The Impact of Different Types of Concernment on the Consumption of Organic Food
Previous
research has mainly focused on consumers' environmental values and attitudes to
explain green consumption. However, it has been neglected how situational
factors like the way a consumer is affected by the impacts of environmental
pollution influence environmental attitudes and the demand for organic food
products. To fill this void, we firstly introduce a taxonomy of different types
of factual concernment and perceived concern. Factual concernment describes the
manner in which a person is affected by the negative consequences of
environmental pollution, whereas perceived concern expresses an anxious sense
of interest. Building on that taxonomy, an experimental study analyses how four
types of factual concernment (direct vs. indirect; material vs. immaterial)
influence consumers' perceived concerns (in terms of environmental and health
concern) as well as the readiness to gather information, the readiness to make
sacrifices, the willingness to pay higher prices and purchase intentions. The
study reveals that particularly direct concernment fosters the consumption of
organic food. However, the study did not find any differences between the
influences of material and immaterial concernment on the organic food purchase
decision.
Hoffmann, S.; Schlicht, J. (2013) The Impact of Different Types of Concernment on the Consumption of Organic Food, International Journal of Consumer Studies, 37 (6), 625-633.
Hoffmann, S.; Schlicht, J. (2013) The Impact of Different Types of Concernment on the Consumption of Organic Food, International Journal of Consumer Studies, 37 (6), 625-633.