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Organic fruit and vegetables: the gap between attitude and

purchase behaviour.

Pleuni de Jong

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Organic fruit and vegetables: the gap between attitude and purchase

behaviour.

Pleuni de Jong Marketing department. Master thesis. Date of completion: 25-08-2011 Ceramstraat 32a 06-51882266 pleunidejong@hotmail.com s1459066

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3 Management summary.

There is a gap between the attitude towards organic fruit and vegetables and the purchase behaviour of organic fruit and vegetables. Consumers have a high attitude towards organic fruit and vegetables, as found in this study. But consumers rarely purchase organic fruit and vegetables, 50 % of the consumers purchase organic fruit and vegetables less than once a month. In this study 42 % of the consumers had a gap between their attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic fruit and vegetables. The data in this study is collected with a questionnaire on the internet with a convenience sample. After two weeks 202 respondents answered the questionnaire, of those 202 questionnaires, 170 questionnaires are used in data analysis.

What influences this gap and how? In the literature several consumer purchase motivations are described that influence the purchase behaviour of organic fruit and vegetables: being health consciousness, hedonism, environmental concern and concern about food safety (Padel and Foster, 2005; Krystallis et al., 2008; Zanoli and Naspetti, 2008; Fotopoulos et al., 2003; Lockie et al., 2002; Michaelidou and Hassan, 2008; Magnusson et al., 2003, Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2009; Tsakiridou et al., 2008; Gracia and Magistris, 2008). This study have found that concern about food safety and hedonism decrease the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic fruit and vegetables.

In the literature several barriers are found, as reasons why consumers do not purchase organic fruit and vegetables: price, perceived availability, scepticism in organic certification labels, satisfaction with non-organic food, lack of information and cosmetic defects (Padel and Foster, 2005; Krystallis et al., 2008; Zanoli and Naspetti, 2008; Fotopoulos et al., 2003; Lockie et al., 2002; Michaelidou and Hassan, 2008; Magnusson et al., 2003, Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2009; Tsakiridou et al., 2008; Gracia and Magistris, 2008). In this study is found that only the barrier price increases the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic fruit and vegetables. Price is a barrier even though the majority of the consumers are willing to pay 20 % extra for organic fruit and vegetables, this means that the actual price premium is more than 20 % or consumers do not have good price perceptions towards organic fruit and vegetables.

One other variable that influences the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic fruit and vegetables is the way consumers see themselves: ethical self-identity (Michaelidou and Hassan, 2007). In the literature is assumed that when consumers see themselves as people that behave environmental friendly they will have a smaller gap between attitude and purchase behaviour. In this study is found that for consumers that see themselves as environmentally and have a gap between attitude and purchase that will increase the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour. An explanation is that consumers behave in an environmentally friendly way, but do not purchase organic fruit and vegetables because of the higher behavioural costs (Magnusson et al., 2003).

Other findings of this study are: even though there is a gap between attitude and purchase behaviour, attitude does influence the purchase behaviour of organic fruit and vegetables. There is no direct relationship between decrease or increase of the gap and purchase behaviour. When comparing men with women, women score higher on several variables. Women think more positive about organic fruit and vegetables, purchase more and are willing to pay more for organic fruit and vegetables than men.

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5 Many thanks to prof. dr. J.C. Hoekstra and Myrthe Faber for helping me write this thesis. I really appreciate your input and patience along the way.

To write a thesis about a topic related to consumer behaviour and at same time write about a topic that could help make the world a better place is something that is very close to my heart and important to me.

There’s progress now where there once was none,

where there once was ah, then everything came along.

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6 Table of contents

1 Introduction. 7

1.2 Research method. 8

1.3 Academic and managerial contribution. 9

1.4 Structure of this thesis. 9

2 Theoretical framework. 10

2.1 Introduction. 10

2.2 Conceptual model. 10

2.3 Attitude and behaviour consistency. 10

2.4 Prior literature and this study. 11

2.5 Consumer purchase motivations for buying organic fruit

and vegetables. 15

2.6 Barriers of buying organic fruit and vegetables. 18

2.7 Moderators. 22 3. Research Method 25 3.1 Introduction. 25 3.2 Data collection. 25 3.3 Measurement of constructs. 28 3.4 Methods of analysis. 34 4 Results. 36 4.1 Introduction. 36

4.2 Attitudes towards organic fruit and vegetables. 36

4.3 Purchase behaviour of organic fruit and vegetables. 36 4.4 The gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards

organic fruit and vegetables. 38

4.5 Beliefs towards organic fruit and vegetables. 39

4.6 Consumer purchase motivations. 39

4.7 Purchase barriers. 40

4.8 Willingness to pay. 40

4.9 Self-identity. 42

4.10 EHEC-crisis. 43

4.11 Testing the hypotheses 44

4.12 Hypotheses. 46

5 Conclusion, discussion and limitations, managerial implication

and further research. 50

5.1 Introduction. 50

5.2 Conclusion. 50

5.3 Discussion and limitations. 50

5.4 Managerial implications. 52

5.5 Further research. 52

Literature. 54

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7 Chapter 1: Introduction and problem specification.

Over the past two decades, the production and sale of organic food have grown, in the US the sales of organic food have grown at a rate of approximately of 20 % per year and in Holland the sales of organic products increased with 5 % per year (Expedia and Deal, 2009, Battle et al., 2007; Verhoef 2005). The sales of organic food in the US have risen with 132 % since 2004(Gifford and Bernard, 2011). The organic market is one of the biggest growth markets in the food industry; it is the most promising market in Europe (Shaw Hughner et al., 2007; Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2009). In this growth market most of the organic food that is being sold are fruit, vegetables and dairy products (Verhoef, 2005). The first and often only organic product that consumers try is organic fruit and vegetables (Dahm et al., 2009).

The Oxford English Dictionary defines “organic” as “produced without artificial fertilizers or pesticides”. The study by Gifford and Bernard (2011) has shown that 68,5 % of the consumers correctly selected all the ten requirements for organic food, namely products without the use of: synthetic pesticides, chemical preservatives, petroleum based fertilizers, hormones administered to animals, irradiation, artificial flavours or colours and genetically modified ingredients or antibiotics (Gifford and Bernard, 2011).

Also the number of studies on organic food has grown over the last decades (Shaw Hughner et al., 2007), and most studies are concerned with consumer attitude and consumer motives towards organic food and have the aim to understand who the consumers of organic products are. One of the findings of these studies is the existence of a gap between consumers’ attitudes towards organic food and the purchase behaviour of consumers of organic food (Vermeir and Verbeke, 2006; Tsakiridou et al., 2008; Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2005; 2009; Shaw Hughner et al., 2007; Padel and Foster, 2005; Magnusson et al., 2001; Baker et al., 2002; Aerstens et al., 2009). The understanding about the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic food is inadequate, even though this subject is mentioned and studied in a large number of studies (Leonidou et al., 2010).

