Helping a farmer or helping the farmer: How much does the message matter?

Helping a farmer or helping the

farmer: How much does the

message matter?

The influence of different advertising messages on

attitude and buying intention of fair trade products

Anette Kuhn

Helping a farmer or helping the

farmer: How much does the

message matter?

The influence of different advertising messages on

attitude and buying intention of fair trade products

Anette Kuhn

MSc. Thesis Marketing Management

Faculty of Economics and Business

University of Groningen

26

th

of June 2017

Bremstraat 63 - 9741 EB Groningen - NL

+49 (0) 15165207123

a.kuhn.2@student.rug.nl

S3033066

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENT

LIST OF TABLES ... I

LIST OF FIGURES ... I

1

INTRODUCTION ... 1

2

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND TO RESEARCH PROPOSITION AND HYPOTHESES ... 5

2.1

DOES THE MESSAGE MATTER? ... 5

2.2

THE MEDIATING ROLE OF ATTITUDES ... 9

2.3

THE MODERATING EFFECT OF PERSONAL VALUES ... 12

2.3.1

Universalism ... 13

2.3.2

Self-direction ... 14

3

CONCEPTUAL MODEL ... 16

4

RESEARCH DESIGN ... 17

4.1

PARTICIPANTS & DESIGN ... 17

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Demographic characteristics (N=153) ... 23

Table 2: Summary of Hypotheses and Results ... 29

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Conceptual Model ... 16

Figure 2: General FT Story ... 19

Figure 3: Narrative Farmer Story ... 19

Figure 4: Conditional effect of X on Y at values of the moderator Attitude ... 27

Figure 5: Conditional effect of X on Y at values of the moderator Universalism ... 28

1 INTRODUCTION

Recent studies have given comprehensive insights into the highly significant environmental impact of household consumption (Grunert & Juhl, 1995; Ivanova et al., 2015; Hertwich & Peters, 2009). Ivanova et al. (2015) have pointed out that more than 60% of global greenhouse gas emissions and between 50% and 80% of total resource use are contributed to consumer purchases including the production and use of products and services. Chen & Chai (2010) highlight that the consequences of today's overconsumption are enormous. Global warming, depletion of stratospheric ozone layer, pollution of sea and rivers, and noise and light pollution are some disturbing results that call for change. However, these environmental consequences are not the only challenges that today’s society faces. The ongoing globalization and industrialization are also reasons for social injustice and inequality (Raynolds, 2000).

consume and their actual purchase behavior (Hughner et al., 2007; Moser, 2015; Chen & Chai, 2010; Vermeir & Verbeke, 2006). All authors have hereby referred to the phenomena called “attitude behavior gap”, which entails that consumers favorable attitude does not always translate into an actual purchase behavior. Finding ways to change these consumer patterns has been mentioned in the literature as one key point to overcome the described environmental and social challenges and drive people towards more sustainable consumption behavior. One solution that has been mentioned in the literature to drive consumers towards buying FT products and close the “attitude behavior gap” is strengthening the consumer/producer relationship. FT can hereby connect farmers and consumers in a meaningful, sustainable way and shorten the social distance between them (Raynolds, 2002).

To reach this goal, academic research has been conducted over a long period and across different fields that stresses the relevance of the advertising message companies get across to their audience. According to literature concerning different social sciences a message should rather be constructed introducing an identifiable person in comparison to statistical data of people (Small & Loewenstein, 2003; Slovic, 2007; Kogut & Ritov, 2005). Emphasizing a specific person evokes stronger and more powerful emotional effects such as guilt, awe or responsibility and will motivate action. The distinction between an individual life packed in an emotional story and a statistical life seems to produce a greater empathic response, which in turn results in a greater willingness to make personal sacrifices (Jenni & Loewenstein, 1997; Small & Loewenstein, 2003; Small, Loewenstein & Slovic, 2007). This strategy using different message types has therefore been used in different research domains especially within social contexts. Unfortunately, only little evidence can be found regarding FT consumption. Since FT products indicate that they are produced in a socially sustainable way putting emphasis on the role of people in the production process, making sure that local farmers are fairly paid and securing fair treatment and working conditions (Verhoef & Van Doorn, 2016), this strategy could be an effective marketing strategy that connects the buyer and farmer, and additionally provides greater information to consumers.

Institutions can share and give information to the public based on emotional stories that were collected and shared between community members. The authors of the study claim that when people connect to characters in the narrative, these characters can have significant influence on the audience’s attitudes and beliefs. Generally, there is a lot of research revolving around narratives, especially within social contexts, but hardly applied to FT products. Recently companies have adapted this marketing strategy and have changed their message to emotional storytelling on their websites. This research has especially been conducted to clarify if changing the advertising message to powerful storytelling about individual farmers can be an effective marketing strategy by which consumers could gain more understanding into individual lives standing behind the products and the people involved in the production processes. It was expected that the use of such a strategy compared to an advertising message only highlighting some key advantages of FT would increase attitude towards FT and in turn buying intention.

