A conceptual framework and review explaining the role and potential of product marketing in preserving traditional cultural landscapes

Traditional cultural landscapes (TCL) in Europe provide a variety of ecosystem services. This kind of landscapes are increasingly under threat, however, and there is growing recognition of the need for measures to preserve them. While consumers can contribute to preservation by purchasing more of the food produced in these landscapes, three main barriers currently limit consumer demand: lack of consumer knowledge about these products’ attributes; lack of trust in product information, and limited availability. Bringing systematically together research on products from TCL from different scholarly domains and marketing research, this study develops a conceptual framework explaining the role of product marketing in preserving these sustainable landscapes. The findings show that product marketing can bridge the attitude-behavior-gap between products from TCL and consumers to increase consumer demand. Marketing efforts for these products should aim (1) to highlight their unique qualities, (2) to increase consumers’ knowledge of the benefits of these products, and (3) to build relationships and trust through creating closer proximity between consumers and producers and ensuring that products from TCL are available to target groups. In order to motivate consumers to buy products from TCL and overcome the three main purchase barriers and the resulting attitude-behavior gap, marketing management needs to harmonise all four marketing instruments: product policy, price policy, place policy, and promotion policy. Marketing for TCL products would benefit from more interdisciplinary research focusing on the entire value chain, including innovative farming and processing, to increase consumer value and economic benefits for farmers while promoting sustainable land management.