Eating Clean and Green: The influence of health motivation and the roles of biospheric and egoistic value orientations on the purchasing of organic food

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Eating Clean and Green: The influence of health motivation and

the roles of biospheric and egoistic value orientations on the

purchasing of organic food

by

Marit Drijfhout

University of Groningen

Faculty of Economics and Business MSc Marketing

June 19, 2015

Van Ketwich Verschuurlaan 167 9721 SK Groningen

0031 6 51 78 72 93 m.drijfhout@student.rug.nl Student number: S2340194

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Eating Clean and Green: The influence of health motivation and the roles of biospheric and egoistic value orientations on the purchasing of organic food

ABSTRACT

Previous literature reports inconclusive results with regard to the role of health motivation on attitudes towards, intentions to buy and actual purchasing behavior of organic food products. We suspect that this mixed evidence has to do with the roles that biospheric and egoistic values play within this relationship. It might be that two motives are present which drive health-motivated consumers to buy organic food products: a sustainable-focused health motive, which consists of consumers that seek to combine eating healthy (‘clean)’ and at the same time taking care for the environment (‘green’), and a more egoistic health-focused motive, which consists of consumers that strive to eat both clean and green in order to maximize own outcomes.

Our multilevel analysis reveals that health motivation showed no significant effect, while the biospheric and egoistic value orientations positively and negatively influence organic

purchasing behavior respectively. Despite, there is no significant effect of these values on the relationship between health motivation and organic purchasing behavior. This can be partially explained by the important role that the supply-side factors of price and distribution play: especially for the health-motivated, egoistic customer, the sacrifices that have to be made and the effort that has to be put in to buy organic need to be low. Product availability and price act as important barriers that strongly influence the amount of organic food products purchased.

Keywords: organic purchasing behavior, health motivation, biospheric value orientation, egoistic value orientation, sustainable consumption, pro-environmental behavior

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MANAGEMENT SUMMARY

The European organic food market enjoys a rapid growth within a relatively static overall market for food (Baker et al., 2004). Consumers purchase organic food to achieve individual and social values (Makatouni, 2002). In addition, health is gaining importance when it comes to the decision making process of what foods to consume (Goetzke et al., 2012; Schifferstein & Oude Ophuis, 1998).

Previous literature on attitudes, intentions to buy, and actual purchasing behavior report inconclusive results with regard to the role of health motivation on organic purchasing behavior. The lack of research that covers actual organic purchasing behavior, and the inconclusive role that health motivation plays as an antecedent, gives an opportunity for further investigation: we suspect that the mixed evidence has to do with the roles that pro-environmental values play. Previous literature mentions three general pro-pro-environmental value orientations, including biospheric and egoistic values (Steg et al., 2005; Stern & Dietz, 1994). It might be that two motives are present which drive health-motivated consumers to buy organic food: a sustainable-focused health motive, which is present when individuals seek to combine eating healthy and at the same time caring for the environment, and a more egoistic health-focused motive, which is present when individuals strive to eat both clean and green in order to maximize own outcomes.

For this study we had the opportunity to work with a large database of GfK, consisting of household-level and category-level data with regard to (actual) organic purchasing behavior. The findings show that health motivation does not significantly influence the share of

purchases for organic products. Both the biospheric and egoistic value orientations had strong effects (positively and negatively respectively). However, the value orientations do not influence the relationship between health motivation and organic purchasing behavior. This can be partially explained by the importance that supply-side factors play. It are especially the health-motivated, egoistic consumers that are even more sensitive for the influences of

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PREFACE

Firstly I would like to thank my supervisor, dr. Jenny van Doorn, for providing me with valuable feedback during this semester and for personally challenging and inspiring me to get more out of my Master’s Thesis. She motivated me to critically look at my work and taught me new and refreshing insights with regard to writing and analyzing.

Secondly, a special thanks to my parents who have always supported me and still support me with regard to the choices I make in life. They have taught me that when you work hard you can achieve things, and I am applying this attitude in my everyday life with gratitude.

My time at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen so far can be described as a valuable journey as I have learned a lot, developed myself as the person I currently am, and it enabled me to meet wonderful people, some of which I can now count as my friends.

This Master’s Thesis project for me personally feels like a start into research as I am following-up my Master’s degree with the Research Master at the University of Groningen next year. I look forward to start with this next step, to get academically challenged and hopefully develop myself as a dedicated, enthusiastic and skilled researcher.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION 6

2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 10

2.1 ORGANIC PURCHASING BEHAVIOR 10

2.2 HEALTH MOTIVATION 11

2.3BIOSPHERIC AND EGOISTIC VALUE ORIENTATIONS 14

2.3.1THE EFFECT OF A BIOSPHERIC VALUE ORIENTATION ON ORGANIC PURCHASING BEHAVIOR 16 2.3.2THE EFFECT OF AN EGOISTIC VALUE ORIENTATION ON ORGANIC PURCHASING BEHAVIOR 18 2.3.3THE MODERATING ROLE OF A BIOSPHERIC VALUE ORIENTATION ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN

HEALTH MOTIVATION AND ORGANIC PURCHASING BEHAVIOR 19

2.3.4THE MODERATING ROLE OF AN EGOISTIC VALUE ORIENTATION ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN

HEALTH MOTIVATION AND ORGANIC PURCHASING BEHAVIOR 21

2.4CONCEPTUAL MODEL 22 2.5CONTROL VARIABLES 25 3 RESEARCH DESIGN 26 3.1DESIGN 26 3.2MEASURES 27 3.3MODELING APPROACH 29 4 RESULTS 31 4.1MAIN EFFECTS 31

