The Potential Manifestation of Place as a Brand Component of Regional Meat: The Cases of Cumbrian Salt Marsh Lamb and Herdwick Lamb Gillian Rodríguez School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development Newcastle University Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 2015 School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development Newcastle University The Potential Manifestation of Place as a Brand Component of Regional Meat: The Cases of Cumbrian Salt Marsh Lamb and Herdwick Lamb Gillian Rodríguez Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ii Abstract Purpose – the purpose of this research is to explore respondents’ knowledge of regional foods including the pre-product stage i.e. in the landscape. Herdwick lamb and Cumbrian salt marsh lamb are both highly visible in the landscape and form part of the ‘lifescape’ of local residents. Design/method/approach – taking a phenomenological stance the research examines the experiential claims of respondents; means-end chain analysis was selected to gather customer values relating to this broader product concept. Ladder maps were drawn up for each of two sets of twenty respondents residing in the production region of either lamb. Hierarchical value maps are produced to reveal salient connections. Findings – show that respondents hold a very wide range of perceptions, experiences and associations with the ‘pre-products’, which influences their judgement about the freshness, flavour, quality of the meat. The ability to fulfil other functions by buying regional meat became apparent, in particular the need to make a contribution to the local economy, to support the ecology, and to know the place through community interaction. Respondents were found to interact with the landscape on two levels, perception and inner reflection. Practical implications – effective regional food brands may be characterised by branding actions which do not have the food product details at their core. The development of relationships, events and brand communities in a shared place may sustain producers who have their volume output limited by what the land will bear. Originality and value – the limitations of some marketing structures are considered for adaptation including: Boatwright et al.’s (2009) value opportunity analysis and Keller’s (2008) consumer based brand equity model. An opportunity for creation of a new category of attribute, relating to experience of ‘pre-products’ in the landscape is discussed. i Dedication To my late father, and to my mother who in their late 20’s decided to leave town and raise a family in Coniston. Thanks to my husband who has done so much – extra, so that I could work on this. ii Acknowledgements Many thanks to Prof. Ritson, Dr Kusnezof and Dr Tregear for their support. Thanks also to the 40 respondents for affording their time and effort on extended interviews. iii Table of Contents Contents Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... i Dedication .................................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents ...................................................................................................................... iv Tables ...................................................................................................................................... xiv Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Background: The importance of regional food to Cumbria ........................................ 1 1.3 Consumer perception of regional foods ...................................................................... 3 1.4 The selection of two Cumbrian regional food products .............................................. 4 1.5 Aims and objectives. ................................................................................................... 5 1.6 Research design ........................................................................................................... 6 1.7 Anticipated contribution .............................................................................................. 7 1.8 Structure of thesis ........................................................................................................ 7 1.9 Summary ..................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 2 The Concept Of Regional Food And The Context Of Naturally Embedded Food Products In Cumbria ................................................................................................................ 10 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 10 2.2 Cumbria’s boundaries ............................................................................................... 10 2.2.1 A metropolitan view of Cumbria ....................................................................... 10 2.2.2 Economic data for Cumbria ............................................................................... 12 2.2.3 The importance of sheep farming to Cumbria ................................................... 13 2.2.4 The importance of regional foods in Cumbria ................................................... 15 2.2.5 The entrepreneurial opportunities regional foods offer to Cumbria ................. 16 2.2.6 Conceptualising Cumbria as an attribute of regional food ................................ 18 iv 2.3 EU legislation and terminology relating to regional foods ......................................... 19 2.3.1 Rationale for designation ................................................................................... 19 2.3.2 EU regulations ................................................................................................... 20 2.3.3 Regulation, protection and motivation for regional food businesses ................. 24 2.3.4 Implications of EU regulations .......................................................................... 24 2.3.5 Terminology and characteristics of regional foods ............................................ 25 2.3.6 Speciality foods .................................................................................................. 27 2.3.7 Naturally embedded food products (NEFPs) ..................................................... 29 2.3.8 Regional foods ................................................................................................... 29 2.3.9 Measures of success of the regional foods sector .............................................. 30 2.4 Summary .................................................................................................................. 34 Chapter 3 Place branding and food choice relating to NEFPs ................................................. 35 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 35 3.2 NEFPs in the local consumptionscape ...................................................................... 35 3.2.1 Possessions, identity and places ......................................................................... 37 3.2.2 Perspectives on place ......................................................................................... 38 3.2.3 Place and person ................................................................................................ 41 3.2.4 Consumer attitudes and ‘their place’ ................................................................. 43 3.2.5 The lifescape concept ......................................................................................... 44 3.2.6 Place and food product....................................................................................... 46 3.3 The context of branding product and place ................................................................ 48 3.3.1 The construct of brand and brand function ........................................................ 49 3.3.2 The early branding process, brand visioning and identity ................................. 52 3.3.3 An examination of consumer values .................................................................. 60 3.3.4 Agricultural commodity branding ...................................................................... 63 3.3.5 Multiple-retailer reassurances of meat quality ................................................... 65 3.3.6 Branding considerations for agricultural products ............................................. 66 v 3.3.7 Place branding ................................................................................................... 67 3.4 The structure of the literature on food choice ........................................................... 70 3.4.1 Culture, consumption situation and food choice................................................ 74 3.4.2 The fit of NEFPs in consumers’ perceptions ..................................................... 76 3.4.3 Consumer food choice and meat .......................................................................