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Market segmentation of cheese consumers: An approach using consumer's

attitudes, purchase behaviour and sociodemographic variables

Article  in  International Journal of Dairy Technology · August 2003

DOI: 10.1046/j.1471-0307.2003.00092.x

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 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

O RI GI NAL
RESEA RCH Market segmentation of cheese consumers: an approach
using consumer’s attitudes, purchase behaviour and
sociodemographic variables
FR ANC IS C O J MESÍAS ,1 M IGUE L E S C R IB ANO,2 ANT ONIO R ODR Í G U E Z
DE LEDES MA 2 and FR ANC IS C O P UL IDO 1 , *
1
Departments of Economics and 2Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Extremadura, 06071
Badajoz, Spain

Market segmentation, as a technique to split a market up into segments in which consumers are as
homogeneous as possible, is of great importance for companies, as it allows objective markets to be
chosen for the application of differentiated marketing policies. The aim of the present work is the
segmentation of the cheese market in Extremadura (SW Spain), using cluster analysis.
The data are taken from a survey of cheese consumers in Extremadura; the items of the survey are
related to their cheese consumption habits, and their attitudes and preferences with respect to this
product. The analysis distinguished four homogeneous consumer groups with respect to several
sociodemographic and consumption behaviour variables that are of great interest for subsequent market
interventions.
Keywords Cheese, Cluster, Consumption.

Food R&D Program’ of the Ministry of Agricul-

INTRODUCTION
In commercial terminology, market segment-
ation involves splitting up an overall market into
submarkets (segments) in which consumers are as
homogeneous as possible with respect to their
patterns of consumption and/or perceptions and
preferences. This technique is of great import-
ance for companies, as it allows objective markets
to be chosen for the application of differentiated
marketing policies.
Here multivariate techniques were applied to
segmenting the population of cheese consumers of
Extremadura. The technique applied is cluster
analysis, and the calculation instrument is the
Cluster Module of the statistical package SPSS,
version 10.
Cluster analysis is a widely used technique in the
food and agriculture sector, as can be seen in
studies on the segmentation of the wine market,1
segmentation of the market for table eggs,2 seg-
mentation as a function of food safety attributes,3,4
or applied to the market introduction of a novel
meat product.5 More recent studies using this tech-
nique are those of Gil et al.,6 Sans,7 Traill,8 Poole9
and Chetthamrongchai and Davies.10 Noteworthy
among applications to the cheese sector are the
*Author for works of Hughes et al.,11 Bogue et al.,12 Murray
correspondence. E-mail:
and Delahunty13 and Lawlor and Delahunty.14
fpulido@unex.es
The data are from the research project entitled
© 2003 Society of ‘The Extremadura cheese market: commercializa-
Dairy Technology tion and consumption’ of the ‘Agriculture and
ture, Fisheries, and Food.
The objective of the project was to analyse in
detail the marketing channels followed by (indus-
trial and craft) cheeses of Extremadura, as well as
consumers’ opinions and preferences concerning
cheeses from Extremadura and other regions. The
different steps in the commercial process are studied
in detail, as are the agents intervening in the market-
ing process from production to consumption.
One of the main targets of the research devel-
oped for this project was the analysis of cheese
consumption in Extremadura, as in previous sur-
veys it had been observed that consumption in this
region was higher than the Spanish average. More-
over, the cheese production system in Extremadura
is very particular, because of the importance of
farm cheeses produced with milk from goats and
ewes that are bred in an extensive way in mountain
and/or marginal areas.
Because of these singularities, the research team
considered it convenient to use a panel of experts
for the determination of the items to be included in
the questionnaire. The panel comprised producers,
researchers and representatives of consumer organi-
zations. After several work sessions, the experts
identified those questions that should be put to the
consumers.
In this research project, the average consump-
tion and price paid were determined for each type
of cheese in Extremadura. It was seen that although
Spain has one of the lowest cheese consumption

