Local and/or organic: a study on consumer preferences for organic food and food from different origins

This paper gives a deeper insight into consumer preferences for different food products of varying place of origin (i.e. local, Germany, neighboring country, non‐EU country) and production practices (i.e. organic vs. non‐organic). Consumer surveys combined with choice experiments were conducted with 641 consumers in eight German regions. Mixed logit models were estimated to draw conclusions on consumers’ preferences for different product attributes. The Stimulus‐Organism‐Response model was applied to theoretically frame the key findings. Results reveal that consumers prefer locally produced food to organic food. However, conclusions on consumers’ preferences should not be generalized as they vary depending on product type and consumers’ place of residence. When looking at the willingness‐to‐pay estimates for ‘organic’ and ‘local’ while distinguishing among consumers from different regions of Germany, results indicate that consumers living in rural areas and consumers living in the eastern part of Germany are less willing to pay a premium for organic products than urban consumers and consumers from other parts of Germany. As preferences for origin attributes and organic production vary between different food products and in different regions of Germany, market actors should design marketing activities accordingly. This study adds to the international research on consumers’ preferences for organic and/or local food. The results provide better insights into preference structures, as more than one product has been included and surveys were conducted in different regions across Germany.     

Older consumers’ perceptions of functional foods and non‐edible health‐enhancing innovations

Increasing interest in health and well‐being is likely to drive a growth in demand for products that have positive effects on health. Consumers’ acceptance of and willingness to buy functional foods has been widely studied, but there has not been research on consumers’ attitudes towards innovative non‐edible products with health effects. This study examines how older consumers perceive functional foods and novel non‐edible health‐enhancing products, how willing they are to purchase such products, and how health orientation influences their views. As an example of a ‘radical’ innovation, consumers’ acceptance of rubbing their hands in a specific soil‐based mixture to modulate the immune system is explored. The research material, 13 thematic interviews, was collected in Lahti region, Finland, in 2015. The study indicates that the older consumers’ market is not homogeneous. Based on a qualitative, in‐depth approach, the study distinguishes four consumer segments with different lay understandings of health and attitudes towards health‐enhancing products, which influence people's willingness to purchase such products. The segments are health‐seeking consumers, cautious consumers, critical consumers and natural health consumers. Various motives and barriers for using products with health claims are also identified. The case of rubbing hands in organic soil‐based mixture indicates the difficulty of predicting which consumer segment will first adopt this kind of ‘radical’ innovation. The results highlight that the credence qualities of a novel product must be communicated and advertised before entering the market while also taking into account the sensory properties of the product. ‘Radical innovations’ must be in a form that consumers can easily accept.     

Organic food consumers' trade‐offs between local or imported,conventional or organic products: a qualitative study in Shanghai

This paper presents a qualitative study of the trade‐offs made by organic food product consumers in the Chinese Metropolis of Shanghai. More precisely, this article deals with trade‐offs that consumers make between three types of products: (1) locally produced organic food products, (2) products that are locally and conventionally produced and (3) imported organic food products. We used a qualitative methodology using open questions and projective techniques and based on 23 individual interviews. Local organic products are the products best perceived by the Chinese interviewees, who think that organic food is beneficial to health and makes agriculture more environmentally friendly. The fact that food is produced locally is another positive argument for many interviewees who do not perceive any important differences between local and imported, more expensive, organic food products. Local and conventionally produced food products give rise to worries related to health and consumers buy them only because they are much cheaper than organic products. The reasons for choosing organic products are mostly related to health issues. Altruistic motives such as environmental concerns, food miles concerns or support for small producers are only emerging. This study mostly highlighted consumers' trade‐offs between different individual benefits, mainly health vs. economic benefits. However, some trade‐offs between altruistic (environmental concerns) and individual (economic) benefits are apparent, confirming emerging altruistic motives behind organic food consumption.     

