The behavior of the consumer for organic products has been largely explored in the
academic literature, based both on actual and intended purchases. In Mediterranean Europe
(mainly Italy, Spain and Greece) studies have shown that attitudes towards organic food,
importance attached to different organic food attributes (human health, safety, etc.) and
consumers’ concerns towards the environment are the most important factors that explain
consumers’ organic food purchase decisions At the same time other studies emphasize the
importance of knowledge of organic production in consumer organic behavior. It is
assumed that information about organic food helps consumers to transform the credence
characteristic of such products into search attributes, thereby allowing the consumer to
better evaluate the quality before deciding to buy the product.
Integrating both approaches, this paper try to explain purchase organic food products in
Spain taking into account the role played by not only attitudes and concerns, but also
whether organic knowledge is affecting this decision. To achieve this goal a three-equation
multivariate probit models is fitted where organic knowledge, the intention to purchase
organic foods and, the final decision to purchase are the dependent variables. Data has been
obtained from an ad-hoc survey conducted in two medium-sized Spanish cities