Vol 56, No 3 August 2003 International Journal of Dairy Technology 149

 Vol 56, No 3 August 2003
rates of all countries in the European Union (EU),
with a national average below 7 kg/person/year, that
is well below that from countries such as Greece
(25 kg) or France (22 kg/person/year),15 cheese
consumption in Extremadura is much higher,
reaching 12.65 kg/person/year (of which 7.83 kg
are cured cheese and 4.82 kg fresh cheese).16
This fact is explained by the greater and more
diversified production of goat and ewe cheeses in
Extremadura, together with the higher regard that
Extremaduran consumers have for the cheeses
from their own region. Both species of mammal
are characteristic of a geographical Spanish terri-
tory that does not allow the rearing of other live-
stock or their use for agronomical alternatives;
goats and sheep become the productive support
in these less developed areas. For this reason,
cheese consumption has become a dietary habit in
Extremadura, which is reflected in the high level of
consumption.
The price paid for the cheese also shows differ-
ences between Extremadura and the average of
Spain. We found that the average price paid in
Extremadura for cured cheese was 9.25 euros/ kg,
and 6.16 euros /kg for the fresh cheese, while the
average prices in Spain as a whole are 7.01 and
4.48 euros/kg, respectively.15 Cheese consumption
in Extremadura is mainly goat and ewe cheeses, as
stated earlier. However, in the rest of Spain the
most consumed cheeses are those made with cows’
milk (alone or with low percentages of goats’ and
ewes’ milk). The milks needed for Extremadura
cheeses are more expensive than cows’ milk; on a
scale where the price of cows’ milk would be 100,
goats’ milk would be 130–140 and ewes’ milk
250.17 Cheese prices in Extremadura are therefore
higher than the national average price.
These variables, together with others identify-
ing consumption habits, attitudes and preferences,
and classification variables from the responses
to the survey (gender, family size, socioeconomic
level and township size) were used to segment the
market of cheese consumers of Extremadura.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The information used was taken from a survey of
cheese consumers in Extremadura made in the first
semester of 1999. The survey unit was taken to be
the family unit as represented by the respondent
who answered questions affecting the family as a
whole. This choice of survey unit was made
because the survey respondents were restricted to
persons responsible for the food purchases of the
family, including cheese.
The object population was determined from
the data of the National Statistics Institute. A 95%
confidence level was taken, and a maximum
error in mean proportions of 3.5% was allowed,
150 © 2003 Society of Dairy Technology
considered in the literature as acceptable for a
study of the present characteristics.18,19
With these constraints, the sample size was
860 consumers, uniformly distributed throughout
Extremadura. The valid questionnaires were 812,
and the final error 3.44%. We adopted the criterion
of considering only population centres of more
than 3000 inhabitants, distributing the surveys to
be performed proportionally to the population of
each town or village. The elimination of population
centres of less than 3000 inhabitants was based on
two fundamental motives:
1 It is considered that the consumption of com-
mercially distributed cheeses is greater in medium-
to large-sized towns than in rural zones, where
the consumption of home-produced cheeses plays
a major role.
2 Budget restrictions, as the eliminated townships
(some 300 with only 25% of the population of
the region) represent 77% of all the townships of
Extremadura, and visiting all of them would
have required a far higher expenditure.
Development of the questionnaire
The questionnaire was developed according to
the methodology described in the previous para-
graphs. Its final version is not included, as it is too
long.
The questionnaire consists of 26 questions. The
first two questions were a filter to select only those
people who ate cheese frequently and did the shop-
ping for their households. Questions 3–6 describe
the types of cheese eaten, together with the quanti-
ties and the reasons for eating cheese. Questions 7–
12 focused on where the cheese was purchased and
the role of brand and designation of origin (DO).
Questions 13 and 14 aimed at obtaining the con-
sumers’ appraisal of several brands and types of
cheese, with the aim of positioning Extremaduran
cheeses. Questions 15–21 referred to the cheeses
purchased most often, the reasons why they were
purchased and the importance of the origin of the
cheeses eaten in the purchasing decision. Finally,
questions 22–26 (classification data) concerned
consumer information regarding sex, age, family
size and socioeconomic status.
Because of the way in which the questionnaire
was developed, the consumers’ lifestyles were not
taken into account, as the experts considered that
they were less important in Extremadura than the
cultural factors, the dietary habits or the town size.
