S1787578
University of Groningen
Faculty of Economics and Business Supervisors:
Dr. J.W. Bolderijk Dr. M.C. Leliveld
Master Thesis
The role of the moral self-concept in the
taste perception of fair trade products
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Abstract
Prior research has suggested that products are perceived to taste better when they are labelled as fair trade. However, it is yet unknown why the ethical label influences taste perception. To strengthen this argument the current study first explores whether a fruit juice tastes better when the same juice is labelled as fair trade. This research attempts to explain how this effect could occur.
To explore this, the role of the moral self-concept is examined. The self-concept is an organized collection of beliefs and feelings one holds about oneself. A fair trade product may give consumers the feeling that they act social responsible. The product might give them a good feeling. People wish to see themselves as a moral and lovable well-being and they balance their behaviour to maintain this self-concept. As fair trade is an ethical symbol that might influence moral behaviour, we suspected that people use these products to balance their moral self-concept. When consuming an ethical product the boost of morality might be passed over to the taste of the product.
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Table of Contents
Abstract ... 1
1.0 Introduction ... 3
2.0 Theoretical Framework ... 5
2.1.1 Fair trade products ... 5
2.1.2 Taste Perception ... 6
2.1.3 The fair trade label and its effect on taste perception. ... 7
2.2.1 The moral self-concept. ... 8
2.2.2 Compensating moral feelings. ... 9
2.2.3 The moderating role of the moral self-concept ... 9
3.0 Research design ... 10 3.1 Participants ... 11 3.2 Product ... 12 3.3 Procedure ... 12 Data analysis ... 14 4.0 Results ... 14
4.1 The main effects ... 15
4.3 Taste ... 16
5.0 Discussion ... 16
5.1 The fair trade label ... 16
5.2 Moral self-concept ... 16
5.3 Limitations ... 18
6.0 Conclusion ... 18
7.0 References ... 20
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1.0 Introduction
The term fair trade has become one of today’s buzzwords. People place more and more importance on the products they consume and the ethical and social choices they make (Mazar and Zhong, 2010; Chen, 2001). The fair trade label gives consumers the feeling that they can help to make the world a better place. Through these ethical products people can show their concerns or attitudes to society (De Pelsmacker, 2005). The market for fair trade keeps growing every year and the number of product categories offering fair trade products is increasing. Moreover, fair trade buyers have become heavier buyers, meaning that they buy more fair trade products (GFK, 2011).
Because of this increase in attention to ethical products there is a need to understand consumer behaviour concerning fair trade products. In the past years, there was a significant boost in studies on ethical behaviour (Poelman, Mojet, Lyon, & Sefa-Dedeh, 2008; Zander & Hamm, 2010). These studies mainly focussed on the motives to buy, but not on the effect of the fair trade label on consumer behaviour. The objective of this study is to gain more knowledge about the effect of the fair trade label on consumers. Hereby, companies can adjust their strategies accordingly and the growing demand toward ethical consumption can be satisfied.
Labelling
Labels help to give consumers information about the product and guide consumers in their decision making. Labels serve as a cue to assist consumers to make an evaluation of the overall quality of a product (Shiv et al., 2005). It is for producers critical that the quality of their products is perceived as high by consumers to gain a competitive position in the market. Moreover, consumers’ beliefs and attitudes about products and labels have shown to influence product preferences (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975; Shiv et al., 2005). Marketing actions can create the image of the product which in turn influences the product benefits derived from consumption (Shiv et al., 2005). Thus, marketers can significantly influence how people perceive a product. A well-known example of how the taste perception of people can be influenced is the blind test with cola. Non-branded cola was perceived completely different than when the Coca Cola brand was visible to participants (McClure et al, 2004). This indicates that information can manipulate the sensory perception of
consumers to a large extent.
4 even rated the fair trade product to taste better (Lotz et al., 2013). This shows that the difference in taste perception when the fair trade label is shown cannot be allocated to the expectancies that people hold. Therefore, the question why this difference in perception occurs is yet unclear. The aim of the current paper is to explore the effect of fair trade on taste. In addition, this study explores why this effect could occur.
This study
This study uses the fair trade label, because this label does not indicate a benefit for the consumer itself. Other than organic products, for example, the production process of fair trade product is not different from conventional products. Whereas organic products are produced with limited synthetic inputs and chemical additives, the fair trade label does not indicate a difference in taste or health benefits (McEachern and McClean, 2002; Vermeir and Verbeke, 2006). Fair trade is a label to indicate that producers of the product earn a fair price and ensures that working conditions are good (Pelsmacker et al., 2006). Fair trade certification only communicates the social ethical production, but is silent on other attributes and does not indicate a superior quality or taste. Hence, any difference in taste due to the fair trade label should elicit from the brain. This is what makes it interesting to investigate the reason why consumers would perceive the same product to taste different when a fair trade label is present.
