Subjective norms
Hypothesis 8: Influence of subjective norms on willingness to pay premium price for organic food products. It has been found that subjective norms significantly affect willingness to
國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
According to model 5 trust in organic food claims has proved to be a highly significant predictor of willingness to pay premium price (β = .227, p<.001). The model indicates that trust in organic food claims allow us to predict willingness to pay above and beyond other variables, such as demographics and psychological variables. Thus, the more consumers trust in organic food claims the more positive attitudes they tend to hold towards it.
Additionally, the relationship between trust in organic labels and willingness to pay premium price is highly significant in model 3(β = .137, p<.01) and it stays relatively significant in model 4 (β = .098, p<.05), however, losing its status and becoming insignificant in model 5 after the last variable (organic attitudes) is added to the equation. This indicates complete mediating effect of organic attitudes. Hence, H7 is only partly supported.
Hypothesis 8: Influence of subjective norms on willingness to pay premium price for organic food products. It has been found that subjective norms significantly affect willingness to pay premium price for organic food. According to model 5 subjective norms variable has very high predictive capacity at predicting willingness to pay (β = .267, p<.001). These results indicate that the greater the subjective norms are the greater is willingness to pay. Therefore, hypothesis 8 is strongly supported.
Influence of gender differences on dependent and independent variables. Amongst all of the demographic variables gender was the only one that showed any significant correlation with the organic attitudes. Model 3 shows high predictive capacity of gender in predicting organic attitudes (β = .156, p<.01). Gender, however, was not significant in predicting willingness to pay (see table 4 and 5).
‧
The researcher conducted a t-test to compare the differences of gender on organic
attitudes (see table 6). According to the table there is a significant difference in gender on organic attitudes.
Table 6
T-test Results Comparing Gender Differences on Organic Attitudes
N Mean t Sig.
(2-tailed)
Male Female Male Female
Organic Attitudes 71 160 3.39 3.9 - 4.75 ***
***p<.001
Additionally, the researcher has conducted t-tests to compare gender difference on all of the independent variables. The results of these tests indicate that there is a statistically significant difference in the mean scores for health-consciousness and organic food knowledge for males and females (see table 7 and 8).
Table 7
T-test Results Comparing Gender Differences on Health-consciousness
N Mean t Sig.
T-test Results Comparing Gender Differences on Organic Food Knowledge
N Mean t Sig.
(2-tailed)
Male Female Male Female
Organic Knowledge 71 160 3.63 4.26 - 2.93 **
**p<.01
‧
This part of the research summarizes the results of the conducted analysis and discusses the implications of the findings. Table 8 demonstrates a summary of the findings.
Table 9
Results from Addressing Research Hypotheses
Research Hypothesis Results
H1: Positive attitude towards organic food will enhance the willingness to pay premium price for organic food
Supported p<.001 H2a: The more concerned consumers are about their health the
more positive attitudes they will hold toward organic food.
Supported p<.001 H2b: There is a correlation between health concerns and
willingness to pay premium price for organic food.
Supported p<.01 H3a: The more concerned consumers are about the environment
the more positive attitudes they will hold toward organic food.
Not Supported
H3b: There is a correlation between environmental concerns and willingness to pay premium price for organic food.
Not Supported
H4a: The more concerned consumers are about being trendy the more positive attitudes they will hold toward organic food.
Not Supported
H4b: There is a correlation between concerns for being trendy and willingness to pay premium price for organic food.
Not Supported
H5a: Increased knowledge of organic food will result in more positive attitude towards organic food.
Supported p<.001 H5b: There is a correlation between knowledge of organic food
and willingness to pay premium price for it.
Supported p<.05 H6a: The more consumers trust in organic food claims the more
positive attitudes they will hold toward organic food.
Supported p<.001 H6b: There is a correlation between trust in organic food claims
and willingness to pay premium price for it.
Supported p<.001
‧
H7: Trust in organic labels will influence willingness to pay premium price, so that the higher the trust is the greater is the willingness to pay.
Partly Supported p<.05
H8: Subjective norms will influence willingness to pay premium price for organic food, so that the greater the subjective norms are the greater is the willingness to pay.
