抄録
As the consumption of leaf green tea and the price of minimally processed green tea (aracha) decline, green tea marketing research becomes important in order to stabilize sales. A lack of product information is one of the problems of green tea products from the standpoint of consumers selecting green tea. In this context, our paper focuses on the case of the relatively unknown Kabuse Tea, which is produced in Mie Prefecture. We analyze consumer preferences in the context of detailed explanations on the growing region and the kind of tea leaves, which are intended to improve consumers' knowledge of product quality, and provide on information on taste characteristics. We also examine the effect of providing product information in selling green tea products. This paper also sheds light on a regional aspect of green tea preferences which is revealed in an investigation of two tea consuming regions; the Tokyo metropolitan area and the Chukyo area. Choice experiments were used in measuring consumer preferences.
The result of the analyses shows that increasing the amount of information to enhance consumers' product knowledge leads to increased preference for it. Also, providing product quality information is accepted by consumers regardless of consumption regions and the amount of information, and contributes to an increase in product value. As for preference characteristics for different consumption regions, it is shown that consumers in the Tokyo metropolitan area prefer teas produced in Shizuoka Prefecture more than consumers in the Chukyo area do. These results imply that providing product information to consumers is an important factor to be considered when the marketing strategies of green tea producing regions are formulated.
