How and Why Does the Attitude-Behavior Gap Differ Between Product Categories of Sustainable Food? Analysis of Organic Food Purchases Based on Household Panel Data

Abstract

Organic agriculture promotes the transformation toward sustainability because of positive effects for the environment. The organic label on food products enables consumers to make more sustainable purchasing decisions. Although the global market for organic food has grown rapidly in recent years, only a part of the organic product range benefits from this positive trend. To develop the organic market further, it is important to understand the food-related values and attitudes that drive the purchase of organic food. Previous research on this topic has suffered from two main weaknesses. Firstly, most studies have been based on surveys and rely on stated behavior instead of actual purchase behavior. Secondly, the focus of most extant studies is predominantly on organic food in general or on food products with a relatively high organic market share, such as milk and eggs. To address this knowledge gap, the present study analyzes the value-attitude-behavior relationship by means of structural equation modeling using household purchase panel data from GfK. The paper provides evidence for the existence of an attitude-behavior gap in the organic market, with this gap found to be much stronger in the case of meat, frozen food, cheese, and sweets than for organic purchases in total. Analysis in different product categories reveals that while purchase behavior is driven by the same food-related values, their relative importance differs.

Consumer versus Organic Products in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Opportunities and Barriers to Market Development

“…[71]. To sum up, when it comes to the offer of organic products, Schäufele and Janssen [91] argue that organic production is reasonable in the case of goods that are available on a wide scale-when a lot of consumers are familiar with the products, otherwise a product remains a niche product, for a small group of customers [92,93], an example of such products sold in the Polish market during the pandemic could be organic goat milk and its derivatives. The manufacturers had to change distribution channels to reach the consumer during the period of the pandemic-related restrictions.…”

Consumer Perspectives on Processing Technologies for Organic Food

“…Besides these critical organic consumers, more tolerant organic consumers were also identified. They may also have strong ecological and environmental values [62], but compared to the critical consumers, they valued some benefits of processed organic foods and new processing technologies. These were increased shelf life, nutritional quality and health, naturalness, and potentially low environmental impact.…”

The Perceived Importance and Intended Purchasing Patterns of Sustainable Foods in Australian University Students

“…When it comes to making sustainable dietary choices, broad consumer research has shown that perceptions and intentions are not always translated into actual purchasing and consumption behaviors. While some studies have demonstrated a link between positive attitudes and reported purchase behaviors, other research has demonstrated an attitude-behavior gap when it comes to purchasing sustainable foods [22]. In particular, the availability of sustainable food choices and the perceived effectiveness of individual actions have been shown to be key factors influencing consumers transition from intention to action [23].…”