Supported p<.001
Conclusions and Implications
H1a was strongly supported, suggesting that attitudes do influence willingness to pay premium price for organic food. This relationship is consistent with other research (Honkanen et al. 2006; Smith and Paladino 2009), proving organic attitudes to be important antecedent for predicting and explaining consumers’ willingness to pay a higher price.
H2a and H2b were strongly supported, indicating health concerns to be strong motivating factors in both organic attitudes and willingness to pay premium price for it. These findings are consistent with previous research proving health-consciousness to be one of the most important predictors for explaining willingness to pay (Ozcelik and Ucar 2008; Michaelidou and Hasson 2008). These perceived benefits should be highlighted when marketing organic food products to consumers.
H3a and H3b, however, were not supported, as concern for the environment does not prove to have any significant influence neither on consumers’ attitudes nor on the willingness to pay premium price for organic food. This result is inconsistent with research that shows
environment concerns as a significant variable in organic purchases. The results of this study indicate that Russian consumers purchase organic food solely due to egoistic concerns for one’s health and well-being, while altruistic factors (concerns for environment) do not seem to matter.
As Russian organic food market is still in its early development stage and a relatively new
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
phenomena for the consumers, these findings could be attributed to the fact that Russian
consumers do not fully associate organic food with being beneficial for the environment, in other words, lacking some of the knowledge of organic food. These findings provide useful insights in terms of how marketing specialists should advertise and promote their products. Focusing on and stressing the health aspect of organic food is a one way of doing it. On the other hand, educating people on the environmental benefits of organic food may attract more attention and widen the scope of potential customers.
H4a and H4b were not supported in this study, showing no statistically significant correlation between trend-consciousness and organic attitudes, as well as willingness to pay premium price for organic food. Despite the fact that most of the respondents (over 80%) consider leading a healthy life style to be very popular and over 60% of the sample perceive organic food as trendy, these, however, do not affect attitudes held and do not enhance
willingness to pay. We may conclude that trendy aspect of organic food is not influential enough to ensure consumers’ willingness to pay a higher price for organic food. That being said, this particular aspect of organic food is not valuable in terms of promoting and may be disregarded.
H5a was strongly supported suggesting that an increase in organic knowledge increases the level of positive attitudes held, which is consistent with previous research (Pieniak et al. 2010;
Smith and Paladino 2009). H5b was also supported, showing that knowledge has a significant effect on willingness to pay premium price for organic food. These findings underscore the importance of educating consumers and providing information of organic food. As the market is still developing there is an obvious need for marketers to increase primary demand for organic food.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
H6a and H6b were both strongly supported, suggesting that trust in organic food claims can be a very powerful predictor in explaining both organic attitudes and willingness to pay premium price. These findings have important implications for the marketers, as the greater tendency of Russian consumers in avoiding uncertainties is likely to strengthen the effect of these factors when making purchase decisions.
H7 was only partly supported, suggesting that although there is a correlation between trust in organic labels and willingness to pay a premium price for organic food, it becomes insignificant and loses its predictive capacity after organic attitudes are added to the analysis.
Due to the high uncertainty avoidance Russian consumers are expected to rely heavily on product labeling, the media, reputation of producers and other observable attributes of organic food as measures of trustworthiness and quality. Taking into account that trust in organic labels showed significant correlation up to the last step of the analysis, therefore, we can suggest that marketers should consider a full series of measures to appear credible, rather than solely relying on labeling.
H8 was strongly supported, indicating statistically significant correlation between the subjective norms and willingness to pay premium price for organic food. This finding shows that social pressure influences a consumer’s willingness to pay, which is supported by previous studies (Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2005; Smith and Paladino 2010). This can be attributed to the high power distance culture that characterizes Russians. Consumers are likely to be influenced by the advice, opinions or behaviors of their significant others, particularly those whom they hold high regard for. Evidently, some companies will be wise to consider endorsements of their brands by celebrities or other credible and influential people.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
In terms of the demographic variables analyzed in the study, gender seems to be the only one correlated with organic attitudes. The findings of this research suggest that women tend to hold more favorable attitudes towards organic food then men. However, gender was not significant in predicting willingness to pay a premium price.
