Literature Reveiw About Ethics and Organic Food

- MASTER OF ARTS IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS -

- LITERATURE REVIEW-

Attitudes and motivations that influence the selection of organic food among consumers

Adeline Mariй Supervisor : M. Bloom

ETU 20030459

SUMMARY

General Background 4

1 Market development and cultural factors. 5

1.1 Culture influences the food choice. 5

1.2 The level of development of the country market influences organic food choice 6

1.2.1 A cross- national study of Danish and New-Zealand organic consumers. 6

1.2.2 The moderators of consumption depend on the market development 7

2 The attitudes that influence consumer 9

2.1 Attitudes and the Theory of Planned Behaviour 9

2.1.1 Attitudes 9

2.1.2 The Theory of Planned Behaviour and consumers ethics 9

2.2 The TPB in the context of organic food consumption 11

2.2.1 The importance of subjective norms as antecedents of values. 11

2.2.2 The multivariate modelling approach of ethical consumer choice 11

3 The relationship between Values and organic consumption 13

3.1 Presentation and meaning of values 13

3.2 Exploring the organic food consumption towards the Schwartz Value Survey 14

3.3 Relationship between personal values, ethical ideology and ethical beliefs 15

3.3.1 Hunt-Vitell theory of ethics 15

3.3.2 Findings about the relationship between personal values, ethical beliefs and ethical ideology 17

4 Analyzing the organic consumers through their motivation and their socio-demographic factors 18

4.1 What are the main motivations towards organic consumption? 18

4.1.1 The health motives 18

4.1.2 The environmentally friendly consumers 18

4.1.3 The food safety 18

4.1.4 The taste of the product 18

4.1.5 The confidence on food industry 19

4.2 The consumers’ profiles by countries 19

4.3 Conclusion 24

5 A global approach of organics selection by the consumers. 25

5.1 The Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ) 25

5.2 Studying the organic consumers in a global context. 26

5.2.1 Presentation of the research and general results 26

5.2.2 Discussion and tracks of explanation of the behaviour 27

6 Conceptual framework and propositions 29

6.1 The conceptual Framework 29

Conclusion 30

EXHIBITS 33

General Background

Since the last ten years, the fastest growing sector in the food industry has been the organic food. Organic food are certified by labels that ensure that they are produced without pesticides and antibiotics and that they preserve the environment with the use of renewable resources (Organic Produce Export Committee, 2002, cited Lea and Worsley, 2005). In France, the AB label ensures that at least 95% of the production is organic and compels the producers to state clearly the origin and the method of production (CSA Agence Bio, 2006).

In France in 2006, 43% of the population has consumed organic product at least once a month which corresponds to an increase of 6% since 2003. The growth rate of organic consumption is about 10 percent per year since 1999. (CSA Agence Bio,2006). Abroad, the same phenomena occurs, and organic, even