Organic consumers’ price knowledge, willingness-to-pay and purchase decision

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to gain insights into organic consumers’ price sensitivity by investigating price knowledge, willingness-to-pay and real purchase decision. Design/methodology/approach Organic food consumers’ price knowledge, willingness-to-pay and real purchase decision were examined in a comprehensive field study with 642 respondents. An innovative method was used to collect data for products that were truly relevant to the respondents: before entering the shop, respondents were asked about the items on their shopping list, the prices they expected to find and the maximum prices they were willing to pay. If respondents stated a willingness-to-pay value below the actual store price, they were approached again after shopping to verify their purchase decision. Findings The great majority of respondents failed to estimate the correct store price. The deviation between the estimated price and the actual store price was on average 19.9 per cent. The respondents were willing to pay on average 52.7 per cent above store prices. It was revealed that in 67.0 per cent of the cases, respondents bought a product even though the store price was higher than the willingness-to-pay they stated upon entering the store. Practical implications Category-specific insights into price knowledge and willingness-to-pay of organic consumers might be used for price differentiation strategies. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate organic consumers’ item- and store-specific price knowledge, willingness-to-pay and real purchase decision in a single-source approach.

The Influence of Brand Image, Brand Trust, Product Quality, and Price on the Consumer’s Buying Decision of MPV Cars

“…The positive and significant impact of this study can be interpreted: if price matches the quality, it will improve buying decisions. This study was in line with the research of Kuo and Nakhata (2016) and Rodiger et al (2016), but it was different from the two previous studies because, in the opinion of respondents, it placed price indicator that corresponded to the types of products which were considered to be most important to look at the price. The respondents argued that the definition of competitive price shows that the price must correspond to the features that the car has (Monroe, 2002;Eberhardt et al, 2009).…”

“…For example, Rodiger et al (2016) examined the effect of price on supermarket consumer's buying decision in Germany. The result shows that competitive price has a significant and positive effect on buying decisions.…”

Is It All about the Price? An Analysis of the Purchase Intention for Organic Food in a Discount Setting by Means of Structural Equation Modeling

“…As consumer demand for organic food has increased in the past two decades, researchers have extensively studied the purchase behavior associated with organic food (see [16] for a systematic review). This behavior, however, has very rarely been studied in a discount retailing context, but rather, from a price-sensitivity [17,18] or frugality [19] perspective. In a study that examined organic food in a discount retail setting, Gottschalk and Leistner [20] found that discount grocery shoppers tend to be more price-sensitive when buying organic food, whereas repeat buyers are more strongly influenced by other product characteristics.…”

Motives of Green Consumption: The Moderating Roles of Perceived Consumer Effectiveness and Price Sensitivity

“…Several studies in green field have showed that green product is usually premium priced in several countries (Taiwan in Teng & Lu, 2016;Tunisia in Salah et al, 2015;Scotland in Michaelidou & Hassan, 2008;etc.). For this reason, price is considered to be a barrier hindering the acquisition of green products (Marian et al, 2014;Rödiger et al, 2016). Walser & Nanopoulos (2007) stated that the more sensitive to green products' prices consumers are, the more unable they are to buy the products since these are more expensive than conventional counterparts.…”