Labelling wool products for animal welfare and environmental impact

The notable growth of the market in recent years indicates apparel consumers' interest in organic fibre products. Yet less is understood about how apparel consumers would respond to labelling for other credence attributes associated with animal‐fibre products, such as animal welfare or eco‐friendliness. An online survey of 507 US consumers was used to compare consumers' reactions with a variety of labelling schemes for wool product attributes, including animal‐friendly, organic and environmentally friendly production. Consumer segments were created based on frequency of label choice, and analysis of variance and multinomial logit regression were used to identify and characterize the demographics and psychographics of the consumer segments that found labelling for animal welfare or environmental concerns appealing. The study identified a segment of consumers (19% of the sample) who were motivated to purchase apparel products labelled for animal welfare. These animal‐focused consumers could be identified with relatively high accuracy from the demographic and psychographic variables in the model. The model variables, which included familiarity with organic products and self‐perceived knowledge about environmental damage related to apparel production, were not effective in identifying the environment‐focused apparel consumers. The results also demonstrated the ability of a general belief in animal rights to motivate the apparel consumers in the sample, suggesting that acting on a concern for animals could be a more powerful motivation for consumer behaviour than acting on a concern for the environment.     

Consumers’ perceptions of GM‐free labelled foods: A sensory experiment

As of today, the views of European consumers and policy makers on GM foods are still divided. While only few GM labelled foods (‘does contain’) have entered the market, GM‐free labelling (‘does not contain’) is increasingly introduced in many EU member states. This study aims to examine whether GM‐free labelling affects consumers’ sensory profiling, emotional conceptualizations and overall liking. Based on a within‐subjects experimental design, 126 Belgian subjects evaluated GM‐free and nonlabelled samples of three food products: yogurt, traditional biscuit (‘speculoos’) and crisps. The results show that overall liking did not differ significantly according to label (no vs. GM‐free), regardless of participants’ knowledge of, or attitude towards GMOs. Furthermore, regarding the impact of GM‐free labelling on consumers’ subjective taste perceptions and emotional profiling, few significant differences were reported for crisps and traditional biscuit. Regarding the latter, less positive and more negative emotional terms have been assigned to the GM‐free labelled sample. The findings of this study should be viewed in the context of the stringent EU mandatory GM food labelling policy, which led to an increase of GM‐free rather than GM labels. Future research is needed to further underpin these findings and examine differently framed labels in various settings.     

Effects of Label on Consumer Preferences: Focus on Hawaiian Avocado Industry

This study examines market challenges facing a local agriculture industry in a small island setting. Examination of the Hawai‘i local avocado industry indicates labeling can address the product information gap between consumers and producers, improve market share, and increase import substitution by local products. Currently, local avocados occupy only 33% of market share, compared with 67% captured by imports. Consumer preferences among local labeled, local unlabeled, and imported avocados were analyzed using multinomial logistic regression. Statistical results showed that labels influence consumers’ decisions to buy local or imported avocados, and their preferences were also influenced by sociodemographic variables, avocado characteristics, and purchasing behavior. Key market segments to target and policy implications are also discussed.     

Consumer willingness to pay for sustainable apparel: the influence of labelling for fibre origin and production methods

This study of value‐based labelling for apparel products examined consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for three credence attributes of fibre: origin, type and production method. Experimental auctions were conducted with student subjects in Texas and used socks made from cotton and polylactic acid (PLA), a fibre manufactured from corn. The bid results of two rounds were compared. The first round was conducted without information about the credence attributes of the socks. The second round included varying levels of three types of attributes: fibre origin (imported, US and Texas), fibre type (cotton and corn) and production method [conventional, organic and non‐genetically modified (GM)]. Tobit regression analysis was performed using the attributes and subject demographics to determine consumer WTP for the various attribute levels and to profile consumers with interest in the attributes. In terms of origin, results show that participants were willing to pay a premium for socks with fibres produced in Texas, but not for those produced in the US. Fibre type mattered, with participants requiring a discount once they learned that socks were made with PLA fibre. The greatest premium ($1.86) was placed on socks labelled as organic, slightly more than the premium for socks labelled as non‐GM. The results also indicate that women were less willing to pay for US fibres than men, and Hispanics were less willing to pay for organic or non‐GM fibre production. A key finding of this study is that consumers value information about the local origin of fibres. The premium for organic fibres is not unexpected, given the success of the organic apparel market, but the premium on non‐GM fibres suggests that sustainable production systems that are not organic may be successful if they emphasize other attributes such as local or non‐GM.     