Consumers have on average a positive attitude towards organic food (Tsakiridou et al., 2008; Magnusson et al., 2001; 2003; Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2005; 2009). According to Tsakiridou et al. (2008) 65 % of the respondents are interested in organic food and Magnusson et al. (2001) found that 46 to 67 % of the population have a positive attitude towards organic food. But the proportion of consumers who actually purchase organic food is regularly low: about 29 % of the general public occasionally purchases organic food (Dahm et al., 2009) and more than 50 % of the general public never purchases organic fruit or vegetables (Krystallis and Chryssohoidis, 2005).

There are several papers published that explicitly mention the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic food (Vermeir and Verbeke, 2006; Tsakiridou et al., 2008; Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2005; 2009; Shaw Hughner et al., 2007 Padel and Foster , 2005; Magnusson et al., 2001; Baker et al., 2002; Aerstens et al., 2009). These papers studied which motivations consumers have for purchasing organic food and which barriers prevent consumers from purchasing organic food. However, none of these studies look into whether these motivations and barriers influence the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic food.

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8 premium and the availability of organic products (Shaw Hughner et al., 2007; Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2005; Padel and Foster, 2005; Gracia and Magistris, 2008; Vermeir and Verbeke, 2006; Lockie et al., 2002; Zanoli and Naspetti, 2008; Magnusson et al., 2001; Hutchins and Greenlagh, 1997).

The research question that will be answered in this thesis is: “How do the different consumer purchase motivations and barriers influence the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic fruit and vegetables?” Specifically, the gap between positive attitudes towards organic food and low purchase behaviour of organic food will be studied.

AThe second question is: are these motivations and barriers described in the literature

still valid? The market of organic food has grown in sales and production over the last decade (Batte et al., 2007). An example is the availability of organic food. The literature is suggest that the availability of organic food is a barrier for consumers, but is this still the case? Every year the Dutch non-governmental environmental organization Friends of the Earth Netherlands counts every year the number of organic products in Dutch supermarkets (Milieudefensie,

www.milieudefensie.nl). Since 2004 the Dutch non-governmental environmental organization

Friends of the Earth Netherlands have counted the number of organic products in Dutch supermarkets every year. According to their numbers, the average number of organic products in random Dutch supermarkets is increased with 32,5 % since 2004 to 90 products, as illustrated in figure 1.1 the trend is that the number of organic fruit and vegetables has increased over the last six years.

0 50 100 150 200 250 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Th e ave rag e n u m b er o f co u n te d o rg an ic p ro d u ct s in th e su p er m ar ke t.

The development of the availability of organic products in the ten most common Dutch supermarkets (2004-2010).

Albert Heijn C1000 Aldi Lidl Spar Super de Boer Plus Jumbo Coop Dekamarkt Em-Té

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1.2 Research Method.

The research method in this study to answer the three research questions is a questionnaire and a data analysis. For the data collection the questionnaire is published on an internet site. The sample in this study will be a convenience sample.

Instead of answering the three questions for organic food in general, in this study one product group will be studied. Because the decision making process involving organic food is complex and consumers’ attitudes towards organic food differ per product (Padel and Foster, 2005). The product group that will be studied in this thesis is: organic fruit and vegetables. The reasons for choosing this product group are; that consumers associate organic food with fruit and vegetables (Padel and Foster, 2005; Tsakiridou et al., 2008), and the first organic product consumers often try is organic fruit and vegetables (Dahm et al., 2009).

1.3 Academic and managerial contribution.

This study can increase the knowledge about the consumer attitude behaviour link with environmental and eco-friendly behaviour, an area where there is in an inadequate understanding about (Leonidou et al., 2010). This study will check the assumption that there is a direct relationship between the increase or decrease of the gap and purchase behaviour. When in prior studies is found that price is a barrier for buying organic fruit and vegetables, then price is assumed to be a reason for the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour. However, no study has checked this assumption.

This study is relevant for marketers of organic products; a more clear insight in the barriers and motivations for buying organic products, which can be used to increase the sales of organic products. An understanding in which barriers and motivations increase or decrease the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic fruit and vegetables can help companies influence the behaviour of the customers and future customers.

1.4 Structure of this thesis.

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10 Chapter 2: Theoretical framework.

2.1 Introduction.

In this chapter the conceptual model of this study will be explained and the literature is reviewed. The conceptual model of this study will be explained (section 2.2).After that attitude and behaviour consistency (section 2.3) and the difference between prior studies and this study (section 2.4) will be discussed. The literature about: consumer purchase motivations (section 2.5) and the barriers (section 2.6) will be reviewed and hypotheses will be formulated. The last part of this chapter will focus on the moderators of this study; self-identity and demographic factors (section 2.7.

2.2 Conceptual model

The conceptual model where this research is based on is given in figure 2.1. The conceptual model of this study consist out of 3 variables with a direct effect on the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic fruit and vegetables: consumer purchase motivations, barriers and self-identity. Two variables have moderating effects on consumer purchase motivations and barriers: self-identity and demographic factors. The hypotheses shown in figure 2.1 will be formulated and explained in this chapter.

Figure 2.1: Conceptual model.

2.3 Attitude and behaviour consistency.

Attitudes are be defined “as learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favourable or unfavourable manner with respect to a given object” (Van Doorn et al., 2007). There is a lot of theoretical and empirical literature on attitude, attitude and behaviour consistency anunder which conditions attitudes can predict behaviour (Van Doorn et al., 2007; Desai, 2010; Rabinovich et al., 2010; Glasman and Albarracín, 2006; Thapa, 2010). In the H 15 H 1-5 H 12 H 13 H 14 H 15

Consumer purchase motivations:

- Health consciousness

- Hedonism

- Environmental concern

- Concern about food safety

Self-identity.

Barriers:

- Price

- Lack of perceived availability

- Skepticism in organic certification

labels

- Lack of information

- Satisfaction with non-organic food

- Cosmetic defects

Demographic factors.

The gap between

attitude and

purchase behaviour.

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11 literature a large variability in the attitude-behaviour consistency can be found (mean correlations range between -0,20 and 0,73), despite this large variability in degree in which attitudes predict behaviour, attitude can influence and with specified conditions can predict behaviour (Glasman and Albarracín, 2006; Rabinovich et al., 2010).

There are two theoretical explanations about the processes how attitudes guide behaviours (Glasman and Albarracín, 2006). The first explanation is that attitudes influence behaviour when people can activate them from memory. Attitudes are more easily accessible when they are based on direct experience and people are highly motivated to think about the attitude object (Glasman and Albarracín, 2006). In other words attitudes must be activated in memory in order to influence behaviour (Rabinovich et al., 2010).

The other explanation suggests that attitudes influence behaviour when people can reconstruct them on the fly (Glasman and Albarracín, 2006). The same information makes attitudes stable and thus predictive of behaviour, so for attitudes to influence behaviour the information must be stable and constant (Glasman and Albarracín, 2006). Research has revealed that attitudes better predict behaviour under the following conditions, attitudes that people hold with confidence, decisive attitudes, strong attitudes, extreme attitudes, easy accessible attitudes and attitudes based on direct experience (Glasman and Albarracín, 2006; Van Doorn et a., 2007; Rabinovich et al., 2010).