By exploring this concept, this paper contributes to the understanding of taste perception of fair trade goods. Fair trade indicates a moral value of the product and shows that the consumer does not only care for itself but also for collective interests (Ferran and Grunert, 2007). It gives people confirmation that they care for others by buying fair trade products. As Ariely and Norton (2009) state, consumption is not just for satisfying physical needs. Consumption these days serves to show our beliefs, attitude and identity to ourselves and our social environment (Belk, 1988; Fournier, 1998). This perception of our self has an impact on the products we buy. The fair trade label has high ethical value and this symbolic meaning is known by everyone in our society. Hence it can serve to show the ethical concerns of people (Pelsmacker et al., 2006).
The self-concept
Consumers are indeed motivated to like products that match their self-concept (Sirgy, 1982). The self-concept can be defined as the way people view and perceive themselves. The self is developed by the feelings, attitudes and evaluations one has of oneself (Aronson, 1969; Baumeister, 1998; Bem, 1972). As this object of the self-concept evolves, it becomes a principal value where life revolves around and something that is cherished and safeguarded, and when possible, made more valuable. The self-concept is valuable and the individual will try to protect and enhance this concept. Next to that, by using goods the individual communicates a symbolic meaning to the self and others. So, products are used to enhance and maintain the self-concept (Roger, 1951).
5 people guide their moral behaviour and aim to maintain a positive self-concept (Zhong et al., 2009). The need towards a positive feeling about oneself can be satisfied by a fair trade product. Thereby influencing how the product, and thus its taste, is evaluated and perceived.
2.0 Theoretical Framework
In this section, literature on fair trade, self-concept and taste perception will be reviewed. Before we can elaborate on the explanation of why people perceive a difference in taste. We need to elaborate on the effect of the fair trade label on taste. The second section of the theoretical framework focuses on the explanation of how fair trade influences the perception of taste. This section concludes with a hypothesis as well.
2.1.1 Fair trade products
Fair trade is best known for its component of paying fair prices to farmers in developing countries. Fair trade is defined by The FINE, an informal umbrella group of the four main international fair trade networks, as: ‘‘a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, which seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers, especially in the South’’ (Fine, 2001). Companies using the fair trade label buy products from farmers on terms relatively more advantageous for the farmers than companies not adhering to fair trade standards. The products are marketed in developed countries as having an ethical premium (Bird and Hughes, 1997). By paying this fair price, companies enable locals to develop a sustainable business for better environmental and social conditions.
The presence of the label on products informs consumers about the fair price for the farmers. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) the population and need for consumption will grow extensively, estimating that in 2050 the agricultural production has to increase by some 70%, while preserving the environment and humanity. Therefore, attention should be given to sustainability and fair trade is a concept that can contribute significantly to a more sustainable world. By improving the value chain trough fair trade, local living conditions will be improved giving local farmers to opportunity to improve their business and livelihood (ABN,2012). Fair trade is thus essential for increasing the standard of living in developing countries worldwide. Essentially fair trade contributes to making the food supply chain more sustainable.
6 Therefore, it is important for fair trade products that they are not just positioned by their ethical attribute only. Consumers don’t want to sacrifice quality for ethics; willingness to pay drops significantly when functional futures don’t increase (Bhattacharya and Sen, 2004; Auger et al., 2008). Since food product quality is to a large extent determined by the way a product tastes, it is an important attribute. Actually, taste is one of most important attributes for people to buy fair trade products (Pelsmacker, 2005).
Next to that, fair trade labelled products usually compete with specialty products due to their price. Specialty products, however, are often known for their high quality and superior taste; they are positioned by their premium (De Pelsmacker et al., 2005). Unfortunately, fair trade products are sometimes expected to have an inferior taste. This means that people expect, prior to experiencing the product, fair trade products to be of a lower quality to compensate for the ethical aspect (Ottman, 1998). This makes it more difficult to compete with specialty products (Rice and McLean, 1999).
However, actual taste experiments contradict that people experience the fair trade product to taste worse. The study of Lotz et al. (2013) consisted of two experiments in which participants had to taste coffee (study 1) or chocolate (study 2). In both studies the participants rated the product to taste better when it was labelled as fair trade. In study 2, the participants expressed their beliefs about fair trade products. The majority believed that fair trade products do not taste better than the conventional counterpart. Nonetheless, the group that viewed the fair trade products not more positive rated the product, that was labelled as fair trade, as better tasting in the actual taste experiment. This shows that the label has a large influence on the perception of taste, but that it was not due to any expectations of participants.
2.1.2 Taste Perception
Before we can explore why a difference in taste perception can occur, it is essential to strengthen the finding that fair trade products are perceived to taste better. Therefore, we first gain a better understanding of the perception of products and taste. After which we can expand the underlying reason of the difference in taste perception. The following section will discuss literature on how consumers form a judgment about products.
