Who Cares About a Fair Trade Label? on The Impact of Consumer Attitudes on Brand Relevance of Fair Trade Products

Abstract

Today, Fair Trade issues are to an increasing degree placed on consumers’ agenda. Buying Fair Trade products, customers can express their feelings of responsibility toward society as well as their appreciation of socially and often ecologically responsible firms and products. Consequently, companies switch to Fair Trade products, and thus, address customers’ shift in values. Further, they indicate the environmentally and socially responsible production and delivery of goods and services using brands and labels, such as the Fair Trade label, and thus, differentiate from competitors. Against this background, the question arises to what extent such a label has an impact on consumers’ buying decisions, i.e. how relevant the label really is? This question seems particular important with regard to the already existing and still increasing number of social, bio-, and eco-brands and labels. Further, considering the amount of money companies have to invest in order to switch to environmentally and socially responsible procurement and production processes, and thus, to obtain the Fair Trade label, the question of brand relevance gains substance not only from a consumer’s but also from a managerial perspective. Although academicians agree that brands are not equally relevant to buying decisions in every market there is no common definition of the term brand relevance and opinion about the dimensionality of the construct. Literature review reveals that the number of studies investigating brand relevance still remains limited.