Elsevier

Appetite

Volume 40, Issue 2, February 2003, Pages 109-117
Appetite

Research Report
Choice of organic foods is related to perceived consequences for human health and to environmentally friendly behaviour

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0195-6663(03)00002-3Get rights and content

Abstract

We designed a questionnaire concerned with attitudes and behaviour towards organic foods, environmentally friendly behaviour (EFB), and perceived consequences of organic food choice in terms of human health, the environment and animal welfare. It was mailed in 1998 to a random nation-wide sample of 2000 Swedish citizens, ages 18–65 years, and 1154 (58%) responded. Self-reported purchase of organic foods was most strongly related to perceived benefit for human health. Performance of EFBs such as refraining from car driving was also a good predictor of purchase frequency. The results indicate that egoistic motives are better predictors of the purchase of organic foods than are altruistic motives.

Introduction

Several studies have provided evidence that consumers consider the sensed characteristics of food to be the most important factors in their choice of food (e.g. Magnusson and Arvola, 2001, Torjusen et al., 2001, Wandel and Bugge, 1997). However, it appears that non-sensory attributes of foods are becoming increasingly important (Torjusen et al., 2001, Wandel, 1994). Among the most notable are the absence of food additives, preservatives and residues (Wilkins and Hillers, 1994, Wandel, 1994), nutritional value (Jolly, 1991, Torjusen et al., 2001, Wandel, 1994, Wandel and Bugge, 1997), and how the food was produced (Land, 1998, Torjusen et al., 2001). Examples of concerns about food production are animal welfare and the specific production system used (e.g. conventional vs organic production). A majority (61%) of Norwegians consider animal welfare in food production to be an important aspect of the quality of foods (Torjusen et al., 2001). More than 30% state that they are willing to pay 10% more for meat produced in accordance with ethical animal care principles (Wandel & Bugge, 1997).

Consumers also express interest in issues relating food to health (Fagerli et al., 1999, Rozin et al., 1999, Wandel, 1994). Healthiness is an important criterion for purchase and a parameter of quality for many consumers (Land, 1998, Magnusson and Arvola, 2001, Wandel and Bugge, 1997). Although there is no unambiguous evidence that organic foods are healthier than conventional foods (Torjusen, Nyberg, & Wandel, 1999), consumers perceive foods labelled as organic to be healthier than conventional foods (Grankvist and Biel, 2001, Magnusson and Arvola, 2001, Torjusen et al., 1999). Concern for the environment is another reason for purchasing organic foods (e.g. Schifferstein & Oude Ophuis, 1998). Thus, concerns for one's health and for the environment are the two most commonly stated motives for purchasing organic foods (Wandel & Bugge, 1997) with personal health being more important than concerns for the environment (Tregear et al., 1994, Wandel and Bugge, 1997).

Health and environmental motives differ in the sense that concern about health can be regarded as egoistic (benefits the individual or his/her family) while consideration for the environment and animal welfare are more altruistic (benefits society rather than the individual). Altruistic considerations often carry personal behavioural or even economic costs (Antonides & van Raaij, 1998) and the majority of consumers are unwilling to forego much personal benefit in order to contribute to the benefit of the community (The Hartman group, 1997, Wandel and Bugge, 1997).

Several studies of environmental concerns and activities have found rather weak correlations between attitudes and behaviour (Ebreo et al., 1999, Grankvist and Biel, 2001, Tracy and Oskamp, 1983). For example, Ebreo and co-workers (1999) found weak correlations (0.22–0.32) between on the one hand the frequency of recycling of several materials (e.g. cardboard and plastic containers), and on the other concerns about product attributes related to the conservation of nature (e.g. ‘made from recyclable materials’ and ‘energy conserving’). However, there is evidence that relationships between items of behaviour within the same domain are stronger than between behaviours across domains. Grankvist (2001) found stronger correlations between the self-reported frequency of purchase of different eco-labelled foods (r=0.30–0.56) than between the purchase of eco-labelled foods and recycling of several fractions (e.g. bottles, batteries, packages etc.) (r=0.14–0.28). Few studies have investigated to what extent environmentally friendly behaviours (EFBs) relate to attitudes to and the purchase of organic foods. Since organic foods are marketed as being environmentally friendly, it is of interest to investigate the relationships between EFB and attitudes/behaviour towards organic foods. The present study includes an attempt to investigate these relationships.

The overall objective of the present study is to investigate the importance of perceived environmental, animal welfare and human health consequences of organic food purchase for consumer attitudes and self-reported purchase of organic foods. More specifically, the aims are to investigate: (1) consumer perceptions of the likelihood of occurrence and importance of three types of consequences of organic food choice: environmental, human health consequences, and the well-being of farm animals; (2) the possibility to predict consumer attitudes to and purchase of organic foods on the basis of such perceptions; and (3) on the basis of self-reported recycling and other EFBs. In addition, the role of demographic variables will be explored. The third aim concerns the extent to which recycling and other EFBs covary with attitudes to and the purchase of organic food.

Section snippets

Respondents

Two thousand addresses ages 18–65 years (60% of the Swedish population is in this age-range) were selected randomly from the national population register (Sema InfoData, 1998). Questionnaires were mailed to them during the spring of 1998, and those not responding were sent two reminders. Below, the most recent data available for the entire Swedish population (Statistics Sweden, 2001a, Statistics Sweden, 2001b) are given after the abbreviation Pop. The total number of respondents was 1154 (58%).

Likelihood and importance of consequences

For most items, a majority of respondents perceived it to be quite or very likely and important that the stated environmental, health and animal well being consequences will be influenced by their choice of organic foods (Table 4). Only a minority (1–11%) stated that it is not at all likely or important that the given consequences will result from their purchase of organic foods.

Frequency of recycling and other environmental behaviours

The majority of the consumers reported recycling all the given items regularly. Almost all stated that they often or

Discussion

Concern for one's own or family health was the strongest predictor of attitudes, the importance of the criterion ‘organically produced’, and purchase intention for the investigated organic foods. Further, health was an important predictor of purchase frequency. In regression analyses including only the three factors based on the likelihood ratings of perceived consequences of buying organic foods (Health, Environment, Transportation/Waste), Health was the strongest predictor of attitudes,

Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted to Dr Birgitta Johansson for her very valuable statistical advice. This research was supported by grants from the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research to the programme FOOD-21: Sustainable Agriculture.

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