Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
5.8
3.9
Journals
Sustainability
Special Issues
Consumer Behaviour regarding Organic Food
sustainability-logo
Submit to Sustainability Review for Sustainability Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

► Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser
share announcement

Consumer Behaviour regarding Organic Food

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Agriculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2019) | Viewed by 32141

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Hamm

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural and Food Marketing, University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany
Interests: Consumer market research, marketing for organic food, ethically motivated consumption
Assoc. Prof. Meike Janssen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Management, Society and Communication, Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen, Denmark
Interests: consumer behaviour, sustainable consumption, marketing for sustainable products, consumer policy, behavioural economics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Organic food is considered as a (more) sustainable type of food, at least from an environmental point of view. While there is an extensive body of (academic) literature on drivers of organic food consumption and consumers’ willingness-to-pay, market shares of organic food are still relatively low in almost all countries. So far, it is not well-understood how consumption levels and market shares can be further pushed to a much higher level, e.g. by innovative product concepts and marketing communication for organic food on the one hand, and consumer-oriented public policy interventions on the other hand.

This special issue focuses on innovative approaches for reaching significantly higher market shares of organic food through a better understanding of consumers’ real (instead of just stated) behaviour.

Authors from different disciplines (e.g. marketing, sensory sciences, behavioural economics, policy studies) are invited to submit their work on consumer behaviour and organic food. The focus of this special issue will be on empirical research articles with a strong theoretical foundation.

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Hamm
Assoc. Prof. Meike Janssen
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Overcoming the attitude–behaviour gap regarding organic food
  • Methodological challenges in empirical research on organic food
  • The consumer response to innovative marketing communication for organic food
  • The consumer response to innovative product concepts for organic food
  • Public policy interventions for increasing consumer demand for organic food
  • Consumers’ emotional response to organic food (e.g., by neuroscience research methods)
  • The discrepancy between consumer perceptions and objective reality of organic food attributes
  • The discrepancy between consumer perceptions and the reality of organic farming methods
  • Linking organic farmers in developing countries with consumers in developed countries
  • Consumer expectations and buying behaviour regarding ethical and moral issues in (inter)national food supply chains
  • Consumers’ taste experience and organic food
  • Public procurement and organic food
  • Consumption patterns and lifestyles of organic food consumers versus non-organic food consumers
  • Consumer expectations of organic food regarding the level of food processing

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

25 pages, 493 KiB  
Article
Generational Differences toward Organic Food Behavior: Insights from Five Generational Cohorts
by Irene (Eirini) Kamenidou, Aikaterini Stavrianea and Evangelia-Zoi Bara
Sustainability 2020, 12(6), 2299; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12062299 - 15 Mar 2020
Cited by 49 | Viewed by 9665
Abstract
One of the pathways to sustainable food consumption behaviour is the purchase and consumption of organic food products. This paper offers insights into the behaviour exercised by five generational cohorts toward organic products, i.e., Generation Z, Generation Y, Generation X, Baby Boomers, and [...] Read more.
One of the pathways to sustainable food consumption behaviour is the purchase and consumption of organic food products. This paper offers insights into the behaviour exercised by five generational cohorts toward organic products, i.e., Generation Z, Generation Y, Generation X, Baby Boomers, and the Silent Generation. A qualitative and quantitative research methodology is implemented, with the field research providing 1562 valid questionnaires over a nine-month period. Generational differences are explored in terms of purchasing behaviour, attitudes, and the effect of the economic crisis on the purchasing of organic food. Results unveil that all generational cohorts demonstrate a favourable attitude toward organic food, and they identify the economic crisis as an effect of low purchase behaviour. Additionally, findings reveal that in all cases, generational cohort differences do exist. Government policy through marketing communications can be adapted to determine the advantages of organic food compared to conventional ones, persuade consumers about the benefits, and, thus, reinforce favourable attitudes in association with economic crisis conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Consumer Behaviour regarding Organic Food)
21 pages, 580 KiB  
Article
Values and Planned Behaviour of the Romanian Organic Food Consumer
by Cristina Fleșeriu, Smaranda Adina Cosma and Vlad Bocăneț
Sustainability 2020, 12(5), 1722; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12051722 - 25 Feb 2020
Cited by 62 | Viewed by 8755
Abstract
Romanian consumers have started to buy and consume more organic products. Their decision-making process is influenced by multiple variables. The theory of planned behaviour is widely accepted and used to predict behaviours in certain contexts, including the buying of organic food products. Other [...] Read more.
Romanian consumers have started to buy and consume more organic products. Their decision-making process is influenced by multiple variables. The theory of planned behaviour is widely accepted and used to predict behaviours in certain contexts, including the buying of organic food products. Other researchers have identified values that the consumer of organic products hold and that influence their buying behaviour. This study analyses the factors that have an impact on buying intention and behaviour of Romanian organic products from these two perspectives. A proposed model was designed by combining the two frameworks. It was evaluated by using structural equation modelling with the SmartPLS 3 software package (v. 3.2.7, SmartPLS GmbH, Bönningstedt, Germany, 2017). Results confirm the model proposed in the theory of planned behaviour while integrating the relationships of consumer values. Health consciousness was found to have a significant effect both on buying intention as well as on personal attitude. Food safety has a significant effect on buying intention regardless of personal attitude. Environmental concerns, social consciousness, perception of quality and lifestyle although important in personal attitude, do not affect buying intention directly. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Consumer Behaviour regarding Organic Food)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