A possible explanation why there is a gap between attitude and purchase behaviour of organic food is that shopping for food is a low involvement activity (Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2009). Low-involvement activities do not pass through the attitude-behavioural sequences and it has been suggested that consumers do not search extensively for information or evaluate low-involvement product characteristics. As mentioned above attitudes only influence behaviour as: consumers can reconstruct attitudes on the fly or when consumers can activate them from memory (Glasman and Albarracín, 2006). When consumers do not search for information about a product, the chance that consumers can activate an attitude is low. It is unclear whether shopping for organic food is a low-involvement activity, because purchasing organic food is shown to be related to a different set of values (Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2009).

2.3 Prior literature and this study.

Multiple studies have mentioned the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic food in their study (Leonidou et al., 2010; Tsakiridou et al., 2008; Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2009; Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2005; Magnusson et al., 2002; Vermeir and Verbeke, 2006; Padel and Foster, 2005; Aerstens et al., 2009; Baker et al., 2002; Shaw Hughner et al., 2007). A summary of the results of these papers are given in table 2.1, all the studies in table 2.1 looked into which motivations consumers have for buying organic food, and how this motivations influence the attitude towards organic food or the purchase behaviour of organic food. These studies also looked at which barriers make that consumers do not purchase organic food, and how this barriers influence the attitude towards organic food or the purchase behaviour of organic food.

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12 Table 2.1. Overview of studies about the gap between attitude and behaviour towards organic food.

Reference Method and findings:

Magnusson et al., 2001 Questionnaire - The majority of consumers have positive attitudes towards organic food, but the purchase frequency is low. The availability of organic food is satisfying and the main obstacle for buying organic food is the premium prices. Baker et al., 2002 Laddering interviews - In the UK and Germany consumers have the same attitudes towards organic food, but the

consumer behaviour is different. Consumer purchase motivations for buying organic food are: hedonism and environmental concern.

Padel and Foster, 2005 Focus group - By conducting focus groups and laddering interviews by 181 regular and occasional consumers of organic food. The results show that consumers associate organic fruit and vegetables with a healthy diet and that the decision making process is complex and the importance of motives and barriers may vary between product categories.

Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2005

Structural equation modelling – They found that there is a positive and significant relation found between attitude towards organic food and purchase intention (0.496 ≤ r ≤ 0.578, depending on the model used and R²=0,558) and between purchase intention and purchase behaviour (R²=0,824).

Vermeir and Verbeke, 2006 Questionnaire and experimental design – Involvement with sustainability, certainty, and perceived consumer effectiveness have a significant positive effect on attitude towards buying sustainable dairy, which in turn correlates strongly with intention to buy. More sustainable and ethical food consumption can be stimulated through raising involvement, perceived consumer effectiveness and perceived availability of organic food.

Shaw Hughner et al., 2007 Literature review – The word “organic” has many meanings. A better understanding of the variety of motivations, perceptions and attitudes that consumer hold regarding organic food and their consumption is needed.

Tsakiridou et al., 2008 Questionnaire - The findings are: organic consumption is associated with fruit and vegetables. Demographics factors (educations and gender) affect the attitudes towards organic food but the effect on actual behaviour is minimal. Aerstens et al., 2009 Literature review – Attitude, subjective and personal norm and (perceived) behavioural control influence consumption

of organic food. Tarkiainen and Sundqvist,

2009

Questionnaire – The reason why consumers do not buy organic food regularly despite their positive attitudes is that such ideologically formed attitudes are not present in habitual, low-involvement shopping activities with limited problem-solving needs. They found that attitude influence purchase behaviour (β between 0,272 and 0,464, different product groups) and that self-identity and being health conscious influence the consumers’ attitude towards organic food.

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13 intention or purchase behaviour of organic food. Even though that in the literature is found that environmental and eco-friendly behaviour is an area known for attitude and behavioural inconsistency, the studies in table 2.2 show that the attitude towards organic food has a positive effect on purchase behaviour of organic food (Rabinovich et al., 2010; Van Doorn et al., 2007; Leonidou et al., 2010). The product group that shows the strongest positive relationship between attitudes and purchase behaviour is the product group organic fruit and vegetables (Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2009; Arvola et al., 2008; Dean et al., 2008).

Table 2.2: The relationship between attitude and purchase intention/behaviour towards organic food. Reference: The relationship found

between attitude and purchase intention.

The relationship found between purchase intention and purchase behaviour.

The relationship found between attitude and purchase behaviour. Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2005 r=0,558, p=0,000 r=0,824, p=0,000 Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2009 fruit β = 0,464 p<0,001 bread β = 0,426 p<0,001 flour β = 0,349 p<0,001 coffee β = 0,272, p<0,001 Michaelidou and Hassan, 2007 β=0,56, p<0,01 Saba and Messina, 2003 β=0,59, p<0,0001 β=0,70, p<0,0001 Arvola et al., 2008 apple β= (0,31 – 0,51), p<0,001 pizza β= (0,29 – 0,33), p<0,001 Dahm et al., 2009 on campus r = 0,285, p<0,01 restaurants r = 0,309, p<0,01 home r = 0,298, p<0,01 Dean et al,. 2008 apple β = 0,29, p<0,001 pizza β = 0,18, p<0,01 Chen, 2007 β = 0,58, p<0,01 β = 0,61, p<0,01

Note: The relationships are found on organic food, if the relationships are found on a specific product group it is mentioned in the table.

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14 none of these studies go beyond these assumptions; they do not look into whether and to what extent these barriers and motivations actually influence the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour of organic food. In this study this assumption will be studied, to see if this assumption is correct that there is a direct relationship between an increase or decrease in the gap and purchase behaviour.

The assumption that there is a direct relationship between the increase and decrease of the gap and purchase behaviour is a logical assumption. The explanation for this assumption is that consumers have on average positive and high attitudes towards organic food (Tsakiridou et al., 2008; Magnusson et al., 2001) and rarely purchase organic food (Padel and Foster, 2005; Dahm et al., 2009; Krystallis and Chryssohoidis, 2005). In figure 2.2, two variables; purchase behaviour of organic food and attitude towards organic food are plotted in a graph. Area 1, where the attitude towards organic food is high and purchase behaviour is low, shows the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic food. The dotted diagonal line shows where there is no gap between attitude and purchase behaviour. Area 2, is an area where there is almost no gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic food. The most logical way to go from area 1 to area 2 is to increase purchase behaviour, but is that so simple?

Figure 2.2: Explaining of the assumption in the literature about the gap between purchase behaviour and attitude towards organic food.

The results in table 2.2 show that attitude towards organic food positively influence purchase intention or purchase behaviour of organic food, so why is there a gap between attitude and purchase behaviour? Is the relationship between attitude and purchase intention or purchase behaviour not strong enough or do the purchase motivations and barriers influence purchase intention or purchase behaviour more than the attitude towards organic food? Instead of following the assumption that purchase motivations decrease and barriers increase the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic food, in this study the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour will be the variable that will be studied.