7 The label serves as an important cue to help consumers make an evaluation. This is because it indicates a certain standard the product adheres to. Shiv, Carmon and Ariely (2005) perfectly demonstrate this by giving athletes the exact same energy drink. Subsequently, they informed both groups with a different price of the energy drink. The results show that the higher priced drink had more positive effects on likeability and even on sport performance.
Not only price information effects the assessment people make. Kähkönen and Tuorila (1998) found that pasta sauces were rated as less fat and lower in salt than a regular sauce, but only when the information was visible. In a blind test, no difference was rated. Also, origin of production (Caporale et al, 2006; Kihlberg et al., 2005) and manufacturing process (Caporale and Monteleone, 2004) has been demonstrated to influence the sensory perception of consumers. It is thus reasonable to argue that the fair trade label affects the taste perception.
In the remaining of this thesis the term “taste premium” will be used to define the increased taste perception. The taste premium implies that people assign a better rating to the taste of the product.
2.1.3 The fair trade label and its effect on taste perception.
The previous section shows that a label has a large influence on how product attributes are perceived. Even for the same products, labelling information affects the perception of taste (Oude Ophuis, 1994). But strong evidence for the influence of the fair trade label on taste perception is still limited.
Lotz et al., (2013) found that products are rated as better tasting when the fair trade label is presented, compared to unlabelled conventional products. However, the research of Obermiller et al. (2009) only showed that although fair trade products were expected to be of lower taste, they were not evaluated to taste worse. Since contradicting evidence still exists, it is necessary to strengthen the argument of the positive effect of the fair trade label on taste perception.
Following the findings of Lotz and colleagues (2013) together with theories that taste perception is influenced by labelling information (Shiv et al, 2005), the following hypothesis will be tested.
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2.2.1 The moral self-concept.
The previous section focussed on the effect of the label on taste perception. No research has yet found the underlying reason why people might perceive this difference in taste. Therefore, the following section will describe the possible role of the moral self-concept.
Although there are studies that link labelling information to perception of taste and quality, few clarify what underlies the effect. Lotz and colleagues (2013) anticipated on the expectancy theory, which is very plausible to affect perception. The expectation people hold to products is known to have a large influence on the quality of a product, as can be seen in literature of the placebo effect (Shiv et al., 2005). However, their hypothesis that people perceive the product to taste as they expected was not confirmed. This leaves the question on why people assign better taste ratings to fair trade products unanswered.
It is known that the ethical aspect of products influences how people think about themselves (Thøgerson, 2011). Mazar, Amir and Ariely (2008) propose that the self-concept is influenced by the internal reward system. This means that people internalize the norms and values of society (Campbell, 1964). Subsequently, these internalized norms and values function as an internal benchmark against which an individual compares its behaviour.
Evidence of the existence of this internal reward mechanism can be found in brain imaging studies. These studies reveal that behaviour based on social norms activates reward centres in the brain (De Quervain et al., 2004). These reward centres are the same as benefits from external cues as preferred drinks, food and financial gains (Knutson et al., 2001; O’Doherty et al., 2002). This suggests that the brain gains the same reward, from social behaviour as it does from pleasant sensory perceptions of drinks and food. This is of interest, since fair trade products indicate that a person contributes to social welfare, or engages in social behaviour.
The self-concept is developed from infancy and formed by reactions of peers and significant others. Therefore, maintaining and enhancing the self-concept also depends on the reactions of these people (Grubb and Hubb, 1968). People try to enhance their self-concept by communicating with their significant references trough symbolic products, the meaning of these symbolic products must be well-known by society. Fair trade products are highly symbolic and could be used to enhance the self-concept. This means that the actual physical aspect of product is inferior to its psychological aspect. Hence, the ethical aspect can dominate the physical attribute like taste, smell and texture.
9 linked moral self-concept to taste perception. To indicate that that self-concept moderates taste perception the concept moral compensating will be used in the experiment.
2.2.2 Compensating moral feelings.
People wish to see themselves as moral human being, therefore the self is negatively influenced when people behave immoral. People try to regain this loss by balancing their self-concept through moral actions. This balancing behaviour is also known as compensating or “moral cleansing” (Sachdeva et al, 2009).Carlsmith and Gross (1969) were one of the first demonstrating this moral compensatory behaviour. In their research, subjects had to give confederates painful shocks. Subsequently the researcher asked them for their help. The subjects were much more compliant when they just had given a shock than when they had only seen it. The researchers concluded that after the self-concept of being a moral person was diminished, by hurting someone else, people felt the need to increase their moral self-concept. So when the participants got the opportunity to help, they could increase, or balance, their feeling of being a moral individual. This concept was used by Sachdeva et al. (2009) to prime the moral self-concept. For this reason this study also utilizes the concept of moral compensating. As humans have a need to balance and monitor their moral self-concept, their behaviour is adjusted accordingly (Khan and Dhar, 2006, Dhar and Simonson 1999; Novemsky and Dhar, 2005).