Currently there is only little academic research within the FT literature that makes use of narrative farmer stories. The research of D’Astous & Mathieu (2008) that uses farmer narratives to increase buying behavior of FT products comes with several methodological problems. The authors conducted a field experiment in which they sold FT products from a commercial stand. They investigated the use of the concreteness of the information by displaying concrete information about a coffee producer named Tomas using numbers and highly concrete words, sentences and images. In another condition, they only displayed general information not mentioning a single producer and using abstract words, sentences, and images. As mentioned above since the study comes with serious methodological problems, another appropriate empirical test is needed to investigate the effect of such an advertising strategy. The strategy of providing information and connecting with farmers on the other end of the supply chain can give consumers the feeling that they can influence future outcomes and provide benefits for others. It can hereby strengthen the relationship between producers and consumers and lead to increasing brand loyalty.

advertising messages can affect buying behavior and can therefore initiate a great amount of future research that further elaborates on this topic.

The key variables measured in this study are advertising message containing two conditions, which are a concrete narrative farmer story and a general FT story. Their effect will be measured on attitudes towards FT products and the willingness to buy them. Additionally, the moderator personal values has been included to explore differences between groups of participants. Deriving from the discussion above, the main question that will be answered in this research is: What is the influence of different advertising messages on attitude and buying intention of FT products?

2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND TO RESEARCH PROPOSITION AND

HYPOTHESES

2.1 Does the message matter?

research of Small et al. (2007) confirmed these claims by showing that participants were more likely to donate for a person that has been named and fully identified. Finally, Kogut & Ritov (2005) contributed valuable findings that confirm that people were more willing to get involved for identified individuals compared to unidentified or statistical ones. The above described theory that has mostly been used to explain donation and charity consumer behavior has recently expanded more and more into other social sciences to explain prosocial behavior. The paper of Perrault et al. (2015) for example, focused on the consequences of littering for either identified or unidentified people. They hereby examined if the willingness to help differs per message to find new ways of tackling environmental problems.

example that many participants did not fill in the questionnaire. The information poster had not been noticed by all participants. Many participants rushed to the stand with a particular purchase in mind and an actual manipulation has therefore not taken place. Lastly, during the last days of the experiments, the most popular products were out of stock, which caused lower stand traffic and less interest, which made the conditions hardly comparable. The lack of control in the experiment calls for a different approach that gives additional information on the effectiveness of the marketing efforts. Hence, this study will further elaborate on the effectiveness of using different messages following a different study design to control for some of the limitations in the above described study, and make a real manipulation of the respondents possible.

been found (Roberts, 1996; Mostafa, 2006). Gaining information and connecting with suppliers on the other end of the supply chain can give consumers the feeling that they can influence future outcomes and provide benefits for others.

From the discussion above it becomes clear that FT companies could profit from advertising messages that contain information about the individual farmer that can be identified by the crowd to evoke stronger and more powerful emotions and in turn motivate action. Secondly, consumers are looking for more authentic and reliable information, and are interested in the product background and people involved in the process. The final question that remains unanswered is how such a message should be constructed.

The company managed to raise awareness through clear and credible process information and herby established a long-lasting customer base. A story such as the one from Cafe´Direct shows that this marketing strategy can have a serious impact and should not be neglected.

Following the discussion above, consumers are seeking out authentic and reliable information in the consumption process resulting of the increased interest in the goods and services that people consume daily. Additionally, it is expected that participants that receive concrete information regarding specific farmers, and can identify the people behind the FT products, are able to form greater and clearer pictures about what FT products really mean and can emotionally connect with the people behind them. Lastly, providing information and connecting with suppliers on the other end of the supply chain can give consumers the feeling that they can influence future outcomes and provide benefits for others.

H1: Narrative advertising in form of a concrete farmer story compared to a general FT story will lead to larger buying intention of FT products.

2.2 The mediating role of attitudes

Resulting from the discussion about narrative communication in form of concrete supplier stories it becomes clear that this form of marketing is personal, more believable, and therefore more realistic and easier to memorize (Hinyard & Kreuter, 2007). By highlighting the story of an individual farmer people can connect with the characters in the narrative and get attached to them, which can lead to increased intention to buy. The belief that the two different conditions in this research are expected to deliver different results in purchase intention might be explained by changes in participants’ attitudes after they receive concrete supplier information. That attitude changes can result in increased buying intention can be confirmed by academic literature.

volitional control. The extended version of the TRA, the theory of planned behavior (TPB), closes this gap and includes a third determinant of behavioral intention, which is perceived behavioral control (Ajzen, 1985). In the following, the factors and determinants of the TPB will be discussed in detail.