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15 and vegetables and low purchase behaviour do not behave in line with their attitudes towards organic fruit and vegetables. This group of consumers can give information about which motivations and barriers influence their behaviour so that they do not behave in line with their attitude. Consumers without a gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic fruit and vegetables behave in line with their attitudes. Consumers without a gap cannot give information about what motivations and barriers influence the gap.

Hypothesis 1: There is a direct relationship in the increase or decrease of the gap and purchase behaviour.

2.5 Consumer purchase motivations for buying organic fruit and vegetables. In this section the consumer purchase motivations for buying organic fruit and vegetables will be explained and hypotheses will be formulated. The consumer purchase motivations are divided in two categories: egoistic motivations (section 2.5.1) and altruistic motivations (section 2.52). The egoistic motivations discussed in this section are: health consciousness and hedonism and the altruistic motivations are: environmental concern and concern about food safety.

Motivation is defined as goal directed arousal (MacInnes et al., 1991). When consumer motivation is high, consumers are willing to take actions that help them to achieve their goals. Motivation not only drives behaviour consistent with a goal but also creates a willingness to spend time and energy to engage that behaviour (MacInnes et al., 1991). So when consumers find it important to look after their health, they are more willing to take actions to protect their health.

In the literature different motivations for buying organic fruit and vegetables are found. The reason for the different motivations is that most consumers have more than one motivation for buying organic fruit and vegetables (Padel and Foster, 2005). The motivations found in the literature can be divided in two broad categories; egoistic motivations (benefits the individual or his/her family) and altruistic motivations (benefits the society rather than the individual) (Michaelidou and Hassan, 2008; Magnusson et al., 2003).

2.5.1 Egoistic motives.

Looking after and be aware of your personal health, being health consciousness is a strong consumer purchase motivation for buying organic food (Padel and Foster, 2005; Krystallis et al., 2008; Zanoli and Naspetti, 2008; Fotopoulos et al., 2003; Lockie et al., 2002; Michaelidou and Hassan, 2008; Magnusson et al., 2003, Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2009; Tsakiridou et al., 2008; Gracia and Magistris, 2008). In studies is found that being health consciousness is the strongest motivation for buying organic food (Padel and Foster, 2005; Magnusson et al., 2003).

Magnusson et al. (2003) found that being health conscious is a motive for buying organic potatoes (β= 0,30, p<0,0001), the other consumer purchase motivations they studied had no significant effect on purchase behaviour of organic potatoes. Tarkiainen and Sundqvist (2009) found that being health conscious has a significant positive influence on the attitude towards organic food (β= 0,242, p<0,05). Gracia and Magistris (2008) found that believing that organic food is beneficial for your health has a significant positive effect on the purchase behaviour of organic food (β= 2,2, p<0,05).

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16 consumers associate organic fruit and vegetables with a healthy lifestyle (Padel and Foster, 2005). The second reason is the result of the study of Magnusson et al. (2003), they found that from four different product groups, the product group fruit and vegetables had the strongest effect on purchase behaviour (see table 3).

Consumers associate organic food with a healthy diet (Padel and Foster, 2005; Lockie et al., 2002), because of for example the absence of chemicals in the food (Shaw Hughner et al., 2007). When consumers are health conscious they want to improve their health and quality of life by engaging in healthy behaviours (Michaelidou and Hassan, 2008). If consumers believe that organic food is healthier than conventional food, health conscious consumers are more willing to purchase organic food than consumers that are not health conscious.

Hypothesis 2: A higher (lower) level of health consciousness will decrease (increase) the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic fruit and vegetables.

Pleasure and sensuous gratification for oneself is the definition for hedonism (Aerstens et al., 2009). Pleasure and enjoyment of life are found in laddering interviews to be one of the most important values for purchasing organic food (Dahm et al., 2009; Padel and Foster, 2005; Krystallis et al., 2008; Zanoli and Naspetti, 2008; Fotopoulos et al., 2003; Baker et al., 2004). In the studies of Fotopoulos et al. (2003) and Zanoli and Naspetti (2008) is found that pleasure is the most important value for buying organic food. The motivations that lead to these values in laddering interviews are: benevolence (feel good) and food as enjoyment (feel pleasure, taste good and enjoy eating it) (Padel and Foster, 2005; Zanoli and Naspetti, 2008; Fotopoulos et al., 2003). Padel and Foster (2005) found that pleasure is becoming an emerging driving force for purchasing the product group organic fruit and vegetables. Leonidou et al. (2010) have found that consumers who show environmental friendly behaviour are more satisfied with their lives. It is possible that this also works the other way around, that consumers who are satisfied with their life, are more motivated to purchase organic fruit and vegetables.

Sensuous gratification is the taste and smell of products. Magnusson et al. (2001) found that taste was the most important purchase criterion for food. A number of studies have found that consumers believe that organic food taste better than conventional food (Shaw Hughner et al., 2007; Fotopoulos et al., 2003). The taste of organic food is one of the most important factors for consumers to try organic food for the first time according to the Taylor Nelson Sofres report (Aerstens et al., 2009). This is supported by the study of Fotopoulos et al. (2003), they found that the reasons to purchase organic food are superior quality (for 96 % of the consumers) and better taste (for 93 % of the consumers) in comparison to non-organic products.

When consumers find pleasure and sensuous gratification important in their life, they are more motivated to purchase organic fruit and vegetables. This because consumers believe that organic food taste better and are of better quality then not organic food (Padel and Foster, 2005; Zanoli and Naspetti, 2008; Fotopoulos et al., 2003).

Hypothesis 3: A higher (lower) level of hedonism will decrease (increase) the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic fruit and vegetables.

2.5.2 Altruistic Motives.

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17 Sundqvist, 2009; Tsakiridou et al., 2008). Lockie et al. (2002) have found that consumers state that environmental concern is a motivation for buying organic food (mean 3,68 for organic food consumers and mean 3,29 for not organic food consumers, with a 1 to 5 scale). Gracia and Magistris (2008) found that for regular buyers of organic food environmental concern has a positive effect on purchase behaviour (β= 0,393, p<0,05).

The reason why environmental is a consumer purchase motivation is that many consumers experience an internal reward when they purchase organic food (Lockie et al., 2002). This moral feeling positively relates to the purchase intention of organic food. Consumers believe that purchasing organic food helps the environment more then not organic food (Padel and Foster, 2005; Zanoli and Naspetti, 2008). When consumers are motived to protect the environment they are more motivated to purchase organic fruit and vegetables than consumers who are not motived to protect the environment.

Hypothesis 4: A higher (lower) level of environmental concern will decrease (increase) the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic fruit and vegetables.

Concern about food safety is defined as the concern that consumers have about additives, chemicals and preservatives in their food, concern about genetically modified organism in food and concern about animal disease-related to food (e.g. bird flu, etc.) (Michaelidou and Hassan, 2007). In studies is found that concern about food safety only influence the attitude that consumers have towards organic food (β= 0,31, p<0,01) (Lockie et al., 2002; Michaelidou and Hassan, 2007). In these two studies no significant effect is found between concern about food safety and purchase behaviour of organic food.