Exploring the relationship between consumer knowledge and purchase behaviour of value‐based labels

Despite an increasing market presence, little research has been conducted regarding consumer‐purchase behaviour of food products bearing ‘value‐based’ labels. Moreover, as the effectiveness of these labelling formats is dependent upon consumer's knowledge of their existence, this paper aims to explore the relationship between knowledge, openness to experience (i.e. validated personality trait related to intellectual capability) and purchase behaviour upon consumer behaviour in this context. Using structural equation modelling techniques, causal influences on purchases of fresh meat bearing ‘value‐based’ labels are identified and three multi‐attribute attitude models are proposed. The paper concludes that these labels are of value to consumers and that product knowledge plays a significant role in aiding purchase decisions. Consequently, marketing communication implications arising from the proposed multi‐attribute attitude models are discussed.     

What organic and Fair Trade labels do not tell us: towards a place‐based understanding of certification

Certified organic and Fair Trade food products are making their way into the mainstream among Western consumers and, as such, are increasingly viewed as sustainable and preferable alternatives to the conventional food system, with its many negative social and environmental externalities. Two case studies discussed in this paper indicate, however, that operationalizing the goals for organic and Fair Trade food via certification can be a complex and difficult process. Specifically, the implementation of certification creates a disconnect between expectations raised by labels and the ‘lived experience’ of small farmers. In the case of small farmers in Mexico growing certified organic tomatoes and herbs, certification exacerbated socio‐economic inequality and disrupted local social norms by creating a hyperfocus on surveillance. In the case of small farmers in the Dominican Republic growing Fair Trade bananas, the certification process prioritized the demands of the market to such a degree that the farmers were largely unaware that they were participating in anything ‘alternative’, and it simultaneously reinforced socio‐economic inequalities within the communities. These findings suggest that if the appeal of certified labels rests on the integrity of what the label represents to consumers, then such consumer movements would benefit from a more robust analysis of how certification intersects with and affects local spaces, cultures and communities at the point of production.     

Do consumers care about food miles? An empirical analysis in France

We conducted two qualitative surveys to identify whether food miles, defined as the distance that foodstuff travels between the production location and the consumption marketplace, matter for French consumers. First, two focus groups with ‘conventional’ consumers show that distance is a multidimensional concept, both positively and negatively perceived, and that most consumers are not concerned by food miles and their subsequent environmental impact. Second, 10 face‐to‐face interviews with consumers of locally grown organic food demonstrate that these consumers purchase local food for other reasons than reducing ‘food miles’ and buy imported organic food in spite of increased food miles. We shed light on this situation using theoretical concepts from economics and psychology. Some implications for policymakers and marketers are stressed.     

Effects of co‐creation claim on consumer brand perceptions and behavioural intentions

Increasingly often, companies ‘co‐create’ with consumers in open innovation practices to develop new products more effectively. Little is known about how co‐creation affects consumer brand perceptions in the mass market. We hypothesize that co‐creative brands – as opposed to non–co‐creative brands – are perceived as more authentic and sincere, and are associated with relatively positive behavioural intentions. A between‐subjects experiment was conducted to test these hypotheses in an online panel of consumers who did not take part in co‐creation. The experiment had a 3 (control vs. co‐creation vs. co‐creation supported with some visual proof) × 2 (well‐known existing brand vs. fictitious brand) design. Quantitative data analyses (n = 530) confirmed that for both brands, co‐creation affects brand personality perceptions directly and behavioural intentions indirectly. This study shows that co‐creating with consumers can be a strategic method to positively influence product perceptions and behavioural intentions.     

Assessing the demand for value‐based organic meats in Canada: a combined retail and household scanner‐data approach

