Innovation in Trás-os-Montes traditional products: consumer perception about new products derived from alheira

Innovation is seen as driving economic growth. In the field of consumer products, innovation is a key factor to generate profitability and growth, ensuring that companies succeed and remain in the market even in difficult economic and financial periods (Nielsen, 2015). Companies need to be continually innovating to be competitive. In this context, many companies invest in the development of new products to gain a greater market share and, consequently, to achieve higher profits. On the opposite side, consumers have a strong appetite for innovation and are increasingly demanding in terms of quantity, quality and variety of products. On the other hand, the literature demonstrates that sociodemographic characteristics have a significant influence on consumer behavior regarding the adoption of new products, indicating that younger consumers with higher income and higher education level tend to adopt innovations faster (Gatignon and Robertson, 1985; Wang, Dou and Zhou, 2008). This work is part of a project developed under PRODER, measure 4.1 - Cooperation for innovation, dedicated to the development of new products derived from alheira, namely, snacks with alheira filling. The project results from a partnership between a research unit and an industrial company. In December 2017, tastings were held at Intermarché located in Bragança city. The new product was presented to the consumer with two types of presentation, namely croissant brioche dough with alheira filling and small rectangular portions of brioche dough with alheira filling. Consumers were invited to participate in the tasting event on a voluntary basis. After the tasting of the product, participants were asked to complete a questionnaire with the objective to evaluate the product tasted on a scale from 1 (Very unpleasant) to 5 (Very pleasant), requesting the indication of a reason justifying the evaluation; to know the intention to buy on a scale from 1 (I would not buy it for sure) to 5 (I would buy it for sure); and to know the most appealing shape of ...