The positioning of organic products: which way forward?

The current positioning of organic products is based on a segmentation approach that recognises the organic market basically as a (enlarging) niche. Research conducted by the authors through various EU projects shows that the positioning of organic products cannot simply hinge on attributes/characteristics that differentiate organic products from their competitors, nor is a strategy based on benefit segmentation enough. A value/need based positioning of organic food products is proposed, based on a lateral marketing approach

Scenario of the organic food market in Europe

Scenario analysis is a qualitative tool for strategic policy analysis that enables researchers and policymakers to support decision making, and a systemic analysis of the main determinants of a business or sector. In this study, a scenario analysis is developed regarding the future development of the market of organic food products in Europe. The scenario follows a participatory approach, exploiting potential interactions among the relevant driving forces, as selected by experts. Network analysis is used to identify the roles of driving forces in the different scenarios, and the results are discussed in comparison with the main findings from existing scenarios on the future development of the organic sector

Policies supporting organic food and farming in the EU: assessment and development by stakeholders in 11 European countries

There is no single ‘best way’ of policy development. Bottom-up approaches to policy design and a broad debate among stakeholders facilitate policy learning and innovation. A novel approach of a bottom-up policy design process involving stakeholders is introduced. The first results obtained by implementing this methodology are presented. The outcomes of a large international effort for a development of policies for organic food and farming, which took place in Maj 2004 in Europe, are analyzed: the synthesized results from 11 European countries (AT, CH, CZ, DE, DK, EE, GB, HU, IT, PL, SI) on the current situation of policies related to the organic food market in Europe are highlighted and policy recommendations for the development of the organic food and farming sector are formulated. Specifically, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threatsof policies related to the organic food market are identified and policy instruments used to address these aspects are developed

Communicating Ethical Arguments to Organic Consumers: A Study Across Five European Countries

Additional ethical claims were tested with mock organic egg labels in five EU countries. The attitudes towards the advertising labels were assessed by multiple copy testing measures. A total of 156 individual responses were analysed. The study confirms the difficulty of conducting advertising research in a multicultural framework, and shows that additional local/ regional claims can reinforce the appeal of organic products

Determining consumer expectations, attitudes and buying behaviour towards “low input” and organic foods

This paper reviews the first results and achievements of the QLIF SP1 “Determining consumer expectations and attitudes towards organic/low input food quality and safety”. The paper aims to illustrate the array of methodologies used and to discuss the ongoing research in light of the first results

Consumer Perception of Local and Organic Products: Substitution or Complementary Goods?

Many consumers are interested in local products because of the perceived benefits of freshness, stronger taste and higher quality. To consumers the origin attribute represents a strong purchasing criterion. With respect to organic produce, local food products may be perceived either as substitutes or as complementary. A qualitative approach to data collection (focus groups) and to data processing (content analysis) has been used to analyse Italian consumers’ perception with respect to local and organic food products. In the framework of the EU project QLIF (FP6-506358) a discussion guide to focus group interview was used in order to identify important purchase criteria, the willingness to pay, as well as the role of organic food products in purchasing criteria. Two animal – yogurt and eggs – and two non animal products – bread and tomatoes – were taken into account. Focus groups interviews indicate that Italian consumers place much importance on the local origin of food products, especially if fresh consumed. The origin with its implication of seasonality, territoriality and localness are among the major motivating and trust factors, however not always linked to organic food products. The lack of availability of local and organic food products together with retailing issues are taken into consideration. Differentiation throughout animal and non-animal products and between processed food products and commodities is analysed. Organic seems to suffer in global markets, localness may suggest a solution. The research provides insights on substitution and complementary marketing strategies

