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This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/00346659510103584. When citing the article, please cite: R.K. Hutchins, L.A. Greenhalgh, (1995), “Organic confusion: sustaining competitive advantage”, Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 95 Iss: 6, pp. 11 - 14.

This special “Anbar Abstracts” issue of the Journal of Product & Brand Management is split into ten sections covering abstracts under the following headings: Marketing strategy; Customer service; Pricing; Promotion; Marketing research; Product management; Channel management; Logistics and distribution; New product development; Purchasing.

Examines the usefulness of socio‐economic criteria for explaining food consumption. Data from a sample of 102 households in the Newcastle upon Tyne area were collected by means of a food diary instrument. Considers 27 food groups. Demonstrates that few significant differences in consumption exist for households with and without children. Fewer differences exist for households in different social classes, households of differing education levels and households in different age groups.

Convenience and health trends are arguably the two most prevailing consumption trends in the British food market, with single‐adult households as keener followers than many other household types. Two portfolios of food products have been developed as proxies of the twin trends respectively, and the Poisson regression technique is employed to segment these two trend markets. Results confirm some previously held views, challenge others, and make some serendipity that has not been found in previous studies. Marketers are informed of greater accessibility in the health trend market vis‐à‐vis the convenience trend market for segmentation purpose, and are advised to treat the two trend markets as non‐overlapping. A number of future research directions, including a multivariate measure of the aspiration intensity of the two food trends and a measure of the twin trends for a wider range of typical products within the consumer market, are suggested.

This special “Anbar Abstracts” issue of the Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing is split into seven sections covering abstracts under the following headings: Marketing strategy; Customer service; Promotion; Product management; Marketing research.

Examines marketing orientation in the organic produce sector. Presents results of a consumer survey which indicate that consumers are confused about the meaning of the term “organic” and that the current mechanisms for labelling organic produce are ineffective. Proposes that producers of organic foods should consider consumer research and strategic marketing planning as mechanisms for sustaining a market which has greater potential than is currently realized. Contends that for this endeavour to be successful, senior management figures in the industry must take the lead and initiate this proposed change in strategy.

The present study attempts to offer more insights into the Greek organic market. It examines the organic products as “eco‐products”, suitable for “green” consumers, who are ecologically/environmentally ecology‐aware and who are concerned with health and quality‐of‐life issues. Analysing a countrywide sample, the survey concludes that three consumer types exist in terms of attitude towards, purchase intention and awareness of organic products: the “unaware”, the “aware non‐buyers”, and the “(aware) buyers” (or simply buyers) of organic food products. After developing a detailed profile of the first two, the “aware buyers” type is segmented in terms of five groups of personality and behavioural factors, defined in the international literature as the driving forces of organic purchasing.

The purpose of this paper is to test the extension of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) in an organic food buying context.

The relationships between subjective norms and attitudes and intention to buy organic food were studied by applying structural equation modelling.

The proposed modified model of the TPB model fitted the data better than the original model, implying that in the organic food‐buying context the role of subjective norms differs from the original theory of planned behaviour. In buying organic food subjective norms affected buying intention indirectly through attitude formation. In addition, results showed that the modified TPB model predicts intention to buy organic food better than the original model. Based on the results, it can be said that consumers' intentions to buy organic food can be predicted with their attitudes (R²=0.558), which can further be predicted by subjective norms (R²=0.374), and that behavioural intentions reliably predict self‐reported behaviour (R²=0.824).

First, this study concerned only organic bread and flour products, and therefore the results cannot be expected to explain consumer behaviour for all organically produced products. Second, just one retail channel of organic foods, a hypermarket, was examined. Since the different store formats have also very different characteristics (e.g. price level and number of products), it is likely that also the consumers' buying behaviour differs between different stores.

In past studies on organic food‐buying behaviour, the role of subjective norms has often been neglected – either they are not included in the models or their explanatory power has been weak.

The present study attempts to offer more insights into the Greek organic market. It examines the organic products as “eco‐products”, suitable for “green” consumers, conscious in matters of ecology‐environment, who follow a wider health and quality‐sensitive stance of life. Analyzing a countrywide sample, the survey concludes that three consumer types exist in terms of attitude towards, purchase intention and awareness of organic products: the “unaware”, the “aware non‐users”, and the “aware users” (or simply users) of organic food products. After developing a detailed profile of the other two, the “aware non‐users” type is segmented in terms of five groups of personality and behavioral factors defined in the international literature as the driving forces of organic purchase. Then, organic products’ rejection reasons and potential organic buyer segments are revealed and their profile is fully described.

Crete is the largest island of Greece and fifth of the Mediterranean basin which produces traditional and high‐quality cheeses from sheep′s and goat′s milk. Reports a qualitative and quantitative market survey to determine which factors affect purchasing behaviour with respect to cheese. Results showed that the Cretan cheeses are much preferred by consumers. Price, convenience (packaged), hygiene and dietary value (low fat) of the cheese are the main determinants of their choice. However these depend on the age, education and economic status of respondents. There was a high degree of desire for low fat and packaged cheese.