scholarly journals Antecedents of Trust in Organic Foods: The Mediating Role of Food Related Personality Traits

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 3597 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samia Ayyub ◽  
Xuhui Wang ◽  
Muhammad Asif ◽  
Rana Ayyub

The current study focuses on identifying the factors responsible for building trust in organic foods. This study also attempted to establish the mediating role of food-related personality traits in building such trust. The quantitative data was collected from the Liaoning province of China through a structured questionnaire (n = 420). Established scales were adopted for measuring constructs. The Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses. The results indicated that consumer trust towards retailers was found to be highly significant in creating trust of customers regarding organic food products, followed by information on the label. The trust of consumers towards food manufacturer was also found to be a significant predictor, while the perceived knowledge of customers about organic food products was found to be a weak contributor towards building trust. Furthermore, food-related personality traits were found to mediate the hypothesized model. This study extends the literature on trust in organic food consumption by intending to provide a detailed analysis of the factors that build trust in organic food consumption in China. The findings of this study will help producers, retailers, and marketers to identify the appropriate strategies to establish and improve the consumer trust in organic food.

Author(s):  
V. Aslihan Nasir ◽  
Suphan Nasir

While, the market for organic foods is growing; the proportion of consumers who buy organic foods is still considered low. The role of communication activities is very important for promoting the organic food consumption. In order to create awareness and generate demand for organic foods, companies need to use effective communication tools. Companies in the agribusiness sector try to take advantage of the information and communication technologies in the digital era with the purpose of communicating the value of their offer to consumers. Companies need to know which information sources (channels) are most influential in purchase decision while communicating with consumers. Thus, the aim of this study is to examine consumers' credibility perceptions of communication channels that are used to promote organic food. The great majority of the respondentsin this study mentioned that they had never seen organic food ads. However, a significant number of consumers who had seen organic food ads declared Internet as the medium they had exposed to organic food ads. Nevertheless, our study revealed that the respondents did not perceive Internet as a credible source of information about organic foods. Yet, online social networks were perceived as more reliable source of information about organic foods when compared to majority of traditional media such as radio and newspaper ads. The distribution channels that consumers prefer to purchase organic foods was also investigated; and it is found that a significant portion of the consumers choose supermarkets and neighborhood bazaars for their organic food shopping whereas Internet/online shops and pharmacy stores were shown as the least preferred shopping alternatives. Finally, a substantial majority of the consumers mentioned high prices and availability as the main barriers against buying organic foods.


Author(s):  
Khairul Nizam Mahmud ◽  
Asmat-Nizam Abdul-Talib

Organic food is becoming popular among today's millennial consumers because of increased awareness of healthy lifestyles. Scholars and practitioners attempt to understand what drives consumers to purchase organic foods toward developing market domination strategies and tactics. Since organic food tends to be more expensive than non-organic, this study aims to analyze the impact of consumer values on their tendency to buy organic food. Consumption values are an important factor that could drive consumer behavior and their preferences for goods or services. Consumption values are defined in terms of the required benefits from the purchase and consumption of the preferred products. Sheth, Newman, and Gross defined consumption values in terms of practical, social, emotional, epistemic, and conditional values.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (13) ◽  
pp. 5367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Greta Castellini ◽  
Mariarosaria Savarese ◽  
Cinzia Castiglioni ◽  
Guendalina Graffigna

Nowadays, the problems that afflict our planet (climate change, loss of biodiversity, etc.) are leading to the implementation of a more sustainable type of consumption. Increasing the consumption of organic products is a way to face and try to solve these problems. In order to reach this aim, it is important to understand how consumers’ subjective relevance of these products impacts on their consumption. The recent literature, in fact, highlighted how food consumption is salient for the individual to express their identity and life orientations, even more in the case of organic food consumption. Nonetheless, little is known about how subjective relevance of food affects organic food consumption. The present research aims to measure the role of subjective relevance in organic food consumption. Data were collected with a self-report questionnaire that was filled out by a sample of 964 Italians, representative of the population. We used structural equation modelling (SEM) and the bootstrap technique to test the hypothesis. The results show that subjective food relevance is a mediator between the motivations of organic food consumption and the frequency of consumption of it. This research points out the necessity to study consumers in a wider way, using communication that emphasizes the role that these products have in satisfying the psychological needs of consumers.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong-Moon Mark Park ◽  
Alexandra White ◽  
Nicole Niehoff ◽  
Katie O'Brien ◽  
Dale Sandler

Abstract Objectives Diet is a source of exposure to pesticides. Organic food consumption may lower cancer risk, possibly due to decreased exposure to pesticides. Few studies have investigated the association between organic food consumption and cancer risk and evidence on the risk of breast cancer is limited. Methods We used data from 39,563 Sister Study participants aged 35 to 74 years who enrolled in 2003–2009 and had information available on frequency of organic food consumption. Participants reported their consumption of organic produce, meat, and dairy during the past 12 months as never, less than half the time, about half the time, and more than half the time. An organic diet score was calculated by assigning scores of 0, 1, 2 and 3 for increasing consumption proportions and summing across foods (maximum score 9). We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for breast cancer associated with ever consuming organic foods and organic diet scores, adjusting for potential confounders, including known risk factors for breast cancer. Results At baseline, 61.8% of women reported ever eating organic produce, meat, or dairy. We identified 2336 incident breast cancers diagnosed at least 1 year after enrollment (mean follow-up 9.0 years). Any organic food consumption was inversely associated with breast cancer (HR: 0.87 [95% CI, 0.80–0.95]), especially estrogen receptor negative cancer (HR: 0.77 [95% CI, 0.61–0.98]). There was no trend with increasing organic diet score based on all organic food types. Consumption of organic produce half or more than half the time was associated with reduced risk of breast cancer compared to no organic produce consumption (HR: 0.87 [95% CI, 0.77–0.99]). There was no trend for organic dairy or meat consumption. In stratified analyses, associations did not differ by demographics, obesity, menopausal status, lifestyle characteristics, cancer screening, or degree of family history. Conclusions Although unmeasured factors associated with consuming organic foods may explain these results, organic produce consumption was associated with reduced breast cancer risk. Funding Sources National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Laëtitia Perrin ◽  
Benjamin Allès ◽  
Chantal Julia ◽  
Serge Hercberg ◽  
Mathilde Touvier ◽  
...  

