Cross-cultural studies on organic food consumption

Few cross-cultural studies on the purchasing of organic food have been conducted. One of them is the work of Baker et al. (2004), who provided an in-depth understanding of the purchase of organic food by means of a cross-cultural comparison of attitudes, motivations and values between German and England consumers.

Overall, the reasons mentioned by respondents for purchasing organic food were health, wellbeing and enjoyment of life. However, these values were different between the two groups of consumers. Because values are the core element of culture, the purpose of their study was to search for the differences between the value systems of consumers in the two countries in order to identify which values, desirable end states of existence, (Rokeach, 1973, cited in Schwartz, 1992) were influencing the choice of organic food.

From the interviews conducted within specialized stores and at weekend markets with consumers of organic food by Baker et al. (2004), three dominant perceptual orientations were derived: 1) health/enjoyment, 2) belief in nature, and 3) animal welfare. In the German group the construct of health/enjoyment reflected the products’ attributes and was the dominant

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perceptual orientation. Enjoyment was the second perceptual orientation which indicates a major concern for nature through the hierarchical value chain. In addition, animal welfare was the least dominant perceptual orientation and showed no correlation with the other two.

Overall, similarities between consumers’ perceptual orientations in the two countries were found only at the superficial level. As already mentioned, the health/enjoyment perceptual orientation was widely different. That said, the unique attribute shared by the consumers of organic food was “Not Genetically Modified” which suggests a similarity with the concept of food security by Squires et al. (2002).

The “need for security” and the “need of safety” are concepts included in the cultural dimension of the Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) developed by Hofstede (2001) who used a scale ranging from 0 to 100 to measure this dimension. According with this, the national culture in the UK was characterized by a low UAI score of 30 points; whereas the national culture in Germany scored 60 points. This means that although the need for safety and security is important in the two cultures, it is more so in Germany than in the UK⁴.

Also, the second domain of perceptual orientation “belief in nature” was quite different between the two countries with a higher score among German consumers. The value “absence of pesticides and chemicals” was weakly associated with other attributes among English consumers. Again, this domain of perceptual orientation was more important among the German group than the UK group. Among the German group, the value of quality was connected to taste, while among the UK group, the value of quality was not mentioned at all.

In the study of Baker et al. (2004), the conceptual maps obtained from the German group were more elaborate than the hierarchical maps obtained from the UK group. Thus, according to the authors (ibid.), this has an important role in the drawing of conceptual maps. Another important difference in the results is the availability of organic food on the market which is greater in Germany than in the UK. As a consequence, German consumers are more familiarized than England consumers with organic food supply. In a further stage, Baker et al.

4 http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_united_kingdom.shtml, http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_germany.shtml

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(2004) simplified their measurement model. In the final stage the latter consisted, of only two main constructs: one related to health, enjoyment and achievement, and the other regarding respect for others/workers.

Another cross-cultural study regarding organic food consumption was conducted between Germany and France by Sirieix and Schaer (2000). According to the authors, the purpose of the study was the comparison of perception of image and attitudes toward organic food locally produced in two regions. Data were collected by means of telephone interviews and statistically analysed by means of univariate statistic frequencies and cross tables. As a result, five variables were established on the image of organic food. The highest response frequency related to environment, followed by health, and animal welfare. One difference mentioned was that Germans considered taste the most important attribute. Finally, trustworthiness was investigated; the French scored organic food as highly trustworthy; tasteful scored in second place.

Another comparative study was undertaken by Squires et al. (2002) between the Danish and New Zealand markets. The study used a quantitative approach, and data were collected in the two countries by means of a survey. A logic regression model was used to measure attitudes toward health, environment, and conventional food and included demographic information influencing the frequency or intensity of organic food purchase. The authors suggested that demographic variables are a limited predicator in organic food purchase.

Contrary to developed countries, only a few studies concerning purchase behavior of organic food have been conducted in developing countries. As far as we know, there is only one comparative study between Brazil and France, first case area from a total of six, by Sirieix et al. (2007). Personal interviews were conducted taking into consideration urban socio-economic features, motives, and barriers to purchase organic food. The importance of organic food quality for personal and family health was also included in the survey. Preference for local organic produce was common in both countries; however, the motives for purchase were different regarding environmental concerns and the support of small or local farmers (Sirieix et al., 2007). Whereas environmental reasons were the most important motives for purchase in France, in Brazil the main motive was clearly health, followed by altruistic values and

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concerns for small organic farmers. Environmental concerns were of minor importance (Sirieix et al., 2007).