The first factor is called attitude toward the behavior and is formed by persons negative or positive behavioral beliefs that they possess. These personal beliefs imply that performing a certain behavior will lead to a specific outcome. The theory hereby assumes that before engaging in certain behavior, people will consider the consequences of their choices and will choose the ones they associate desirable outcomes with. Positive attitudes can therefore lead to behavioral intentions, which in turn indicate actual behavior. This research will primarily focus on the attitude formation and its influence on behavioral intention and final behavior. This study therefore only surveys participants on their attitude towards FT products and their intention to buy. According to the TPB it is assumed that strong and salient beliefs that are formed due to vivid information exchange through the use of narrative advertising in form of a concrete farmer story will result in a favorable attitude towards FT products. In turn, the higher the attitude the higher the purchase intention to buy the product.

The second factor that determines behavioral intentions is called subjective norm and describes the perceived social pressure that a person encounters when it comes to conducting a certain behavior. Normative beliefs play a relevant role in people’s choices. Many people care about what others think of them, and want their close peers to approve their behavior. Many people have the need of belonging and connecting with others. They therefore comply with other person’s opinions. However, subjective norms will be excluded in this research. One of the reasons for this is that subjective norms revolve around the influence by the opinion of others such as close friends or people that are similar to us as well as those we look up to. Only narratives that are told by individuals perceived as similar to the actual audience or consumers and people they can identify with may help to engage in the requested behavior (Hinyard & Kreuter, 2007). In this research the narrative evolves around rather poor farmers that tell their story. There is no real social pressure of other people close to the participant’s surroundings since this study is not done in the field but rather involves filling out a survey alone. The focus in this research is therefore the attitude change that results from the personal stories rather than subjective norms.

be able to form strong intentions. Perceived behavioral control can have a direct influence on behavior as well as indirectly through intention. In this research, perceived behavioral control will be excluded. It will be assumed that participants have the ability and information to form a buying intention. They will therefore be asked if they know what FT stands for within the research. Additionally, only inexpensive frequently available products such as bananas, sugar or tea have been used to control for the pure effect of attitude change as a result of emotional supplier stories.

One research has been conducted by Yamoah et al. (2014). The paper has been carried out to understand FT purchase intention in supermarkets. The author has made use of the TPB theory to test consumer purchase intentions incorporating personal values. Self-direction values and universalism values have been tested on subjective norm, attitude and perceived behavioral control, and finally purchase intention has been measured. Firstly, the study confirmed a relationship between values and attitude towards FT. Additionally, a highly significant relationship has also been found between attitudes and behavioral intentions showing that positive attitudes can be translated into actual purchase intention.

Other literature on TPB especially the influence of attitude on buying intention is two-sided. Recent studies have highlighted significant differences between consumer’s positive attitudes and the intention to consume (Hughner et al., 2007; Moser, 2015; Chen & Chai, 2010; Vermeir & Verbeke, 2006). All authors have hereby referred to the phenomena called “attitude behavior gap”, which entails that the positive attitude towards consumers have towards ethical products cannot always be translated into an actual purchase behavior. Following the discussion above in this study it is expected that advertising messages can activate existing, or new beliefs, and change negative ones, resulting in a positive attitude towards FT products. This effect should be larger for participants that are confronted with the narrative advertising in form of a concrete farmer story. An increase in positive attitudes towards FT products in turn can be translated into an actual intention to buy.

H2: Participants that are confronted with a narrative advertising message in form of a concrete farmer story will have a more favorable attitude towards FT products than participants confronted with a general story about FT.

H3: People that have strong positive attitudes towards the positive consequences of FT products tend to be more willing to purchase them.

2.3 The moderating effect of personal values

To better understand what motivates consumers to buy sustainable products many authors have investigated the role of personal values. Human values can be defined as our underlying beliefs and express our needs and goals that motivate our daily behavior. They influence our daily consumption choices and guide us through the decision-making process (Vermeir & Verbeke, 2006). Different studies have shared the view and supported the link between personal values and buying behavior (Homer & Kahle, 1988; Kim et al., 2002; Rohan, 2000). Even though different factors have been mentioned in the literature that have influence on the willingness to purchase such as quality, taste or price there will be a strong focus on personal values in this study. This is first due to the limited scope of this research and secondly, personal values have been by far the most studied variables that have been found to have significant influence in predicting buying behavior and therefore will be included.

The above-mentioned literature shows that values are the basis for individual attitude formation and guide our buying behavior (Homer & Kahle, 1988; Yamoah et al., 2016). FT purchases are therefore not only driven by our knowledge, but also by our underlying personal values influencing us at the point of purchase. People that score high on universalism and self-direction tend to buy more sustainable products including FT. Therefore, different results are expected for participants that score high on these values compared to the ones that have a rather low score. In the next section the two-underlying values universalism, and self-direction, will be further evaluated.