We apply sets of weekly retail and household scanner data to estimate consumer demand of selected organic and conventional fresh beef products in the Canadian retail market. The main contribution of our study stems from the application of a two‐stage procedure that provides new and deeper insight into consumers' responses to changing retail environment and pricing for organic and conventional meat products. Combined knowledge of point‐of‐sale consumer behaviour for value‐based products, such as organic products, and distinct socio‐demographic profiles of buyers vs. non‐buyers of meat is especially interesting for retail managers and meat industry stakeholders. First, household meat consumption patterns are investigated based on household scanner data that track household's meat purchases in the period 2006–2007. The second step of analysis then involves the estimation of an almost ideal demand system for selected organic and conventional fresh beef products using retail scanner data for the period 2000–2007. The introduction of greater selections in organic product lines across mainstream supermarkets in Canada in response to consumer health concerns is expected to spur retail competition in an otherwise saturated Canadian retail market. The analysis of socio‐demographic profiles in beef consumption using individual household's purchase data reveals that besides regional differences in preferences, household size and resource characteristics are major determinants of point‐of‐sale beef purchase decisions. Our demand system results indicate that organic beef is highly dependent on price and expenditures, whereas demand for conventional beef is mostly driven by income, habits and ‘typical’ Canadian seasonal beef consumption patterns. Altogether, our conclusions on organic beef vs. conventional beef buyers may have further implications for institutional regulations.     

Shopping with the resale value in mind: A study on second‐hand luxury consumers

The market for second‐hand luxury products is growing and the variety of available sales channels has increased; consumers can buy second‐hand luxury goods not only from brick‐and‐mortar stores but also from a myriad of both global and local online channels. Arguably, the increase in available sales channels has changed consumers’ purchasing behaviour as the roles between sellers and buyers are alternating as one can act as a buyer one day and a seller the next. However, prior research on luxury consumption has mainly focused on brand‐new luxury goods, largely neglecting the consumption of previously‐used luxury products and has not accounted for the multi‐channel shopping environment. The purpose of this paper is to understand how consumers mentally approach the purchase of second‐hand luxury products and what kinds of decision‐making styles they use. The empirical interview data of 22 consumers was analysed by the means of shopping style dimensions that account for both consumer characteristics and external shopping conditions. The interviewees were members of a Facebook buy and sell ‐group focused on luxury products and had recently bought a second‐hand luxury product. All the existing dimensions were evident in the data but an additional dimension was also identified: resale value consciousness. The new dimension emphasizes an investment‐led and price‐quality conscious shopping style but was also found to relate to impulse buying and brand consciousness. The emergence of the dimension is argued to be due to the increase in viable online sales channels for second‐hand luxury products.     

Measuring consumer's willingness to pay for organic and Fair Trade products

Previous research has extensively studied consumer's environmental and social concerns. However, measuring the value of the environmental or social dimension of a product remains a challenge. This paper proposes to partially fill this gap by measuring the double ‘Fair Trade and organic’ labels' value using an experimental method – the Becker‐DeGroot‐Marschak's mechanism. Two ‘organic and Fair Trade’ and two conventional chocolate products were tested on a sample of 102 consumers. Results show that organic and Fair Trade labels increase consumers' willingness to pay, and allow the identification of three consumers clusters. The first cluster represents people insensitive to the label. For the second cluster, the ‘organic and Fair Trade’ labels' influence on the improving image of the products is positive and important. And finally, for the third cluster, the valuation of the ‘organic and Fair Trade’ label is determined by the product's taste. Our research contributes to a better understanding of consumers' valuation of Fair Trade and organic labels, leading to our conclusions, which offer managerial implications with respect to this market (importance of taste and usefulness of double labels).     

Reduced‐fat foods: the shopper’s viewpoint

The inclusion of reduced‐fat foods in the daily diet affords consumers the potential to reduce overall dietary fat. Nevertheless, despite an increased range of these food products throughout the market, there has remained a lack of widespread consumer acceptance. The aim of the study was therefore to understand why consumers choose or reject reduced‐fat foods. Ninety consumers were interviewed by means of a qualitative approach within food retail outlets in the United Kingdom. Thematic content analysis indicated that uptake or rejection of these products is influenced by health concerns, ‘goodness of fit’ with individual dietary health strategies, the preferences of different household members, perceived sensory properties and scepticism towards these products. The results imply a need to explore and innovate ‘natural’ fat substitutes and to improve the sensory quality of reduced‐fat products. Further research is required to determine how these foods are used within the household and incorporated within the overall diet. Policy must seek to restore consumer trust in reduced‐fat food products and the food supply generally.     

