Organic Food Purchase Research Articles

Get some respect – buy organic foods! When everyday consumer choices serve as prosocial status signaling

Status considerations have recently been linked to prosocial behaviors. This research shows that even everyday consumer behaviors such as favoring organic foods serve as prosocial status signaling. Key ideas from the continuum model of consumer impression formation and the theories of costly signaling and symbolic consumption are synthetized to make sense of this phenomenon. Two web-surveys (Ns = 187, 259) and a field study (N = 336) following experimental designs are conducted. This approach allows the analysis of both the more and less conscious reactions of consumers. Study 1 shows that the image of consumers favoring organic product versions is marked by characteristics consistent with prosocial status signaling. Study 2 replicates these findings with another sample and a wider range of products and demonstrate that observers’ conservative values influence the image formed of organic food users. Study 3 establishes that similar image effects also emerge through a less conscious formation process and that they extend to how organic food users are socially treated. This research advances the current understanding concerning the interlinkages between organic food usage, prosocial status signaling, consumer impressions and reputation management. Substantively, the studies provide novel compelling empirical evidence for the ability of non-luxurious everyday consumer behaviors to qualify as prosocial status signaling. Conceptually, the integration of evolutionary and sociocultural perspectives represents a major contribution. More specifically, this research yields new understanding as regards the role of individual variation in sensing and interpreting status symbols.

Consumer Attitude towards Organic Foods: A Multigroup Analysis across Genders

Environmental pollution, modern farming practices and animal transmitted diseases have led consumers to have food safety and health concerns regarding organic foods. This research aims to examine the relationship between consumers’ health consciousness, food safety concerns, attitudes towards organic products, and intention to purchase organic food products. For this purpose, we first developed a research model; then, we tested the research model based on gender differences. According to the results of the research, the attitude toward organic food is a powerful indicator of the consumer’s intention to purchase organic food. Health consciousness, food safety concerns, attitudes, and intentions have a significant relationship with each other. As a result of the gender based binary model comparison, the attitudes and intentions of male and female consumers towards organic food are different. Participants’ increased awareness of health consciousness and food safety concerns increase the relevance of organic products, and has an impact on the development of the organic product market. 

What drives Malaysian consumers’ organic food purchase intention? The role of moral norm, self-identity, environmental concern and price consciousness

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that may affect consumer intention and behaviour to purchase organic food in a non-western context. Design/methodology/approach Responses were obtained from 246 organic food consumers using judgemental sampling. Data were analysed using partial least squares–structural equation modelling to examine the strength of the relationships among the constructs. Findings The findings reveal that attitude, subjective norm (SN), perceived behavioural control, moral norm (MN), self-identity (SI) and environmental concern (EC) exert significant positive effect on purchase intention (PI). Furthermore, PI is found to mediate the relationship among attitude, SN, perceived behavioural control, MN, SI and EC with purchase behaviour (PB). Moreover, the findings indicate that price consciousness moderates the relationship between PI and PB. Research limitations/implications The results of this study emphasised that marketers need to implement various marketing strategies including discount, advertisements and new product development to bring positive change in consumers’ intention and to attract them towards purchasing organic food. Moreover, marketers may take some initiatives to reduce the price of organic food through various strategies which eventually can reduce the cost of organic foods for local consumers. Originality/value This study extends the theory of planned behaviour (TBP) by incorporating MN, SI and EC. The expanded theoretical framework improved the predictive ability of the TBP.

Effects of health consciousness and environmental attitude on intention towards organic food purchase

The objective of this research is to study the effect of health consciousness and environmental attitude towards intention to purchase organic food. The research is using Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). The study variables are health consciousness, environmental attitude, availability, subjective norm, attitude and intention to purchase organic foods. Survey method is applied, with the 150 respondents intending to purchase organic food in Surakarta. Structural equation model (SEM) is applied to analyze data. The result shows that health consciousness and environmental attitude are the determinants of an individual’s positive attitude to purchase organic food. In addition, the attitude and subjective norm are also being the determinants of intention to purchase organic food. The study suggests that increasing organic food consumption can be achieved by increasing the knowledge about the benefit of organic food on health and environmental maintenance of potential consumers.

Understanding the Antecedents of Organic Food Consumption in Pakistan: Moderating Role of Food Neophobia.