Limitations and Future Research
Current study contributes to the growing body of research that presents TPB as a valuable predictive model, proving it to be a beneficial theory for research on organic food. However, the lack of studies on organic Russian market indicates some intrinsic limitations to the present study.
The findings should be validated or compared with related studies in order to generalize the results.
In terms of the general demographic characteristics of the respondents, the results showed that the sample was not completely representative of the population. The age of the respondents varied from 18 to 50 and above, however young people (under 29) were overrepresented (64%).
This may be attributed to the fact that the questionnaire was distributed online via social network, and those tend to be used mainly by younger audiences. With respect to their education, 70% of the respondents were university graduates. Therefore, research of a more diverse sample is required.
The results demonstrate that the most important criteria affecting consumers’ attitudes and willingness to pay are health concerns, as well as knowledge and trust in organic food claims.
Subjective norms are also very important at predicting willingness to pay.
This study has not differentiated between organic products of imported and local produce.
Up until now, most of the organic products sold in Russia have been imported from abroad.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
However, there are numerous studies available that mention how domestic products are becoming more and more popular.Future research should explore these differences to see whether consumers tend to favor organic food of local produce and be willing to pay a higher price for such products.
Furthermore, as H7 was only partly supported in this study, future research should continue to explore the relationship between the trust in organic labels and willingness to pay premium price for organic food in more depth.
Additionally, the relationship between willingness to pay (intention) and actual purchase may be investigated. As TPB considers willingness to pay as a predictor of actual behavior researchers may focus on identifying factors that moderate and/or mediate the impact of intention on actual behavior.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
References
Ahmad, Siti Nor Bayaah, & Nurita Juhdi. (2010). Organic food: a study on demographic characteristics and factors influencing purchase intentions among consumers in Klang Valley, Malaysia. International Journal of Business and Management, 5 (2), pp. 105-118.
Ajzen, I. (1991). “The Theory of Planned Behavior, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes”, 50, 179-211.
Ajzen, I. (2012). The Theory of Planned Behavior: A bibliography (compiled by I. Ajzen).
Retrieved from http://people.umass.edu/aizen/tpbrefs.html
Alwitt, L., & Pitts, R. (1996). Predicting purchase intentions for an environmentally sensitive product. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 5(1), pp. 49-64.
Aryal, K.P., Chaudhary, P., Pandit, S., & Sharma, G. (2009). Consumers’ willingness to pay for organic products: a case from Kathmandu valley. The Journal of Agriculture and
Environment, 10 (6), pp.12-22.
Baker, S., Thompson, K.E., Engelken, J., & Huntley, K. (2004). Mapping the values driving organic food choice: Germany vs the UK. Journal of Marketing, 38 (8), pp. 995-1012.
Chinnici, G, D’Amico, M. & Pecorino B. (2002). A multivariate statistical analysis on the consumers of organic products. British Food Journal, 104 (3/4/5), pp. 187-199.
Conner, M., & Sparks, P. (1995). The theory of planned behavior and health behaviors. In M.
Conner, & P. Norman (Eds.), “Predicting health behavior: Research and practice with social cognition models”. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Conner, M., & Armitage, C. J. (1998). Extending the theory of planned behavior: a review and avenues for further research. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 28(15), pp. 1429–1464.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Diamantopoulos, A., Schlegelmilch, B. B. and Sinkovics, R. R. (2003). Can socio-demographics still play a role in profiling green consumers? A review of the evidence and an empirical investigation. Journal of Business Research, 56, pp. 465-480
Dimitri, C., & Oberholtzer, L. (2009). Marketing U.S. Organic Foods: Recent Trends from Farms to Consumers”, Economic Information Bulletin Number 58. Washington, DC: U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
Doob, L. W. (1947). The behavior of attitudes. Psychological Review, 54 (3), pp. 135–156.
Dunlap, R. E. and Jones, R. (2002). “Environmental Concern: Conceptual and Measurement Issues.” In Handbook of Environmental Sociology edited by Dunlap and Michelson.