4.2THE MODERATING ROLES OF THE BIOSPHERIC AND EGOISTIC VALUE ORIENTATION 32

4.3ADDITIONAL ANALYSES 33

4.3.1ROBUSTNESS CHECKS 33

4.3.2CATEGORY-SPECIFIC ANALYSES 33

4.3.3ADDITIONAL ANALYSES 35

4.3.4THREE-WAY INTERACTIONS 37

5 CONCLUSIONS 42

5.1DISCUSSION 42

5.2CONCLUSION 47

5.3IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 48

REFERENCES 50

APPENDICES 55

APPENDIXA:OVERVIEW OF VICE AND VIRTUE NATURE OF CATEGORIES 55

APPENDIXB:CORRELATIONS 56

APPENDIXC:SCALES 57

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1. INTRODUCTION

The organic food market has been described as promising, as it enjoys a rapid growth within a relatively static overall market for food, especially in Europe (Baker et al., 2004). The

percentage of money spend on organic purchases is still growing, although relative growth is declining when comparing to previous years (Monitor Duurzaam Voedsel, 2014). In 2013, with an amount of 984,2 million euros spent within the Netherlands, this resulted in a market share for organic food of 2,22% (Monitor Duurzaam Voedsel, 2014). Consumers purchase organic food to achieve both individual values and social values (Makatouni, 2002). Motives can be attributed to environmental (Cornelissen et al., 2008; Schifferstein & Oude Ophuis, 1998), health (Chen, 2009; Magnusson et al., 2003; Padel & Foster, 2005; Paul & Rana, 2012), ethical (Honkanen et al., 2006; Magnusson et al., 2003), political (Honkanen et al., 2006; Padel & Foster, 2005) and quality (Makatouni, 2002) reasons, but also nutritional value (Cuperus et al., 1996), taste (Baker, 2004; Zanoli & Naspetti, 2002) and price (Chinnici et al., 2002; Van Doorn & Verhoef, 2011) play a role.

Health is gaining importance, in both individual and societal values (Makatouni, 2002). People are motivated to behave healthy for several reasons, mainly to prevent themselves from getting ill or to improve their health (Michaelidou & Hassan, 2008; Squires et al., 2001), or to promote healthy behavior to others such as their children (Makatouni, 2002). Food consumption plays an important role in health, as more and more attention is attached to the choices and consequences of eating particular types of food (Goetzke et al., 2012;

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However, more recent research reported a less positive relationship between health motivation and attitudes towards or intentions to buy organic (Michaelidou & Hassan, 2008; Pino et al., 2012; Thøgersen, 2011) or a less important role of health motivation on actual buying behavior (Van Doorn & Verhoef, 2015) than previously assumed. The lack of research that covers actual organic purchasing behavior, and the inconclusive role that health motivation plays as an antecedent, gives an opportunity for further investigation.

Pro-environmental values might play an important role when we want to explain the

inconclusive results of health motivation on organic purchasing behavior. Previous literature mentions three general pro-environmental value orientations that guide behavior: two of these general value orientations for pro-environmental behavior are biospheric and egoistic values (Schultz, 2001; Steg et al., 2005; Stern & Dietz, 1994; Stern et al., 1993). Research findings with regard to their effects on organic purchasing behavior are mixed as well: for example, Zanoli and Naspetti (2002) found that for regular purchasers, a large role was present for values of altruism and ecology (biospheric value orientations); while occasional consumers, in contrast, were motivated by more self-oriented (egoistic) goals. As the research of Van Doorn and Verhoef (2015) found, biospheric motives play a (strong) significant role in organic purchasing behavior, although egoistic motives did not, and, in addition, those egoistic motives even had a significant negative impact. In the contrary, Magnusson et al. (2003)

reported that self-oriented, egoistic motives were better predictors of purchasing organic food than were other-oriented motives. Kareklas et al. (2014) found that the combination of

egoistic and biospheric values predicted consumers’ organic attitudes and purchase intentions simultaneously. In sum, results are quite inconclusive so far. When assesing the relationship between health motivation and organic purchasing behavior, it might be that those two value orientations play a role in driving health-motivated consumers to buy organic: this results in a sustainable-focused health motive, which includes individuals that attach importance to the well-being of the environment, animals and own health (Aschemann-Witzel, 2015; Kareklas, 2014; McDonald et al., 2006) and that want to combine taking care of both their own health and the environment; and a more egoistic health-focused motive, which consists of

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For the first group, concerning health-motivated consumers with biospheric values, it is expected that the combined effect of the two motives (both a self-oriented and other-oriented motive) will complement each other. Organic food fulfills two personal needs instead of just one: firstly, it helps to restore the environment, which is important when having higher biospheric values (Chinnici et al., 2002; Honkanen et al., 2006; Schifferstein & Oude Ophuis, 1998; Thøgersen, 2011), and secondly, it is a means to maintain or improve one own’s health, which is the goal when having stronger health motivations (Chen, 2009; Magnusson et al., 2003; Padel & Foster, 2005; Paul & Rana, 2012). Striving for both results in being more involved and having organic food more top-of-mind, which translates into the purchasing of a wider variety of the organic products assortment. For the latter group, concerning health-motivated consumers with egoistic values, the healthy self-benefits that can be achieved by consuming organic food are expected to outweigh the higher prices that have to be paid for organic products, which normally withholds the egoistic customer to buy organic

(Aschemann-Witzel, 2015; Tomayess, 2015; Van Doorn & Verhoef, 2015). Those individuals strive to combine eating ‘clean’ (opting for the healthiest options in each food group, such as vegetables and fruits, whole grain products and healthy proteins and fats) (D’Agrosa, 2015) for either themselves and the environment at the same time (biospherically focused), or purely for the self (egoistically focused) and eating ‘green’ (organic food consumption).

This study seeks to investigate the relationship between health motivation and organic purchasing behavior, and tries to explain the roles that the biospheric and egoistic value orientations play within this relationship. Therefore, the following research questions are formulated:

1. What is the influence of health motivation, a biospheric value orientation and an egoistic value orientation on the purchasing organic food?

2. What is the effect of a biospheric value orientation on the relationship between health motivation and the purchasing of organic food?

3. What is the effect of an egoistic value orientation on the relationship between health motivation and the purchasing of organic food?

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The roles of the biospheric and egoistic value orientations on organic purchasing behavior are assessed, as are their roles in the relationship between health motivation and organic

purchasing behavior. It are especially those moderating roles that are interesting, since (to the best of the author’s knowledge) they have not been researched before, and, as mentioned, we expect that they can explain the mixed results that have been found in previous research with regard to the relationship between health motivation and organic purchasing behavior. We expect that those two value orientations positively strengthen the relationship between health motivation and organic purchasing behavior.

The findings could have implications for marketers of organic food who seek for better targeting the right consumers with the right communication approach to increase the share of purchases for organic food products. This study reveals whether the group of

health-motivated consumers indeed is a valuable target group and what type of consumer can be best focused on when taking into account the pro-environmental value orientations (distinguishing between biospheric and egoistic consumers).

Furthermore, this study adds to the academical field since it is the first that investigates the roles of the biospheric and egoistic value orientations on the relationship between health motivation and organic purchasing behavior.

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2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This research is seeking to explain the influence of health motivation on organic purchasing behavior, and the effects of the biospheric and egoistic value orientations, both directly towards organic purchasing behavior, as well as their effects on the relationship between health motivation and organic purchasing behavior. In the following theoretical framework, we will discuss and elaborate on existing literature regarding the topics of purchasing organic food, health motivation and the two value orientations.

