John Thøgersen, Susanne Pedersen, Maria Paternoga, Eva Schwendel and Jessica Aschemann-Witzel
The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on the country-of-origin (COO) effect in the context of organic food and develop suggestions for further research in this…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on the country-of-origin (COO) effect in the context of organic food and develop suggestions for further research in this area. Research has investigated COO effects and consumer responses to organic food, but there is little research on the combination of the two.
Design/methodology/approach
A narrative review of two research streams and their intersection, forming the basis for the development of a research agenda.
Findings
There are few studies analysing the possible interaction between the effects of organic and COO on consumers’ food preferences and choices. In general, COO seems to lose impact when other quality cues are salient. This suggests a lower impact of COO for organic than for conventional food products. However, there is still no research on the possible impact of organic labelling in categories where products from a foreign country are able to demand a premium, and little is known about consumer preferences for different import countries regarding organic food. Six potential future research directions are suggested.
Research limitations/implications
There is a need for research that more systematically investigates the possible interactions between COO and organic labelling on consumers’ food product preferences and choices. A research agenda is suggested as a starting point.
Originality/value
This literature review highlights the lack of research on the interaction between COO effects and consumer responses to organic food. The literature review creates a basis for future research and a possible research agenda is suggested.
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John Thøgersen and Susanne Pedersen
Filling a gap in extant research regarding the measurement of an export country's environmental image and investigating its importance for consumers' evaluation of an…
Abstract
Purpose
Filling a gap in extant research regarding the measurement of an export country's environmental image and investigating its importance for consumers' evaluation of an environmentally differentiated imported product.
Design/methodology/approach
Online surveys carried out in Denmark (Study 1), Germany and France (Study 2; N˜500 from each country). In Study 1, we develop an environmental country image instrument and investigate its nomological validity vis-à-vis other country image constructs and Danish consumers' evaluation of organic milk from Germany. In Study 2, we validate the instrument with consumers from Germany and France, evaluating organic milk from Denmark.
Findings
Consumers differentiate between a country's environmental image and its general and production-related images. The country's environmental image is important to consumers' evaluation of an environmentally differentiated product from the country. Specifically, we find that a country's environmental image strongly influences its product-specific images and, through these, the consumer's evaluation of an organic food product from the country.
Practical implications
Consumers' use of a country's environmental image as a cue to the credibility of environmental claims gives competitive advantages to exporters from countries with a favorable environmental image, while exporters from countries with an unfavorable environmental image need measures to compensate. Companies and countries should monitor how the environmental image of their country evolves in important markets and be ready to act when facing damages to their country's environmental image.
Originality/value
This article is the first to propose a measure of environmental country image and to document that consumers use the environmental image of an exporting country to assess environmental claims on imported products.
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John Thøgersen, Jessica Aschemann-Witzel and Susanne Pedersen
This paper aims to test the general validity of a hierarchical model of country image conceptualizations across countries that differ in socio-economic development and distance to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to test the general validity of a hierarchical model of country image conceptualizations across countries that differ in socio-economic development and distance to the exporting country.
Design/methodology/approach
Representative consumer samples in Germany, France, China and Thailand (N ∼ 1,000 per country) completed an online survey on three levels of country image regarding Denmark and attitudes towards buying an organic food product from Denmark. Data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling.
Findings
The hierarchical country image model fitted the data well in the two European countries, but not in the two Asian countries. It appears that the hierarchical relationships proposed by the model require a high level of familiarity with and knowledge of the origin country and the product type.
Research limitations/implications
The application scope of the model is considerably narrower than implied by earlier research. Further research should combine data from a number of sources to investigate the model’s application further.
Practical implications
Exporters must pay attention to both the general image of their country and the image of their country with regard to their specific product category, as this impacts consumer product evaluations.
Originality/value
International trade and the success of export strategies ultimately depend on consumer acceptance in importing countries. This study demonstrates how consumer perception of imported products is affected by the exporting country’s image, which may be more or less elaborate and differentiated. It gives exporters new insight into how they can make their marketing effective when entering markets.
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Yanfeng Zhou, John Thøgersen, Yajing Ruan and Guang Huang
This article aims to study the role of personal values as moderators of the antecedents of consumers' “green” buying intentions in the context of Chinese consumers' inclination to…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to study the role of personal values as moderators of the antecedents of consumers' “green” buying intentions in the context of Chinese consumers' inclination to buy organic food.
Design/methodology/approach
Ordinary Chinese consumers (n=479) were intercepted and filled out a questionnaire outside upscale supermarkets in Guangzhou. Multigroup structural equation modeling was used to test hypotheses about personal values' moderating effect in the theory of planned behavior.
Findings
Self‐transcendence values moderate the relationship between two antecedents and behavioral intentions: the attitude towards buying organic food and perceived behavioral control. Both of these antecedents have a stronger impact on intentions among consumers with strong self‐transcendence values than among consumers with weak ones.
Research limitations/implications
The study is based on a single consumer survey collected from a convenience sample of consumers from one Chinese city. Hence, care needs to be exercised when making inferences about causality and representativeness.
