Origin based agro-food products: how to communicate their experiential value online?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the experiential dimension of certain Italian agrofood products’ websites, which are seen as exemplifying best practices in the terms of the representation of the brand-land relationship, including their link with the territory of origin in the sense of terroir. Design/methodology/approach – The study was conducted after the conception and experimentation of a model (called SObER), the fruit of detailed studies of experiential marketing (Schmitt, 1999a, b). The model was tested using the user-based focus group technique (Mich, 2007) and verified with reference to certain consortia brands considered to reflect best practices in communication of the brand-land connection. Findings – The analysis made it possible to identify the key elements for expressing both the experiential dimension and the brand-land relationship of traditional agrofood products, ensuring their effective online communication. Research limitations/implications – Although the research uses a benchmarking technique, it focuses on specific case studies; thus, the outcomes can be generalised by means of an extension of the analysis. Originality/value – The value of the analysis carried out lies in the creation of a model aimed at the assessment of agrofood products and, more generally, their link with the territory of origin in the online context. In addition, the marketing literature on the experiential dimension applied to website tools is still limited. For this reason, this work may stimulate future in-depth analysis with reference to the proposed model.