Pretest of the questionnaire
The questionnaire was tested by means of a pilot
survey carried out among 20 cheese consumers
from around the region. This pretest let us identify
some questions that might be misunderstood by the
consumers, or that might require too much effort
to be answered. These questionnaires were not
Vol 56, No 3 August 2003
included in the final sample, as they did not follow
the final design.
Data matrix
The analysis was performed on a 762 × 32 data
matrix: 762 valid questionnaires and 32 variables
analysed. The difference between the total number
of respondents and the number of valid question-
naires for the cluster analysis is because cases
with some missing values are treated as null by the
program.
The variables were selected to allow the measure-
ment of the different aspects of cheese consump-
tion in Extremadura. They relate to the following
factors:
• Fresh and cured cheese consumption (kg per
person per annum).
• Price paid for the cheese (euro/ kg).
• Reasons for eating cheese:
• good flavour;
• dietary habit;
• used to accompany other dishes;
• used for cooking.
• Types of cheese eaten:
• fresh goat, cow and mixed cheeses;
• cured ewe, goat, cow and mixed cheeses.
• Attitudes of the consumer to the origin and form
of commercialization of the cheese:
• importance that the cheese is covered by a DO;
• positive evaluation of the Extremaduran origin
of the cheese;
• importance given to brand names on purchasing
the cheese.
• Respondents’ sociodemographic factors:
• age;
• township size;
• gender;
• family size;
• socioeconomic level.
In accordance with the method developed by
Delgado and Caldentey,1 the noninterval (nonmetric)
variables were transformed into dichotomous
variables. Thus, each response of this type was
considered as a variable and assigned the value 1
if it possessed the attribute or responded to the
question, and 0 otherwise. The resulting 32 vari-
ables are listed in Table 1 with their corresponding
measurement scales.
As recommended in the literature,20–22 if the
variables used in the analysis are measured on non-
homogeneous scales, they must first be normalized
to avoid those variables with a wider range of values
on their measurement scales having a proportion-
ally greater importance in the calculations of the
clusters. Therefore, the variables ‘Price paid for
fresh cheese’ and ‘Price paid for cured cheese’
were normalized using the procedure Analyse-
Descriptive statistics of the program SPSS, version
10.
© 2003 Society of Dairy Technology
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Determination of the number of clusters
Initially a hierarchical clustering was performed
to determine the suitable number of clusters. For
the distance measure, the square of the Euclidean
distance was used, and the Ward and centroid
methods were used for clustering.23 All the cases
and all the variables were used, as the dichotomi-
zation of the variables allowed the calculation
procedure to be completed in a reasonable time.
The main result of the hierarchical cluster is
the dendrogram, which shows the objects that
have been joined and the distance between them
before joining. The size of the sample means that
the dendrogram stretched over 15 pages, so that it
is not shown here. The information it contains is
summarized, however, in a Gower plot, which
shows the distances at which the links have been
formed and is an aid in deciding the number of
clusters.
Figure 1 shows the results of the hierarchical
cluster using both the Ward and the centroid meth-
ods. The appropriate number of clusters is obtained
from the inflection point as the number of groups
is increased. The Ward method gives four clusters,
while the centroid method gives three. Different
nonhierarchical clusterings were therefore performed
with three or four groups to finally decide which
led to the best solution.
Nonhierarchical clustering
Having determined the number of clusters, the
membership of each element to a given cluster was
identified so as to subsequently interpret the clus-
ters that were obtained. Of the various trials that
were carried out, the most significant results were
for four clusters.
The sizes of the final clusters are listed in
Table 2, together with the means corresponding to
the different clusters.
The characteristics that differentiate the clusters,
according to the results in Table 2, are described
below.
Group 1: Major consumers of cured cheese
This is made up of 21.26% of the individuals of
the sample. Their consumption of cured cheese is
almost twice that of the regional average, while
of fresh cheese it is 60% of the regional average.
They pay 89% of the regional price for the cured
cheese, and the average price for the fresh cheese.
They eat cheese for its good flavour and because of
dietary habit. Most individuals of the cluster eat
cured ewes’-milk cheese, followed by the mixed
cured cheese, and for the fresh cheeses, the cows’-
milk cheese. They give considerable importance
to the fact that the cheese is covered by a DO,
and they also take account of brand names in their
151
 Vol 56, No 3 August 2003