Even though that those two studies did not found prove that concern about food safety influence purchase behaviour of organic food there are reasons found in the literature why concern about food safety can influence the purchase behaviour of organic food. The first reason is the high percentage of consumers (94,5 %) that are concerned about their food safety (Tsakiridou et al., 2008). The second reason is that concern about food safety is one of the most important factors for consumers to try organic food for the first time (Aerstens et al., 2009). The third reason is that concern about food safety is fear that consumers have, the effect of fear is that it will increase the involvement of consumer. When consumers have more involvement, their behaviour will be more in line with their attitude (Aerstens et al., 2009; Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2009). That is why is this study the hypothesis will be that the level of concern about food safety that consumers have will positively influence the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic food.

Hypothesis 5: A higher (lower) level of concern about food safety will decrease (increase) the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic food.

The influence of egoistic motivations on the purchase behaviour is stronger than the effect of altruistic motivations (Magnusson et al., 2003; Aerstens et al., 2009; Gracia and Magistris, 2008). An explanation is that egoistic motivations, like health benefits can be achieved by the individual him/herself, which motivates a person more than altruistic benefits that can be achieved by a collective. The goal improving the environment can only be achieved by collective effort and that motivates a person less (Magnusson et al., 2003).

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18 2.6 Barriers for buying organic fruit and vegetables.

In this paragraph the barriers for buying organic fruit and vegetables that are found in the literature will explained and hypotheses about the barriers will be formulated. The barriers for buying organic food are the reasons found in the literature why consumers do not buy organic food. The two most mentioned barriers are the price premium (section 2.6.1) and perceived availability of organic food (section 2.6.2) (Hutchins and Greenlagh, 1997; Shaw Hughner et al., 2007; Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2005; Magnusson et al., 2001; Padel and Foster, 2005; Gracia and Magistris, 2008; Vermeir and Verbeke, 2006; Lockie et al., 2002).

There are more barriers for buying organic food, because consumers can have multiple reasons why they do not buy organic food (Padel and Foster, 2005). Other barriers than price and perceived availability discussed in section are: scepticism in organic certification labels (section 2.6.3), lack of information (section 2.6.4), satisfaction with non-organic food (section 2.6.5) and cosmetic defects (section 2.6.6)

Table 2.3: A summary of the price premiums that consumers are willing to pay for organic food described in the literature.

Reference Willingness to pay towards organic food. Hutchins and Greenlagh,

1997

Fruit: 26 % of the consumers are willing to pay a price premium of 10-20 %. Vegetables: 24 % of the consumers are willing to pay premium of 10-20 %. Magnusson et al., 2001 5 to 10 %

Kim et al., 2008 10 %

Gifford and Bernard, 2011 Organic chicken: willing to pay a price premium between 4,6% and 24,3 % for organic chicken.

Ureña et al., 2008 Fruit: 17,3 %. Vegetables: 15,4 %. Batte et al., 2007 Breakfast cereal: 27,7 %. Krystallis and

Chryssohoidis, 2005

Fruit: 35 % mean, median 30%. Vegetables: 36 % mean, median 30%.

2.6.1 Price and willingness to pay.

In the literature many studies find that the price of organic food is a barrier for buying organic food (Hutchins and Greenlagh, 1997; Shaw Hughner et al., 2007; Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2005; Magnusson et al., 2001; Padel and Foster, 2005; Gracia and Magistris, 2008; Vermeir and Verbeke, 2006; Lockie et al., 2002; Zanoli and Naspetti, 2008; Verhoef, 2005). Verhoef (2005) found that the price of organic food has a negative effect on the purchase behaviour of organic food (β=-0,69, p<0,01). For the product group fruit and vegetables the price premium of organic fruit and vegetables is a barrier (Gracia and Magistris, 2008).

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19 From the results shown in table 2.3 and the result of Verhoef (2005) the hypothesis can be formulated that price is a barrier for buying organic food, but that consumers are willing to pay a price premium for organic food. The price premium that consumers are willing to pay for organic food is between 10 and 30 % (Gifford and Bernard, 2011; Ureña et al., 2008; Batte et al, 2007; Krystallis and Chryssohoidis, 2005; Hutchins and Greenlagh, 1997; Magnusson et al., 2001, Kim et al., 2008). In this study the hypothesis is that a price premium more than 10 % is a barrier for buying organic fruit and vegetables, but a price premium under the 10 % is not a barrier. Hypothesis 7: A price premium more than 10 % has a negative effect on the gap between the attitude and the purchase behaviour towards organic fruit and vegetables.

2.6.2 Lack of perceived availability.

The other barrier that is most mentioned in the literature is lack of availability of organic food. Some studies studied the actual lack of availability (Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2005; Shaw Hughner et al., 2007; Gracia and Magistris, 2008; Zanoli and Naspetti, 2008; Verhoef, 2005), other studies looked into the perceived lack of availability by consumers (Vermeir and Verbeke, 2006; Lockie et al., 2002).

Lockie et al. (2002) found in their study that the barrier is the perceived lack of availability, instead of the actual availability. These findings are supported by Tarkiainen and Sundqvist (2005), they found that the actual lack of availability had no significant effect on the purchase behaviour of organic food in Finland. The reason that there is no effect is according to Tarkiainen and Sundqvist (2005) is the broad availability of organic food in Finland. Verhoef (2005) also did find that lack of availability has no significant effect on purchase behaviour in the Netherlands. In the introduction of this study numbers are shown of the availability of organic products in the Netherlands, figure 1 supports that in the Netherlands there is a broad availability of organic food.

The hypothesis is that only the perceived availability by consumers is a barrier for buying organic fruit and vegetables. The perceived availability is a reason why consumers do not purchase organic fruit and vegetables, even though the actual availability of organic product has grown, consumers still believe that organic products are not available.

Hypothesis 8: A higher (lower) level of the perceived lack of availability of organic fruit and vegetables increase (decrease) the gap between the attitude and the purchase behaviour of organic fruit and vegetables.

2.6.3 Scepticism in organic certification labels.

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20 validity certification labels are major determinant of consumer’s trust in organic food (Kim et al., 2008).

In a number of studies is found that consumers do not trust the organic certification labels (Shaw Hughner et al., 2007; Padel and Foster, 2005; Krystallis et al., 2008; Aerstens et al., 2009; Kim et al., 2008; Zepeda and Deal, 2009)). Kim et al. (2008) found that consumers do not trust labels created by retailers but they trust consumer organization labelling.

Vermeir and Verbeke (2006) studied the consumers knowledge and trust in organic certification labels. They found that consumers have little knowledge about organic certification labels and that consumers do not know what the certification labels look like. Vermeir and Verbeke (2006) also found that consumer do believe organic certification labels. Even though the consumers believe the organic certification labels, when the consumers do not know what the labels look like, there is a chance that the organic certification label will not convince the consumer of the credence attribute of organic food.