Environmental and health problems have increased the interest of researchers and practitioners in investigating the factors that affect organic food consumption. However, little attention has been paid to the actual organic food buying behavior, particularly in developing countries like Pakistan. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to determine the actual buying patterns of consumers. For this purpose, a conceptual model based on green perceived value framework which predicts consumer’s purchase intention and purchase behavior has been empirically tested. Likewise, moderating role of food neophobia has also been explored. Data is collected from millennials that are under rated but constitute the most important consumer segment in Pakistan. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is employed to analyze the data. Results from 221 university students reveal that functional value, social value, emotional value, and conditional value positively influence the consumer purchase intention. Moreover, purchase intention is positively linked to the consumer purchase behavior of organic food. Furthermore, the study findings also confirm the moderating role of food neophobia between purchase intention and consumption of organic food. This paper depicts some noteworthy insights of consumer behavior for organic food producers, marketers, and researchers. At the end, limitations and recommendations for future research are elaborated.

Organic Food Purchase Motives of Southeast Asian Young Consumers

Organic Food Purchase Motives of Southeast Asian Young Consumers

Motivators and barriers to sustainable food consumption: Qualitative inquiry about organic food consumers in a developing nation

The present research attempts to qualitatively explore the motivators and barriers of organic food consumption in the Indian context. The data were collected using semistructured in‐depth interviews and analyzed using grounded theory. The theoretical sampling technique was used to interview 34 consumers who have purchased organic food in the past. The findings reported health consciousness, environmental consciousness, social identity, consumer ethnocentrism, and concern for farmers as the factors that motivate organic food purchase among consumers. The factors such as high prices of organic food, unavailability, trust issues, and limited marketing communications from the firms were identified as major barriers to organic food purchase and consumption. The study is one of the initial attempts to qualitatively explore the consumers' motivation for organic food consumption in the Indian context. The findings will help policymakers to devise suitable strategies so that they can effectively target the organic food choices by understanding the motivators/barriers, and promote the sustainable lifestyle in the society, as food consumption plays a crucial role in achieving environmental sustainability.

Understanding the drivers of organic foods purchasing of millennials: Evidence from Brazil and Spain

This paper examines the antecedents of millennials' organic food purchasing. A conceptual framework, based on product characteristics, and consumers' concerns and consciousness, is proposed. Data collection was conducted through a survey in two culturally and socioeconomically distinct countries (Brazil vs. Spain) to increase the robustness and generalizability of the results. The results show that product characteristics and consumer concerns improve millennials’ health consciousness and increase their social consciousness, which, in turn, increase their willingness to pay a price premium and their purchase frequency of organic foods. The findings show that the proposed model has high validity, with only one significant difference between the two countries. Theoretical contributions and managerial implications are discussed.

Antecedents of Purchase Intention toward Organic Food in an Asian Emerging Market: A Study of Urban Vietnamese Consumers

This study aims to investigate some factors influencing purchase intention toward organic food among urban consumers in Vietnam, an Asian emerging economy. The extended Theory of Planned Behavior was used as theoretical framework for this study. In order to test the proposed model and hypotheses, a survey was conducted on a sample including 572 consumers in Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam. The findings of structural equation modeling indicated that modern self, traditional self, health consciousness, organic-label trust, and subjective norm were significant predictors of attitude toward buying organic food, while environmental concern was not significantly related to attitude. In addition, attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control toward organic food purchase were found to be positively related to purchase intention. The research findings were discussed and implications for marketers and policy makers were provided.

Values Driving Organic Food Purchase Intention: A Comparative Analysis between a Developing Eastern Country (Iran) and a Developed Western Country (US)

This study examines the salient organic food related values driving consumers’ attitude and purchase intentions in a developing country (Iran) and a developed country (US). Additionally, we explain and compare the role of subjective norms in organic food purchase intention between these countries. To examine, the organic food values and patterns of consumers’ organic food choices, we collected data from 217 and 210 respondents in Iran and the US, respectively. Our findings show that “Price” in Iran and “Authenticity/naturalness” in the US were the strongest predictors of attitude toward the organic food. Eating culture, consumer’s knowledge, perceptions, and concerns in society could be the underlying reason for the differences in importance of values between two societies. We also found the relationship of subjective norms with purchase intention varies across societies. At the end of this study, we discuss the implications for international marketing campaigns and for policy makers in each country.

