Professor Torben Hansen publishes article on consumer organic food behavior

New research conducted by professor Torben Hansen in collaboration with former CBS master students Maria Ingerslev Sørensen and Marie-Louise Riwerts Eriksen suggests that consumers’ organic food identity is positively driven by health consciousness (an egoistic motive) and negatively driven by social consciousness (a mixture of egoistic and altruistic motives), whereas environmental consciousness (an altruistic motive) is unrelated to organic food identity. Based on a survey of 1,176 Danish food consumers the study also finds that consumers who strongly adhere to personal values such as openness to change and self-transcendence are more likely to transmit their health consciousness into organic food identity.

The results indicate that food authorities, food producers and retailers have the opportunity of addressing and segmenting organic food consumers based on their motivations and values. For instance, food authorities, and others, may seek to promote consumers’ health consciousness by stressing that ‘you are what you eat’ and by emphasizing that organic food may make consumers feel good about their healthiness. Establishing this link may work especially well for consumers who strongly adhere to their personal values. It is also suggested that organic food campaigns should not only be conducted with regards to the end users as the target group but should also take into account relevant others (e.g. relatives and friends) potentially influencing food consumers.

How the Interplay between Consumer Motivations and Values Influences Organic Food Identity and Behavior, published in Food Policy (2018), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2017.11