Practical implications
Study results have direct implications for the marketing of organic food. As the food safety problem in China is getting more severe and environmental issues are increasing on the political and public agendas, the consumption of organic food is being increasingly advocated by both the government and food producers, as a healthy and environment‐friendly alternative, which also may contribute positively to the development of the economy.
Originality/value
This article extends the rare literature analyzing Chinese consumers' inclination to buy organic food. It also extends the understanding of the role of personal values as moderators of antecedents of consumers' buying intentions for “green” products.
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John Thøgersen, Marcia Dutra de Barcellos, Marcelo Gattermann Perin and Yanfeng Zhou
The purpose of this paper is to investigate if consumer buying motives regarding organic food in emerging economies China and Brazil are culture bound or determined by key…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate if consumer buying motives regarding organic food in emerging economies China and Brazil are culture bound or determined by key characteristics of the product.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was collected in Guangzhou, China, and Porto Alegre, Brazil. Data were analyzed by means of structural equation modeling, checking for measurement invariance between samples.
Findings
The reasons why Brazilian and Chinese consumers buy organic food are strikingly similar to what is found in Europe and North America. Consumers’ attitude toward buying organic food is strongly linked to beliefs about its healthiness, taste and environmental friendliness. Also, consumer attitudes toward buying organic food are positively related to what Schwartz’s “Universalism” values in all studied cultures.
Research limitations/implications
Correlational (survey) data do not allow conclusions about causality and conclusions are limited by the covered countries and products.
Practical implications
Key consumer value propositions with respect to organic food seem cross-culturally valid and universally accepted by a segment of customers that share these values. Hence, organic food can be marketed globally based on a universal set of key value propositions. The same could be true for other global products sharing similar types of certifiable value propositions.
Social implications
New insights of value for the cross-cultural marketing of “green” and ethical consumer products.
Originality/value
Fills a gap in research regarding the extent to which consumer purchase motives are culture bound or determined by the characteristics of the product.
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John Thøgersen, Pernille Haugaard and Anja Olesen
The purpose of this paper is to develop and apply a framework for understanding consumer responses to ecolabelling.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop and apply a framework for understanding consumer responses to ecolabelling.
Design/methodology/approach
From a consumer perspective, ecolabels are tools for supporting decision making with regard to environmentally significant products. The paper proposes an adoption of innovation framework for understanding consumer responses. The framework is applied in a mall‐intercept survey of the early adoption of a new ecolabel, the MSC label for sustainable fishery, in Denmark.
Findings
Early adopters of a new ecolabel mostly employ a high effort adoption process. Starting the adoption process depends on both motivation (intention to buy sustainable fish products) and ability (issue‐relevant knowledge). Whether and how quickly the consumer completes the adoption depends on his or her motivation, past experience with using ecolabels, and trust in the endorsing organisation.
Research limitations/implications
Environmental and product‐related factors did not differ between respondents. Hence, a complete account of the importance of these factors for the adoption and (especially) diffusion of the label is not provided.
Practical implications
Consumers scoring highly on both issue‐relevant knowledge and motivation are the most likely innovators and early adopters. Their high level of expertise means that they do not need a lot of explanation for understanding the label and its self‐relevance and their strong motivation means that they will search for more if they need it (and if it is not too difficult to get).
Originality/value
The paper makes both a conceptual and an empirical contribution, which are of value both to practitioners (ecolabel promoters and users) and to research on ecolabel effectiveness.
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Joshua D. Newton, Fiona J. Newton, Thomas Salzberger and Michael T. Ewing
Multiple environmental behaviors will need to be adopted if climate change is to be addressed, yet current environmental decision-making models explain the adoption of single…
Abstract
Purpose
Multiple environmental behaviors will need to be adopted if climate change is to be addressed, yet current environmental decision-making models explain the adoption of single behaviors only. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue by developing and evaluating a decision-making model that explains the co-adoption, or coaction, of multiple environmental behaviors.
Design/methodology/approach
To test its cross-national utility, the model was assessed separately among online survey panel respondents from three countries: Australia (n=502), the UK (n=500), and the USA (n=501). In total, three environmental behaviors were examined: sourcing electricity from a green energy provider, purchasing green products, and public transport use. For each behavioral pair, participants were grouped according to whether they had enacted coaction (performed both behaviors), some action (performed either behavior), or no action (performed neither behavior).
Findings
Irrespective of national sample and behavioral pair, those who engaged in coaction perceived greater personal benefits from reducing their CO2 emissions than those who enacted some action or no action. Moreover, perceived consumer effectiveness was typically greater among coaction participants than those in the no action group. Finally, perceived consumer effectiveness did not differ among those who had enacted coaction or some action.
Originality/value
The current findings suggest that personal benefits and perceived consumer effectiveness are important motivational antecedents for the decision to engage in environmental coaction. International commercial or social marketing campaigns aimed at encouraging the adoption of multiple environmental behaviors should therefore seek to leverage these motivational factors.