Corresponding to the work of priming, we propose that prior behaviour influences subsequent behaviour by activating a mental construct about the positive self by giving a confirmation to the self-concept (Monin and Miller, 2001). For example, when people are being reminded of their benevolent characteristics, they donate less to charity (Sachdeva et al, 2009). Hence, it is suggested that a positive moral concept does not activate the need to balance the self-concept more positively.
2.2.3 The moderating role of the moral self-concept
Brain studies show that modern human’s preference for beverages and food is adapted by their hedonic state (McClure et al., 2004). This illustrates that how people feel about food and its meaning influences how they perceive taste of the product. A recognized example is that chocolate is often bought to overcome a depressed mood (Dubé-Rioux, 1990). When people feel the need to compensate their mood by products, the chocolate will be perceived very satisfactory. It is thus tempting to suggest that a boost in self-concept – the reward from consuming fair trade products- causes an increase in the evaluation of taste of the product (Lapidus and Schibrowsky, 1996).
10 Subsequently, it is reasonable to argue that, when there is a need to balance the moral self-concept and consuming fair trade products satisfy this need, a taste premium might be allocated to fair trade products. For this study the increase of taste perception is defined as the taste premium.
Hypothesis 2: The ‘taste premium’ for fair trade products is more pronounced when people have a strong (vs. weak) need to boost the moral self-concept.
This leads to the following conceptual model:
Fair Trade Label Taste Perception Moral Self-Concept
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3.0 Research design
The design of this research aims to answer the main question of this paper; how does fair trade influence the taste perception, and how is this effect moderated by participants’ moral self-concept? The experiment will consist of a manipulation of the moral self-concept of participants and a product tasting session. The research will take form of a field experiment.
This study uses a 2x2 between subjects research design, where the fair trade label is present or absent, and the self-concept is boosted or threatened.
The hypotheses of this research were stated as following:
H1: People will perceive the same product to taste better when the product is labeled as fair trade.
H2: The ‘taste premium’ for fair trade products is more pronounced when people have a strong (vs. weak) need to boost the moral self-concept.
3.1 Participants
The experiment took place among a group of Master Marketing students of the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. A total of 170 participants took part in the experiment. One participant was left out of the analysis, since he did not fill in one of the two questionnaires. The research is conducted among 6 classes of the course Brand and Product Management. Since the experiment asked for 4 groups (see table 1), the first 4 groups were each assigned to 1 of the four conditions. Students of the remaining two tutorials groups were divided between the 4 groups. In each tutorial a part of the students participated in one of the two self-concept conditions. For example, tutorial group 5 had to write a story for the threatened self-concept condition and received a second questionnaire with either the conventional or fair trade condition. Tutorial group 6 had to write a story for the positive self-concept condition and received a second questionnaire with again either the conventional or fair trade condition.
The sample consisted of 95 males (55.9%) and 75 females (44,11%). Their age varied between 21 and 28 years old, with a mean of 23.11 year. All participants are students of the University of Groningen. The participants were equally distributed among the 4 groups.
Label Self-concept N
Group 1 fair trade labelled positive self-concept 46 Group 2 fair trade labelled threatened self-concept 40 Group 3 conventional positive self-concept 42 Group 4 conventional threatened self-concept 41
Table 1
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3.2 Product
For the aim of this research it preferred that people don’t recognize the ingredients of the product. Recognition of the product’s ingredients could lead to a biased taste perception (Kirsch, 1985). It is undesirable that participants recognize the juice, as in case of for example orange juice. This is because most people have already shaped an opinion about orange juice, which could lead them to mindlessly filling in the questionnaire. It might also lead to biased answers due to a (dis)confirmation of their expectation of the fruit juice. Thus, for research it is more convenient to make use of an ambiguous product.
As a result, a fruit juice consisting of raspberry and pomegranate has been selected. This is juice is chosen because of its ambiguous taste. The juice has been tested on recognition previously by another student. In a small test (N=15) it was revealed that it was unlikely that participants could correctly identify the ingredients of the juice when tasting the drink without information on the ingredients. After the data was collected, it was again verified if the ingredients could be identified. As expected, none of the participants in this study identified the composition of ingredients correctly.
3.3 Procedure
The writing test
This experiment uses a modified version of a writing test to boost or threaten the moral self-concept. The test has been shown to affect the moral self-concept in earlier studies (Sachdeva et al., 2009; Reed, Aquino and Levy, 2007). In a study from Sachdeva et al., 2009, the writing test was used to influence either a positive, neutral or negative moral identity. This experiment will only utilize the positive and negative test to prime moral identity.
