Selecting decision-relevant ethical product attributes for grocery shopping

Vüsal Hasanzade,Waldemar Toporowski,Victoria-Sophie Osburg

doi:10.1108/md-12-2016-0946

Vüsal Hasanzade, Waldemar Toporowski + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1108/md-12-2016-0946

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Abstract

PurposeDespite the existence of various approaches for promoting ethical consumption, it remains a challenge to determine which ethical product features are actually decision relevant for consumers. Based on the assumption that values influence behavior across a range of situations, the purpose of this paper is to explore consumers preferences for product information items that address underlying motivators (i.e. concerns about the environment, animal welfare, other humans, price). Information preferences are also determined for different consumer segments separately, enabling one to target consumer groups with specific decision-relevant information.Design/methodology/approachA German online survey was conducted with mainly young consumers. The survey used a choice-based conjoint analysis (CBCA) with the relevant product information items chosen based on an analysis of the attributes of dairy products and the guidelines for eco- and fair trade labels. The identified items were assigned to the ethical criteria of animal welfare, environmental protection, and labor and human rights. These criteria, along with price and country of origin, represent the attributes of the CBCA.FindingsThe results indicate that information about animal welfare increases consumer choice the most, followed by information about labor and human rights, and environmental protection. Three identified segments differ with respect to their decision-relevant product information: ethically motivated consumers (53.8 percent), price oriented consumers (12 percent), and price-quality oriented consumers (34.2 percent).Originality/valueThis study contributes to a better understanding of how ethical product information can most effectively be communicated to consumers, particularly for dairy products. The results highlight the need to carefully select ethical product information based on the target consumer segment in order to promote ethical consumption.

Highlights

Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of their responsibility and their role to realize a more sustainable future, especially in food retailing
The segmentation is beneficial for determining consumer groups that are interested in ethical products and for deriving marketing communications strategies to target them successfully
Based on the example of dairy products, the results reveal that consumers value the disclosure of animal welfare aspects the most

Summary

Introduction

Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of their responsibility and their role to realize a more sustainable future, especially in food retailing. It requires that consumers are able to identify eco-friendly and socially responsible product alternatives. The current information asymmetry in retailing is the opposite of that with products’ ethical features being difficult to recognize. It remains a challenge to communicate ethical information to consumers in a way that makes them consider ethical product features in their purchase decision process. The Ecolabel Index (2016) records 465 different ecolabels in 199 countries and 25 industry sectors. This status quo inevitably leads to uncertainties among consumers who do not always grasp the particular significance of each label and, for that reason, lose interest in ethical goods (Borin et al, 2011; De Pelsmacker and Janssens, 2007). It is not suprising that studies have been undertaken to examine whether providing consumers with more detailed product information might be a promising alternative to certification labels (Mitchell et al, 2005; Osburg et al, 2016; Salaün and Flores, 2001)

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