Consumer Preferences for Vegetables Grown Under “Commercial” and “Organic” Conditions

Abstract

The present study was designed to provide experimental data which would bear on undocumented claims as to the superior flavor of so called “organic” or “natural” foods. Four vegetables (lettuce, green beans, broccoli greens, and carrots) were grown under three conditions: depleted soil (no additional fertilizer or pesticides); commercially fertilized (plus pesticides), and organically fertilized (manure, no pesticides). Fifty consumer subjects evaluated the four vegetables individually in separate sessions, using a 1 to 9 hedonic rating scale. A fifth evaluation of beans, broccoli and carrots was conducted on vegetables grown under just the commercial and organic conditions, but with products correctly and incorrectly labelled commercial or organic. Analysis of variance indicated no significant differences for lettuce or green beans due to growing conditions. There was a significant preference for the commercial and depleted samples of carrots over the organic sample in the separate sessions, but not in the label study. Organic broccoli was preferred to depleted and commercial samples in the separate sessions study, and to commercial in the label study. In the latter study there was a significant difference for type of vegetable (beans and carrots preferred to broccoli) and for label (organic preferred to commercial). The data indicated that the consumer would not be getting a more acceptable product if organically grown vegetables were purchased.

The influence of information about organic production and fair trade on preferences for and perception of pineapple

“…These results do not confirm the findings of other authors who found that organic information had an overall positive effect (Kihlberg et al, 2005;Schutz & Lorenz, 1976), an effect on most (Johansson et al, 1999) or on one of the varieties (Caporale & Monteleone, 2004). Although the present findings are only indicative, they point in the same direction as Caporale and Monteleones' results, showing an effect on the least liked variety only.…”

“…The effect of organic production information on hedonic judgements was addressed in several studies (Caporale & Monteleone, 2004;Johansson et al, 1999;Kihlberg et al, 2005;Schutz & Lorenz, 1976). Generally, a positive effect of organic information on liking was observed.…”

“…In a study with bread, samples labelled as produced with organic flour were more liked than samples labelled as produced with conventional flour (Kihlberg et al, 2005). Schutz and Lorenz (1976) found that organically labelled vegetables were preferred to ''commercially" labelled vegetables. None of these studies addressed the effect of the organic information on the consumer perception of sensory attributes.…”

Attitudes towards sweetness as predictors of liking and use of various sweet foods

“…Abstract factors such as beliefs about healthiness or the importance of social elements are as real to an individual when evaluating a product as characteristics that can be objectively measured, such as color or sugar content (Peryam, 1963;Schutz and Lorenz, 1976).…”

Does information about MSG (monosodium glutamate) content influence consumer ratings of soups with and without added MSG?

“…Recent research on the effects of different types of label information suggests the possibility that these messages may also influence the acceptability of products containing added MSG. Both Schutz and Lorenz (1976) and Johansson et al (1999) examined the impact of information about growing method on consumer preferences for organic and conventional vegetables. In both studies, relative to these same foods unlabelled, products labelled as organic generally showed increases in measures of preference.…”