Priming the positive moral identity should not cause a need to balance moral identity. On the other hand, priming the negative moral identity should create a need to satisfy and balance the moral identity of participants. The taste experiment that follows can then be used to satisfy the need to balance the moral identity and this should result in an increased taste experience. This compensation is expected to occur only when the fair trade label is visible. The questionnaires can be found in appendix 7.
13 In the negative-traits condition the list contained the words: disloyal, greedy, mean, selfish, unfair, negligence, prejudiced, unconstructive and lazy. These words will cause the participants to feel threatened in their moral self-concept.
Subsequently, participants are asked to take a few moments to carefully think about the meaning of the words and then to write a brief story about themselves using the all words they copied at least once. The participants are also told that writing the story would be easier if they visualize the relevance of each word to their live.
Taste experiment
After the writing test, the students had to taste one sample of the fruit juice and rate it. In this setting, subjects were given a paper with information which contained either the fair trade logo or no logo. To prevent suspicion about the objective of the experiment, the experimenter administered the dependent measure, the taste experiment, in a second questionnaire. A sample survey (N=15) confirmed that the subject could not identify the link between the two questionnaires. The participants were informed that the taste experiment was part of the introduction of a new (fair trade) juice, and that the aim was to test if the participants were able to identify the ingredients in a blind taste test. The same drink was used for all participants, in order to make sure that the dependent variable could only be influenced by the presence or absence of the fair trade label.
Dependent measures
A small fair trade label was shown on the information paper and a short story about the product was written down. To ensure that information could not influence the group that tasted the non-labelled fruit juice, there was no label shown, and the cover story contained the same only without the fair trade aspect.
14 Mean Standard Deviation
Thirst 5.21 2.024 Sweetness 6.05 1.503 Bitterness 3.49 1.937 Taste 6.22 1.801 Calories 5.15 1.955 Health 5.48 2.047 Intention to Buy 4.39 1.979 Willingness to Pay €1.32 €0.54 Data analysis Analysis
As indicated earlier, this research uses a 2 (Label: fair trade vs. conventional) x 2 (Moral self-concept: positive vs. threatened) between-subjects design. To test the hypotheses, a regression analysis is used. This is a procedure for analyzing associative relations between a dependent variable and the independent variables. This analysis will be used to determine whether the independent variables, fair trade label and moral self-concept, explain a significant variation in the dependent variable - taste perception. Moreover, it can also show the strength of the relationship between the variables (Malhotra,2010).
The aim of this research is to uncover the effect of the fair trade label on taste perception and the moderating role of moral self-concept. In the following section the results of the data analyses will be reported. The control variables age, gender and thirst were left out of the analysis, since post analysis revealed no significant between groups effects.
The dependent variable of taste perception is tested by using linear regression. Taste perception is a metric variable and therefore a linear regression is a suitable statistical procedure to use. The independent variables are categorical variables and are coded the following. The variable ‘fair trade label’ is coded as 0 is conventional, so no label is shown and 1 is used when the fair trade label is present. In the variable ‘moral self-concept’ 0 is a threatened self-concept and 1 is a positive self-concept. Furthermore, the data is normal distributed.
4.0 Results
Before any analysis was done, randomization needed to be confirmed. Between the groups there was no difference in length or age. An Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was conducted to demonstrate that no differences exist between the tutorial groups (Length, F = 1.773, p = .121. Age, F = .217, p = .955).
15 Fair trade label Conventional
Positive Self-concept Mean: 6.59 SD: 1.47 Mean: 6.05 SD: 1.64 Threatened Self-concept Mean: 6.43 SD: 1.68 Mean: 5.78 SD: 2.30
4.1 The main effects
The effects were analyzed using a Linear Regression analysis. First, the complete model is tested by the F-test, which showed a significant linear relation between the fair trade label (F = 4.728, p = 0.031). So, the drink was rated more positive when labelled as fair trade. Finding a significant effect of the label fair trade on an increase of taste, H1 is supported. The analysis reveals that in the absence of the label taste is the mean is 5.916 and when the label is shown the taste perception increases by 0.596 to 6.612 on a nine-point scale. Furthermore, the R2 is 0.028, which indicates that only 2,8% of the variance is explained by the presence of the fair trade label.
It was hypothesized that a threatened moral self-concept would influence taste perception positively. In order to test this hypothesis, a linear regression is conducted. To test the interaction a new variable is made; fair trade * self-concept (fair_self). When testing the interaction the main effects were included in the analysis. Contradicting the expectation, this interaction was not significant (F=1,776, p = 0.154). Due to the fact that the F-test, and so the model, is not significant, there is no need to further examine the results of the analysis.
In figure 2 the data is visualized. As can be seen, there is no significant interaction. The graph also shows that in both the positive as the threatened self-concept condition, the product labelled as fair trade is perceived to taste better.