2.1 Organic purchasing behavior

Consumers purchase organic food as a means of achieving both personal and social values (Makatouni, 2002), and, according to previous literature, mainly because of two broad

motives: health reasons and environmental concerns (Magnusson et al., 2003; Michaelidou & Hassan, 2008; Padel & Foster, 2005). Firstly, consumers have the belief that organic food is more nutrituous (Padel & Foster, 2005; Baker et al., 2004), more tasteful (Baker et al., 2004; Zanoli & Naspetti, 2002) or more qualitative (or ‘safer’) (Cuperus et al., 1996; Padel & Foster, 2005; Schifferstein & Oude Ophuis, 1998), which is positive for one’s own health, although organic food is never proven to be actually healthier than non-organic food (Guilabert & Wood, 2012). Secondly, organic food consists of less pesticides and chemical fertilizers, and is processed without using irradiation or chemical food additives (Cornelissen et al., 2008; Honkanen et al., 2006; Paul & Rana, 2012). This is beneficial for the

environment and animal welfare (Magnusson et al., 2003; Schifferstein & Oude Ophuis, 1998), but also better for one’s own health. Despite that consumers generally hold positive attitudes towards organic food products, market shares remain quite low (Magnusson et al., 2003), indicating a gap between attitudes and actual buying behavior (Hwang, 2015). Consumers’ positive attitudes towards organic food are often not translated in actual

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Smith and Paladino (2010) found that while respondents showed positive attitudes towards organic products and these were reflected in their purchase intentions, these respondents were not willing or able to actually purchase in accordance with their attitudes

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Initial research regarding organic food mainly covers attitudes and intentions to buy. Actual organic purchasing behavior is, however, much less researched: recent attempts have been made by Bezawada and Pauwels (2012), Ngobo (2011), and Van Doorn and Verhoef (2015). Bezawada and Pauwels (2012) investigated how to market organic products and found that reducing price, increasing price promotions and expanding assortment size would increase product sales for organic products. Ngobo (2011) showed, in contrast, that promotions were less likely to drive households to buy organic products, with price having an inverted U-shape, and that it are especially the households with higher income, the college educated, older families and households with higher-level occupations that buy organic food products. The research of Van Doorn and Verhoef (2015) analyzed drivers and barriers of organic purchasing behavior and identified biospheric values as the most important driver of organic purchases of individual households, in line with the above-mentioned environmental reasons to buy organic food. Health motivation, known as the other most important motive for buying organic food products, was found to have only a linear main effect on organic purchasing behavior. In addition, the egoistic value orientation even showed a significant negative effect.

2.2 Health motivation

Health motivation can be described as ‘a consumer’s goal-directed arousal to engage in preventive health behaviors’ (Moorman & Matulich, 1993, p210). Health motivation focuses on the willingness or interest of consumers in performing healthy behaviors, as it stimulates individuals to put knowledge, expertise and resources into practice. Health motivation has previously been described as an independent driver of (preventive) healthy behavior

(Moorman & Matulich, 1993), which includes dietary changes. Individuals are motivated to behave healthy due to several reasons, such as preventing themselves from getting ill or to maintain or improve their health (Michaelidou & Hassan, 2008; Squires et al., 2001). Stimulating others such as their own children is another reason, as healthy behavior is often considered to include both personal and overall family health (Makantouni, 2002).

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Dutch consumers describe a healthy lifestyle as consisting of a healthy diet, sufficient

exercise and not smoking (RIVM, 2014). Consumers are aware that the types and amounts of certain food consumption affect their level of healthiness (Goetzke et al., 2012), and,

according to Schifferstein and Oude Ophuis (1998), they are willing to switch certain foods to improve their health. Moorman and Matulich (1993) found that health motivation resulted in an increase in acquiring health information, increased contact with health professionals, and diet restriction and diet addition, of which organic food can be part of. Organic food is, as mentioned above, known for its perceived health benefits (nutritional value, quality, less chemicals). Despite, even though health is often identified as the strongest motive for buying organic food products (Chen, 2009; Magnusson et al., 2003; Padel & Foster, 2005; Paul & Rana, 2012; Zanoli & Naspetti, 2002), this finding is inconclusive. In table 1 below, an overview of the mixed evidence of the role of health motivation on attitudes towards or intentions to buy and purchasing behavior of organic food products is provided.

TABLE 1: Overview of previous studies on the relationship between health motivation and organic (purchasing) behavior

Study Findings

Van Doorn and Verhoef (2015)

Health motivation drives organic purchases only in certain categories (those with low promotional intensity and in non-fresh categories) and is not as important as a driver of organic purchasing behavior as was previously assumed.

Çabuk et al (2014)

Health consciousness has a positive effect on both the attitude towards organic food products and the intention to buy those food products. Paul and Rana

(2012)

Health is the main reason for purchasing organic food, although the overall benefits (healthy content, environmentally friendly packaging and environmentally friendly technology) are marked by half of the respondents as the reason to intend to buy organic food products. Pino et al

(2012)

No significant relationship between health motivation and organic purchasing intentions. Health motivation is not as important as a driver of organic purchase behavior as was previously assumed.

Thøgersen (2011)

Other-oriented motives (environment, animal welfare) and benefits are the main driving force of purchasing organic products.

Smith and Paladino (2010)

The more concerned with health a consumer is, the more intended to purchase organic food products. However these intentions do not influence attitudes or actual behavior.

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Although the majority of research indicates a positive relationship between health motivation and attitudes or intentions to buy organic (Çabuk et al., 2014; Chen, 2009; Chinnici et al., 2002; Magnusson et al., 2003; Makatouni, 2002; Paul & Rana, 2012; Smith & Paladino, 2010; Squires et al., 2001; Zanoli & Naspetti, 2002) or (self-reported) purchasing behavior (Magnusson et al., 2003; Schifferstein & Oude Ophuis, 1998), some recent work found the opposite and reported a less positive relationship between health motivation and attitudes or intentions to buy organic (Michaelidou & Hassan, 2008; Pino et al., 2012; Thøgersen, 2011),

Michaelidou & Hassan (2008)

Food safety is the most important predictor of attitudes and intentions towards organic food, while health consciousness results to be the least important motive.

Hughner et al (2007)

Synthesized the findings of multiple (33) studies with regard to organic foods and found that health was the primary reason to purchase organic food.

Padel and Foster (2005)

Health is an important motive, but not the only motive for buying organic food. Regarding health, both personal experience with illness and a more general concern for healthy eating are observed.