2.3.1 Universalism

According to Schwartz (1994) universalism can be understood as appreciation, tolerance, and the protection of not only people within our primary group but beyond. People scoring high on this value feel the urge to protect all humans. However, not only humans but also nature plays a critical role and needs to be protected since universalism also means a high concern and awareness of the scarcity of natural resources, passion about equality and strive for social justice.

social context of the production process. The author claims that FT ensures equality of exchange, addresses the human element in the retail supply chain and hereby recognizes the power discrepancy between the different nations.

The principle of FT products is in line with the personal value of universalism since FT strives for appreciation, tolerance and the protection of humans and nature. Since there is no evidence of how different positive FT messages could influence people with different degrees of universalism this research is more of exploratory nature. It is expected that people scoring high on universalism will have positive beliefs and attitudes towards FT products and be increasingly willing to purchase them. Therefore, it might be that as long as the marketing message is positive highlighting the advantages of FT there might not be a large difference between the two conditions. It could also be that the narrative is so strong that it even differs for people that already have a positive attitude, and can accomplish an even larger increase in willingness to buy. However, the difference could also rather be visible for participants scoring low on universalism values. These are the ones that must be convinced of the strong power of FT and the story about the farmer Carlos and his family, describing the positive changes that FT has provided for them might change their minds resulting in a more positive attitude and willingness to buy.

2.3.2 Self-direction

The value of self-direction is motivated by independence, creativity, and freedom of all thoughts and actions (Schwartz, 1994). People want to control all their decisions, they strive for self-worth, self-reliance and sufficiency and want to make all judgements independently. Self-direction values are therefore repeatedly concluded to be important values (Schwartz & Bardi, 2001). Additionally, consumers scoring high on self-direction are usually breaking from convention, wanting to consume products that are special and hard to find (Doran, 2009). The authors Davies & Gutsche (2016) have carried out fifty in-depth field interviews to understand the underlying motivations of mainstream ethical consumption. They hereby revealed that self-satisfaction was a most central value behind FT consumption. They explained this outcome by underlining that many people like to please themselves rather than helping others and they consume because it gives them a happy feeling to buy something unusual. Additionally, having done a responsible purchase makes them feel good about themselves.

there is no evidence of how different positive FT messages could influence people with different self-direction values. Therefore, again the research is more of exploratory nature. What the results might show is that for participants scoring high on self-direction a narrative highlighting the advantages of FT has an even stronger effect because people strive for self-worth and sufficiency. The story of the farmer Carlos might seem more authentic and reliable to them resulting in the fact that people think they can actually make a difference. Additionally, they help a specific person and realize that they are responsible for the increase in Carlos and his families living condition, which can boost their self-worth and satisfaction. There could also be a difference visible for participants scoring low on self-direction because they must be more convinced of the strong power of FT. The story about the farmer Carlos and his family, describing the positive changes that FT has provided for them might change their minds resulting in a more positive attitude and willingness to buy.

This study will determine whether the relationship between advertising message and willingness to buy depends on personal values, or not.

H5a: The personal value universalism moderates the relationship between advertising message and attitude towards FT.

3 CONCEPTUAL MODEL

The TPB (Ajzen, 1985) forms the theoretical framework of this paper and displays the main relationships below. The framework offers a clearly defined structure that allows the investigation of the influence that advertising message has on attitude and ultimately on purchasing intention, which can be translated into actual buying behavior. The key variables measured in this study are advertising message in form of a concrete farmer story and in form of a general FT story and their effect on attitude of FT products. Next it will be measured if a positive attitude will translate into actual intention to buy the products. The expected relationship of the main effect is that the narrative farmer story condition results in stronger attitudes and in turn leads to higher buying intention. Additionally, personal values have been added to the model, which makes a valuable contribution to the research by exploring whether the relationship between advertising message and purchasing intention differs between different groups of participants scoring high or low on universalism and self-direction.

4 RESEARCH DESIGN

4.1 Participants & Design

In total 190 people (95 females; 58 males) participated in this research study. Of those 190, only the answers of 153 participants could be used since the rest dropped out after different measurement scales, and were therefore not included in the analyses. A nonrandom sampling method has been used, which is convenience sampling. This way it was possible to recruit participants that were easily reachable, mainly directly contacted via private messages, the social network or private emails in a time efficient and inexpensive manner. The chosen target population mainly consisted of German and Dutch students, friends and family out of the private and professional network of the researcher.

