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Abstract
Food is a very sensitive area and the most intimate form of consumption. Consumer choice is known to be
strongly affected by emotional factors usually not taken into account in economic analysis. At the same time it is
clear that such emotional factors can affect consumer behaviour and market reactions above all when there are
scandals and concerns.
One of the emotional aspects that seems to dominate consumer behaviour in the food sector is so‐called magical
thinking which leans on two different pillars: the contagion principle and the similarity principle. The contagion
principle affects the concept of naturalness which, according to cognitive psychologists, is a key factor in
determining consumer preferences. The main element stemming from this psychological approach is the generalised
superiority which characterises those foods which are perceived as natural by consumers. It has also been
observed that the specific kind of processing as well as the adding or subtracting of unnatural elements can
modify the perception of naturalness and the degree of acceptability for food products.
A survey which bore all such considerations in mind was conducted on a sample of 180 people interviewed
shortly after their shopping trip to super‐ and hyper‐markets in the province of Naples. A questionnaire was submitted
to sample in winter 2009. The questionnaire collected information about the perception of naturalness
and its role in determining consumer preferences for different food products and different kinds of processing.
A specific section of the questionnaire covered a case study and gathered information about the willingness to
buy a specific food product: pasteurized and microfiltered fresh cow’s milk. This product has the same nutritional
qualities and the same taste as fresh pasteurized cow’s milk, but has a longer shelf‐life due to specific
technology.
On the basis of the results and by using a binary model, consumer willingness to purchase the specific milk was
estimated. The findings permit an analysis of the role that both different types of product processing or manipulation
and the various forms of innovation can play in determining levels of trust and modifying the discrepancy
between objective and perceived quality.