Baker et al (2004)

Values toward organic food products differ between U.K. & German consumers: within the U.K., health and the fact that organic food products are not genetically modified are the main motives for buying organic food products, while in Germany it is more about the (good) taste and quality of organic food products.

Magnusson et al (2003)

(Self-reported) organic purchasing behavior was strongly related to the perceived benefits for one’s own health: more egoistic reasons

Chinnici (2002)

Interest in organic food products is mainly due to a concern for health such as illness or maintaining one’s current health status

Zanoli and Naspetti (2002)

Health turned out to be the most important motive in the purchasing of organic foods among both regular and occasional consumers of organic food. However, for regular purchasers an additional large role was present for values of altruism and ecology (biospheric value

orientations), while occasional consumers, in contrast, were motivated by more self-oriented (egoistic) goals.

Squires et al (2001)

Motives to intend to buy organic food products differ between Danish and New Zealand consumers: for Danish consumers, a combination of health and environmental concerns results in organic food

consumption, while in New Zealand, it are purely the health conscious consumers that are more likely to consume organic food products.

Schifferstein and Oude Ophuis (1998)

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or a less important impact of health motivation than previously assumed on actual buying behavior (Van Doorn & Verhoef, 2015). The latter stream of research found that reasons such as food safety, taste, quality, and the environmentally friendly way of processing the foods (which is positive for preserving the environment and animal welfare) outweighed the health benefits of organic food products when it came to motives for buying organic food products. Important to note is that initial research regarding health motivation and organic food mainly covers attitudes towards and intentions to buy organic food.

The role of health motivation in actual organic purchasing behavior is much less researched: a recent attempt has been made by Van Doorn & Verhoef (2015). They found that health motivation is of lesser impact on organic purchasing behavior than previously thought.

Furthermore, only self-reported purchasing behavior has been researched limitedly in the past, by Magnusson et al. (2003) and Schifferstein & Oude Ophuis (1998). The inconsistencies in previous research and the lack of insights into actual purchasing behavior indicate a research opportunity for the role of health motivation on organic purchasing behavior. We argue that health-motivated people are willing to buy organic food products since they are striving to eat food that is good for their health, and that they value the perceived health benefits of organic food products such as the higher nutritional value, better quality of the food, and the lack or restriction of chemicals (Baker et al., 2004; Honkanen et al., 2006; Padel & Foster, 2005). In addition, previous research specifically found that a healthy diet is often associated with organic products (Padel & Foster, 2005), since organic food is mainly associated with the healthy fruits and vegetables categories. The perceived benefits of organic food products, which enhance personal wellbeing, may result in improved health, and therefore, this type of food might be attractive to buy for health reasons. We therefore hypothesize a positive effect, in that people that are motivated to behave healthy are more willing to purchase organic food products:

Hypothesis 1: Health motivation has a positive effect on organic purchasing behavior.

2.3 Biospheric and egoistic value orientations

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2.3.1 The effect of a biospheric value orientation on organic purchasing behavior

Biospheric values are considered to be important antecedents of environmental preferences, intentions and behavior (Honkanen et al., 2006; van der Werff et al., 2013). According to Stern et al. (1993), people with a biospheric value orientation show pro-environmental behavior when nonhuman, geographical places or the environment itself would be at stake.

Previous studies have shown that consumers that attach importance to the environment have more positive attitudes (Smith & Paladino, 2010) and greater intentions to buy organic food products (Chinnici et al., 2002; Honkanen et al., 2006; Schifferstein & Oude Ophuis, 1998; Thøgersen, 2011). Table 2 below gives an overview of the findings with regard to the

biospheric and egoistic value orientations and their effects on attitudes towards, intentions to buy and actual organic purchasing behavior for organic food products.

TABLE 2: Overview of previous studies on the roles of the biospheric and egoistic value orientations in organic (purchasing) behavior

Study Findings

Van Doorn and Verhoef (2015)

Biospheric motives did play a (strong) significant role in organic purchasing behavior, although egoistic motives did not, and, in addition, egoistic motives even had a significant negative impact. The cost of purchasing organic products might be very relevant for the consumers with higher egoistic value orientations.

Aschemann-Witzel (2015)

Self-centered motives such as price or taste might outweigh the

perceived health benefits of organic food. Here, it is found that egoistic motives have a negative impact on organic purchasing behavior.

Thøgersen (2011)

Consumers that attach importance to the environment (having biospheric motives) have greater intentions to buy organic food products.

Kareklas et al (2014)

Both egoistic and environmental considerations simultaneously

predicted consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions towards organic food products. For most purchases it are self-centered (egoistic)

concerns that drive decisions, but organic purchase decisions include other-oriented (biospheric) motives as well. The biospheric and egoistic value orientations are compatible instead of competing, as intentions to buy organic food products are influenced by both

biospheric (‘organic farming is better for the environment’) and more egoistic (‘organic food is healthier for me’) values.

Smith and Paladino (2010)

Consumers that attach importance to the environment (having

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Honkanen et al. (2006)

Environmental circumstances and animal welfare (biospheric values) are the main motives for positive attitudes and intentions to buy towards organic food products.

Padel and Foster (2005)

Both self-oriented and other-oriented (biospheric) concerns were present for buyers of organic food.

Magnusson et al (2003)

Egoistic motives were better predictors for purchasing organic food than were altruistic motives. It seems that consumers are tempted by the short-term health benefits when consuming organic food products. Zanoli and

Naspetti (2002)

For regular purchasers of organic products, health attributes were found to be associated with biospheric values, while occasional purchasers were motivated by more self-oriented (egoistic) goals.

Chinnici et al (2002)

Consumers that attach importance to the environment have greater intentions to buy organic food products.

Schifferstein & Oude Ophuis(1991)

Consumers that attach importance to the environment have greater intentions to buy organic food products.

