quality attribute, and a price-sensitive group whose preferences were largely determined by price (Wang et al., 2015). Only a small proportion of US and Canadian consumers searches for origin, when buying domestic and imported Parmesan cheese (Boatto et al., 2016).

Italian consumers preferred PDO labels and nutrition claims over organic labels, when purchasing cheese products (Stiletto and Trestini, 2023, de-Magistris and Gracia, 2016; de-Magistris et al., 2015). Italian consumers preferred the lowest-priced Provolone cheese, produced by Auricchio, certified by the European Union (EU) as organic and lactose-free, when buying Provolone Valpadana cheese (Sampalean et al., 2020). In Slovenia, the price was the strongest driver of consumption, while label was the least preferred purchase attribute. For GI, cheeses with local labels were preferred to EU labels from other countries. In case price is not reasonable in the cheese offer, origin and labelling are not important (Skubic et al., 2018).

In addition to the most commonly studied product attributes described above, some studies have examined the influence of attributes such as lactose-free, artisanal production or functionality on cheese purchases. Lactose-free labelling is particularly important for people with lactose intolerance when buying cheese (Rizzo et al., 2020). Artisanal cheese is a cheese that is produced primarily by hand, in limited quantities, with as little mechanization as possible, and with special attention to the traditions and art of cheese making (Wang et al., 2015). A group of Swedish consumers clearly prefer local artisan cheeses Nicolosi et al. (2019). Italian respondents’ willingness to pay (WTP) was higher as a result of the health claims, when their preferences and WTP for functional mozzarella cheeses, attributing hypothetical products with health benefits were investigated (Viscecchia et al., 2019). Research on the role of cheese product attributes in simulating real-life purchasing situations is presented in  Appendix Table A1.

CE refers to consumer behaviour that rejects the purchase of foreign goods (Shimp and Sharma, 1987). Research on the role of CE in cheese purchasing is limited in the international literature. Greek consumers with higher ethnocentricity tended to evaluate Greek products (yoghurt, cheese and beer) more favourably than less ethnocentric consumers (Chryssochoidis et al., 2007). A relevant empirical result for the present study is the research of Van Loo et al. (2019), who used a choice experiment with 103 participants combined with eye-tracking to show that higher levels of CE resulted in greater visual attention to the domestic origin of cheddar cheese. Their results suggest that the level of CE influences visual attention to origin labelling, with higher ethnocentric tendencies not only leading to higher evaluations of domestic products, but also playing a role in the consideration of origin information. For Italian consumers, PDO label preference has been associated with the phenomenon of CE (Trentinaglia et al., 2023), while this phenomenon has not been observed in the Central and Eastern European regions. In Hungary, the best-known label is the HP label, which Hungarian consumers have patriotic feelings towards, but consumer awareness of GI is low (Szakály et al., 2016). The literature shows that there is a difference between more expensive and cheaper cheeses in terms of the product attributes that consumers consider. Considering the literature, the following hypothesis was formulated.

Food labels can only function as effective signals to the extent that consumers recognize them, understand their basic meaning and perceive them as useful and credible (Rossi and Rivetti, 2023). Therefore, consumer understanding of food labels, and thus the PC associated with a given label, is crucial to the impact of labelling. According to Larceneux (2003) the credibility of a label as a QL is likely to depend on the credibility of the awarding authority. Rossi and Rivetti (2023) argue that, from a practical point of view, measures should be taken to increase the PC of food labels because consumers need to believe the “promise” of the label. The role of consumer perception of credibility has not been previously examined in the context of NQL and GI. Based on the literature, the present research hypothesizes that CE plays a role in shaping the credibility attributed to NQLs, thus PC plays a mediating role. When buying food, price is one of the most important factors. However, price perception is a complex process, as many consumers have little recall of price, especially for less expensive and routine food purchases. This study hypothesizes that price has a moderating effect on ethnocentrism, challenging Shankarmahesh (2006) finding that perceived costs have a mediating effect. In order to investigate the moderating role of price, further differentiation within the cheese product group is warranted. When buying a more expensive cheese, price is presumably not the primary purchase criterion, which implies that price does not moderate the effect of CE when buying a more expensive cheese.