Scepticism about organic certification labels has also behavioural effects on consumers. In the study of Krystallis and Chryssohoidis (2005) is found that the trustworthiness of organic certification labels influence the willingness to pay of consumers. When consumers trust organic certification labels, they are willing to pay a higher price premium for organic food. Another reason why trust in organic certification labels important is, is that trust in organic certification labels can decrease uncertainty by consumers. When consumers feel uncertain, they have the tendency to follow the behaviour of other consumers (Aerstens et al., 2009). In the case of organic food can that mean that uncertain consumers do not purchase organic food, because the majority of consumers rarely do purchase organic food. Because of the behavioural effects of scepticism in organic certification labels, the hypothesis will be that scepticism in organic certification labels will increase the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic fruit and vegetables.

Hypothesis 9: A high (low) level of scepticism in organic certification labels will increase (decrease) the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic fruit and vegetables.

2.6.4 Lack of information.

In several studies is found that consumers want more information about organic food (Shaw Hughner et al., 2007; Padel and Foster, 2005, Zanoli and Naspetti, 2008; Aerstens et al., 2009; Zepeda and Deal, 2009; Tsakiridou et al., 2008 and Vermeir and Verbeke, 2006). Consumers have little knowledge about organic food, 55,8% of the respondents in Greece claim to be not well informed about organic food (Tsakiridou et al., 2008). Consumers also do not know what the benefits are of organic food and consumers who rarely purchase organic food are not interested in finding information about organic food (Zepeda and Dean, 2009). Consumers want information about the benefits, the production and control processes of organic food and what the differences are in production method with comparison with non-organic food (Tsakiridou et al., 2008; Zanoli and Naspetti, 2008).

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21 Gifford and Bernard (2011) found that almost 50% of their respondents increased their willingness to pay after getting more information about organic food.

Some studies have found that more information has a positive effect on the purchase behaviour of consumers (Gracia and Magistris; 2008; Vermeir and Verbeke, 2006; Padel and Foster, 2005). Gracia and Magistris (2008) have found a positive relationship between self-reported knowledge of organic food and purchase behaviour (β=2,33, p<0,05). Because of the effects that lack of information has on purchase behaviour the hypothesis is that lack of information increases the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour of organic fruit and vegetables.

Hypothesis 10: A high (low) level of lack of information will increase (decrease) the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic fruit and vegetables

2.6.5 Satisfaction with non-organic food.

Satisfaction with non-organic food is a barrier for buying organic food (Tsakiridou et al., 2008; Shaw Hughner et al., 2007). In paragraph 2.2.1 is explained that shopping for food can be a low involvement activity and when consumers are satisfied they are not motivated to think about the different choices they have (Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2009). In everyday life consumption of consumers is driven by convenience and habits, and habits are hard to change (Vermeir and Verbeke, 2006). If consumers do not feel the need to change their habits and behaviour because they are satisfied with the quality and taste of non-organic food, they will keep buying non-organic food.

The effects of being satisfied with non-organic food are that consumers do not think about other options, shopping for food stays a low involvement activity. Secondly, consumers will not purchase organic fruit and vegetables. That is why to hypothesis is formulated that a high level of satisfaction with non-organic food will increase the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic food.

Hypothesis 11: A higher (lower) level of satisfaction with non-organic food source will increases (decreases) the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic fruit and vegetables.

2.6.6 Cosmetic defects.

Almost everybody only purchases fruit and vegetables that look perfect and clean (free of mod) (Shaw Hughner et al., 2007). The attractiveness of fruit and vegetables is their visual attractiveness, their sensory appeal (Gracia and Magistris, 2007; Lockie et al., 2002). When organic fruit and vegetables have cosmetic defects this can be a reason for consumers to do not purchase organic fruit and vegetables.

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22 Hypothesis 12: Cosmetic defects increase the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour of organic fruit and vegetables.

2.7 Moderators.

Moderators in this study are self-identity and demographic factors. Self-identity has moderation and direct effects on the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic fruit and vegetables. In this part, first the direct effects of self-identity will be discussed and a hypothesis will be formulated (section 2.7.1). Secondly the moderating effects of self-identity and demographic factors will be explained (section 2.7.2).

2.7.1 Self-identity.

Self-identity is the salient part of an actor’s self that relates to particular behaviour and reflects the “labels that people use to describe themselves” (Smith et al., 2008). The type of identity that influences environmental friendly and eco-friendly behaviour is called ethical self-identity (Michaelidou and Hassan, 2007). Ethical self-self-identity is the label that consumers give themselves when they are ecologically conscious and tend to behave in such a way that is environmentally friendly and not harmful to the environment or society (Michaelidou and Hassan, 2007). Other definitions for ethical self-identity are green behaviour (Gracia and Magistris, 2008; Lockie et al., 2002), or pro-environmental behaviour (Van Doorn et al., 2007). Table 2.4: The relationships between ethical self-identity and attitude, purchase intention and purchase behaviour of organic food.

Reference Relationship between ethical self-identity and attitude towards organic food.

Relationship between ethical self-identity and purchase intention of organic food.

Relationship between ethical self-identity and purchase behaviour of organic food. Gracia and

Magistris, 2007

consume recycled products: β=0,6854, p<0,05 do recycle: β=1,5779 p<0,05 Magnusson et al., 2003 potatoes: β=0,15 p<0,001 potatoes: β=0.23 p<0,0001 potatoes: β=0.27 p<0,0001 Michaelidou and Hassan, 2007 β=0,31, p<0,0001 β=0,23, p<0,0001 Leonidou et al., 2010 β=0,90, p<0,0001 Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2009 β=0,543, p<0,001

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23 When consumers have an ethical self-identity they are willing to behave in such a way that is friendly for the environment (Smith et al., 2008; Michaelidou and Hassan, 2007). Buying organic fruit and vegetables is considered to be friendly for the environment (Padel and Foster, 2005). Based on the results in table 2.4 in this study the following hypothesis will be formulated that consumers who have ethical self-identity have a smaller gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic fruit and vegetables. Consumers who have an ethical self-identity their purchase behaviour will be more in line with their attitude towards organic fruit and vegetables.

Hypothesis 13: A high (low) level of ethical self-identity will decrease (increase) gap between the attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic food.

In the literature two strong moderation effects of ethical self-identity on the consumer purchase motivation can be found. For consumers who have an ethical self-identity are stronger motivated by environmental concern and health conscious (Lockie et al., 2002; Saba and Messina, 2003). In the study of Gracia and Magistris (2008) is described that the consumer purchase motivation environmental concern did not have a significant effect on purchase behaviour for occasionally buyers of organic food. For regular buyers of organic food the consumer purchase motivation environmental concern has a positive effect on purchase behaviour (β= 0,393, p<0,05) (Gracia and Magistris, 2008). It is likely to assume that regular buyers of organic food have an ethical self-identity.

Consumers who have an ethical self-identity are environmental conscious, which explains why these consumers are more motivated by the consumer purchase motivation environmental concern. The reason why being health conscious has a larger effect for consumers who have an ethical self-identity, is that these consumer want to prevent chemicals in their food because of environmental reasons and because they know which effects these chemicals can have on humans and the environment.

Hypothesis 14a: A high (low) level of ethical self-identity will increase (decrease) the effect of the consumer purchase motivation health consciousness.

