Environmental and Health Components in Consumer Perception of Organic Products: Estimation of Willingness to Pay

Abstract

An increasing number of farms in Italy are converting to organic farming. In the slow process of shifting from a “niche” to broader consumption, consumer attitudes to organic produce appear complex as they involve both socioeconomic and psychometric characteristics. However, understanding the development of consumer preferences for organic products is of great importance to bring the organic sector out of its niche. In order to address this issue we conducted research using a qualitative-quantitative integrated approach. First, 45 consumers of organic products were interviewed in person (face to face) using laddering techniques (qualitative analysis) to determine deep motivations for buying organic products. Then, in the second quantitative step, data from 203 telephone interviews, using a representative sample of consumers from Campania (a southern Italian region) were analysed by means of Multinomial Logit to attach a monetary value to deep motivations. The main innovative aspect of our research lies in the two-step approach (qualitative/quantitative analysis), enabling researchers to identify and quantify in monetary terms the importance of environmental and health components in consumer preferences for organic products.