22 pages, 6376 KiB  
Article
The Anthropological Analysis of the Key Determinants on the Purchase Decision Taken by the Romanian Consumers Regarding the Ecological Agroalimentary Products
by Alina Butu, Codrin Dinu Vasiliu, Steliana Rodino, Ioan-Sebastian Brumă, Lucian Tanasă and Marian Butu
Sustainability 2019, 11(18), 4897; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11184897 - 7 Sep 2019
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4736
Abstract
Should you attend to the relevant published literature on perceptions belonging consumers of ecological products, it can be easily noticed that, as a rule, the interpretation insists heavily on the analysis of an error: the consumer’s confusion about the ecological product. The official [...] Read more.
Should you attend to the relevant published literature on perceptions belonging consumers of ecological products, it can be easily noticed that, as a rule, the interpretation insists heavily on the analysis of an error: the consumer’s confusion about the ecological product. The official concept of an ecological product does not overlap with the idea of an ecological product at the mental level of the consumer. Most studies, if not all of them, tax this confusion and analyze it as a deviant phenomenon. The starting point for this study was based on this very confusion: If there is so much confusion, it most likely means we are dealing with a symbolic projection at a social level. We found intriguing the idea of trying to understand what exactly are the mechanisms behind the ideological forming of this symbolic projection and their impact upon the decision of purchasing ecological agroalimentary products. The study was based on a nationwide questionnaire conducted in Romania in 2016. The collected data were employed in an anthropological analysis of phenomenological approach to further understand the concept of ecological agroalimentary products as it appears in the mentality of the contemporary Romanian consumer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Consumer Behaviour regarding Organic Food)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 1025 KiB  
Article
Understanding the Antecedents of Organic Food Purchases: The Important Roles of Beliefs, Subjective Norms, and Identity Expressiveness
by Li Bai, Mingliang Wang and Shunlong Gong
Sustainability 2019, 11(11), 3045; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11113045 - 29 May 2019
Cited by 83 | Viewed by 8316
Abstract
China is expected to become an increasingly important market for global organic food producers. This study aims to obtain a new and deeper understanding of how various antecedents affect organic food purchase behavior. Here, a survey based on validated measures is designed, and [...] Read more.
China is expected to become an increasingly important market for global organic food producers. This study aims to obtain a new and deeper understanding of how various antecedents affect organic food purchase behavior. Here, a survey based on validated measures is designed, and a total of 1750 consumers are interviewed. In addition to traditionally held beliefs concerning organic food, three unique perspectives, i.e., that organic foods are “luxuries for the rich”, “upscale”, and the objects of “marketing hype”, are confirmed for the first time. Furthermore, the influence of subjective norms on purchase intention is verified to be completely mediated by purchase attitude, suggesting that up to now, the role of social norms may have been simplified, and even underestimated by marketing researchers. Additionally, for the first time, identity expressiveness is confirmed to play a minor but significant role in purchase intention. Perceived trustworthiness is also confirmed to be the important predictor of purchase intention. Finally, household income is not only the second most important predicator of purchase intention, but it is also the most important predictor of actual purchase. These findings will be valuable for marketing scholars and all stakeholders in the organic food industry, particularly international agribusinesses that are wishing to enter the Chinese market. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Consumer Behaviour regarding Organic Food)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-4
Back to TopTop