Do We Know Organic Food Consumers? The Personal and Social Determinants of Organic Food Consumption

The main aim of this study is determining which consumption motives and personal and social factors affect organic food buying decisions. Ajzen’s Planned Behavior Theory (TPB) is used to explain consumers’ organic food selection behaviors. In addition, the moderating role of uncertainty about organic foods and the mediating role of the price of organic foods were tested. Data were gathered via a survey of consumers of organic foods in Turkey. The research model was tested by Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) via Smart PLS3. The findings showed that consumptions motives of healthiness, easiness, mood, and convenience-price of organic foods motivate consumers to buy organic foods. In addition, environmental concern and negative emotions influence on attitudes towards organic foods and purchase intentions. On the other hand, subjective norms and self-monitoring do not influence attitudes towards organic foods and subsequent purchase intentions. Uncertainty has a moderating effect on the relationship between attitudes and purchase intentions whereas price has no mediating effect on the relationship between attitudes and purchase intentions. 

Measuring the Moderating Effect of Gender on Organic Food Purchase Intentions in China based on Theory of Planned Behavior

The study is to identify the factors influencing Chinese consumers' intentions to purchase organic food based on Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) model. This research concentrates on the moderating effect of gender during the process. An offline investigation was used for the research purpose. Data for the study was gathered from February to March 2018. The total of 260 valid responses was used for this analysis. An online questionnaire was distributed through Email to Chinese consumers living in major cities of China and abroad to collect the data. Multi group analysis and model comparison were conducted to examine the moderating effect of gender. Our results support previous researches suggesting that gender moderates the relationship between attitude and behavioral intention. However, surprisingly, no significant moderating effect of gender on the relationship between subjective norms and behavioral intention was found. This paper revisited TPB antecedents and the moderating effect of gender focusing on Chinese organic food markets. The findings provide essential managerial implications to the marketers in this industry. Further research could examine whether TPB model can be applied to other potential purchasing groups.

Predictors of organic tea purchase intentions by Chinese consumers

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that influence Chinese consumers’ purchase of organic products, with a focus on organic tea.Design/methodology/approachA structured questionnaire was used to survey 202 shoppers in Guangdong Province, China. The data were analyzed using multivariate regression.FindingsThe study suggests two significant predictors of organic tea purchase intentions: perceiving organic tea as a healthier alternative to non-organic tea; perceiving the purchase of organic tea as a status symbol. Younger respondents and respondents with higher educational attainment reported greater organic tea purchase intentions. Non-significant predictors of organic tea purchase intentions were respondents’ knowledge of organic tea through media exposure, their gender and income.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings help further research on consumer preferences regarding organic foods providing key insights for researchers and marketers as they strive to make informed decisions in the emerging organic food retail environment. Specifically, Chinese consumers perceiving organic tea as a healthy option and as a status symbol are more likely to state organic tea purchase intentions. These results point to the need for extended research on key antecedents of Chinese consumers’ purchase intentions of organic products.Originality/valueLittle was known about the motivations of Chinese consumers for purchasing organic food products, as the psychological and demographic factors that are associated with organic food purchase behavior in China were not well researched. Specifically, there is still a notable gap in the understanding of how consumers in China make organic tea purchase decisions. With organic foods occupying a progressively larger portion of Chinese diets and budgets, this research fills in some of the knowledge gap by examining how the social norms of status symbols influence Chinese consumers’ purchase intentions of organic tea.

Understanding the Antecedents of Organic Food Purchases: The Important Roles of Beliefs, Subjective Norms, and Identity Expressiveness

China is expected to become an increasingly important market for global organic food producers. This study aims to obtain a new and deeper understanding of how various antecedents affect organic food purchase behavior. Here, a survey based on validated measures is designed, and a total of 1750 consumers are interviewed. In addition to traditionally held beliefs concerning organic food, three unique perspectives, i.e., that organic foods are “luxuries for the rich”, “upscale”, and the objects of “marketing hype”, are confirmed for the first time. Furthermore, the influence of subjective norms on purchase intention is verified to be completely mediated by purchase attitude, suggesting that up to now, the role of social norms may have been simplified, and even underestimated by marketing researchers. Additionally, for the first time, identity expressiveness is confirmed to play a minor but significant role in purchase intention. Perceived trustworthiness is also confirmed to be the important predictor of purchase intention. Finally, household income is not only the second most important predicator of purchase intention, but it is also the most important predictor of actual purchase. These findings will be valuable for marketing scholars and all stakeholders in the organic food industry, particularly international agribusinesses that are wishing to enter the Chinese market.

