Modelli comportamentali dei consumatori e strategie di pricing della Grande Distribuzione Organizzata: implicazioni per le filiere agroalimentari

The paper discusses the implications of the emerging consumers’ behavioral model for agri-food price distribution. The motivation of the study is the increasing relevance of the so-called basket-shoppers, which are consumers willing to buy multiple categories of products (including food) in a single occurrence. Their purchasing decisions are based on the maximization of utility from the whole basket, regardless of individual products. This social change prompted adaptations in the retail 2 industry and the emergence of strategies based on one-stop-shops and category management. Such strategies focus on the joint profit maximization from the entire consumers’ basket, without considering the margin on individual products. The paper develops a simple theoretical model to describe the implication of such adaptation on agri-food price trends. In particular, the paper shows that if the retail industry is composed of firms adopting category management techniques, food prices are less elastic and less correlated with the prices of agricultural products than they would be in the absence of such practices. Also, the model shows that agricultural price volatility increases and the margin on goods with inelastic demand (such as food) increases.