CONSUMER MOTIVES AND BARRIERS TOWARDS OLIVE OIL

This paper analyses the motives for and barriers to the consumption of olive oil in Montenegro. The structure of respondents’ attitudes was analysed using a survey questionnaire with questions focused on consumers’ attitudes towards olive oil. The obtained results were statistically processed using descriptive statistics and SPSS software. The results of the survey revealed a correlation between age and frequency of olive oil consumption. Based on the revealed habits and low olive oil consumption, there is a need for additional education on the importance of consumption and its health benefits and nutritional value. To improve the consumption of domestic olive oil, respondents emphasised the need for more affordable prices and better marketing.


INTRODUCTION
Based on numerous research activities, olive oil and extra-virgin olive oil (EVO) have proven to be an indispensable element in the Mediterranean diet and olives are among the leading crops in this and the broader region. The focus of research of numerous scientists was income and cultivated area (Pupo D'Andrea, 2007;Marchini et al. 2010;Teresa Del Giudice et al, 2015). For the purposes of this work, literature concerning consumer behaviour was analysed depending on their attitudes towards the particular characteristics of olive oil consumption. The period from 2001 to December 2019 was selected. Numerous databases were used, including: Thomson Reuters (ISI) Web of Knowledge; Scopus et al. Methodological approach was used to select the papers predominantly analysing consumer preferences, motives and barriers. Particular emphasis was laid on the effect of the various attributes for the preferred product (Jiménez-Guerrero et al. 2012;Mtimet et al. 2008Mtimet et al. , 2011Mtimet et al. , 2013Di Vita et al. 2013;Sillani et al. 2014).

MATERIAL AND METHODS
For the purpose of this paper, the survey was conducted in the following municipalities: Podgorica, Danilovgrad, Bar, Ulcinj, Budva, Kotor, Herceg Novi, Tivat. The questionnaire was divided into two parts: the first part consists of a set of questions concerning the descriptive statistics for sociodemographic indicators, while the second part includes questions concerning the economic aspect of consumers to olive oil products.
The poll was conducted in late December 2018. It was carried out by trained survey takers. The survey included students -respondents above 18 years of age. On a sample N=129 respondents, metric properties of the scale were assessed. The scale reliability is high. Results obtained were analysed and statistically processed using the descriptive statistics methods and SPSS program.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The obtained results of the survey concerning the sociodemographic indicators, household incomes and so on show as statistically significant a group of respondents of 45.4% who consume olive oil daily and once a month. The dominant participation of the respondents is with high school and three household members, whose monthly income ranged from € 401 to € 600. (table 1).
As the main reason for non-consumption of olive oil, apart from the high price the taste, smell, lack of habit or achieved saturation level were particularly highlighted. Quality and price are the most important factors in the process of making a decision on buying olive oil. Almost 2/3 respondents pay particular attention to the brand, while the most frequently bought packaging was 0.75l. Approximately 40% of respondents consider marketing communication to be important and partly important, while 2/3 prefer extra virgin olive oil and virgin olive oil (table 2).
In the buying process, the most significant sales channels are supermarket (38.4%) and direct purchase from the manufacturer (30.4%). Home consumption applies to 80% of the total number of respondents. In terms of price levels at the domestic market, more than 60% believe that prices are high and play a significant role in the buying process, but also that the domestic supply of olive oil is satisfactory. Special emphasis was laid on domestic olive oil. The most represented of the foreign countries are Greece and Spain. Quality is one of the main reasons for buying foreign oil.
Respondents agree with the assertion in most cases, and also, on average, they provided similar answers. Analysis of the results obtained implies also the examination of the correlation between certain questions.   (17)    In difference to the examination of the correlation between a larger number of questions, for example, questions No.4 and 8 or 7 and 8, a significant correlation was not established, while between questions 2 (Age of main olive oil purchaser) and 8 (How often do you consume olive oil?), the correlation was confirmed and was .289** (Table 3-5)

CONCLUSIONS
The analysis made and assessment of the motives and barriers to olive oil consumption using the SPSS software has not been used previously in the area analysed. The paper aimed to use this analysis to consider the main motives and attitudes of consumers from the socio-economic aspect.
The results obtained, as well as the analyses of organic and other products in Montenegro, showed positive consumer attitudes towards quality (56%) and price (19.2%) (Jovanovic et al., 2004(Jovanovic et al., , 2012(Jovanovic et al., , 2016(Jovanovic et al., , 2017. When it comes to the brand, the responded stated that it was moderately (24.6%), or extremely important (29.4%) Baourakis and Baltas 2003;Cicia et al. 2005;Bracco et al. 2009;Dekhili and d'Hauteville 2009;Gázquez-Abad and Sánchez-Pérez 2009;Joel Espejel et al. 2009;Jiménez-Guerrero et al. 2012). With regard to packaging, sizes of 0.75 l (29.4%) and 0.2 l (24.6%) prevail. The opinions of the respondents about whether marketing communication has a significant impact on buying olive oil were divided-35.4% of respondents found that it did not have an impact, while 34.6% considered it to have an impact.
In most cases, the respondents consumed olive oil at home (87.2%) or in the restaurant (12%).
When asked whether the olive oil price at the domestic market was high, 45.7% agreed with the assertion, while 3.1% completely disagreed. With regard to the supply of olive oil at the domestic market, 37.8% of respondents found it satisfactory, while 33.1% stated they were not sure. Domestic olive oil and quality is preferred by 61.8% of respondents (Lazaridis 2004;Mtimet et al. 2014, Gázquez-Abad and Sánchez-Pérez 2009, Carlucci et al. 2014, Cicia et al.2002Martínez et al. 2002;Scarpa andDel Giudice 2004, Cicia andPerla 2000). Spanish and Italian oils (Arbeguino and Monini) prevail in the consumption of imported oils.Also further studies are needed to gather wider and deeper evidence of the effect of different technologies on odour and to calculate the economics of the use these technologies.