Table 1 Variables used in the calculation

Variable Concept Scale

V1 Consumption of cured cheese kg/person/annum

V2 Consumption of fresh cheese kg/person/annum
V3 Price paid for the cured cheese euro/ kg
V4 Price paid for the fresh cheese euro/kg
V5 Reasons for eating cheese: good flavour 0 = Disagree
2 = Completely agree
V6 Reasons for eating cheese: it is used to accompany other foods 0 = Disagree
2 = Completely agree
V7 Reasons for eating cheese: dietary habit 0 = Disagree
2 = Completely agree
V8 Reasons for eating cheese: used in cooking 0 = Disagree
2 = Completely agree
V9 Consume fresh cows’-milk cheese 0 = No; 1 = Yes
V10 Consume fresh goats’-milk cheese 0 = No; 1 = Yes
V11 Consume mixed fresh cheese 0 = No; 1 = Yes
V12 Consume cured ewes’-milk cheese 0 = No; 1 = Yes
V13 Consume cured goats’-milk cheese 0 = No; 1 = Yes
V14 Consume cured cows’-milk cheese 0 = No; 1 = Yes
V15 Consume mixed cured cheese 0 = No; 1 = Yes
V16 Importance that the cheese is covered by a Designation of Origin 0 = None; 2 = Much
V17 Value positively that the cheese eaten is from Extremadura 0 = No; 1 = Yes
V18 Give importance to brand name on purchasing cheese 0 = No; 1 = Yes
V19 Family size Continuous var.
V20 Township of less than 5000 inhabitants 0 = No; 1 = Yes
V21 Township of between 5001 and 15 000 inhabitants 0 = No; 1 = Yes
V22 Township of between 15 001 and 50 000 inhabitants 0 = No; 1 = Yes
V23 Township of more than 50 000 inhabitants 0 = No; 1 = Yes
V24 Gender of respondent 0 = Female; 1 = Male
V25 Younger than 35 years old 0 = No; 1 = Yes
V26 35– 49 years old 0 = No; 1 = Yes
V27 50 –64 years old 0 = No; 1 = Yes
V28 65 years old or more 0 = No; 1 = Yes
V29 Low socioeconomic level 0 = No; 1 = Yes
V30 Low-middle socioeconomic level 0 = No; 1 = Yes
V31 Middle socioeconomic level 0 = No; 1 = Yes
V32 High-middle and high socioeconomic levels 0 = No; 1 = Yes

purchasing. This group least values the Extrema-

duran origin of the cheese that they buy.
The group consists of families of three or four
members who live in more rural townships than the
average of the sample (increase in the weight of the
5001–15 000 inhabitant stratum). Their age dis-
tribution is similar to that of the sample, and there
is a greater weight of women in the group. In this
group the high-middle socioeconomic level has the
greatest weight.

Group 2: Medium consumers

Figure 1 Gower plot for hierarchical clustering.
This is the majority group, with 56.82% of the indi-
viduals surveyed. Their mean cheese consumption
is 6.74 kg/person/annum, a figure that is similar to
the national mean but only about half of the aver-
age Extremaduran consumption. The price they
pay for cured cheese is 2.6% more than the aver-
age price, and 5.5% more for fresh cheese. As in

152 © 2003 Society of Dairy Technology

Vol 56, No 3 August 2003

Table 2 Centres and number of cases of the final clusters

Cluster

1 2 3 4
162 cases 433 cases 119 cases 48 cases
Variable (21.26%) (56.82%) (15.62%) (6.30%)