Data were collected from November 2022 to January 2023 by using a survey method on LimeSurvey. Participation in the survey was completely voluntary and anonymous. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethical Committee of the University. The aim of the survey was to obtain a large representative sample. In order to have a balanced sample, superimposed quotas were created based on the national rates (Hungarian Central Statistical Office, 2023), and the number of elements to be reached is set at 2,300. Adults over aged 18, who buy cheese, could participate in the survey, and, after completing the questionnaire, they could forward the link to friends who met the quotas. The sample was checked continuously and respondents who did not fit were excluded to ensure the appropriate quotas. After data cleaning, non-interlocking quotas in a sample with no missing data of 2,340 individuals were obtained, the sample is identical to the Hungarian adult population composition by sex and region in Hungary ( Appendix Table A2). The margin of error for the sample is 2.03% at a 95% confidence level (Yamane, 1973).

The questions of the questionnaire and the cards used in the CA were designed taking into account the literature and the results of qualitative research (4 expert interviews and 3 focus group studies) conducted in 2021–2022 (Wittink and Cattin, 1989). The aim of the qualitative study was to identify the purchasing criteria of Hungarian consumers and the product characteristics they consider when buying cheese. The results allowed the design of a standardized questionnaire. Based on the qualitative analysis, two types of cheese in two price categories were included in the quantitative analysis. The cheaper and very popular Trappist cheese in Hungary and the more expensive but also popular Emmental cheese. Based on the results of the qualitative study, Emmental cheese is identified in Hungary with the Pannónia brand, and therefore this name was included in the research, thus excluding the examination of the role of the brand from the study.

The final questionnaire was preceded by a series of test questionnaires, which helped to finalize the conjoint cards in the survey and to refine the questions. Based on the qualitative study and the analysis of the results of the pilot questionnaire, the characteristics of the two types of cheese studied were price, label, origin of the cheese and production methods and their levels. The method for designing the cards is described in Chapter 3.3. Other questions in the questionnaire included international scales for measuring CE (Revised Consumer Ethnocentrism Scale, CES) and PC (Perceived Credibility of Quality Labels, PCQL) of HP and PDO labels; with logos for easy recognition. The questionnaire is presented in  Appendix Table A3.

For the purpose of this research, CA was used, which simulates a real-life purchase situation to examine the importance of product attributes and compare the utility of levels (Green and Rao, 1971). Of the CA methods, the choice-based technique is the most widely used, but this method only collects data on the most preferred opportunity and does not supply knowledge on consumers’ preferences for the remaining options in the choice set (Lusk et al., 2008; Lancsar et al., 2013). Otherwise, in ranking conjoint analysis (RCA), respondents are asked to rank a set of product options, which leads to more effective preference estimates (Chang et al., 2009), but to avoid too much information it is advisable to limit the number of attributes to a maximum of six (Orme, 2006). In almost all cases, the different CA methods give similar results regarding the direction and statistical significance of the calculated sub-values and the estimated willingness-to-pay values, regardless of whether the sub-values were estimated with only partial or full ranking information in mind (Yangui et al., 2019). This research uses RCA for the following reasons. The questionnaire could be filled in online and the preference ordering of the cards was easily achieved by “dragging” the cards during the pilot survey. The different CA methods provide similar results (Yangui et al., 2019), and the IBM-SPSS program used in this research makes RCA cards easy to generate. These cards were created based on the literature, qualitative research and pilot questionnaires, the examined product properties and their levels in the case of the two types of cheese: price (three price levels), label (PDO/HP/no label), origin (EU/Hungarian) and the method of production (industrial/artisanal). The number of 36 (3*3*2*2) possible product combinations was reduced to 13 cards by using the orthogonal array technique method (Menon and Sigurdsson, 2016), to create appropriate, logical product combinations, pseudo-random number generator was used (Seed: Trappist = 1,876,543,212, Pannónia = 1,776,655,443). Of the 13 cards, four were holdout cards, by them the accuracy of the model can be measured not only on the original profiles, but also on a set of validation profiles (Hair et al., 2014). In the case of cards indicating Hungarian origin, the Hungarian equivalent of the PDO label was displayed. The hypotheses were examined by using regression analysis as follows. During the RCA, the utility values of the factor levels can be calculated for each respondent, the standardized values of these partial utilities were included as output variables during the regression analysis. The predictor variables in the regression analysis were the CE and PCQL factors. When choosing the appropriate regression method, explanatory power and significance values were compared. To investigate the mediation and moderating effects, Hayes’ PROCESS Macro module of the IBM-SPSS program was used with the Bootstrap method. By using the Bootstrap procedure, the population was estimated by re-sampling 5,000 times from the original sample. In PROCESS Macro, model 4 for mediation and models 7, 8, and 14 for moderating effects were used (Preacher and Hayes, 2008; Malhotra, 2016).

