Consumer demands about food origin and methods of production has significantly increased in recent years, with a growing appeal for local foods. A growing number of studies are investigating consumers’ preferences for local and organic foods, with results suggesting that consumers tend to value locally produced over organic food products. This study conducted a field experiment in Italy, using a real choice experiment (RCE), to explore consumers’ valuation for locally produced and organic applesauce and investigates consumers’ preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for both local and organic foods attributes. Specifically, it explores the role of personality traits on consumers’ valuation of specific product attributes, especially those concerning origins and production methods. Implementing the MIDI (Midlife Development Inventory) scale to capture respondents’ personalities, we focused on the “Big Five” personality traits: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism, often referred to with the acronym OCEAN. Results suggest that consumers are willing to pay a premium for both the local and organic attributes; with a willingness to pay the highest price for organic applesauce. It was also observed that personality traits can influence individual's choice behaviors concerning local or organic products. Respondents with more caring personalities tend to choose with a higher probability the applesauce locally produced, while it is less preferred by more extraverted personalities. This result has implications for practitioners who craft marketing strategies. Future research areas are suggested.