V1 = Consumption of cured cheese 15.97 4.56 6.43 20.86

V2 = Consumption of fresh cheese 2.97 2.18 13.02 20.39
V3 = Price paid for the cured cheese 8.27 9.49 9.81 8.93
V4 = Price paid for the fresh cheese 6.20 6.50 5.17 5.37
V5 = Reasons for eating cheese: good flavour 1.99 1.97 1.96 1.98
V6 = Reasons for eating cheese: it is used to 1.36 1.39 1.43 1.54
accompany other foods
V7 = Reasons for eating cheese: dietary habit 1.83 1.61 1.75 1.81
V8 = Reasons for eating cheese: used in cooking 0.96 0.94 1.00 1.06
V9 = Consume fresh cows’-milk cheese 0.46 0.42 0.58 0.65
V10 = Consume fresh goats’-milk cheese 0.14 0.16 0.29 0.33
V11 = Consume mixed fresh cheese 0.11 0.13 0.19 0.19
V12 = Consume cured ewes’-milk cheese 0.65 0.62 0.55 0.60
V13 = Consume cured goats’-milk cheese 0.17 0.21 0.18 0.13
V14 = Consume cured cows’-milk cheese 0.08 0.09 0.08 0.06
V15 = Consume mixed cured cheese 0.58 0.53 0.51 0.63
V16 = Importance that the cheese is covered by a DO 1.51 1.38 1.48 1.86
V17 = Value positively that the cheese eaten is from 0.62 0.63 0.69 0.71
Extremadura
V18 = Give importance to brand name on purchasing 0.72 0.69 0.68 0.77
cheese
V19 = Family size 3.68 4.16 3.58 2.63
V20 = Township of less than 5000 inhabitants 0.07 0.09 0.08 0.06
V21 = Township of between 5001 and 15 000 inhabitants 0.30 0.21 0.28 0.19
V22 = Township of between 15 001 and 50 000 inhabitants 0.25 0.26 0.26 0.23
V23 = Township of more than 50 000 inhabitants 0.38 0.44 0.39 0.52
V24 = Gender of respondent 0.15 0.20 0.18 0.31
V25 = Younger than 35 years old 0.35 0.38 0.31 0.42
V26 = 35– 49 years old 0.26 0.25 0.25 0.13
V27 = 50 –64 years old 0.24 0.25 0.24 0.19
V28 = 65 years old or more 0.15 0.12 0.20 0.27
V29 = Low socioeconomic level 0.11 0.16 0.14 0.13
V30 = Low-middle socioeconomic level 0.48 0.44 0.50 0.46
V31 = Middle socioeconomic level 0.22 0.24 0.20 0.29
V32 = High-middle and high socioeconomic levels 0.19 0.16 0.16 0.13

Group 1, they eat cheese for its good flavour and as
a dietary habit, although the latter reason has lost
considerable weight with respect to Group 1. The
types of cheese eaten by most individuals in this
cluster are the cured mixed and ewes’-milk cheeses
and fresh cows’-milk cheese, although it is also the
group with the greatest weight in cured cows’-milk
cheese. They are the least interested in the cheese
being covered by a DO, and are also the group that
takes the least notice of brands and gives the least
value to the cheese being of Extremaduran origin.
This cluster has the largest family size, with
more than four members on average, and the
average township is eminently urban. The distribu-
tion by gender is similar to that of the sample as
a whole, with 80% women. By age, it is younger
than the sample, being basically less than 35 years
old. The socioeconomic level is the average of the
sample.
Group 3: Major consumers of fresh cheese
This segment contains 15.62% of the cheese
consumers. Although their consumption of cured
cheese is 20% less than the regional average, they
almost triple the consumption of fresh cheese.
They pay 6% more than the average price for cured
cheese, and 84% of the regional price for fresh
cheese. They eat cheese for its good flavour, as a
dietary habit, and, with a greater weight, to accom-
pany other foodstuffs. The high consumption of
fresh cheese is seen in that the type of cheese
eaten by most individuals of the group is fresh
cows’-milk cheese, followed by cured mixed and
ewes’-milk cheeses, and with a major increase

© 2003 Society of Dairy Technology 153

 Vol 56, No 3 August 2003

with respect to the two previous groups in fresh
mixed and goats’-milk cheeses. They give import-
ance to a DO in a cheese and to its being Extrema-
duran, although they do not take much notice of the
brand name.
The family unit size is three or four members,
and they live in townships of 5000–50 000 inhab-
itants. The gender distribution is similar to that of
the sample as a whole. Their ages are between 35
and 64 years, with a substantial increase in weight
of the stratum of more than 65 years. The socio-
economic level is low-middle.
Group 4: Major consumers of fresh and
cured cheeses
This is the smallest group of the four, as it only
includes 6.3% of the consumers. Its cheese con-
sumption is more than three times the regional
mean, and is far above the mean consumption
levels of the great consuming countries of Europe,
such as France or Greece. The price they pay is
below the regional mean, 97% for cured cheese
and 87% for fresh cheese. They eat cheese for its
good flavour and as a dietary habit, but it is also the
group that most values the use of cheese to accom-
pany other foodstuffs and for cooking. By types,
the first is fresh cows’-milk cheese, followed by
cured mixed and ewes’-milk cheeses, although this
is also the group with the greatest weight for fresh
goats’-milk cheese. This group most values the DO
coverage, the Extremaduran origin of the cheese
and the brand name.
They have the smallest family unit size, less than
three members, and they are eminently urban with
more than 50% of the members in cities of more
than 50 000 inhabitants. This group has the great-
est weight of men, and the greatest proportion of
consumers under 35 and over 65 years in age. The
socioeconomic level is middle.
The program SPSS computes individually for
each variable an analysis of variance using the final
clusters as groups, which allows the variability
between clusters to be checked. This analysis of
variance is presented in Table 3.