The Predictors and Consequences of Personal Norms in Context of Organic Food Among Pakistani Consumers

Purpose: The primary aim of this research is to identify the influence of environmental belief (awareness of consequences, injunctive social norms, environmental concern, environmental self-identity and aspiration of responsibility) on personal norms and subsequent effect on organic food purchase intentions with mediation outcome of personal norms and moderating role of willingness to pay.Design/methodology/approach: The data was collected from individual Pakistani consumers with 430 effective questionnaires. Further the responses were analysed through SPSS, V-22, smart PLS-3.Findings: The results showed that awareness of consequences, injunctive social norms, environmental concern, environmental self-identity and aspiration of responsibility showed significant influence to personal norms towards organic food. Subsequently, personal norms had a significant effect on consumer purchase intentions. Furthermore, organic food willingness to pay proved to be significant and positive moderator between personal norms and organic food purchase intentions.Research implications: This study provides organic food marketers to understand the consumer’s demand from the consumers’ moral perspective and suggests the basis for the future development of organic food.Originality/value: The study implications suggest the need for policy makers to educate and positively promote organically produced foods to consumers through messages based on morality.

A Study on Determinants Affecting the Consumer Perception Towards Purchase of Organic Food

A Study on Determinants Affecting the Consumer Perception Towards Purchase of Organic Food

Organic Food Consumers and Purchase Behaviour: A Review

Organic Food Consumers and Purchase Behaviour: A Review

Is an Increase in Organic Consumption Accompanied by A Healthier Diet? A Comparison of Changes in Eating Habits among Danish Consumers

ABSTRACTSeveral studies have shown that consumers with a high organic consumption often have dietary habits that include more fruit and vegetables but less red meat. This paper takes a novel approach by investigating whether changes in consumption of organics and improvements in dietary habits also are related. The results show that many consumers seem to improve their diet while increasing the organic consumption. Further, the study suggests that some households already have a relatively healthy diet in terms of fruit, vegetables, and meat consumption, when they start buying organic food. When organic consumption reaches a certain level, further increases in organic consumption are more likely to take place at the same time as dietary habits are improved. References to health and climate considerations seem to be the most important motivations for reducing meat consumption, while higher availability of organics is the most important reason for increasing organic consumption.

Consumer behavioural intention and perception towards organic foods in national capital of India

Organic food products are gaining popularity among consumers because of improved awareness about health, and protection of the environment. Though the organic food market is keen today but to broaden it further, one must understand consumers’ perception for organic products. In this study, consumers’ behavioural intention and perception was studied towards purchase of organic food. Structured questionnaires were formulated and 1047 respondents residing in the urban sectors of Delhi were approached. The reliability analysis of questionnaires carried out using the Cronbach's Alpha test indicated that for the tested variables i.e. Attitude, Subjective norms and Perceived Behaviour Control (PBC), the value calculated was approx. 0.90. Further, theory of planned behaviour (TPB) applied to the study showed 78% variance amongst the above stated three variables towards the behavioral intention of the consumers for organic food, and PBC was the most impactful variable to affect the overall intention of the consumers’ to purchase organic products. Price value, followed by the origin and freshness of the produce were some of the important factors contributing in decision making. Moreover, consumers prefer to purchase organic foods if they are not very expensive in comparison to the conventional ones. The results provided in-depth insight about the consumers’ behavioural intentions, knowledge, perception and factors contributing to the purchase behavior of organic food commodities by the Indian urban population.

Organic Food Consumers and Purchase Intention: A Case Study in Romania

Organic farming has become an important alternative to conventional farming, mostly because of environmental sustainability issues, and has long-term positive benefits over soil, water, air and climate change, biodiversity, prohibiting the use of genetically modified organisms, and encouraging the development of ecological services. In Romania, the organic food market follows a positive trend, although the consumption rate is still very low compared to the European Union; therefore, it is necessary to identify the main barriers in consumption but also the factors influencing the increase in demand for this category of food products. In order to accomplish these objectives, a survey based on a questionnaire was conducted in the North-West Development Region of Romania, the second most important Romanian region from an economic development perspective. Five hundred and sixty-eight questionnaires were distributed in 2016. The collected data were danalyzed using descriptive statistics and principal component analysis. The results indicated that the most important barrier in consumption was price, followed by perishability and availability. High prices, mistrust, and lack of proper promotion for organic food are the influencing factors for organic food.