London: Greenwood Press,pp. 482-542.
Dutta-Bergman, M. (2005). The relation between health-orientation, provider-patient communication, and satisfaction: An individual-difference approach. Health Communication, 18, 291-303.
Gil, J.M. & Soler, F. (2006), Knowledge and willingness to pay for organic food in Spain:
Evidence from experimental auctions, Food Economics, 3,109-124.
Godin, G., & Kok, G. (1996). The theory of planned behavior: A review of its applications to health-related behaviors. American Journal of Health Promotion, 11(2), pp. 87–98.
Grunert, S & Juhl, H (1995). Values, environmental attitudes and buying of organic foods.
Journal of Economic Psychology, 16, pp. 39-62.
Honkanen, P., Verplanken, B. & Olsen, S.O. (2006). Ethical Values and Motives Driving Organic Food Choice. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 5 (5), pp. 420–30.
Hofstede, G.H. (1991). “Cultures and organizations: software of the mind”. London: McGraw-Hill.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Hughner, R.S., McDonagh, P., Prothero, A., Clifford J., Shultz, I.I, & Stanton, J. (2007). Who Are Organic Food Consumers? A Compilation and Review of Why People Purchase Organic Food. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 6 (2), pp. 94–110.
Jayanti, R.K. and Burns, A.C. (1998). The antecedents of preventive health care behavior: An empirical study. Academy of Marketing Science, 26 (1), pp. 9-15.
Jung, C.G. (1971). “Psychological Types”, Collected Works, Volume 6. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Kareklas, I., Carlson, J.R., & Muehling D.D. (2012). The Role of Regulatory Focus and Self-View in “Green” Advertising Message Framing. Journal of Advertising, 41 (4), pp. 25–39.
Kareklas, I., Carlson, J.R., & Muehling D.D. (2014). I Eat Organic for My Benefit and Yours:
Egoistic and Altruistic Considerations for Purchasing Organic Food and Their Implications for Advertising Strategists. Journal of Advertising, 43(1), pp. 18–32.
Kaskutas, L.A. and Greenfield, T.K. (1997) The Role of Health Consciousness in Predicting Attention to Health Warning Messages. American Journal of Health Promotion, 11 (3), pp.
186-193.
Kraft, F.B. and Goodell, P.W. (1993). Identifying the health conscious consumer. Journal of Health Care Marketing, 13, pp. 18-25.
Lea, E., & Worsley T. (2005). Australians' organic food beliefs, demographics and values.
British Food Journal, 107 (11), pp. 855-869.
Loncaric, R., Deže, J., & Ranogejec, L. (2009). Consumers’ attitudes analysis regarding organic food in Eastern Croatia. Paper presented at the 4th Aspects and Visions of Applied
Economics and Informatics, Debrecen, Hungary. Available at:
https://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/397531.52.pdf
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Loo, Ellen J., Van, My Nguyen Hoang Diem, Pieniak, Z., & Verbeke, W. (2013). Consumer Attitudes, Knowledge, and Consumption of Organic Yogurt. Journal of Dairy Science, 96 (4), pp. 2118–29.
Luhmann, N. (1979). Trust and Power. Chichester: Wiley.
Magistris, T. & Gracia A. (2008). The decision to buy organic food products in Southern Italy.
British Food Journal, 110 (9), pp. 929-947.
Magnusson, Maria K., Arvola, A., Ulla-Kaisa K. Hursti, Å berg, L., & Per-Olow Sj¨od´en (2001).
Attitudes Towards Organic Foods among Swedish Consumers. British Food Journal, 103 (3), pp. 209–27.
McClelland, D.C. (1987). “Human Motivation”. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Meixner O., Haas R., Perevoshchikova Y. & Canavari M. (2014). Consumer Attitudes, Knowledge, and Behavior in the Russian Market for Organic Food. Int. J. Food System Dynamics, 5 (2), pp. 110 – 120.
Michaelidou, N. & Hassan, L. M. (2008). The role of health consciousness, food safety concern and ethical identity on attitudes and intentions towards organic food. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 32(1), pp. 163-170.
