2022 Volume 32 Issue 3 Pages 124
The argan tree is an endemic specie which is located in the south-western part of Morocco, in arid to semi-arid areas. Recently, it gained fame as a patrimonial wealth as it celebrates its international day in May 10th. The argan oil has a large-scaled interest as an economic opportunity, as it is used by many companies in several cosmetic products. The Moroccan export of Argan oil also increased exponentially—483 times between 2000 and 2016, driven by its expansion to the international markets.
In order to better valorize and commercialize this rare natural resource, we should acquire better knowledge on the foreign consumers’ behavior, their knowledge on argan oil, their product experience with argan oil, how much they would pay for argan products and how to increase their willingness to pay (WTP).
In this study, as the Japanese cosmetic market is wide, prolific and remunerative, we aim to search for main variables that increase the overall consumers’ willingness to pay, and hence, evaluating the consumer preference for cosmetic argan oil in Japanese market using the payment card method. For that reason, an online survey comprising of 20 questions was conducted which collected data on 836 respondents. Based on these data, consumer’s preference for cosmetic argan oil was evaluated using interval regression.
Displayed results showed high variables significance and comparative model efficiency. Regression coefficients are higher for variables that indicate information (knowing argan oil), category experience (experiencing vegetable oil based products), product experience (experiencing argan oil based products), and interest for vegetable oil based cosmetic products (gathering information, purchasing from pharmacy). Therefore, argan oil should first be introduced to consumers so that they may purchase it and be willing to pay more.