The effects of traffic light labels and involvement on consumer choices for food and financial products

Traffic light (TL) labels that inform consumers regarding product safety have received increasing attention in different fields. Behind the background of behavioural economics, this paper presents the results of a split‐sample choice experiment conducted in Germany to evaluate the impact of TL labelling on purchases of food and financial products. We hypothesize that consumers experience different levels of involvement with these two types of products, leading to different recommendations regarding the use of TLs. The results show that TLs affect consumer purchases of both product groups by focusing their attention on specific product attributes. For food, whereas the low‐fat attribute has no significant impact on food choices that do not include TLs, this attribute has a positive impact on choices once it is signalled with a TL label. The positive evaluation of the organic production attribute of a food product without a TL decreases when the same product is labelled with a TL. In the case of financial products, TLs significantly reinforce the impact of all characteristics on choice probability. TLs also generate a halo effect with regard to return variance. Although consumers demonstrate different levels of involvement for the two types of products, involvement does not always impact the evaluation of attributes. Compared with less involved consumers, more involved consumers exhibit more heterogeneous evaluations of the return variability attribute in the case of the financial product and the organic attribute in the case of the food product.     

Consumer reactions to the availability of organic food in discount supermarkets

The market for organic food products in industrial countries has changed significantly. Conventional grocery stores have entered this market in recent years and now present an alternative point of purchase to farmers’ markets and specialized health food shops. In Germany, the main newcomers in this field are the discount supermarkets. The question is whether the increased supply of organic food products leads to sustained effects on consumer behaviour. In other words, can a first‐time purchase of organic products at a discounter act as an ‘icebreaker’ and induce further purchases? This question is addressed here. A consumer survey (n = 231) indicates that an initial purchase of organic food in a discount store is indeed very likely to lead to follow‐up purchases. The link shown is statistically significant. Furthermore, customers are very interested in the availability of locally grown products, reliable information and easy comparison with non‐organic products. Important recommendations concerning organic product range, display and information, especially for retailers, can be deducted.     

Promotional efforts of muscadine wines and muscadine‐related products: the case of southern United States wineries

Muscadine grapes are native to the southern United States, where they have been grown and consumed for generations. Apart from extensive coverage provided in scientific research concerning their healthy properties, to date very little has been researched about other areas of the muscadine grapes, muscadine wines and related products. For example, in an era when the ‘local’ aspect of foods can have a strong impact on both consumers and food growers, very little has been researched from an entrepreneurial, marketing and (wine) tourism perspective. In this context, academic literature investigating winery operators' efforts in promoting and selling muscadine products through the cellar door is almost inexistent. The present study examines this area from the perspective of 31 operators of family‐run wineries located in several southern states. The findings demonstrate agreement among respondents about the critical need to promote the ‘local’ aspect of muscadine wines, as well as other value‐added muscadine products. Some operators refer to the need to support local/state farmers following ‘buy local’ slogans, while others are reacting at consumers' demands for local products. Arguably, as more muscadine wineries are established in some of the southern states, muscadine wines may become more popular and more accepted by mainstream consumers. However, muscadine winery operators are confronted by several challenges such as the lack of resources and support to invest in or expand their promotional efforts; in some cases, state legislation prevents operators from distributing their products outside the cellar door. With so many wines and other beverages consumers can find in retail stores and in the hospitality industry today, the strengthening of current promotional efforts at the cellar door and introducing consumers to a relatively unknown local product (as compared with Vitis vinifera wines) become critical for southern winery operators.     

Bridging the intention–behavior gap among organic grocery customers: The crucial role of point‐of‐sale information

Although the interest in organic groceries has increased, actual buying behavior falls short for reasons that are mostly unknown to researchers and practitioners. This paper addresses this so‐called intention–behavior gap by investigating the impact of point‐of‐sale (POS) information on the perception of purchase barriers and behavior. While behavior and interest differ for various product categories, the organic groceries most frequently bought worldwide are differentiated on the basis of product category involvement in a pilot study. A laboratory experiment and a field experiment containing actual purchase behavior and market data revealed the possibility of enhancing organic purchases within low‐ and high‐involvement categories, while exposed to POS information. In low‐involvement product categories, POS information should reveal new product category‐specific organic features. In high‐involvement product categories, the perceived addition of value for money is crucial for purchasing organic groceries. While the effect of POS information on perceived trust and knowledge is higher for health conscious or green consumers in low‐involvement product categories, it is the converse in high‐involvement product categories.