Nudging consumers to choose local products is gaining importance for relocalisation of agri-food system. Origin labelling, such as Geographical Indication (GI) certification, is being widely promoted as a tool of place branding and for signalling the localness of products.
Anchored in the Social Identity Theory and the Place Attachment Theory, a mediation model was estimated with Spanish consumers to conceptualise and measure constructs related to identity-based dimensions to predict their preference for local agri-foods.
Results indicate that consumers' ethnocentrism, place identity, attitude and perceived credibility of quality label have a significant positive effect on purchase intention. Ethnocentrism and attitude were the strongest predictors and also mediated the effects of place identity and perceived credibility on purchase intention.
This study contributes to a better understanding of the role of place in food preferences and proposes a conceptual pathway to depict consumers' intention to purchase local products with GI labelling. It also validated the potential of GI certification as an information nudge and place-branding marketing tool to prompt informed choice of local agri-food products.
By bringing four identity-based constructs into one single model, this work offers novel insights on how consumer food choices are rooted in their self-identity-related goals, symbolic boundaries and contextual realities in which they make choices that have often been overlooked.