The study had a between-subjects design and the questionnaire was designed using Qualtrics’ software. This data collection method brings a lot of advantages such as cost and time-efficiency and the ease of distribution. The key variables measured in this study were advertising message (independent variable), their effect on attitudes about FT products, and finally purchasing intention (dependent variable). In addition, the moderating effect of personal values has made a valuable contribution to this research.

4.2 Questionnaire

multisensory experience due to its smell or taste, but also has functional meaning, which is the expected stimulation people receive from drinking it. Coffee is therefore a more neutral product that balances out different product characteristics. Additionally, in 2015 coffee has been the FT product responsible for the largest FT value sales and one of the top three commodity products of largest FT volume sales (Fairtrade, 2015). Secondly, the brand that has been chosen for this study is called Earthy Coffee. This brand is a fictional brand controlling for the fact that product involvement, knowledge or any other kind of strong positive/negative emotions connected to an existing brand will certainly have a large effect on the results. By using a fictional brand participants can develop an attitude towards the brand based on the information they receive. The brand Earthy Coffee will be referred to as EC in the remaining part of this paper.

Figure 2: General FT Story

A second scale developed by Côté et al. (2011) has been used to compare if one story evoked stronger experienced emotions than the other story measured with five items on a seven point likert scale asking “To what degree did you feel the following emotions: touched, compassion, sympathy, inspired, moved”? Again, a reliability analysis by using Cronbach’s alpha has been carried out. The SPSS output showed a value of 0.85 when combining all questions with no deleted items for the further analysis. The mean of the narrative farmer story was 5.47 whereas that of the general FT story was 4.67. The means of both stories were again compared and indicated a statistically significant difference (F = 6,011, p < 0,01). The manipulation tests have been successful and proved that the narrative farmer story was on the one hand more precise, evoking stronger, realistic and detailed images and one the other hand evoked stronger emotions than the story about FT in general.

After the conduction of the pre-test the questionnaire has been send out. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the two groups including the narrative farmer story and the general FT story. First beliefs and disbeliefs have been measured by using a scale from De Pelsmacker & Janssens (2007). A seven point likert scale first measured skepticism towards FT by asking four questions such as “FT is too much like charity: purchasing FT does not solve anything in the long run” or “FT products lack credibility”. Positive beliefs have been asked by four questions including “FT is important” or “FT strives for paying more honest prices to producers in developing countries”. Missing data was replaced with the mean of the individual’s responses. A reliability analysis by using Cronbach’s alpha has been conducted to measure all eight items. The SPSS output showed a value of 0.66 when combining all questions. No item had to be deleted for the further analysis.

FT products (bad/good, worthless/valuable, harmful/beneficial etc.)”. A reliability analysis by using Cronbach’s alpha has been conducted to measure four items concerning the product EC. The SPSS output showed a value of 0.77 when combining all questions. No item had to be deleted for the further analysis. The SPSS output for five items of brand attitude showed a value of 0.92 when combining all questions. No item had to be deleted for the further analysis.

Same as the attitude measurement, behavioral intention has also been measured regarding the brand EC and towards different FT products in general. Purchase intention of the brand itself has been measured with seven-point, one item scale used by Yamoah et al. (2016). The question asked: “If within the next weeks you encounter Earthy coffee in a retail store, how likely are you to buy the product”? The authors have based their scale on previous studies (Shaw et al., 2000; Shaw & Shiu, 2003). The same question has also been asked to measure behavioral intention towards different FT products in general. Therefore, FT bananas, chocolate, tea and sugar have been displayed. These products have been chosen because they belong to the top five commodity products contributing to FT volume and value sales (Fairtrade, 2015). Participants also had to indicate how often they buy FT and how often they drink coffee. A reliability analysis by using Cronbach’s alpha has been conducted to measure the four item questions concerning the purchasing intention of the FT products. The SPSS output showed a value of 0.74 when combining all questions. No item had to be deleted for the further analysis.

Lastly, the personal values universalism and self-direction have been measured on 8 items in total using a seven-point scale to access the degree to which participants agreed to statements such as “Equal opportunities for all”, “Social justice for everyone” or “freedom of thought” etc. This scale was again developed by Yamoah et al. (2016). A reliability analysis by using Cronbach’s alpha measured four items for universalism and four items for self-direction. The SPSS output showed a value of 0.91 when combining all questions for universalism and a value of 0.93 for self-direction. No item had to be deleted for the further analysis.

5 RESULTS

Statistical methods have been used to carry out a preliminary analysis (data cleaning) and analyze the relationships between the variables measured, which will be done by using the software: IBM SPSS (version 23.0). Supplementary, PROCESS, an additional modeling tool available for SPSS by Andrew F. Hayes, has been used for mediation and moderation analysis (Hayes, 2012). The confidential level of this research is 95 per cent with a relating confidence interval of +/- 5 per cent.