Honkanen et al. (2006) mention environmental circumstances and animal welfare as the main motives for positive attitudes toward purchasing organic food: doing less harm to the

environment is one of the main beneficial claims of organic food products (Cornelissen et al., 2008). The environment is benefitting from the organic way of producing since this type of food is processed with less (or no) pesticides and chemical fertilizers, and without using irradiation or chemical food additives (Cornellissen et al., 2008; Honkanen et al., 2006; Paul & Rana, 2012). Additionally, organic food is generally associated with a more friendly, humane treatment of animals, although this benefit is considered as being of less importance than overall improvement in environmental circumstances when people with environmental concerns mention reasons to buy organic (Hughner et al., 2007; Kareklas et al., 2014). In addition, Van Doorn & Verhoef (2011) assessed the willingness to pay for organic food products depending on a consumer’s level of environmental concern, and found that

consumers with higher levels of environmental concerns perceived organic food as having a higher quality, and those consumers were willing to pay up to 13% more for organic (virtue) products. Taking previous literature into account, we expect a positive influence of the effect of a biospheric value orientation on purchasing organic. We therefore hypothesize a positive direct effect of a biospheric value orientation on organic purchasing behavior:

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2.3.2 The effect of an egoistic value orientation on organic purchasing behavior

When being egoistic, people try to maximize their own individual outcomes: self-interest is considered as the primary motivator (Ross, 2011). Egoistic individuals value goals that are directly linked to the self, such as being successful, wealthy, and having ambition and power (Schultz, 2001). Stern et al. (1993) report that the egoistic value orientation is often the predominant motivation for human behavior. Regarding the effect of an egoistic value orientation (concerns for one’s own health, own lifestyle and own future) (Schultz, 2001) on organic purchasing behavior, despite inconclusive evidence, we hypothesize a negative effect, in line with the findings of Van Doorn and Verhoef (2015). The mixed results of previous research are summed up in table 2, displayed on the previous page. On the one hand, the perceived nutritional value and quality of organic food products could result in a positive effect (organic food can be considered as being more healthy for the self, having a direct impact on one’s own life). As Magnusson et al. (2003) mentioned, consumers that perceive organic foods as being healthier may be tempted by the short-term health consequences when purchasing and consuming organic food products. This is in line with the findings of Zanoli and Naspetti (2002), who found that for occasional purchasers, personal satisfaction that is derived from buying and consuming organic food products is the main driver for buying those products: the product needs to be tasty and good-looking, but also be considered as a pleasure to eat and a means to accomplish something (e.g. eating healthier for the self), in order to get the most from life. On the other hand, Aschemann-Witzel (2015) proposed that self-centered motives such as price or taste might outweigh the perceived health benefits of organic food.

The higher prices that are offered often prohobit consumers from purchasing organic food products. (Bezawada & Pauwels, 2012; Kareklas et al., 2015; Van Doorn & Verhoef, 2015;

Zanoli & Naspetti, 2002). According to Van Doorn and Verhoef (2015), the costs of

purchasing organic products might be especially very relevant for the consumers with higher egoistic values. Additionally, the consumer that is tempting to maximize his or her own individual outcomes might refrain from buying products that are known as being beneficial for the environment and animal welfare since this does not improve one’s own life directly. Egoistic motives such as not willing to pay the extra price (Van Doorn & Verhoef, 2011) or not caring for the environmental claims could be reasons for not acting pro-environmentally, and, as a result, not buying organic food products. We therefore hypothesize a negative effect:

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2.3.3 The moderating role of a biospheric value orientation on the relationship between health motivation and organic purchasing behavior

Little is known about whether the combined effect of being motivated to behave healthy and having biospheric values act as a synergy (i.e. being greater than the simple sum) or just additive (i.e. the sum of its components) (Choi et al., 2011). We expect them to be complementary rather than supplementary: the (positive) effect of health motivation on organic purchasing behavior is expected to be stronger for people that have high biospheric values in comparison to people that have lower biospheric values. As Pickett-Backer and Ozaki (2008) found in their research, when it comes to perceptions towards and actual organic purchasing behavior, demonstrating win-win scenarios for both the consumer and the

environment is useful. According to Aschemann-Witzel (2015), there might be a strong link instead of a trade-off when it comes to health and environmental concerns. In this situation, organic food will be more top-of-mind as it fulfills two personal needs and/or wants instead of just one: firstly, it helps to restore the environment (less damage due to the lack of added chemicals and pesticides), which is an important beneficial characteristic for fulfilling the biospheric value motive (Chinnici et al., 2002; Honkanen et al., 2006; Schifferstein & Oude Ophuis, 1998; Thøgersen, 2011), and secondly, it is an important means to be healthy and feel healthy (by eating less chemicals and consuming better perceived nutrition), which is an important beneficial characteristic for fulfilling the health motive (Chen, 2009; Magnusson et al., 2003; Padel & Foster, 2005; Paul & Rana, 2012). Wanting to eat the right foods for own health improvements and at the same time proactively taking care of the environment seems like an attractive combination for being interested in and wanting to purchase a large variety of organic food products: not just the healthy categories (especially purchased by the health-motivated people) (D’Agrosa, 2015; Padel & Foster, 2005), but the overall organic

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In this situation it would mean that those consumers are willing to share with the society that they value the environment and value their own health. However, what needs to be kept in mind is that the purchasing organic food is not as visible to the outside world in comparison to other pro-environmental behaviors such as, for example, recycling or driving a green car (Quested et al., 2013). Still, despite lower visibility in comparison to other pro-environmental behaviors, as shown by previous research as well, both health motivation and biospheric values have a positive influence on organic purchasing behavior and in addition, might strengthen each other, resulting in a stronger increase in organic purchasing behavior. Health consciousness and environmental concerns both have a positive effect on the attitude and intention to buy organic foods (Çabuk et al., 2014). This could mean that the joint effect of being health-motivated and also having high biospheric values would result in an even greater positive effect than the combined independent effects of those variables (Schoenbach, 2001). There is the presence and willingness to invest (both financially and non-financially) in organic food products as it helps achieving two personally valued motives: eating ‘clean’ (D’Agrosa, 2012) for a healthy body and at the same time eating ‘green’ (Magnusson et al., 2003; Michaelidou & Hassan, 2008; Padel & Foster, 2005) for a better environment. Organic food products seem an attractive offer for this group of consumers since those products are perceived as being healthier for the self, and by buying more organic and less non-organic, at the same time the environment benefits as well (Kareklas et al., 2014). In this way, by buying and consuming all types of organic food products, consumers can optimally combine a

healthy lifestyle with a sustainable lifestyle (McDonald et al., 2006). In sum, since both constructs already improve the share of organic purchases individually, when both are present, it is expected that this increases the likelihood of organic products by being even more top-of-mind, putting the customer in the position that buys even more, and a wider variety of organic food products: it is expected to act as a synergy. Therefore, we hypothesize a positive moderating role of a biospheric value orientation:

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2.3.4 The moderating role of an egoistic value orientation on the relationship between health motivation and organic purchasing behavior

