Consumers’ Perception and Behavior towards Geographical Indication Products: The Case of Traditional Pestil from Gümüşhane, Turkey

The main objective of this study is to assess the relationship between the level of consumers' perception of products with geographical indication (GI) and their consumption of products with GI labels. Geographically indicated products were examined within the scope of Gümüşhane fruit pulp (mulberry pestil), which was registered as a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) in 2004. This research conducted an online survey of 166 consumers living in Gümüşhane province in Turkey. Binary logistic regression analysis method was used to identify the factors affecting the probability of consuming products with GI labels. The model results show that middle-aged, married, middle-income and consumers who correctly perceive the concept of geographical indication products are more likely to consume products with GI labels.  According to the logistic regression results, the increase in consumers' level of correct perception of the product notion with GI label increases the probability of consuming products with GI label 2.5 times. The results of this study also tell us that the market share of these products can be increased by improving the consumer perception towards geographically indicated products. Policymakers can also take advantage of these insights to improve lucid understanding of how labels are actually interpreted by consumers.