Moorman, C., and Matulich, E. (1993). A model of consumers' preventive health behaviors: The role of health motivation and health ability. Journal of Consumer Research, 20, pp. 208–
228.
Osgood, C. E., Suci, G. J., & Tannenbaum, P. H. (1957). “The Measurement of Meaning”.
University of Illinois Press.
Ozcelik, Ayse Ozfer, & Asli Ucar. (2008). Turkish academic staffs' perception of organic foods.
British Food Journal, 110 (9), pp. 948-960.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Padel, S. & Foster, C. (2005). Exploring the gap between attitudes and behavior –understanding why consumers buy or do not buy organic food. British Food Journal, 107, (8), pp. 606-25.
Park, H.S., & Smith, S.W. (2007). Distinctiveness and Influence of Subjective Norms, Personal Descriptive and Injunctive Norms, and Societal Descriptive and Injunctive Norms on Behavioral Intent: A Case of Two Behaviors Critical to Organ Donation. Human Communication Research, 33 (2), pp. 194-218.
Perrini, F., S. Castaldo, N. Misani & Tencati, A. (2010). The impact of corporate social
responsibility associations on trust in organic products marketed by mainstream retailers: a study of Italian consumers. Business Strategy and the Environment, 19(8), pp. 512 – 526.
Pieniak, Z., Aertsens, J. & Verbeke, W. (2010). Subjective and objective knowledge as
determinants of organic vegetables consumption. Food Quality and Preference, 21, pp. 581 – 588.
Radman, M (2005). Consumer consumption and perception of organic products in Croatia.
British Food Journal, 107(4), pp.263-273.
Roitner-Schobesberger, B., I. Darnhofer, S. Somsook, & Vogl, C. R. (2008), Consumer perceptions of organic foods in Bangkok, Thailand. Food Policy, 33(2), pp.112 – 121.
Schlegelmilch, B.B., Bohlen, G.M. and Diamantopoulos, A. (1996). The link between green purchasing decisions and measures of environmental consciousness. European Journal of Marketing, 30, (5), pp.35 – 55.
Singh, S. (2006). Cultural differences in, and influences on, consumers’ propensity to adopt innovations. International Marketing Review, 23(2), pp.173-191.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Smith, S. & Paladino, A. (2010). Eating clean and green? Investigating consumer motivations towards the purchase of organic food. Australasian Marketing Journal (AMJ), 18, (2), 93–
104
Solomon, M., Bamossy, G., Askegaard, S. and Hogg, M.K. (2006). “Consumer Behavior: A European Perspective”. 3rd ed. Harlow: Prentice Hall.
Squires, L., Juric, B. & Cornwell, T. (2001). Level of market development and intensity of organic food consumption: cross-cultural study of Danish and New Zealand consumers.
Journal of Consumer Marketing, 18(5), pp. 392-409.
Staats, H. (2003). Understanding Pro-environmental Attitudes and Behavior: An Analysis and Review of Research Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. In M. Bonnes, T. Lee, & M.
Bonaiuto(Eds.), “Psychological Theories For Environmental Issues”, pp. 171 – 201.
Tarkiainen, A. & Sundqvist, S. (2005). Subjective norms, attitudes and intentions of Finnish consumers in buying organic food. British Food Journal, 107(11), pp. 808 – 822.
Taylor C.R. (2012). Editorial on advertising in the BRICs and other emerging markets.
International Journal of Advertising, 31(2), pp. 227–230
Tsakiridou, E., Boutsouki C., Zotos Y., & Mattas K. (2008). Attitudes and behavior towards organic products: an exploratory study. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 36 (2), pp. 158-175
Voon, P. Jan, Ngui, Kwang Sing & Anand Agrawal (2011). Determinants of willingness to purchase organic food: an exploratory study using Structural Equation Modeling.
International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 14, (2).
Willer, H. & Lernoud, J. (2014). The World of Organic Agriculture. Statistics and Emerging Trends 2014. FiBL, Frick, and, IFOAM,Bonn.
‧
High school graduate
University graduate
Master degree and above 5. How often do you buy organic
food? 6. How much more are you willing
to pay for organic food, compared to conventional alternatives?