Dataset for analyzing the influence of country of origin, gastronomic culture and products evaluation on consumers' shopping intentions

Abstract

Knowing the tastes and needs of consumers is a key aspect in the literature review on consumer behaviour. This becomes even more important when it comes to selling across borders, in international markets. In other words, facing a different environment, both the tastes and the needs of consumers are different compared to those that can be found in a local market. Therefore, knowing how consumers behave takes on special relevance in business internationalization. In order to determine this behaviour, companies develop commercial research, which involves a large investment of resources (especially when it comes to obtaining primary information). Large companies usually have the resources to be able to carry out this type of market research, but what about small and medium-sized enterprises (SME's)?  They generally do not have enough resources to undertake a full commercial research experiment to investigate the tastes and needs of customers in foreign market countries. The data from this paper allow participating SME's to have a first understanding of the tastes and needs of consumers in these countries-markets that are being internationalized (in this case, through exports).  The data provide the precise information sought about consumers in those countries-markets that are the target of internationalization. To this end, tourists visiting a certain place have been analysed. Based on the information needs of these companies (and on questionnaires found in the scientific literature), the questionnaire for this experiment was drawn up and completed by tourists who visited that particular place. The information collected by the questionnaire was mainly focused on how consumers responded to some of the main marketing variables: product, price and distribution, as well as, gastronomic culture, “made in” effect and purchase intention. This  valuable information allowed the companies that participated in the  experiment to adapt their products to the tastes and needs of each  international market country  targeted, and even led some of these companies to consider market  countries that were not previously considered for the exportation of their products.

Specifications Table

Subject	Marketing
Specific subject area	Consumer behaviour
Type of data	Table and Figure
How data were acquired	Data were acquired through a structured questionnaire. The survey was carried out in the centre of Seville over five days. Each firm (through its personnel) gave out their product for testing and provided all the information required by the tourists taking part in this experiment.
Data format	Raw and Analysed
Parameters for data collection	The following latent variables have been defined in this work: country of origin (made in effect); gastronomic culture; products, price and supplier evaluation and shopping intention. Other observables variables have been used in this work: the respondents’ knowledge of the product, their taste for Spanish food and their perception of Spanish products.
Description of data collection	Measures include sociodemographic characteristics of the sample, opinion about Spanish products, information about brand, packaging and label, and general assessment of products tasted by the companies that took part in this experiment.
Data source location	Seville, Andalusia, Spain. Latitude 37°21′18″N, Longitude 5°56′17″O
Data accessibility	The raw data are available in Mendeley Data: http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/gwhtjvfnw7.4
Related research article	J.M. Berbel-Pineda, B. Palacios-Florencio, L. Santos-Roldán, J.M. Ramírez Hurtado, Relation of Country-of-Origin Effect, Culture, and Type of Product with the Consumer's Shopping Intention: An Analysis for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Complexity. Article ID 8,571,530 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/8571530

Value of the Data

• •The interest of this dataset lies in testing whether country of origin (made in effect), gastronomic culture and products evaluation influence the foreign consumers’ shopping intentions.
• •Data in this paper are important because they provide useful information for forming a strategy about agrifood SEMs internationalization.
• •Companies that are planning to internationalize could use the dataset for defining the strategy concept in terms of decisions.
• •Companies from other countries and sectors can compare the knowledge they have about internationalization with the obtained information with this dataset.
• •Further analysis can be performed with other variables such as gender.
• •Researchers sharing similar sample characteristics in other countries may adapt this dataset to add new knowledge to the consumer behaviour literature.

1. Data Description

The dataset contains raw data from 154 foreign tourists visiting the city of Seville. The data were collected by means of a structured questionnaire in December 2017. The Microsoft Excel worksheet provided as supplementary data for this article includes the complete dataset of 154 cases and 159 variables.

The dataset and the questionnaire are available on: http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/gwhtjvfnw7.4. The data has been uploaded as an Excel file while the survey is in PDF format. Readers can retrieve and reuse publicly available information by visiting the link provided above.

The definition of the variables is included in Table 1. The sample was made up of 154 participants, of whom 31.8% were men and 68.2 were women. It is important to emphasize that 22 nationalities were represented. The companies that took part in the experiment were Ecolivum Extra S.L. (ecological olive oil), Valdelacasa (olives), Naranjas Carneado (crackers) and The Tapas Sauces (sauces).

Table 1.

Definition of variables.

PROFILE, CONSUMPTION AND BUYING BEHAVIOUR
Variable	Type	Description
GENDER	Categorical	Gender
AGE	Categorical	Age
CITY	Categorical	City of origin
COUNTRY	Categorical	Country of origin
UNIDFAM	Integer	Including yourself, how many people live in your house? (in your city)
MADEIN	Categorical	Perception of Spanish food
NEW	Dichotomous	New foods
FREQORIGEN	Categorical	Frequency you eat the products in your country
FREQESP	Categorical	Frequency you eat the products in Spain
ESTABLEC	Categorical	Stores where you usually do the shopping in your country of origin
ESTABLEC1	Categorical	Name of the store
BUDGET	Numerical	Budget per week for spending in food
ASSESSMENT	Categorical	General assessment of the products tasted by these companies

INFORMATION ABOUT TASTED PRODUCTS.

ECOLIVUM EXTRA S.L.

VALDELACASA OLIVES.

CRACKERS CARNEADO.

DE TAPAS SUICE.