The (positive) effect of health motivation on organic purchasing behavior is expected to be stronger for people with higher egoistic values in comparison to people that have lower

egoistic values. Health motivation covers a self-oriented attitude, and having egoistic values is a self-oriented motive as well (Kareklas et al., 2014; Magnusson et al., 2003). This means that with both, the consumer tries to maximize his or her own individual outcomes. By eating organic foods, it is perceived that it helps accomplishing (short-term) health goals

(Magnusson et al., 2003), which is a beneficial characteristic for both the health attitude and the egoistic value (taking care for the self). For example, it is found that personal health concerns positively influence the intention to buy organic food (Schifferstein & Oude Ophuis, 1991). This result is present for consumers in general, but it would make sense that when being egoistic and health-motivated at the same time, since importance is attached to

optimizing the self and own health, when having health concerns, it is the egoistic consumer in particular that is willing to invest in him- or herself (by purchasing and consuming organic food). However, as mentioned, organic food also benefits the environment (Cornelissen et al., 2008; Schifferstein & Oude Ophuis, 1998), which can be a drawback for the egoistic

consumer that does not attaches that much importance to the environment and others, and in addition organic food has a high price (Bezewada & Pauwels, 2012; Kareklas et al., 2014; Van Doorn & Verhoef, 2015; Zanoli & Naspetti, 2002). Van Doorn and Verhoef (2015) specifically found that individuals high on egoistic values do not purchase organic food products due to these higher prices that need to be paid. In addition, Tomayess (2015) mentions that the premium price that is associated with green products in general clearly discourages consumers that are dominant on egoistic values to purchase such products, as this factor strongly overrules in the cost/benefit analysis that those consumers undertake.

However, when health motivation plays an important role, we expect that the self-benefits associated with organic food products will outweigh the costs (i.e. the premium price) in this cost/benefit analysis. It is expected that the perceived personal health benefits that are

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Since importance is attached to optimizing one’s own life (i.e. egoism) and one’s own health (i.e. health motivation), which can be achieved by eating organic food instead of conventional food (Kareklas et al., 2014; Magnusson et al., 2003), as a result, those consumers might be willing to invest (both financially and non-financially) in pursuing their own health goals: with that, the health-motivated, egoistic consumer is expected to be willing to pay a premium price for organic food. Tomayess (2015) specifically mentions that accentuating the health benefits to egoistic consumers might help them to behave more environmentally friendly (by means of buying organic food products). This would mean that, aside from the individuals that are motivated to combine a sustainable and healthy lifestyle, which results in buying organic, as described in the previous paragraph, there might be a more egoistic motive that leads consumers that are health-motivated to buy organic food products purely for selfish reasons: because they want to look healthy and be healthy, and allow themselves to consume the best quality of foods available in order to to achieve this. In sum, the personal benefits that can be achieved by consuming organic food products are expected to outweigh the higher prices that normally act as a barrier for the purely egoistic consumer. This would mean that when being health-motivated with a strong egoistic value orientation, the egoistic, self-oriented behavior positively moderates the relationship between health motivation and organic purchasing behavior in that an increase in purchases for organic food products is shown.

Hypothesis 3b: The positive effect of health motivation on purchasing organic food products is stronger when an individuals’ egoistic values are higher.

2.4 Conceptual model

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Despite the inconclusive results of previous research, we expect that health motivation positively influences organic purchasing behavior, as we have argued that organic food products would fit well within a healthy diet. With regard to the two pro-environmental value orientations, the biospheric value orientation is expected to have both positive direct and moderating effects (Honkanen et al., 2006; Smith & Paladino, 2010; Schifferstein & Oude Ophuis, 1998), as organic food products are perceived to improve both the environment and own health.

FIGURE 1: Conceptual model

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TABLE 3: Overview of hypothesized relationships

H# Hypothesis Arguments Key references

H1 Health motivation has a positive effect on organic

purchasing behavior (+)

- Perceived health benefits of organic food (higher nutritional value, better quality, lack of chemicals)

- A healthy diet is often associated with organic food products

Chen (2009); Magnusson et al. (2003); Padel and Foster (2005); Paul and Rana (2012); Schifferstein and Oude Ophuis (1998); Zanoli & Naspetti (2002) H2a There is a positive

effect of a biospheric value orientation on purchases of organic food (+)

- Doing less harm to the environment is one of the main beneficial claims of organic food

- Organic food products are processed with less (or no) pesticides, chemical fertilizers, irradiation and chemicals

Honkanen et al. (2006); Paul and Rana (2012); Schifferstein and Oude Ophuis (1998); Smith and Paladino (2010);

Thøgersen (2011); Van Doorn and Verhoef (2015) H2b There is a negative

effect of an egoistic value orientation on purchases of organic food (-)

- The egoistic customer does not care about the positive pro-environmental beneficial claims

- The egoistic customer might not want to pay the premium price for organic food products

Aschemann-Witzel (2015); Van Doorn and Verhoef (2015); Zanoli and Naspetti (2002)

H3a There is a positive effect of a biospheric value orientation on the relationship between health motivation and purchasing organic food (+)

- There might be a strong link when it comes to health and environmental concerns: using less chemicals is beneficial for both

- When buying organic, consumers can combine a healthy lifestyle with a

sustainable lifestyle (both own health and environmental benefits)

Aschemann-Witzel (2015); Çabuk et al. (2014); McDonald et al. (2006); Pickett-Backer and Ozaki (2008) H3b There is a positive effect of an egoistic value orientation on the relationship between health motivation and purchasing organic food (+)

- Two self-oriented motives: choosing for organic food to optimize own health (by eating less chemicals and more

nutritional)

- Willing to invest in own health: the high price of organic food products is

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2.5 Control variables

We control for the following sociodemographic variables: age, gender, educational level, income and household size. With regard to age, despite inconsistent findings, we argue in line

with the findings of Ngobo (2011), in that older households are more disposed to buy organic products in comparison to younger households. Concerning gender, the finding of Van Doorn and Verhoef (2011), that women attach higher quality to organic food then men do, might be a cause for women to purchase more organic food products. We therefore expect that women purchase more organic food products than men do. Educational level might have an impact since higher-educated people often behave healthier and might have more knowledge with regard to organic products (Ngobo, 2011; Paul & Rana, 2012). Since the price of organic food products is higher, and price is known as an important cost that is taken into account when making purchasing decisions (Van Doorn & Verhoef, 2011), it is expected that consumers with a higher income are better able to buy organic food products. Income is therefore

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3 RESEARCH DESIGN

The following section describes the method of data collection. To be able to test the hypotheses, we made use of a large existing database designed by GfK. We start with describing the characteristics of the dataset, followed by the measurements of the variables and the modelling approach.