Among the factors included in the study, when buying Trappist cheese, price had the greatest relative importance (40.98%), followed by label (29.88%), origin (15.59%) and method of production (13.55%) ( Appendix Table A4). There is a significant difference between the factor levels [Friedman test: χ²(df = 2, N = 2,340) = 552.434, p < 0.001], based on the Bonferroni correction, the lowest price is significantly more useful than the medium price, which is significantly more useful than the most expensive price. There is a significant difference between the utility values of the labels [Friedman test: χ²(df = 2, N = 2,340) = 605.216, p < 0.001], based on the Bonferroni correction, the HP label is significantly more useful than the absence of a label, which is significantly more useful, than the PDO label. Hungarian origin is significantly more useful than EU origin (paired-sample Wilcoxon test: Z = −13.292, p < 0.001). There is no significant difference in the method of production between the usefulness of artisanal or industrial production (paired-sample Wilcoxon test: Z = −1.511, p = 0.131).

Among the factors included in the study, when buying Pannónia cheese, price had the greatest relative importance (38.95%), followed by label (27.64%), origin (17.47%) and the method of production (15.94%) ( Appendix Table A5). The differences between factor levels were similar to those observed for Trappist cheese: The lowest price is significantly more useful than the two more expensive price levels [Friedman test: χ²(df = 2, N = 2,340) = 921.616, p < 0.001]; the HP label is significantly more useful than PDO and no label [Friedman test: χ²(df = 2, N = 2,340) = 672.734, p < 0.001]. Hungarian origin is significantly more useful than EU origin (paired-sample Wilcoxon test: Z = −18.952, p < 0.001). Artisanal process is significantly more useful than industrial production (paired-sample Wilcoxon test: Z = −13.400, p < 0.001). When buying the lower-priced Trappist cheese and the higher-priced Pannónia cheese, the respondents considered the product characteristics included in the study almost exactly the same. With regard to labels, a preference for the HP label was monitored for both products. A key distinction is that when purchasing Pannónia cheese, respondents found the PDO label to be much more valuable than having no label at all. In contrast, with Trappist cheese, the opposite was true. Additionally, when buying the more expensive cheese, there was already a noticeable demand for artisanal production.

The CES that was used to measure CE included as a predictor variable in the regression analysis has not yet been validated on a Hungarian sample, so in the first step a principal component analysis with varimax rotation was used. This was necessary not only because the CES has not yet been validated in Hungary, but also because scales developed to measure CE are typically multidimensional (Jiménez-Guerrero et al., 2020). The conditions of the principal component analysis were met ( Appendix Table A6), the 18 items were separated into two dimensions, statements referring to protectionism and patriotic feelings. The principal components are similar to the most frequently identified dimensions of the 17-item CETSCALE (Shimp and Sharma, 1987) which is most commonly used to measure CE (Jiménez-Guerrero et al., 2020). The analysis was performed for both dimensions, linear regression proved to be the most accurate for the test. The dimension of patriotic feelings has a significant effect on consumer preference for HP label, both in the case of buying Trappist (F(1, 2,338) = 25.939, p < 0.001) and Pannónia cheese (F(1, 2,338) = 25.268, p < 0.001). The effect is not very strong (Trappist (standardized regression coefficient (β) = 0.105), Pannónia (β = 0.103)), the explanatory power (R²) is only 1.1%. The protectionist factor did not have a significant effect on the usefulness attributed to the HP. The two dimensions of CE had no effect on the output variable formed from the factor level utility values calculated for the PDO label. Hypotheses H1/a,b were confirmed by the study, with the important addition that from the scale used to measure CE, only the dimension of patriotic feelings had an effect. Hypothesis H2 predicted the mediating role of the credibility attributed to the national label, and the PCQL factor for the HP label was included as a mediating variable in the analysis (Table 1).

