Support for organic farming is a promising policy for improving sustainability in the food sector. Further consumer demand, however, is hindered by high prices. We review research from 2000 to 2014 on the role of perceived price, income, price knowledge, willingness to pay, and reactions to price changes on organic food. We find that price is the major perceived barrier to purchase. Income is only a partial explanatory factor and is superseded by psychographic variables. Willingness to pay a premium is around 30% (ranging from 0% to 105%) and depends on consumer segments and product category. Price knowledge is vague, and organic consumers' price sensitivity is relatively lower than that of occasional or nonorganic consumers. The results suggest that further market differentiation in terms of organic consumer segments and food categories is necessary. Furthermore, we discuss detailed implications for public policy and practice and present a future research agenda.

PurposeThis paper aims to analyse past and current sustainability considerations and developments in scientific research and practice with a focus on the role of retailers in supply chains.Design/methodology/approachA summative content analysis is used to identify major research areas and industrial branches in the sustainability literature relevant to retail supply chains, and sustainability considerations in retail practice.FindingsSustainability‐related issues have been discussed for many years and the term sustainability has received increased attention in research since the mid‐1990s. In retail research, there seems to be a time lag of more than ten years in using the term sustainability compared to other fields in research and industry. However, some of these other research fields and industries have an impact on retail supply chains. At the same time, it seems that sustainability has received more attention in retail management practice compared to research applications.Research limitations/implicationsFuture retail research should try to integrate the findings from related research areas and industry sectors, and emerging issues in practice magazines.Originality/valueThis paper provides a comprehensive overview of past and current sustainability research in retailing and sustainability relevance in retail practice. The paper considers the specific role of retailers in supply chains through a broad analysis of sustainability considerations in different research areas and industries relevant to retail supply chains.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to analyse how five price image dimensions influence shopping intentions for different store formats. Design/methodology/approach -In total, 306 espondents evaluated three stores from a list of 18 retailers on a multiple-item scale, resulting in 918 price-image measurements. Based on these data, a covariance structure analysis in Mplus analyses the direct and indirect impact of five price image dimensions on shopping intentions. A multiple group analysis identifies differences in the effects between store formats. Findings -The impact of image dimensions differs substantially between store formats. For discount stores, value for money is by far the most important image dimension. For supermarkets, price level and value are equally important, but price perceptibility and price processibility are also relevant. For organic food stores, value is most important, followed by price processibility and evaluation certainty. For the weekly market, price perceptibility plays a key role in explaining customers' shopping intentions. Practical implications -The results carry several implications for retail pricing practice, as they indicate that retailers should not focus exclusively on price level competition. Depending on the store format, retailers should attach importance to the price image dimensions in varying degrees. Originality/value -The study contributes to the literature by: advancing price-image measurement; modelling direct effects on shopping intentions; analysing a number of different indirect effects in an integrated model; and taking the moderating effects of store format into account.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse how five price image dimensions influence shopping intentions for different store formats.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 306 espondents evaluated three stores from a list of 18 retailers on a multiple‐item scale, resulting in 918 price‐image measurements. Based on these data, a covariance structure analysis in Mplus analyses the direct and indirect impact of five price image dimensions on shopping intentions. A multiple group analysis identifies differences in the effects between store formats.FindingsThe impact of image dimensions differs substantially between store formats. For discount stores, value for money is by far the most important image dimension. For supermarkets, price level and value are equally important, but price perceptibility and price processibility are also relevant. For organic food stores, value is most important, followed by price processibility and evaluation certainty. For the weekly market, price perceptibility plays a key role in explaining customers' shopping intentions.Practical implicationsThe results carry several implications for retail pricing practice, as they indicate that retailers should not focus exclusively on price level competition. Depending on the store format, retailers should attach importance to the price image dimensions in varying degrees.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the literature by: advancing price‐image measurement; modelling direct effects on shopping intentions; analysing a number of different indirect effects in an integrated model; and taking the moderating effects of store format into account.

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