Table 3. The evaluation of taste between the groups
* An overview of the evaluation per group of the other items in the study can be found in the appendix 3
Threatened Positive
Moral Self-concept
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4.3 Taste
In the questionnaire, participants were asked to rate more aspects than only taste. It is interesting to see whether these items have an effect on taste. The regression analyses revealed that none of the items thirst, sweetness, bitterness, calories and health explains a significant variance in taste (F = 1,617, p = 0,124).
Furthermore, the questionnaire included the question whether the participant had an intention to buy the juice. Since this item has been included in previous studies, it was interested to see whether the label or the interaction of the label and moral self-concept had an influence on the intention to buy. The analyses revealed that the F-test was not significant (F = 0.076, p = 0.973). Therefore, the results won’t be examined further.
5.0 Discussion
5.1 The fair trade label
The results are congruent with the hypothesis that people perceive a product to taste better when the fair trade label is presented. This is in line with the findings of Lotz et al. (2013) and Obermiller et al (2009). People significantly give higher ratings to taste when people were informed that the juice was produced according to fair trade norms and the label was shown to the research subjects. Even though the juice was exactly the same for all the participants and the only difference was the presented label. These findings exemplify the research of Poelman et al. (2008) where only a significant preference for fair trade was found when the participants were classified according their affective attitude toward the label.
When looking at the ratings of the items in the questionnaire; taste, sweetness, bitterness, calories and healthiness, only taste was significantly influenced by the presence of the fair trade label. However, it is interesting to see that the healthiness of the product was evaluated slightly higher in case the fair trade label was present (Mfairtrade = 5.67; SD = 2.02 vs. Mconventional = 5.28; SD = 2.06). This corresponds to the research that people perceive green products to be healthier and of higher quality (McEachern and McClean 2002; Vermeir and Verbeke 2006). Next to that, the price that participants would be willing to pay was slightly higher for fair trade – although not significant (Mfairtrade = 1.37; SD = .59 vs. Mconventional = 1.26; SD = .47). This is in line with research from De Pelsmacker et al. (2005), Loureiro and Lotade (2005) and McCluskey and Loureiro (2003). Noticeably, the usual caution should be taken with the reported willingness to pay on a survey and the actual buying behavior of those surveyed (Devinney et al., 2006). These findings tempt to reason that people do think more positively, besides taste, about the product when it is labeled as fair trade.
5.2 Moral self-concept
17 the taste evaluation. Several explanations can be conceivable for these results; this will also be discussed in the limitations of this research. Although the results were not significant, the direction of the moderation role of a threatened self-concept was negative (-.105). This might indicate that, when the subjects wrote a negative story about themselves, the relation between the presence of the fair trade label and taste perception is weakened. This endorses hypothesis 2, but further research needs to be conducted to make any assertions.
However, the direction of the self-concept on the evaluation of taste itself is also interesting to look at. The analyses revealed that in the case of a positive moral self-concept, so when people wrote a positive story about themselves, the taste of the juice was rated more positively (Mthreatened=6.10; SD=2.03 vs. Mpositive=6.33; SD=1.57). This is contradicting the hypothesis that people would perceive the juice to taste better when their self-concept is threatened.
A possible explanation for this occurrence is that when people wrote a positive story about themselves they felt better. Consequently, a better feeling in general could lead to a bias of perception. This can be allocated to the so called halo effect. This effect occurs when the overall feeling of an experience affects the judgment of ratings by the general feeling (Thorndike, 1920). In other words, the participants that thought consciously about themselves being a good person were influenced by this good feeling when rating the subsequent drink they tasted.
That the mood or affective response can influence rating is also shown by others (Murphy and Anhalt, 1992). But not only a positive mood or feeling affects evaluation, the reverse also holds. When people feel more negative, they are more critical in evaluating something (O’Malley and Davies, 1984). The writing test was indeed intended to lower the moral self-concept of the participants, but the results indicated that people rated the juice more critical. When looking at the data (See appendix 6), it can be seen that the people that wrote a positive story about themselves rated almost all items higher than the people who had to write a story using negative words.
This could mean that the mood or state might influence how they feel about ethical products. Because, the fair trade product was rated slightly higher when people wrote a positive story than when their self-concept was threatened. If people attach a more positive feeling from fair trade this could mean that they adjust this psychological pleasure to the idea that the product taste better. Furthermore, also the word “fair” may have fostered the positive inferences of taste and created a halo effect. However, further research is needed to investigate the role of affective feelings in the evaluation of fair trade products.
18 Small & Lowenstein, 2004). Research shows that behaving ethical elicits positive moral emotions (Haidt, 2003). The influence of emotions seems logical but has not been investigated yet. Compassion is an emotion that makes people want to help others, which is the essence of the concept of fair trade. It might be that feelings of compassion elicit an overestimation of the taste of products due to the positive aspect of fair trade. Further research should be conducted to investigate whether emotions can clarify the differences in taste perception of fair trade products.