Patriotic feelings strongly influence the perceived authenticity of the HP label (B = 0.470, p < 0.001), which has a significant effect on the usefulness attributed by consumers to the HP label when purchasing the cheeses included in the study. The effect of patriotic feelings proved to be significant even in the presence of the mediator, the confidence interval does not include zero (Table 1); the partial mediating effect supports H2. Patriotic feelings influence how participants perceive the usefulness of the HP label on cheese packaging. The more patriotic the consumer, the more they view the HP label as credible and beneficial on the packaging.

Hypotheses H3/a,b were related to the moderating role of price. After standardizing the utility values calculated for the factor levels of the price during the RCA, a single category to each respondent was assigned, according to which price level the respondent attributed the greatest utility to in the CA. Thus, in the case of both Trappist and Pannónia cheese, these variables took on 3 values (the respondent attributes the greatest utility within the price factor to 1 = the lowest; 2 = the medium; 3 = the highest price). In the regression analysis, the moderating effect of the multi-category moderating variable was evaluated according to the Dummy coding system, with the rating of 1 attributed to the lowest price as the reference value. The hypothesis testing was examined for the correct interpretation of the results in the case of three types of models. Model 7: the moderating effect occurs in the interaction between patriotism and the PC of the HP label. Model 8: the moderating effect occurs in the interaction between patriotism and the utility attributed to the HP label. Model 14: the moderating effect occurs in the interaction between the PC of the HP label and the usefulness attributed to the HP label. The moderating effect of price in the indirect relationship is contained in  Appendix Table A7, and the indices of moderated mediation are contained in  Appendix Table A8.

Neither in the case of Trappist cheese nor Pannónia cheese is there a moderating effect in the direct interaction between patriotism and the usefulness attributed to the HP label (model 8); nor in the direct relationship between the credibility associated with the HP label and the usefulness attributed to the HP label (model 14). In the case of Trappist cheese, patriotism has a significant direct effect on the PC of the HP label in all three price preferences. This effect differs significantly (higher due to the positive sign of coefficient B) in the case of the least price-sensitive respondents (3) from those who prefer the lowest price (1) (B = 0.119, SE = 0.042, t-value = 2.818, p = 0.005, CI = 0.036–0.201; R² change = 0.003, F(2, 2,334) = 3.972, p = 0.019) (model 7). The indices of moderated mediation (the difference between the conditional indirect effects) (Appendix Table A8) are significant in cases 1–3, so it can be stated that the indirect effect is moderated by the price in relation to the highest price and the lowest price level. This supports H3/a. In the case of Pannónia cheese, the moderating role of price in the indirect effect could not be detected ( Appendix Table A8), supporting H3/b.