Hypothesis 14b: A high (low) level of ethical self-identity will increase (decrease) the effect of the consumer purchase motivation of environmental concern.

According to Lockie et al. (2002) consumers who have an ethical self-identity are willing to pay a higher price premium for organic fruit and vegetables. The moderation effect of ethical self-identity on the barrier price is that price has a smaller effect on the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic fruit and vegetables for consumers who have an ethical self-identity. Explanations are that these consumers are better informed about organic food or they value the attributes of organic food more.

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24 Hypothesis 15a: A high (low) level of ethical self-identity will decrease (increase) the effect of the barrier price.

Hypothesis 15b: A high (low) level of ethical self-identity will decrease (increase) the effect of the barrier lack of information.

2.7.2 Demographic factors.

Demographic factors have limited influence on the organic food choice in Europe and in predicting purchase behaviour of organic food (Gracia and Magistris, 2008; Aerstens et al., 2009). The findings about the effects of demographic factors are often contrary, Tsakiridou et al. (2008) described that older consumers are the consumers of organic food but Onyango et al. (2007) and Magnusson et al. (2003) described that consumers of organic food are between 18 and 32 years old. One finding that is described in most studies is that women do buy more organic food, probably because women mostly do the groceries for their families (Gracia and Magistris, 2008; Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2009)

In the literature some moderating effects of demographic factors on the consumer purchase motivations of organic fruit and vegetables are described: women are more motivated with health, men are motivated by hedonism (Ureña et al., 2008). The moderating effects of demographic factors on the barrier for buying organic fruit and vegetables are: higher educated consumers are less concerned with cosmetic defects, women claim that they have more knowledge about organic food, older consumers are willing to pay more for organic food and men are willing to pay more for organic food (Tsakiridou et al., 2008; Ureña et al., 2008).

Hypothesis 16a: Women are more motivated by the consumer purchase motivation health consciousness.

Hypothesis 16b: Men are more motivated by the consumer purchase motivation hedonism. Hypothesis 16c: For higher educated consumers the barrier cosmetic defects has less influence. Hypothesis 16d: For women the barrier lack of information has less influence on

Hypothesis 16e: For older consumers the barrier price has less influence on the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour.

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25 Chapter 3: Research Method.

3.1 Introduction.

In this chapter the research method of this study will be explained. First thedata collection of this study will be discussed (section 3.2). In section 3.3 measurements of the constructs will follow, in this part the factor loadings and Cronbach’s alpha of constructs are given. In section 3.3.1 will be explained how consumers with a gap between attitude and purchase behaviour towards organic fruit and vegetables will be defined. In the last part of this chapter an overview of methods of analysis will follow (section 3.4).

3.2 Data collection.

In this section the population and sample will be discussed (section 3.2.1). The design and set-up of the questionnaire will be explained (section 3.2.2), the set-up of the section is: the scales for: attitude towards organic fruit and vegetables, purchase behaviour and the gap between high attitude and low purchase behaviour (section 3.2.2.1), beliefs towards organic fruit and vegetables (section 3.2.2.2) , consumer purchase motivations and self-identity (section 3.2.2.3), barriers (section 3.2.2.4),willingness to pay (section 3.2.2.5), EHEC-crisis (section 3.2.2.6) and demographic factors (section 3.2.2.7).

Table 3.1 : An overview of the sample.

Gender (%) Age (%) Level of education (%) Income (%)

Male 33,5 <25 14,7 MAVO 3,5 below modal 26,8

Female 64,7 26-35 25,3 MBO, LBO 14,1 modal 26,2

I'd rather not say. 1,8 36-45 15,9 HAVO, VWO 14,1 above modal 31,5 46-55 25,3 HBO, HTS, HEAO 38,8 I rather don't

tell 15,5 56-65 11,2 University 25,3 >66 5,9 Postgraduate education 3,5 I'd rather not

say

1,8 I rather not tell 0,6

3.2.1 Population and sample.

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26

3.2.2 Questionnaire.

The questionnaire used in this study is designed by using existing scales from the literature and adding new scales. The set-up of the questionnaire is largely based on the theoretical framework in chapter 2, only one extra subject is added. The subject EHEC-crisis is added, at the time of the publishing of the questionnaire a food disease came in the news, this can influence the construct concern about food safety. The set-up of the questionnaire is: attitude towards organic fruit and vegetables, beliefs towards organic fruit and vegetables, purchase behaviour, the gap between high attitude and low purchase behaviour, consumer purchase motivations (the questions of the four different scales are mixed up), barriers (these scales are also mixed up), willingness to pay, self-identity, EHEC-crisis and demographic factors.

The questionnaire was first designed in English and later translated into Dutch. In appendix 1 and 2 the questionnaire can be found in Dutch and English. After the translation of the questionnaire, the questionnaire was checked by three different persons on mistakes and whether they understood the questions. These checks showed some problems, so some changes were made and after that the questionnaire was published on the internetsite www.thesistools.nl. Information about the questionnaire, like how people could find it and answer the questionnaire were send per email and spread on social networksites to a large population of family, co-workers and friends.

The rating scales used in this questionnaire are a 7 point Likert scale. The advantages of the Likert scale are that it is easy to construct and administer, respondents readily understand how to use the scale (Malhotra, 2007).

3.2.2.1 The scale for: attitude, purchase behaviour and the gap between attitude and

purchase behaviour:

The method used to measure the attitude towards organic fruit and vegetables is the semantic differential scale (i.e. good-bad). In this study the semantic differences bad-good, unimportant-important and unusual-normal are used to defined the respondents attitudes towards organic fruit and vegetables (Ki and Hon, 2007; Magnusson et al., 2001; 2003; Smith et al, 2008; Malhotra, 2007 ).

The purchase behaviour of organic fruit and vegetables will be measured on two levels: frequency and percentage of monthly fruit and vegetables budget. The frequency is measured by asking how often respondents purchase organic fruit and vegetables. The quality is measured by asking respondents which percentage of their monthly fruit and vegetables budget is spend on organic fruit and vegetables. Because it is reasonable to expect that not everybody can answer this question, the respondents can answer the question with: I do not know.

The gap between a high attitude towards organic fruit and vegetables and low purchase behaviour of organic fruit and vegetables is the difference between attitude and purchase behaviour. To measure this scale it is not possible to take the difference between attitude and purchase behaviour. When a variable is a difference variable, all the variables in the study have to be difference variables. To overcome this problem a new scale is designed.

3.2.2.2 Beliefs towards organic fruit and vegetables.

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27 Arvola et al. (2008). For the beliefs towards organic fruit and vegetables no Cronbach’s alpha is calculated, because no internal reliability is expected.

The reason why the beliefs towards organic fruit and vegetables are measured in this study is that the beliefs can be used to explain why some hypotheses are not supported. For example, if during the data analysis is found that there is no proof that cosmetic defects is a barrier for buying organic fruit and vegetables. The question organic fruit and vegetables look ugly – look nice and organic fruit and vegetables look dirty – look clean can be used. These two questions can show whether consumers think organic fruit and vegetables have cosmetic defects. If consumers believe that organic fruit and vegetables have no cosmetic defects that can explain why there is no proof found during the data analysis for the barrier cosmetic defects of organic fruit and vegetables.