5.1 Preliminary Analysis

The data analysis started with a preliminary analysis to detect missing data, outliers and distributional shape. Biases have been reduced by removing participants with missing or odd looking data. From the total of 190 participants that had joined this research study, 37 had to be removed for further analysis. Additionally, results of descriptive statistics have been analyzed to get a profile of the sample in this study and explore scale questions whereas frequencies are giving insight into all ordinal and nominal questions. All key variables were examined to see the distributional shape of the data. Reliability analysis by using Cronbach’s alpha has been executed in order to measure internal consistency, and analyze how closely related a set of items are.

5.2 Demographics

total 17.6% reported a monthly income of €2.000 to €3.000 and about 20% of the sample claimed to earn more than €4.000. To find out if respondents were aware of FT and its meaning they had to indicate if they know what FT stands for. Most the participants knew what FT means (90.8%). Additionally, only a small number of people claimed to buy FT always (1.3%), most of the time (7.8%) or never (7.8%). Most participants indicated that they buy FT products sometimes (68.0%) or about half the time (15.0%).

To reflect on the representatives the study sample has been compared against statistical data regarding the German population since it has turned out that most of the participants in the research have been from Germany. This can especially give an indication of the generalizability of the study results. All data have been obtained from a website with German population statistics (Destatis, 2017). The sample distribution was found to be different from the population distribution. The German population demonstrates an almost equal number of females (51%) and males (49%) with an average age of 44. Compared to the German population, the study sample presents a much higher level of education. Whereas the study sample shows almost 80% of participants with a bachelor or master degree only 15% of the population have obtained this academic degree. Additionally, a much higher monthly income has been observed, which lies at around €4200. It can therefore be concluded that the study sample is much younger, more educated however, but has a lower monthly income available.

5.3 Hypotheses Testing

As mentioned above, to test the hypotheses and examine if a difference between the conditions exists different tests have been conducted such as one-way analysis of variance as well as moderation and mediation analysis using PROCESS an additional modeling tool available for SPSS by Andrew F. Hayes (Hayes, 2012).

5.3.1 One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA)

could not be observed (p is higher than 0.05, namely p = .36). Hence, hypothesis H1 was

not supported.

5.3.2 Mediation

Even though no effect exists between X and Y a mediation test has still been carried out that included the effect of advertising message (X) on purchasing intention (Y) through the mediator attitude (M) to get more insights into the data and tested variables. Included in the analysis have been four covariates (U1: FT Knowledge, U2: Gender, U3: Beliefs, U4: FT Purchase/or Coffee Cups). These have been added to statistically remove confounds that can have potential influence and affect the outcome of the study (Hayes, 2013). For choosing which data will be included as covariates different variables have been tested and only the ones with significant effects have been chosen.

The overall mediation model was significant with F(5, 147) = 7.11, p < .01, R2 = .19. Regarding the brand EC as visible in the one-way analysis of variance advertising message was no significant predictor of purchase intention (c = -.06, t(147) = -.47, p = .64). Results indicated that advertising message was no significant predictor of attitude (a = -.02, t(147) = -.32, p = .75) however, participants in the survey that scored high on positive attitude towards the FT product EC reported a higher purchase intention towards the product (b = .87, t(147) = 4.47, p < .01). Thus, attitude was a significant predictor of purchase attention. Overall it can be concluded that the results do not support the mediational hypothesis. The same pattern was again visible within the outcomes for FT in general. Advertising message was no significant predictor of purchase intention (c = -.12, t(147) = -1.29, p = .20). Results indicated that advertising message was no significant predictor of attitude (a = -.02, t(147) = -.26, p = .79) however, participants in the survey that scored high on positive attitude towards the FT reported a higher purchase intention towards different FT products (b = .17, t(147) = 1.20, p < .05). Thus, attitude was a significant predictor of purchase attention. Overall it can be concluded that the results did not support H2 and H4 but did

support H3.

5.3.3 Moderation with M=Attitude

four covariates have been included in the analysis (U1: FT Knowledge, U2: Gender, U3: Beliefs, U4: FT Purchase/or Coffee Cups). By testing the moderation effect of advertising message on purchase intention of EC by the moderator attitude towards EC no effect has been found. The overall model was significant with F(5, 145) = 4,14, p < .01, R2 = .17. Brand attitude did predict purchase intention (b = .89, t(145) = 4.39, p < .01). However, advertising message did not predict purchase intention (b = -.05, t(145) = -.38, p = .70). Finally, the interaction of brand attitude and advertising message did not yield any significant results (b = .1049, t(145) = .57, p = .57). Though, when taking a closer look at the conditional effects of X on Y of the moderator brand attitude we can see a slight pattern. Even though the results are not significant figure 4 shows that for participants scoring low on brand attitude the p-value becomes smaller and conditions seem to matter more than if participants would be considered high in brand attitude. In the case of low brand attitude, the general FT story would have a larger influence. As mentioned before this can only be assumed from the data pattern since the results are not statistically significant.