Due to the too large selection of food, research is necessary that examines the role of different labels in food selection and how they help decision-making (Rupprecht et al., 2020). Consumers attach particular importance to labels for meat and dairy products (Skubic et al., 2018; Bernabéu et al., 2018). The role of GI has been widely investigated primarily in Western European and North American studies, however, consumer awareness of these labels in the Central and Eastern European region is low (Jantyik and Török, 2020; Sadílek, 2019; Skubic et al., 2018). The use of national labels that communicate quality and domestic origin can be a real alternative for industry players in all countries where EU labels are not well known. This study is the first to compare the role of a national quality and the PDO label in the purchase of a cheaper and a more expensive cheese. An RCA on a representative sample of selected product properties based on information from the literature and qualitative research was performed. In connection with the purchase of both Trappist and Pannónia cheese it has been shown that among the four product attributes included in the study, price had the greatest relative importance, and the lowest price had the greatest utility. The results of the CA support the previous results (Slovenian (Skubic et al., 2018), Spanish (Maceín et al., 2019) and Italian (Sampalean et al., 2020)), according to which price is one of the most important purchase criteria when buying cheese. In terms of origin, the present study confirmed the summary study of Braghieri et al. (2014) according to which local place of origin has a positive effect on consumer evaluation of cheeses. The findings support previous research, according to which in the case of more expensive cheeses there is a consumer need for artisanal production (Nicolosi et al., 2019). According to the results, when purchasing the two types of cheese, Hungarian consumers attributed significantly higher utility to the national quality than to the PDO label. By using regression analysis, it has been shown that the consumer usefulness attributed to the national label is shaped by consumers’ patriotic feelings, which supports previous research according to which the level of ethnocentrism of American consumers influenced the preference for cheddar cheese with a domestic label (Van Loo et al., 2019). At the same time, there was no detectable relationship between the usefulness attributed to the PDO label and CE, in contrast to the effect observed in case of Spanish consumers (Fernández-Ferrín et al., 2019).

The scientific contribution of this study is manifold. This research showed for the first time that the relation between the respondents’ patriotic feelings when purchasing Emmental and Trappist cheese and the consumer utility related to the NQL is mediated by the credibility attributed to the NQL. The more patriotic consumers are, the more they consider the NQL to be authentic, and the more they consider it useful to have this label on the cheese packaging. The results support the theoretical assumption that the use of food labels is only effective if consumers consider them to be credible (Rossi and Rivetti, 2023). In the international literature, it has already been shown that CE increases the WTP for domestic products (Tomić and Alfnes, 2018; Migliore et al., 2021), but there is a lack of research that examines the moderating effect of price on the effect of CE. This study was the first to show that, when purchasing Trappist cheese, in the case of consumers who are sensitive to price, the influence of patriotic feelings on how useful they consider the attendance of the NQL on the packaging is significantly smaller. When purchasing Pannónia cheese – even though the most important external product characteristic is price in this case too – the price has no moderating effect.

The present research contributes to the international literature in several ways. It is the first to compare the role of a national quality and a PDO label by simulating the buying of a lower-priced and a higher-priced cheese. It reveals that the consumer preference for the former label is influenced by the patriotic feelings of the respondents, an effect that is not observed in the case of the GI. It shows that for a country where the use of EUQL is not widespread, patriotic feelings increase consumer trust in the NQL, which also causes consumer preference for the national label. By using a moderated mediation method, it illustrates how price sensitivity when buying cheese weakens the influence of patriotic feelings on the value consumers assign to the NQL. This research presents the following novelties: 1. Preference for national labels: Hungarian consumers prefer NQL to PDO when purchasing cheese because they are patriotic. 2. Role of credibility: By mediating the relationship between consumer preference and patriotic sentiments, NQL’s perceived credibility enhances their utility. 3. Price sensitivity’s effect: Price sensitivity moderates the effects of patriotic sentiments, which are lessened for price-conscious consumers when they buy less expensive cheese. 4. Regional insights: In Central and Eastern Europe, where consumer awareness of EU labels is low, NQLs can provide a competitive advantage, especially for more costly cheeses. These findings highlight the strategic significance of NQLs for producers and contribute to our understanding of label choice dynamics in a field that has received little attention.

