Personal determinants of organic food consumption: a review

Abstract

Purpose -A lot of literature is available that discusses personal determinants of organic food consumption. However different models and determinants are used in the literature. This paper aims to provide an overview, within a framework linking Schwartz' values theory and the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Also it seeks to focus on the importance of affective attitude, emotions, personal norm, involvement and uncertainty related to organic food consumption. Design/methodology/approach -The paper is based on secondary data sources, namely the literature concerning personal determinants of organic food consumption. Findings -Both the values theory and the theory of planned behaviour have been referred to as relevant theories for better understanding consumers' choice for organic food. Organic food consumption decisions can be explained by relating attributes of organic food with more abstract values such as "security", "hedonism", "universalism", "benevolence", "stimulation", "self-direction" and "conformity". Appealing to these values can positively influence attitudes towards organic food consumption. Besides attitude, subjective and personal norm and (perceived) behavioural control influence consumption of organic food. Research limitations/implications -More research related to the role of uncertainty (reduction) during the process of buying organic food is recommended. Practical implications -Relatively little research has examined the affective component of attitude and emotions in relation to organic food consumption, while these may play an important role as drivers of involvement and thus help to jolt food purchasers out of their routine of buying conventional food and set a first step to adopt organic food. Originality/value -To the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper providing a comprehensive overview and linking the literature on organic food consumption to the values theory and the theory of planned behaviour, including the role of personal norm and focusing on emotions. The proposed integration of mental processing in an organic food consumption model leads to interesting hypotheses and recommendations for policy makers, researchers and stakeholders involved in the organic food market.

Mature and Emerging Organic Markets: Modelling Consumer Attitude and Behaviour With Partial Least Square Approach

“…healthiness) on attitude and intention were found in the Chilean case. Structural-macro factors 5,73 such as the absence of severe food crises and scandals in the Chilean food industry (low food risk perception) and the niche character of the market in Chile may contribute to explain this finding. At first glance, organic food marketers in Chile should focus more on altruistic claims in communication campaigns in order to capture the attention of consumers and consequently to increase domestic demand.…”

“…Although the number of studies modelling consumer behaviour in the organic market is considerable 5,6 , the debate on determinants of organic food consumption provides conflicting evidence. In this context, two main aspects have characterised research concerning organic food consumption: (i) investigations focus mainly on analysing consumer behaviour in mature organic markets and studies considering emerging organic markets are limited mostly to Asian countries [7][8][9][10][11][12][13] ; and (ii) cross-country studies comparing mature and emerging organic markets are quite rare 14,15 .…”

Dietary intakes and diet quality according to levels of organic food consumption by French adults: cross-sectional findings from the NutriNet-Santé Cohort Study

“…In addition to this increased attention of governments, the expansion of demand for organic foods in France over the past decades (3,4) is also largely driven by consumers' beliefs of the health benefits of organic foods (5)(6)(7)(8)(9) . Consumers are becoming more and more demanding with regard to the quality and safety of foods, which they want to have high nutritional values and be pesticide free (10) .…”

“Organic food is fertilised at night”: Why people (do not) buy environmentally friendly products

“…He says that the link between one's attitudes and behaviour the role of values in responsible behaviour is not entirely clear and open to discussion. As stated by Aertsens et al (2009), purchasing of organic food may be related to such differing values as universalism (e.g. concern for nature) and benevolence (compassion for animals) on the one hand, and safety (healthy food) and hedonism (good food) on the other.…”