WHAT KEEPS CONSUMERS FROM BUYING ORGANIC FOOD? INDIVIDUAL, PRODUCT, AND SITUATIONAL DETERMINANTS OF ORGANIC FOOD BUYING BEHAVIOR IN A CROSS-NATIONAL CONTEXT

摘要

This paper investigates the individual, product and situational determinants of organic food buying behavior in industrialized and transition countries and is the first to test a variety of factors using a multi-national research sample. Transition societies, especially Eastern Europe, are neglected in cross-cultural research on organic food consumption. In this study, nine-hundred sixty-seven consumers were interviewed in three industrialized (USA, Canada, and Germany) and two transition societies (Russia and Ukraine). In a review of extant literature on organic buying behavior, three categories of influencing factors were discovered. Factors that influence organic food consumption can be person-specific and motivated by expected positive consequences for the focal individual (e.g., personal attitudes) and for others (e.g., support of local industry). Influencing factors are further linked to specific product characteristics (e.g., organic labels). A third category summarizes situation-dependent characteristics (e.g., availability).