Personal determinants of organic food consumption: a review

Purpose - A lot of literature is available that discusses personal determinants of organic food consumption. However different models and determinants are used in the literature. This paper aims to provide an overview, within a framework linking Schwartz' values theory and the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Also it seeks to focus on the importance of affective attitude, emotions, personal norm, involvement and uncertainty related to organic food consumption. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is based on secondary data sources, namely the literature concerning personal determinants of organic food consumption. Findings - Both the values theory and the theory of planned behaviour have been referred to as relevant theories for better understanding consumers' choice for organic food. Organic food consumption decisions can be explained by relating attributes of organic food with more abstract values such as "security", "hedonism", "universalism", "benevolence", "stimulation", "self-direction" and "conformity". Appealing to these values can positively influence attitudes towards organic food consumption. Besides attitude, subjective and personal norm and (perceived) behavioural control influence consumption of organic food. Research limitations/implications - More research related to the role of uncertainty (reduction) during the process of buying organic food is recommended. Practical implications - Relatively little research has examined the affective component of attitude and emotions in relation to organic food consumption, while these may play an important role as drivers of involvement and thus help to jolt food purchasers out of their routine of buying conventional food and set a first step to adopt organic food. Originality/value - To the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper providing a comprehensive overview and linking the literature on organic food consumption to the values theory and the theory of planned behaviour, including the role of personal norm and focusing on emotions. The proposed integration of mental processing in an organic food consumption model leads to interesting hypotheses and recommendations for policy makers, researchers and stakeholders involved in the organic food market

Exploiting Qualitative Information for Decision Support in Scenario Analysis

The development of scenario analysis (SA) to assist decision makers and stakeholders has been growing over the last few years through mainly exploiting qualitative information provided by experts. In this study, we present SA based on the use of qualitative data for strategy planning. We discuss the potential of SA as a decision-support tool, and provide a structured approach for the interpretation of SA data, and an empirical validation of expert evaluations that can help to measure the consistency of the analysis. An application to a specific case study is provided, with reference to the European organic farming business

Organic farming in Italy

History and situation of OF in Italy: The recent growth of organic sector in Italy can be considered a success story that deserves to be properly known and analysed. It is the result of several circumstances: the numerous food scandals which have afflicted Europe, the search for technical and economic alternatives by farmers, who have not yet decided to give up, the abundant flow of subsidies (direct and indirect ) which have been channelled into the entire organic food chain. Nevertheless, it also represents the outcome of the first steps made by few pioneers who since the early ‘50s had started to criticize the path into which the so called technological progress and the agricultural policies were leading Italian and European farming. These pioneers were old and new farmers, medical doctors, shop owners and traders, food processors and consumers, veterinarians and agronomists, with some rare scientists, all of whom for more than 30 years have been struggling to convince the surrounding people and the Institutions that another food system is possible

Consumption of Organic Foods from a Life History Perspective:An Explorative Study among Italian consumers

Taking into consideration individuals’ cognitive reasoning, and assuming that consumption of organic food has involved a change of mind about food experiences and food habits, we have identified the concepts, stories and theories mentioned by respondents in their discourses about organic food. Regular consumers trust organic products because they believe that they are healthier and tastier than any other product. A growing stock of information supports their food choice and confidence in organic food. Occasional consumers have strong beliefs about the better taste and the higher quality of organic food in general. Non organic users sometimes perceive organic food as a new fashion, the last fad. Organic food is still confused with close ‘substitutes’, such as ‘natural’, ‘macrobiotic’ and similar products. Many occasional consumers believe that regular consumers are somewhat obsessed with organic food and that they look and behave strangely. Organic products are generally perceived and experienced as expensive products, when compared to conventional alternatives. To organic consumer the rewards they perceive to gain from organic food is well beyond the resources (in terms of time and money) they employ to search for the higher quality of organic products. Institutional attempts to change consumer behaviour are commonly categorized into consumer information, consumer education and consumer advice (Peter et al., 1999).In order to increase both behavioural and attitudinal loyalty, the level of consumer information and product knowledge should be increased. Besides, consumers will become more committed if their beliefs regarding the intrinsic self-relevance of organic food will increase in the future