Abstract The rising popular belief that gluten is unhealthy has led to growth in gluten avoidance in people without coeliac disease. Little information is available on their dietary profiles and their dietary behaviours. Our aim was to compare the consumption of organic foods between gluten avoiders and non-avoiders, and their places of food purchase. We described their sociodemographic and dietary profiles. The study population included participants of the NutriNet-Santé cohort who completed both a food exclusion questionnaire and an organic semi-quantitative FFQ (n 23 468). Food intake and organic food consumption ratios were compared using multivariable adjusted ANCOVA models. Associations between gluten avoidance and organic food consumption as well as places of food purchase were investigated with multivariable logistic regression. Participants avoiding gluten were more likely to be women and had a healthier dietary profile. Organic food consumption was higher among gluten avoiders (48·50 % of total diet for total avoiders, 17·38 % for non-avoiders). After adjustments for confounders, organic food consumption and purchase in organic stores were positively associated with gluten avoidance: adjusted OR (aOR)Q5 v.Q1 organic food = 4·95; 95 % CI 3·70, 6·63 and aORorganic stores v.supermarkets = 1·82; 95 % CI 1·42, 2·33 for total avoiders. Our study highlights that individuals avoiding gluten are high organic consumers and frequently purchase their foods in organic stores which propose an extended offer of gluten-free food. Further research is needed to determine the underlying common motivations and the temporality of the dietary behaviours of healthy people avoiding gluten.


2018 ◽  
Vol 169 ◽  
pp. 01019
Author(s):  
Tsai-Fa Yen

Despite the progressive development of the organic food sector across Taiwan Strait, little is known about how consumers’ self congruity will influence organic food decision through various degrees of attitude and whether or not consumers with various degrees of inertia will vary in their intention to buy organic foods. The current study aims to examine the effect of consumption self congruity on behavioral intention related to organic food consumption under the mediating role of attitude as well as the moderating role of inertia. Research data were collected from organic food consumers across Taiwan Strait via a questionnaire survey, eventually obtaining 500 valid questionnaires for analysis. This study tested the overall model fit and hypotheses through structural equation modeling method (SEM). The results show that consumer attitude significantly mediates the effects of self congruity on organic food purchase intention. Moreover, the moderating effect of inertia is statistical significance, indicating that the relationship between attitude and purchase intention becomes weaker in the condition of consumers with higher degree of inertia. Several implications and suggestions are also discussed for organic food providers and marketers.


2018 ◽  
Vol 120 (10) ◽  
pp. 2411-2424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ursa Golob ◽  
Mateja Kos Koklic ◽  
Klement Podnar ◽  
Vesna Zabkar

Purpose Despite numerous scholarly attempts, there is a lack of consensus regarding the relevance of various factors used to promote organic food consumption. The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of environmentally conscious purchase behaviour (ECPB) and green scepticism on organic food consumption. Moreover, the paper examines the indirect impact of attitudinal and contextual forces on organic food consumption (through ECPB). Design/methodology/approach The paper develops a conceptual model of organic food consumption. Data were collected through an online survey on a sample of 462 consumers in Slovenia. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesised relationships. Findings The findings indicate that ECPB positively and green scepticism negatively affects organic food consumption. In addition, ECPB is positively influenced by personal and social norms, perceived availability and consumer sustainability orientation. Interestingly, the social norms exert the strongest indirect effect on organic food consumption. Research limitations/implications This study informs organic food producers and policy makers about the relative importance of ECPB and scepticism for increasing organic food consumption. It also highlights the role of general attitudinal and contextual factors for ECPB and organic food consumption. Originality/value The proposed model enables a better understanding of the relevance of ECPB, its antecedents and green scepticism as (direct or indirect) determinants of organic food consumption.


2018 ◽  
Vol 120 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaser Sobhanifard

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore a hybrid model of the consumption of organic foods, combining the use of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and an artificial neural network (ANN). Design/methodology/approach The study has three phases. In the first phase, the Delphi method is employed, and 15 motives for the consumption of organic food are identified; these motives are used to develop the model in the second phase. Finally, in the last phase, an ANN is used to rank the motives to determine their priority. Findings The EFA model explored includes four factors that have a positive effect on the level of organic food consumption. These are naturalness, trust, sanitariness and marketing. Results from the use of an ANN indicate that the main variables in organic food consumption are claims, psychological variables and doubt. From the results of the EFA model it is clear these three variables are components of the factor of trust. Practical implications Marketers can use the model developed in this paper to satisfy the needs of their customers and hence enhance their market share and profitability. This study shows that improvements in truth in the claims made for organic products, perceived security from using these products and doubts about the safety of other foods can lead marketers to their goal. Informative advertisements can inculcate trust and naturalness among consumers as main factors. Originality/value The main contribution of this study is the light it sheds on how consumers think about organic foods. It develops a model incorporating motives for consuming organic food and determining the priorities held by consumers of organic foods.


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