3.1 Design

To test the hypotheses that are described above, three types of data are used: household-level behavioural data about organic purchasing behavior; data that concern category-level, supply-side factors such as distinctions between categories, price premiums and distribution; and survey data consisting of consumer characteristics and sociodemographics, again on the household-level.

We made use of a large existing database by GfK, which consists of supermarket purchasing data that included over 4,000 Dutch households. 1,246 are used for this research, since these households participated in the additional household-level survey that was administered in November 2007. This survey consists of additional sociodemographic information such as age, gender, educational level and income, and personal values. The largest part of the

respondents was women (89%). Looking at household size, two-person households were most common (39.3%), followed by one-person households (20.1%). Furthermore, 32% of the respondents lived in three- or four-person households, and households with five or more people covered the remaining 8.6% of the respondents. Regarding age, 40% of respondents were younger than 45 years; the largest part (48.5%) was between 45 and 64 years, and the remaining group of respondents covered the age group of 65 years and older (11.4%). When looking at education, 35.6% had an associate’s/BA/BS degree, and 35.9% went to graduate school. Lastly, concerning income, 53.8% of the respondents earned less than 2,100€, whereas 13.9% earned more than 3,100€.

The data concerning organic purchasing behavior includes grocery shopping data for 40 weeks, collected during two time periods of twenty weeks each, from November to March in 2007-2008 and from November to March in 2008-2009. Within the dataset, organic products have been labelled with the - in The Netherlands well known - EKO and BIO labels.

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The complete list of categories is added to the appendix (A). Table 4 below shows the reliability of the measures that are used in this research. The alphas are derived from the research of Van Doorn & Verhoef (2015) and exceeded the critical threshold of .7.

TABLE 4: Measures and their reliability

Scale Source Cronbach’s

alpha

Mean SD r with

SOP

Supply-side factors

Price premium n.a. n.a. 55% .52 -.058

Availability n.a. n.a. 6% .05 .139

Consumer characteristics

Short Schwartz Value Survey:

Steg, Dreijerink, and Abrahamse (2005) Biospheric values Egoistic values .88 .76 4.36 2.07 1.36 1.17 .076 -.006

Health motivation Moorman (1990) .77 4.35 1.05 .043

3.2 Measures

3.2.1 Dependent variable: organic purchasing behavior

Organic purchasing behavior is assessed in the form of share of purchases. Share of organic purchases is measured as the number of organic items that household i buys during time period t, relative to the number of items purchased in category c during time period t:

cit cit , organic cit , organic items items SOP =

Where SOPorganic,cit is the share of purchases of organic products by household i in category c;

itemsorganic,cit refers to the number of organic items purchased by household i in category c in

period t; and itemscit refers to the total number of items purchased by household i in category

c in period t. In total, 52.385 observations were gathered. The correlation matrices are added to the appendix (B). Health motivation correlated positively with the biospheric and egoistic value orientations, as expected. The correlations were below .40, except for the correlation between the biospheric and altruistic value orientations (.62).

3.2.2 Independent variable: health motivation

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seven-Eating Clean and Green: The influence of health motivation and the roles of biospheric and egoistic value orientations on the purchasing of organic food

The health motivation scale is measured by the GfK panel in 2007, for 1,246 individual households. Table 5 shows the descriptive statistics of the independent variable.

3.2.3 Moderators: biospheric and egoistic value orientations

The value orientation scales are measured by the GfK panel in 2007, for the 1,246 households that participated in the survey, as mentioned above. The measurements for the three general value orientations (altruistic, biospheric and egoistic) are originally derived from Steg et al. (2005) and measured on a seven-point scale. Their detailed measures can be found in appendix C. Table 5 below shows the descriptive statistics of the moderators. It seems that people score, on average, less high on the egoistic value orientation in comparison to the biospheric value orientation (even if we correct for the differences in numerical ranges).

TABLE 5: Descriptive statistics

Variable N Mean SD Min Max

Health motivation

Biospheric value orientation Egoistic value orientation Age

Gender

Educational level Household size Income

Altruistic value orientation

1246 1246 1246 1246 1246 1246 1246 1246 1246 4,3577 4,3595 2,0723 -0,371 0,12 0,0115 -0,010 -0,023 4,9862 1,08039 1,35132 1,17260 1,02350 0,325 0,99887 1,01583 1,00614 1,15257 1,00 -0,25 -1,00 -2,41 0 -2,49 -1,23 -1,88 -0,25 7,00 7,00 6,00 1,87 1 1,15 3,49 2,50 7,00

Descriptives of the socio-demographics are based on their survey ranges

3.2.4 Control variables: socio-demographics and altruism

By means of a household-level survey that had been conducted by GfK, we were able to include additional sociodemographic information such as age, gender, educational level, household size and income as control variables. Their descriptives are added in table 5. Additionally, the altruistic value orientation is included as a covariate. Its measurement is described in Appendix C, and its descriptives are displayed in table 5.

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Concerning the availability of organic products, this variable is measured by relating the number of organic options available in a category (purchased by the whole household sample of N > 4,000) to the total number of options available in a category. The descriptives can be found in table 5.

3.3 Modeling approach

In line with the method and dataset of Van Doorn and Verhoef (2015), we have modeled the research by using a logistic model for proportions (Hox, 2010) to assess the impact of both individual household-level purchasing data and consumer characteristics, and the category-level supply-side characteristics on the share of purchase for organic products. The dependent variable (SOP) is observed on both the respondent- and category-level; the independent variable health motivation and both moderators are observed on the respondent (household, individual) level, as are the socio-demographics. The supply-side characteristics that are included as covariates are observed on the category-level. Multilevel analysis is used to analyze relationships between variables that are measured on different levels of the multilevel data structure (Hox, 2010), which is the case for the data that is used for this research: due to the non-independence of the variables, there is need for such a multilevel analysis. The

dependent variable of organic purchasing behavior is restricted between 0 and 1 and follows a binomial distribution:

SOPorganic,cit ~ Binomial (itemscit, cit)

The impact of the independent variable is modeled as a fixed effect and we allowed for random-effects on the respondent level, in line with the research of Van Doorn and Verhoef (2015). The data was pooled over the two periods of observation that were mentioned above, and we have accounted for time-specific effects of these two periods:

Logit (π cit) =

β

0,i +

β

1

.

HEALTHi +

l=1 3

∑

l

.

VALUESl,i

+

m=1 2

∑

m

.

SUPPLY-SIDEm,c,t

+

k=1 5

∑

k

.

SOCIO-DEMOk,i

+

m=1 2

∑

m

.

