Marca, certificação de origem e consumidor de café: um estudo de marketing

Abstract

The marketing study aimed the identification ofthe main characteristics of the coffee buying process in supermarkets in Belo Horizonte (MG). Its goals were to characterize the behavior ofthe coffee consumer at the moment ofpurchase, verifying the actual behavior, the brand and coffee's origin influence and the perception of the consumer in relation to the coffees ofMinas Gerais. The theoretic references focused on marketing, coffee environment and consumer's behavior. Quantitative and qualitative methodological procedures were used, combíning buying process observation methods and communication with the consumers through semi-structured interviews. A restrict market was identified, composed by adults, most of them married, from the A and B classes, that buy preferentialfy the ground (toasted and ground). The knowledge related to the brands was high, chaiacterized by a relative fidehty, while the brand fills up their demands in relation to the physical attributes ofthe coffee. The most valorized attributes were: the flavor, the aroma, the brand, the purity stamp, and the quantity ofcups that it makes and the color ofthe coffee. The most remembered brand was the most bought one. Group 1, composed mainly by men, consídered the quantity of cups it makes, the toasting point, the quality, the purity stamp and the package as the most important criteria for buying. And Group 2, composed mainly by women, consídered the color as an important buying criteria and did not consider: the merchandise, the origin, the quality, and the package. The knowledge relative to the certification of the origin was high in relation to the coffee producing regions and to the origin ofthe coffee, but was low in relation to the comparison ofthe coffees of other cities and states.