Table 3 Signification of each variable with respect to the analysis of variance

Variable F Sig.a

V1 = Consumption of cured cheese 447.554 ***

V2 = Consumption of fresh cheese 615.862 ***
V3 = Price paid for the cured cheese 5.480 **
V4 = Price paid for the fresh cheese 8.651 ***
V5 = Reasons for eating cheese: good flavour 0.543 NS
V6 = Reasons for eating cheese: it is used to accompany other foods 0.723 NS
V7 = Reasons for eating cheese: dietary habit 5.963 **
V8 = Reasons for eating cheese: used in cooking 0.332 NS
V9 = Consume fresh cows’-milk cheese 5.711 **
V10 = Consume fresh goats’-milk cheese 6.917 ***
V11 = Consume mixed fresh cheese 1.944 NS
V12 = Consume cured ewes’-milk cheese 1.176 NS
V13 = Consume cured goats’-milk cheese 0.865 NS
V14 = Consume cured cows’-milk cheese 0.126 NS
V15 = Consume mixed cured cheese 1.038 NS
V16 = Importance that the cheese is covered by a DO 3.151 *
V17 = Value positively that the cheese eaten is from Extremadura 1.064 NS
V18 = Give importance to brand name on purchasing cheese 0.671 NS
V19 = Family size 22.783 ***
V20 = Township of less than 5000 inhabitants 0.403 NS
V21 = Township of between 5001 and 15 000 inhabitants 2.202 NS
V22 = Township of between 15 001 and 50 000 inhabitants 0.072 NS
V23 = Township of more than 50 000 inhabitants 1.427 NS
V24 = Gender of respondent 2.107 NS
V25 = Younger than 35 years old 0.841 NS
V26 = 35– 49 years old 1.333 NS
V27 = 50 –64 years old 0.341 NS
V28 = 65 years old or more 3.741 *
V29 = Low socioeconomic level 0.871 NS
V30 = Low-middle socioeconomic level 0.463 NS
V31 = Middle socioeconomic level 0.579 NS
V32 = High-middle and high socioeconomic levels 0.402 NS

a
F-test significance levels: *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001; NS nonsignificant

154 © 2003 Society of Dairy Technology

 Vol 56, No 3 August 2003
The interpretation of Table 3 is that the greater
the value of F, and therefore the smaller the sig-
nificance level, the greater difference there will be
between the four clusters in the corresponding vari-
able. This analysis can only be used for descriptive
purposes, as the clusters have been chosen to max-
imize the differences between the cases in different
clusters, and therefore cannot be used as a test of
comparison of means between groups.22
Table 3 shows that the variables that differ most
between clusters are the level of fresh cheese con-
sumption, followed by the consumption of cured
cheese, and, at a greater distance, the number of
members of the family unit. Other variables that
differentiate the clusters are the price paid for the
cheese, the type of fresh cheese eaten, and the fact
that cheese is eaten as a dietary habit. These are
therefore the variables that basically define the
different clusters identified in the analysis.
As can be seen in Table 3, 50% of the base seg-
mentation variables show no differences between
the clusters (the table shows more variables with no
differences, but these come from the dichotomiza-
tion of the original variables, as was explained ear-
lier in the section on data matrix). This fact can
indicate the convenience of deepening this kind of
analysis, complementing the research with other
variables such as those relative to the lifestyles of
the consumers, or to their preferences (measured
by means of other analyses such as, for example,
the Conjoint Analysis).
CONCLUSIONS
The application of cluster analysis has allowed us
to define four homogeneous groups or segments
within the cheese consumer market of Extrema-
dura: major cured cheese consumers, medium
consumers, major fresh cheese consumers, and
major fresh and cured cheese consumers.
These groups are homogeneous with respect to
consumption behaviour and sociodemographic vari-
ables, although the most significant factors for the
segmentation were found to be fundamentally the
levels of consumption of fresh cheese and of cured
cheese, the family unit size, and to a lesser degree
the price paid for cheese, the type of fresh cheese
eaten, and the fact of eating cheese as a dietary habit.
It can be concluded from the results that cluster
analysis can be very useful as a market segmenting
technique, with the opportunities that this opens up
for subsequent marketing actions for companies in
the food and agriculture sector.
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