HEALTHi

.

VALUESm,i

+

β

2

.

Period2

β

0,i

= β

0

+ u

0,i

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Where healthi is the health motivation variable of household i, valuesl,i include the three value

orientations measured on the household-level of which two (the biospheric and egoistic value orientations) are moderators in this research, indicated by the interaction term that is added at the end of the equation. Supply-sidem,c,t concerns the distribution and price covariates of

category c in period t, socio-demo refers to the demographic variables k for household i, and period2 is the time dummy that accounts for time-specific effects between the two periods of observations. For comparability of the effects, we used standardized measures for the

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4 RESULTS

In the following chapter, the empirical results are presented. First we will discuss the main effects, followed by the moderating effects of the two value orientations. Additionally we have performed a wide range of analyses that are reported within this chapter as well.

4.1 Main effects

An overview of the outcomes with regard to the main effects is provided in table 6. We found that health motivation, though in the predicted positive direction, did not reach significance (β=.076, p=.052), although the difference to significance at the 5% level was very small. As a consequence, H1 is not supported. Health motivation does not significantly affect the share of organic food purchases. This finding is in line with the research of Van Doorn and Verhoef (2015). Both the biospheric (β=.288, p<.0001) and egoistic (β=-.093, p=.014) value orientations affected organic purchasing behavior in the predicted directions, and we can therefore confirm H2a and H2b. When having a biospheric value orientation, this has a strong positive effect on a consumer’s share of organic purchases, whereas having an egoistic value orientation negatively influences the share of purchases for organic food products for a consumer. These observations are, again, in line with the findings of Van Doorn and Verhoef (2015).

TABLE 6: Main effects on organic purchasing behavior

Variable B Std.Err. P 95% Conf. Interval

Health Motivation (H1)

Biospheric value orientation (H2a) Egoistic value orientation (H2b) Gender

Age

Household size Education level Income level

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With regard to the control variables, when looking at the sociodemographics, all variables except for household size affected organic purchasing behavior. We found that both gender (β=-.267, p=.027) and age (β=.118, p=.003) played a significant role. Women indeed buy more organic food products, and so do older people, as correctly predicted in the right directions. Educational level (β=.224, p<.0001) positively affected organic purchasing behavior, meaning that higher-educated people indeed purchase more organic products, in support with the predicted positive expectation. Income level (β = .130, p=.001) had a positive effect as well, and shows that respondents with a higher income level have a higher share of organic purchases in comparison to respondents with a lower income. Household size (β=-.075, p=.068), did not affected organic purchasing behavior significantly, although the sign of the coefficient was in the expected negative direction. Looking at the additional covariates, we found that the altruistic value orientation (β=-.112, p=.017) negatively influenced organic purchasing behavior. With regard to the category-level

supply-characteristics, both price premium (β=-.864, p<.0001) and availability (β =.439, p<.0001) highly influenced organic purchasing behavior in the predicted directions (negatively and positively respectively). A higher price negatively influences the share of organic purchases, where availability positively affects the share of organic purchases. The period of data collection (distinguishing between the two periods of two weeks in 2007-2008 and 2008-2009) did not significantly accounted for differences.

4.2 The moderating roles of the biospheric and egoistic value orientation

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TABLE 7: Moderating effects of the biospheric and egoistic value orientations on the relationship between health motivation and organic purchasing behavior

Variable B Std.Err. P 95% Conf. Interval

Health Motivation x Biospheric value orientation (H3a)

Health Motivation x Egoistic value orientation (H3b) -.020 -.002 .036 .035 .573 .960 -.091 .050 -.069 .066 4.3 Additional analyses

Additionally, we have performed some analyses to see whether controlling for additional variables would make a difference with regard to the outcomes. We have categorized and described them in the paragraphs below.

4.3.1 Robustness checks

To start with, given that two variables showed a strong correlation (the altruistic and

biospheric value orientations, with a correlation coefficient of .62), as a robustness check we estimated a model where we left out the altruistic values. All results remained very similar. Next, since it was argued in the paper of Van Doorn & Verhoef (2015) that health motivation might not play a role because of price, a model without the price premium variable was estimated as well. However this did not gave any changes in the moderating effects either. As a third robustness check, we aggregated all 52.583 purchases and the shares of organic purchases per household, leaving out category-level (supply-side) details. A new SOP was derived by means of this aggregation method, and tested by using ordinary least squares (OLS). Results show no differences for the hypotheses. Again, only the main effects of the biospheric (β=.009, p<.0001) and egoistic (β=-.003, p=.013) value orientations affected organic purchasing behavior: households that have high biospheric values have a significant higher share of purchases for organic products, while households that have high egoistic values have a significant lower share of purchases for organic food products. Again, only H2a and H2b can be confirmed.

4.3.2 Category-specific analyses

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However, although both vice and virtue categories showed significant effects (meaning that it matters whether a product is in the vice or virtue category: both are positive, indicating that relative to the ‘neither’ category -category classification is shown in appendix A-, respondents buy more organic products in both the vice and virtue categories), no significant differences in effects for the hypotheses were shown.

Next, we have checked per category whether there was a difference in significance for

specific categories. Since only one category was significant at the 5% level, we also took into account the categories that turned out to be weakly significant (significance at the 10% level). Below, table 8 gives an overview of the categories that resulted to be strongly and weakly significant.

TABLE 8: Significant results of the category-specific distinction

Health motivation x egoistic value orientation

Category B Std.Err. P 95% Conf. Interval

Cookies and Pastries Chocolate -.314 -.490 .143 .293 .028* .095 -.594 -.033 -1.06 .085

Health motivation x biospheric value orientation

Category B Std.Err. P 95% Conf. Interval

Eggs Cheese Rice and pasta

-.428 .237 -.398 .239 .143 .242 .073 .097 .099 -.896 .040 -.043 .517 -.871 .075

*Significant at the 5% level

For the interaction term of health motivation and the egoistic value orientation, the effect is significant at the 5% level for the category of cookies and pastries (β=-.314, p=.028), in the negative direction. Furthermore, the interaction effect is weakly significant for the category of chocolate (β=-.490, p=.095), in the negative direction as well. Respondents that are health-motivated buy more organic in the categories of cookies and chocolate, but when they, at the same time, score high on egoistic values, this effect wears off, and they opt for the non-organic types of these virtue foods. With regard to the interaction term of health motivation and the biospheric value orientation, the effect is weakly significant for the categories of eggs (β=-.428, p=.073), cheese (β=.237, p=.097) and rice and pasta (β=-.398, p=.099), and,