Figure 4: Conditional effect of X on Y at values of the moderator Attitude

5.3.4 Moderation with M=Personal Values

Regarding Hypothesis 5a/b, it was expected that personal values including universalism and self-direction would moderate the relationship between advertising message and attitude. When testing for attitude towards the brand EC self-direction did predict attitude of FT products marginally (b = .09, t(145) = 1.75, p = .08). Condition did not predict attitude (b = -.02, t(145) = -.39, p = .70). Finally, the interaction of self-direction and advertising message did not yield any significant results (b = .04, t(145) = .79, p = .43). By testing the moderation effect of advertising message on attitude towards FT products by the moderator self-direction no effect has been found. The overall model was significant with F(7, 145) = 3.69, p < .01, R2 = .15. Self-direction did not predict attitude of FT products (b = .08, t(145) = 1.07, p = .29). Condition did not predict attitude (b = -.02, t(145) = -.29, p = .77). Finally, the interaction of self-direction and advertising message did not yield any significant results (b = .02, t(145) = .28, p = .78).

Regarding the results for the moderation effect of advertising message on purchase intention of EC by the moderator universalism no effect has been found. The overall model was significant with F(7, 145) = 6.68, p < .01, R2 = .24. Universalism however, did predict attitude of the brand EC (b = .14, t(145) = 3.03, p < .05). Condition did not predict attitude (b = -.02, t(145) = -.31, p = .76). Finally, the interaction of universalism and advertising message did not yield any significant results (b = -.00, t(145) = -.05, p = .96). By testing the moderation effect of advertising message on attitude of FT products by the moderator universalism no effect has been found. The overall model was significant with F(7, 145) = 3.84, p < .01, R2 = .16. Universalism did not predict attitude of FT products (b = .11, t(145) = 1.43, p = .15). Condition did not predict attitude (b = -.02, t(145) = -.23, p = .81). Finally, the interaction of universalism and advertising message did not yield any significant results (b = -.01, t(145) = .12, p = .90).

Concluding by testing the moderation effect of advertising message on attitude of EC and FT in general by the moderator universalism and self-direction no moderation effect has been found. However, universalism and self-direction have been found direct predictors of attitude. The conditional effect of X on Y in figure 5&6 gives reason to conclude that the two conditions do not make a difference for participants with high personal values. However, it is hard to predict what would be the case for participants low in personal values since there is limited data available that measured participants scoring very low on personal values. The mean that has been measured for universalism was 6.00 (SD = 1.15). The mean observed for self-direction was 6.11 (SD = 1.11). Generally, there was only a small amount or respondents scoring low on universalism and self-direction. Regarding the discussion above H5a/b was not supported.

Figure 5: Conditional effect of X on Y at values of the moderator Universalism

6 DISCUSSION

Academic research about the relevance of the message companies get across to their audience to reach a specific goal has been conducted over a long period and different fields. This research has especially been conducted to clarify if powerful storytelling can be an effective marketing strategy, that connects the buyer and supplier to provide greater information to consumers. The supplier in FT describes the role of the farmer. Consumers can gain more understanding into individual lives standing behind the products and the people involved in the production processes. It was therefore expected that the use of such a strategy compared to a normal strategy only highlighting some key advantages of FT would increase positive attitude towards FT, and in turn buying intention., it was expected that attitude functions as a mediator explaining the increase in buying intention. Lastly, the personal values universalism and self-direction have been expected to moderate the relationship. An overview with the expected hypotheses and results can be found below in table 2.

Hypotheses Result

H1: Narrative advertising in form of a concrete farmer story compared to a general FT story will lead to larger buying intention of FT products.

Not confirmed

H2: Participants that are confronted with a narrative advertising message in form of a concrete farmer story will have a more favorable attitude towards FT products than participants confronted with a general story about FT.

Not confirmed

H3: People that have strong positive attitudes towards the positive consequences of FT products tend to be more willing to purchase them.

