Consumer attitudes and sociodemographic profiles in purchasing organic food products: evidence from a Greek and Swedish survey

Abstract

PurposeThis study explores Greek and Swedish consumers' attitude towards organic food consumption in order to demonstrate possible differences that can be identified based on health and ecological consciousness beliefs rather than demographic factors. The examination of an emerging and a more mature market allow the authors to provide more targeted marketing strategies that possibly increase organic food consumption in both countries.Design/methodology/approachThe authors adopt an econometric approach to the analysis of consumer behavior in relation to organic food consumption in Sweden and Greece. More specifically, the authors examine the motivations and postexperiences of organic food consumers of different socioeconomic profiles in these two countries, one in northern and one in southern Europe. The authors apply an ordered logistic regression analysis model to map out the interaction between consumer attitudes and sociodemographic variables.FindingsThe authors results show that consumers in Sweden more frequently purchase organic foods than consumers in Greece. Environmental protection and ethical values increase the odds for Swedish organic food consumers to buy organic food products. Health consciousness and family well-being are perceived as factors that increase the odds for Greek organic food consumers to buy organic foods. Sociodemographic factors do not play a pivotal role for consumer behavior in relation to organic food in both countries.Originality/valueThis study distinguishes between organic food consumers in two countries with different levels of organic food production and export activity, size of organic market, national organic labeling system and legal definition and standards of organic food. Within these differences, the organic food industry could align its marketing efforts better rather focus on simplistic demographics. The current view unfolds the fact that there are limited studies comparing two European markets at different stages of development and the factors that influence organic food consumer behavior.

Information on the processing of organic food: consumers' perception

“…Our findings suggest that consumers involved in purchasing organic food could be motivated by the environmental impact of their food choices. Indeed, environmental concern is one of the major motivation factors for organic consumers (Diagourtas et al. , 2023) in countries with a developed and mature organic food market and has proven influencing consumers' willingness to pay for organic foods (Katt and Meixner, 2020) and consumers' purchase intention towards organic food (Eberle et al.…”

“…Views on the definition of a suitable process to be used by each cluster Our findings suggest that consumers involved in purchasing organic food could be motivated by the environmental impact of their food choices. Indeed, environmental concern is one of the major motivation factors for organic consumers (Diagourtas et al, 2023) in countries with a developed and mature organic food market and has proven influencing consumers' willingness to pay for organic foods (Katt and Meixner, 2020) and consumers' purchase intention towards organic food (Eberle et al, 2022). Furthermore, positive environmental beliefs relating to organic products have also been observed in exploratory consumer research (Danner and Menapace, 2020).…”

Beggars can't be choosers: factors influencing intention to purchase organic food in pandemic with the moderating role of perceived barriers

“…For example, organic food protects the environment, avoids using chemicals and pesticides and is more nutritious than non-organic food. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for organic food increased worldwide (Chetioui et al ., 2022; Diagourtas et al ., 2022; Wojciechowska-Solis and Śmiglak-Krajewska, 2022). Consumers, organizations and academicians paid more focus to organic food (Carrión Bósquez et al ., 2023).…”

“…The argument is supported by Čolović and Mitić (2022) that organic food still covers a smaller portion of the market and various countries increase sales of organic food. Customer's rapidly increase their consumption of organic food (Diagourtas et al ., 2022). In 2016, global sales of organic food reached USD 90 billion.…”

Understanding food pleasure in organic consumption: the moderating effects of trust within the theory of planned behavior

“…The factors influencing the consumption of organic food have been studied extensively. In addition, among the factors that may affect the organic purchasing behavior of people, studies have reported the following factors as vital: the purchasing intention of consumers toward organic food (Kabir and Islam, 2021; Leonidou et al ., 2022; Pham et al ., 2018; Shamsi et al ., 2020), consumer attitude (Diagourtas et al ., 2022; Kumar et al ., 2023; Lavuri, 2022), health orientation (Ditlevsen et al ., 2019; Kirmani et al ., 2022), environmental orientation (Fernandes and Saraiva, 2022; Nosi et al ., 2020), subjective norms (Khan et al ., 2022; Sadiq et al ., 2021), organic cognition (Hu and Meng, 2023; Liu and Zheng, 2019), food safety concerns (Khan et al ., 2023; Le-Anh and Nguyen-To, 2020; Tleis et al ., 2017), consumer value (Cao et al ., 2022; Roh et al ., 2022) and the available media information (Liu et al ., 2021; Pham et al ., 2018; Zheng and Cao, 2022). In particular, organic purchase intention is regarded to be the most vital factor in the prediction of purchase behavior (Leonidou et al ., 2022; Shamsi et al ., 2020).…”