Consumers' willingness to pay for olive oil with sustainability characteristics: a bibliometric analysis and directions for future research

Organic foodstuffs have become the core sustainable alternative to conventional food consumption. Specifically, this change in consumer habits is even more evident concerning olive oil, considering the increased attention to the products quality and food security. This review aims to identify the state- of-the-art and research gaps in consumer willingness to pay (WTP) towards olive oil with sustainability characteristics by identifying the main trajectories through which the literature on the theme is developing and providing future research directions based on the analysis. In the study, 120 articles have been analysed via a mixed methodology based on a preliminary bibliometric analysis of the selected scientific contributions and a more fine-grained qualitative analysis of the contents. Three crucial research trajectories (i.e., the growing attention toward sustainability, the health, nutrition, and quality characteristics of olive oil, and the consumers behaviour concerning purchase attitude and perception of the importance of organic food) emerged.