5.3 Limitations
The study had some limitations. First, using student participants within one geographic region restrict our findings to be generalized on several characteristics. The age and education level are not representative for the populations of the Netherlands. Also the relation to other products should not be generalized mindlessly. Although previous studies used other products as coffee (Obermiller et al., 2009; Lotz et al., 2013), chocolate ( Lotz et al., 2013) and pineapple (Poelman et al., 2008), caution must be taking with generalizing the relationship to other products. Further research should assess the central hypothesis on broader population and product categories.
Furthermore, and maybe the most important limitation of this research was the use of a writing test. Although this method was confirmed by previous research to influence the moral self-concept (Sachdeva et al., 2009; Reed, Aquino and Levy, 2007), these studies were used in influencing moral behaviour and did not include a taste experiment. A possible method to address this limitation is by using a supplementary method to make the moral identity of participants more salient. Ease-of retrieval is a possible method to do this. Namely, people draw many judgments from how easy they can retrieve information. For example, when people are requested to recall either six or twelve moments of acting assertively, they reported that they felt more assertive opposed when they had to recall six (Schwartz et al., 1991). This is because it is easier to retrieve a small rather than a large amount of moments of behaviour. Because it is more difficult to retrieve many examples of assertive behaviour people feel less assertive. Further research could ask participants to recall many or few examples of moral behaviour to manipulate moral self-concept.
Moreover, when analysing the stories people wrote about themselves, it was seen that the many students did not describe in detail about the features that were asked. Especially in the negative traits condition, students did not apply each word to their own behaviour. This implication is important, since Sachdeva et al. (2009) showed that no significant effects on moral behaviour occured when participants wrote about someone else. It could be that, due to the large tutorial groups, people were not motivated to write an honest story about their negative traits. Because it is still assumable that moral feelings have an influence on the perception on ethical products, further research might conduct this experiment in a more private setting.
6.0 Conclusion
19 the fair trade label. This study proceeded on the work of Lotz et al. (2013) and examined whether the presence of the fair trade label influenced the taste perception of a fruit juice. Moreover, the present research aimed to strengthen the finding of Lots et al. (2013) that the same product tastes better when it is labeled as fair trade.
Next to that, the objective was to gain more knowledge of the underlying explanatory mechanism why people perceive this difference in taste. In order to do so, it was explored how the moral aspect of the label influences the perception of the taste of a fruit juice. This study contributes to this knowledge by strengthening the claim that a fair trade label has a positive influence on the taste perception of consumers.
Furthermore, this thesis gives insights into the influence of the self-concept on the taste perception of fair trade products. This relation was not studied before. In order to manipulate the concept, the concept of moral compensating was utilized. It was proposed that when the self-concept was threatened, participants felt a higher need to balance this positively and that the fulfillment of this need would result in a better taste of the product. This prediction was not significantly grounded by the results of the experiment. However, the main effect does suggest us that managers should take the effect on taste of the ethical label into account.
By using an between subjects design, the practical reality is closely matched. When this research would include a within subject design, the subject would have been confronted with two samples of the juice. Hereby, the subject might be more tempted to give social desired answers. Moreover, it is more likely that participants will actively search for a difference due to the two samples. Past research has found that it is unlikely that consumers favor ethical products like fair trade for their social claim only and that the quality of products is highly important (Devinney et al., 2006). As is illustrated with this experiment, the importance of taste should not be underestimated (De Pelsmacker et al., 2005). It is unlikely that consumers are willing to pay more for fair trade products if they do not believe that the taste is better. For this reason, companies should not only aim their marketing actions on the social aspect of the fair trade label but also on the quality of fair trade products.
20
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26
8.0 Appendix
27 8.2 One way ANOVA
Difference between tutorial groups
Descriptives
N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error 95% Confidence Interval for Mean
Minimum Maximum
Lower Bound Upper Bound
28 Test of Homogeneity of Variances
Levene Statistic df1 df2 Sig.
length ,805 5 163 ,548
age ,585 5 163 ,711
ANOVA
Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
length Between Groups 687,852 5 137,570 1,773 ,121
29 8.3 Means of the items of the survey
group Mean Std.