Confirmed

H4: Attitude is expected to mediate the relationship between

advertising message and purchase intention Not confirmed

H5a: The personal value universalism moderates the relationship

between advertising message and attitude towards FT. Not confirmed H5b: The personal value self-direction moderates the relationship

The results of this study are not consistent with what has been found in the literature. The message of the farmer Carlos stressing the importance for him and his family as well as other farmers and the advantages they have from FT did not result in a statistically significant difference in comparison to the rather general FT story. One reason that could explain this outcome is that both stories were not distinctive enough from each other. Both stories were positive leading to the fact that participants in the normal condition could have been convinced by the information they have gained from the text. Since both groups had the time to read carefully and understand what great impact FT has, it could have been the case that both groups had an equal positive attitude. And in fact, the means for both groups were above average showing a positive attitude and purchasing intention. The authors Frey & Eagly (1993) can confirm this outcome. In their research, they have found that attention was an important moderator meaning that when attention was high there was no difference found between groups. Additionally, the authors also claim that vivid stories and pictures can also distract information away from the core meaning of the message which leads to the fact that people miss important information and fail to follow the essence of the message. This could have been the case since the story included a longer narrative about Carlos and the company as well as the product supported by pictures. A different explanation comes from Taylor & Thompson (1982). These authors claim that likeability and trustworthiness of the source are important factors that influence the effect a vivid message has. Participants might have just not trusted or believed that the farmer in the story is the real person behind the product and that the story might be made up for advertising purpose.

population. In fact, the study sample has been found to be much younger and more educated, but indicating a lower monthly income than the whole population. Especially the difference in education compared to the whole population can explain the homogeneousness of results for personal values. About 80% of participants in this research have obtained a bachelor degree, master degree or a PhD, which is a much larger amount compared to the German population in which only 15% of the population have obtained this academic degree. Schwartz (2005) has early established the view that high education broadens intellectual horizons, encourages exploring the unique and tolerance for difference, which could explain the high scores on personal values of the participants in this research.

6.1 Scientific Implications

This study advances research on FT purchasing behavior. Firstly, it contributes to the current literature since almost none of the existing research about the importance of message type in advertising has been conducted regarding FT. Secondly, it confirms the findings of D'Astous & Mathieu (2008). These authors have also concluded that inconsistent with theoretical conclusions the poster with concrete supplier information did not have a larger effect on buying behavior. It gives much room for future research to conduct similar studies and find out why the outcomes of these two studies are contradictory to theory.

6.2 Practical Implications

the farmer might lead to a large amount in spend advertising budget but not to more loyalty, at least not in the short run. Important is also the finding that advertising a brand such as EC in this study can have positive effects for the whole FT category including other products. Even though only Coffee has been advertised the attitudes and purchase intentions were as high for different products as well such as bananas, chocolate or tea. Branding is therefore highly important. Marketers should make sure that if they can get the message across, increase attitudes and willingness to buy for their product, also other products can benefit from it. If brand awareness and recall is created, products from one company should be easily identifiable by design, packaging or the logo.

6.3 Limitations

This research is not without limitations. The sample in this study could have led to several biases in the results. First, the chosen method convenience sampling, compromises that participants were not randomly chosen but mainly directly contacted via private messages, the social network or private emails due to time and costs. On the one hand, it could have led to the fact that people might not have payed attention well enough and made random clicks just to get to the end of the survey since participants also did not receive incentives. One the other hand this also leads to sampling error and the fact that the sample is quite homogenous and differs from the characteristics of the entire population. The results are therefore not generalizable for the entire population.

Another limitation includes time constraints. More time would have given a better chance of reaching out to a more diverse and bigger sample size as well as given more time to make better well though-out decisions about the research design. Even though 153 participants were included in the final analysis this sample is rather small when split up into the two groups. Regarding the study design, no control group has been included in this study. This has been due to the fact that the purpose of this study was to detect differences between the two stories. However, since they have both been positive and no difference has been found, it was hard to conclude if they both led to successful results since they could not be compared against a neutral story or one that did not include FT.

6.4 Recommendations

If the research would be conducted again, firstly the limitations of the study could be improved with a larger sample as well as a more representative one. Another study design could be chosen. Even though the authors D'Astous & Mathieu (2008) have attempted to conduct a very similar study in an experimental setting, the study had too many methodological problems. Therefore, a new field experiment should be conducted, where people could receive different product information or leaflets before they enter the store to observe a more realistic setting and include other variables such as price and availability that have been excluded from this research. Next, a control group should be added that includes a natural story or even a normal product that is not FT. Interesting fields of research that can be included in this study to gain more information about the message type that yields the best results could be if the story is told in first versus third person. The authors Hinyard & Kreuter (2007) have stressed that there is a possibility that the perspective through which a story is told influences its persuasiveness. Currently, there is a lack of evidence and research regarding this topic. Another interesting research topic to include is message framing. A large amount of research exists about the influence of negative versus positive framed stories. Surprisingly, these papers have not been conducted regarding FT. Therefore, it would be interesting to know if a negative message about the farmer would lead to differences in purchasing intention. Finally, descriptive research should be rounded up using exploratory research. Questioning participants after they have conducted a survey will help to understand why they have made certain decisions. The answers will give richer quality information that can lead to realistic explanations about why a certain outcome has been reached or why one advertising message is more favorable than another.

6.5 Conclusion

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