Also, participants’ assessment of the taste of the Spanish products was analysed in Fig. 1. Most people show a high assessment for the taste of the Spanish products. The frequency for eating the products was also analysed by means of this data (Fig. 2). Finally, the general assessment of the products tasted in this experiment was included in Fig. 3.

Fig. 1.

Analysis of taste: Spanish products.

Fig. 2.

Frequency for eating these Spanish products.

Fig. 3.

Assessment of the products tasted by the companies.

This dataset contributes to the literature of consumer behaviour. The collected data revealed that questions related to “made in” effect is highly positive. Specifically, the “made in” effect, a favourable perception of the country of origin, and the gastronomic culture have a direct relation with the consumer's shopping intentions. The researchers relied on the following literature in writing the research [1], [2], [3], [4], [5].

2. Experimental Design, Materials and Methods

This paper is framed in the context of the internationalization of companies and gastronomic sector. The aim of this research was to analyse the consumers’ shopping intentions. Specifically, several Spanish products were tested in order to gain knowledge on the internalization process of firms. The firm internationalization theories have been established since the second half of the 20th century. Despite all the research on this topic, many authors hold that more research is necessary for guiding companies to make rational decisions [6], [7], [8], [9]. The dataset in this paper is intended to provide valuable information in this regard.

The experiment was conducted by means of a survey using a questionnaire as a measuring instrument. Tourists visiting the city of Seville and found in the most touristic area of the city over a five-day period filled it out. The experiment consisted of each tourist trying out the products of each of the companies.

For the data collection, a series of stands was available where the products were exhibited for tasting. The exact location was next to the Cathedral of Seville (the third largest cathedral in the world and a World Heritage Site). The company's own staff tested the product and informed the tourists about its characteristics. After the product was tested, the tourist answered a series of questions related to it. The questionnaire responses were recorded by the authors of the experiment themselves, in collaboration with student volunteers who also helped with data collection.

The companies participating in the experiment showed interest in a number of countries where they wished to export their products (either because of geographical or psychographic proximity). Therefore, an initial attempt was made to select tourists from these markets of interest. However, since the opportunity for internationalization could come from countries not initially considered, tourists from other countries were also allowed to participate.

More than a dozen firms showed an interest in this project. For the sake of operability, four firms were chosen. They offered products that were considered suitable for this tasting and which, in some way, complemented each other. The products chosen were: ecological olive oil, olives, crackers and sauces. They belonged to the firms: Ecolivum Extra, S.L., Valdelacasa, Naranjas Carneado and The Tapas Sauces, all from the agri-food industry.

Ecolivum Extra S.L. is a company from the olive oil sector. The Spanish olive oil sector is at the heart of the economy, culture, cuisine and the global image of Spain. This country is the world's leading olive oil producer and exporter. Two products belonging to this firm were considered in the experiment: XTRA and ECOLIVUM.

Valdelacasa is a company from the olive sector. Large and intensive olive plantations are emblematic of the Spanish landscape, cultural heritage and culinary traditions. Four kinds of olives from this firm were considered in the experiment: Sweet Olives, Japan Olives, Puro Campo and Moruno.

Naranjas Carneado is a family business that has been devoted to growing oranges for three generations. It recently launched online sales to get the fruit directly from the producer to the end consumer. Currently, the company has started the diversification toward a new product line with crackers or “regañas” (in Spanish). Four kinds of cracker flavours were considered in this experiment: Traditional, Sesame, Rosemary and Tomato and Oregano.

Finally, The Tapas Sauces is a family company with more than 50 years of experience. This company has evolved offering products adapted to the current consumer´s preferences and lifestyle, preserving the flavours and tradition kept through the years. The Tapas Sauce offers a wide variety of sauces such as Mojo Picon or Salsa Verde. The company tries to continually adapt to meet consumer´s new demands.

After testing the products of the first company, the participants were asked for information on those products. Then, they tested the products of the second company, and after testing them, they were asked for information related to those products. In this way, the products of the four companies collaborating in the experiment were tested. Each firm (through its personnel) gave out their product for testing and provided all the information required by the tourists taking part in the experiment.

The quality of the products was determined by evaluating several aspects. Specifically, the following issues were considered in the questionnaire: nutritional value, ingredients, taste, texture and smell. In addition, information about brand packaging and label was also considered in the questionnaire. Specifically, the following aspects were measured in the experiment: attractive label, attractive packaging, packaging size, attractive brand and the product's overall appearance.

Specific aspects of each product were also considered in the questionnaire. These aspects were defined on the basis of the preferences of the companies taking part in the experiment. It must be taken into account that these companies are planning to launch or reinforce their internationalization strategy.

Data can be analysed by means of methods such as descriptive statistics, inferential statistics or structural equation models. Through descriptive statistics, basic measures can be obtained in order to gain better knowledge of the sample data. Inferential statistics can be used to establish comparisons between variables or make hypothesis contrasts. As far as structural equation models are concerned, they provide relationships between latent variables associated with consumer behaviour in gastronomy.

This information is fundamentally important not only for our research aim but also for the objective sought by the firms taking part as it will be of great help for them in their process of entering external markets.

3. Ethics Statement

The survey involved the use of anonymous information. Oral consent was obtained from participants before they began the survey. Participation did not induce any risk to the research participants.

The experiments were conducted in accordance with the normative regulation of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships which have, or could be perceived to have, influenced the work reported in this article.