Deviation Fair trade label
+ positive self taste 6,59 1,469 sweetness 6,00 1,461 bitterness 4,07 1,925 calories 4,74 1,831 health 6,09 1,953 buyintention 4,39 2,005
30 8.4 Linear Regression
Main effect fair trade on taste perception
Model Summary
Model R R Square Adjusted R Square
Std. Error of the Estimate
1 .166a .028 .022 1.781
a. Predictors: (Constant), fairtrade
ANOVAb
Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
1 Regression 15.001 1 15.001 4.728 .031a
Residual 529.898 167 3.173
Total 544.899 168
a. Predictors: (Constant), fairtrade b. Dependent Variable: taste
Coefficientsa Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. B Std. Error Beta 1 (Constant) 5.916 .196 30.256 .000 fairtrade .596 .274 .166 2.174 .031
31 8.5 Linear Regression
Self-concept. Model Summary
Model R R Square Adjusted R Square
Std. Error of the Estimate
1 .177a .031 .014 1.789
a. Predictors: (Constant), fair_self, selfimage, fairtrade
ANOVAb
Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
1 Regression 17.043 3 5.681 1.776 .154a
Residual 527.856 165 3.199
Total 544.899 168
a. Predictors: (Constant), fair_self, selfimage, fairtrade b. Dependent Variable: taste
32 8.6a Descriptives
Presence or absence of the fair trade label
N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error
95% Confidence Interval for Mean
Min. Max. Lower Bound Upper Bound
33 8.6b Descriptives
Positive or threatened self-concept
N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error
95% Confidence Interval for Mean
Min. Max. Lower Bound Upper Bound
34 8.7 Experiment
Questionnaire 1a: positive self-concept
Dear participant,
In front of you are two questionnaires. This study will only take approximately 10 minutes of your time. There are no right or wrong answers. Participation in this questionnaire is voluntary; you can quit at any time. Your answers remain anonymous and will be used as part of a master’s thesis.
Gender (circle your gender): male/female
What is your age? …… years
What is your length (in centimetres)? …… cm
Questionnaire 1: Handwriting
1. The first experiment is about your handwriting style while you write stories about yourself. In the following section you will be asked to write down a short story about yourself. In the left column below you see 9 words, which you will have to use in the story. Please first copy these 9 words in the right column below, using your own handwriting. Also consider the meaning of each word you write down.
35 1. Now you have copied the words, write down a brief story about yourself in first
36
Questionnaire 1b: threatened self-concept
Dear participant,
In front of you are two questionnaires. This study will only take approximately 10 minutes of your time. There are no right or wrong answers. Participation in this questionnaire is voluntary; you can quit at any time. Your answers remain anonymous and will be used as part of a master’s thesis.
Gender (circle your gender): male/female
What is your age? …… years
What is your length (in centimetres)? …… cm
Questionnaire 1: Handwriting
1. The first experiment is about your handwriting style while you write stories about yourself. In the following section you will be asked to write down a short story about yourself. In the left column below you see 9 words, which you will have to use in the story. Please first copy these 9 words in the right column below, using your own handwriting. Also consider the meaning of each word you write down.
37 2. Now you have copied the words, write down a brief story about yourself in first
39
Questionnaire 2a: Fair trade label
Questionnaire 2: Introduction new fruit juice
We are interested in testing whether people are able to blindly assess what ingredients are used in a fruit juice. Please taste the juice in front of you. This juice is produced by Fruitty, a company abiding to fair trade production standards. This means that the farmers received a fair price for their fruit.
1. Before you try the drink we would like you to indicate how thirsty you are.
Not at all thirsty extremely thirsty
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
In front of you is a sample of this fair trade fruit juice. Please sample this juice before answering the questions below.
2. What ingredients (types of fruits) do you think the fair trade fruit juice contains? (Multiple
answers are possible. Try to identify all fruits in this drink. Please do not discuss your answers with others!)
3. Please rate this drink on the following aspects from 1 (low) to 9 (high).
Not sweet at all 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Very sweet
Not bitter at all 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Very bitter
Not tasteful at all 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Very tasteful
No calories at all 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Many calories
Not healthy at all 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Very healthy
4. How likely is it that you would buy this drink?
Not likely at all Very Likely
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
5. Please indicate what price you would be willing to pay for a 1 litre pack of the juice.
€..,..
40
Questionnaire b: no label
Questionnaire 2: Introduction new fruit juice
We are interested in testing whether people are able to blindly assess what ingredients are used in a fruit juice. Please taste the juice in front of you. This juice is produced by Fruitty, a company abiding to regular production standards.
1. Before you try the drink we would like you to indicate how thirsty you are.
Not at all thirsty extremely thirsty
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
In front of you is a sample of this fruit juice. Please sample this juice before answering the questions below.
2. What ingredients (types of fruits) do you think the fruit juice contains? (Multiple answers are
possible. Try to identify all fruits in this drink. Please do not discuss your answers with others!)
3. Please rate this drink on the following aspects from 1 (low) to 9 (high).
Not sweet at all 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Very sweet
Not bitter at all 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Very bitter
Not tasteful at all 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Very tasteful
No calories at all 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Many calories
Not healthy at all 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Very healthy
4. How likely is it that you would buy this drink?
Not likely at all Very Likely
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
5. Please indicate what price you would be willing to pay for a 1 litre pack of the juice.
€..,..
