Marketing fresh fruits and vegetables: Exploration of individual product characteristics and their relationship to buyer's attention to price

The unique and somewhat problematic challenges of marketing fresh fruits and vegetables have received attention from a variety of perspectives in recent years. The role that price plays for consumer purchases of them is complex, and will depend on the buyer, product and situation. This article discusses the dimensions of individual product differences in terms of amount spent, whether purchased as a treat and whether the products are seasonal. These differences and their implications for buyer’s attention to price are investigated. The major implication arising from this research is that increased sales of fresh fruits and vegetables are likely to be achieved by keeping the price as low as possible for products for which buyer attention to price is high, that is, products that are treats and seasonal. Further, retailer profitability will be optimised if, in conjunction with the previous suggestion, higher gross margins are included for products where buyer attention to price is low, that is, staples and non-seasonal products