The findings allow for the development of significant recommendations for companies involved in cheese production and distribution, primarily in countries where consumer preference for EUQL is low. The findings draw attention to the fact that in these countries, NQLs provide a real alternative to GI. NQLs are popular in the Central and Eastern European regions of the EU (Sadílek, 2019; Košičiarová et al., 2016; Jovanić et al., 2018; Szakály et al., 2016), the present study, simulating a real cheese purchase situation, showed that the consumers’ patriotic feelings positively influence the value consumers assign to the national label is influenced by the credibility they associate with it. The campaigns by Hungarian Product Non-profit LTD, which influence CE, have led Hungarian consumers to view the HP label as genuine. Consequently, they attribute greater value to it when it appears on packaging. The effectiveness of the HP label stems from the creditable quality associated with it. Based on the moderated mediation study, the use of the national label is recommended for higher-priced cheeses, when the influence of CE is not negatively affected by the price. The suggestions of this study can be generalized and applied to countries, primarily in Central and Eastern Europe, in which consumer awareness of GI is low, but at the same time the place of origin of the cheese is an important purchase consideration, and by applying NQLs, manufacturers can gain a competitive advantage. The present study investigated consumer preference for national and community quality labels on cheese packaging and the factors influencing this preference, but the results can also be generalized to other dairy products. As previous studies have shown (Skubic et al., 2018; Bernabéu et al., 2018), consumers are more attentive to labelling for dairy products. The HP label is used on a number of dairy products in Hungary (Szakály et al., 2016), and based on the results of the present study, the Hungarian practice can serve as a good example for the labelling strategies of yoghurts, kefirs, cottage cheese and milks for Central and Eastern European companies.

The research has several limitations that should be considered for future research. In the CA, only external product attributes were included and the role of the brand was ignored. According to Sampalean et al. (2020), cheese is a highly differentiated food product, consumer preferences were most positively influenced if a national brand produced the given cheese. Although the method used was suitable for testing the hypotheses regarding NQLs, the inclusion of a larger number of product attributes and levels in the study would have given a more complete picture of consumer behaviour related to cheese purchases. According to Van Loo et al. (2019), in the case of more complex cheese profiles (application of several product attributes), the level of CE had no significant effect on the visual attention to the designation of origin. Another limitation of this research is that it ignores important demographic characteristics. Analysing differences by gender, region and income strata would eliminate homogeneity and provide a more robust basis for interpreting the results.

Repeating the study with a broader range of product attributes would be beneficial with fewer research constraints, which would clarify the importance of the brand. The research can be extended to other Central and Eastern European countries, for the purpose of comparability, consumers from Western European countries with a high cheese consumption culture (France, Germany, the Netherlands), where GI and NQLs are equally well known, are included in the study. Future studies can be conducted in the direction of both qualitative (focus group studies) and quantitative methods (experimental auction, hybrid choice models), and the results of this study provide a suitable starting point. Future research should analyse the demographic variables, with a focus on differences in gender, region and by income stratum. This would help to deepen the research problem under consideration and ensure the robustness of the overall results. Future research should be extended to other products in the dairy sector. Based on the literature and the results of the present study, it would be worthwhile to carry out similar studies for different dairy products, even comparing several product groups. For this research, the eye tracking method is recommended.

Due to the large selection of food, consumers are looking for signs that communicate the creditable properties of food, which ensures continuous relevance to research investigating the role of food labels in influencing purchasing decisions. The present study examined the role of two quality labels, the PDO and the HP, in the purchase of cheese by using CA and regression analysis on a gender and region representative sample of 2,340 people. The findings showed consumer preference for the national label, which is influenced by consumers’ patriotic feelings. In the case of the EUQL, this effect was not detectable. The company that owns the HP label conducts marketing campaigns that increase the ethnocentrism of consumers, as a result of which consumers consider the national label to be credible, thereby considering greater usefulness to it if they see it on the cheese packaging. The present research takes an approach that not only brings scientific novelty to the international literature, but also provides empirical results to help industry actors to develop appropriate label use. Understanding how to gain and build consumer trust is not only a key factor for businesses, but can also be used to shape public policies or community marketing activities. The use of the national labels is definitely recommended for cheese producers in countries where consumer awareness of GI is low, but at the same time the place of origin of the cheese is an important purchase consideration. By using NQLs, producers can gain a competitive advantage. The use of these labels is mainly for higher-priced cheeses, when the positive influence of CE is not adversely affected by the price.

Funding: Open access funding for this study was provided by the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Budapest Metropolitan University.