3.2.2.3 Consumer purchase motivations and self-identity.

In the literature scales are described for all the consumer purchase motivations and self-identity (Leonidou et al., 2010; Verhoef, 2005; Michaelidou and Hassan, 2008; Buchler et al., 2010; Knight and Warland, 2004; Krystallis et al. 2008). For the variable hedonism related to sensuous gratification a new scale is developed because the scale of Krystallis et al. (2008) only measured the pleasure part of hedonism. The new scale measured the sensuous gratification part of hedonism, by measuring whether respondents like to cook and if they find the taste of food important.

3.2.2.4 Barriers.

For the barriers: price, lack of perceived availability, lack of information and cosmetic defects scales are described in the literature (Verhoef, 2005; Magnusson et al., 2001;Tsakiridou et al., 2008). New scales are developed for the barriers: scepticism in organic certification labels and satisfaction with non-organic fruit and vegetables.

3.2.2.5 Willingness to pay:

In several studies the willingness to pay for organic food is measured with using payment cards (Batte et al., 2007; Loureiro and Lotade, 2005; Krystallis and Chryssohoidis, 2005; Ureña et al., 2008). In Batte et al. (2007) they test the willingness to pay by showing their respondent a picture of a box of cereal with the question: “Assuming breakfast cereal is priced at $3.00 per box at your local grocery store, how much more would you be willing to pay for each of the following characteristics?”. The characteristics that are used in that study were: pesticide free, enhanced flavour, genetically modified free, 100 % organic ingredients, at least 95 % organic ingredients, 70-94,9 % organic ingredients, less than 70 % organic ingredients and locally grown.

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28

3.2.2.6 EHEC-crisis.

In section 3.5.2 is explained that the consumer purchase motivation concern about food safety is highly influenced by food related illnesses (Michaelidou and Hassan, 2007). In the week before publishing the questionnaire several people died in Germany after getting ill because they had eating vegetables with the EHEC-bacteria. To see which effect the EHEC-crisis had on the variable concern about food safety, in the questionnaire is asked if respondents changed their purchase behaviour after the EHEC-crisis and if the EHEC-crisis was caused by organic farming.

3.2.2.7 Demographic factors:

The demographic factors used in this study are age, gender, education level, income, family situation and number of children. Also the question is asked if respondents do most of the shopping for their household, the reason for this question is to see if a reason why women purchase more organic food is that they do more groceries.

3.3 Measurement of the constructs.

In this part the scales of the questionnaire will be tested to see if the different scales test different constructs. The first analysis of the different scales is done to see if the test different constructs is a factor analysis. After the factor analysis the internal reliability of the found constructs will be tested. An overview of the different constructs with their references, their Cronbach’s alpha and their factor loadings of the constructs is shown in table 3.2.

To test if the scales show different constructs, a factor analysis is done on the variables for consumer purchase motivations and self-identity, a factor analysis is done on the variables for all the barriers and a factor analysis is done on the variables for attitude and the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour. After the factor analysis the Cronbach’s alpha will be calculated for all the constructs found in the factor analysis to test the internal consistency reliability. Internal consistency reliability is used to measure the reliability of a summated scale with several items. When the value of Cronbach’s alpha is less than 0,6 this generally indicates unsatisfactory internal consistency reliability (Malhotra, 2007; Field, 2005).

Before interpret the results of the factor analysis some test will be done to see if the factor analysis is reliable. The Barlett’s test of sphericity and Kaiser-Meyer Olkin test can be used to test whether it is appropriate to do a factor analysis (Malhotra, 2007; Field, 2005). The Barlett’s test of sphericity the null hypothesis that the variables are uncorrelated in the population, when the Barlett’s test of sphericity is significant a factor analysis is appropriate (Malhotra, 2007; Field, 2005). The Kaiser-Meyer Olkin measures the sampling adequacy, a bare minimum for the Kaiser-Meyer Olkin test is 0,5, a value between 0,5-0,7 is mediocre, values between 0,7-0,8 are good and a values above 0,8 are great.

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29 The methods used to determine the numbers of factors in this study are: based on eigenvalues and based on percentage of variance. With the method of eigenvalues only factors with eigenvalues than 1,0 are retained (Malhotra, 2007; Field, 2005). After a number of factors are extracted with an eigenvalue greater than 1,0, will be checked whether this factors account for at least of 60 % of the variance (Malhotra, 2007). For every factor analysis in this study this two methods are used.

The first factor analysis was done on the variables for the gap between attitude and purchase behaviour and the variables for attitudes towards organic fruit and vegetables. The factor analysis was reliable and 3 factors were found, as illustrated in appendix 3 and 4. One factor exists out of the attitude variables, one factor out of three of the five gap variables and the last factor out of the two remaining gap variables. The Cronbach’s Alpha was more than 0,6 for two of the factors: the attitude and the first gap factor. The Cronbach’s alpha for the second gap factor was 0,395, so in the further analysis only the first factor of the gap will be used (see table 3.2).

To see if the scales for the consumer purchase motivations and self-identity exists out of different constructs a factor analysis is done. The results of the factor analysis are illustrated in appendix 5 and 6, the factor analysis was reliable and 9 factors are extracted. Of the 9 factors found 5 were constructed out of variables from one scale, these factors are: health, hedonism taste, environmental concern, concern about food safety and hedonism pleasure. The scale self-identity was split into two factors, one factor included being member of an environmental organisation and one factor about influencing politics. One factor exists out of rest variables, this factor will not be used in further analysis. One factor combined the scale for self-identity behaviour and concern about food safety towards ingredients. Another factor analysis is done on the variables of those two scales, from that factor analysis two factors were extracted, as illustrated in appendix 7 and 8. For further analysis those two factors will be used. For all the factors found the Cronbach’s alpha were higher than 0,6, which means that the factors were reliable, as illustrated in table 3.2.

The factor analysis for the barriers for buying organic fruit and vegetables, 6 factors were extracted, as illustrated in appendix 9 and 10. Of the 6 factors, 3 factors consist of components totally similar of the scales in the questionnaire: price, perceived availability and cosmetic defects. The Cronbach’s alpha for these three scales is higher than 0,6, so reliable, see table 3.2.

The factor that exist out of components of the scale trust in certification labels, misses one component in comparison with the scale developed for the questionnaire: “I know the content of organic certification labels”. The Cronbach’s alpha of this factor was higher than 0,6, so this factor will be used for further analysis. The two factors consisting out of variables for the scales “satisfaction with non-organic fruit and vegetables” and “lack of information” have a Cronbach’s alpha lower than 0,6 so will not be used in further analysis.

Table 3.2: The constructs of this study, with the references, Cronbach’s alpha and factor loadings of the constructs. Reference: Cronbach’s Alpha: Factor loadings Attitude.

I think organic fruit and vegetable are: very bad - very good

very unimportant – very important very unusual - very normal

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