Setting-up of the survey

To operationalize the measurement of the proposed theoretical constructs of motivations and values, a survey was designed; including some determinant attributes of image at the point of sale (POS), frequency, and motives of purchasing of organic food, and values that were adapted. The diagram proposed by Aaker et al. (2007) as shown in Figure 11 provides guidance in the design and pretesting of the cross-cultural survey.

Figu

88

the Mexican market trustworthiness is higher in organic market places, due to the interpersonal and face-to-face interaction with farmers and producers. Moreover, trustworthiness is linked to the fact that most of the consumers are first-time buyers. In this sense, there is enough evidence to contend that retail channels play an important role not only in distribution and supply but also in perceptions, image, and attitudes toward organic food.

Assortment: the size of organic assortment is another factor that can influence store preferences. As mentioned in chapter two, the largest assortment of organic food is offered by organic shops; thus, the question arose as to what extent consumers evaluate it.

Store convenience is considered an influencing factor in the purchase of organic food, as it is impossible to determine organic assortment overall in conventional supermarkets, and most of the time the size offered depends on the format of the store. Regarding the organic shops, many of them are located in neighbourhoods or exurbs where inhabitants have middle to higher incomes level. Whereas, organic markets are located in exurbs, most of them are groups of consumers who organize themselves and use the CSA scheme. Thus, organic markets are located in neighbourhoods of slightly lower-middle incomes or higher income levels. However, not all the consumers of organic food are residents, or are in close proximity to stores; many consumers reported travelling a considerable distance to purchase organic food. Therefore, consumers’ perception of store convenience has been an important issue to explore.

Price orientation: as mentioned in the literature review and theoretical framework, the Mexican market is characterized as price sensitive (USDA, 2002). Furthermore, the premium price of organic food and how consumers perceive the prices within stores were also explored due to demographic segmentation which is a common marketing strategy in Mexico.

Typically consumers in the country are able to purchase the same products at a different price, depending on the store or the neighbourhood where offered.

Quality/freshness: both are characteristic perceptions in both countries. Meanwhile, taste is a criterion for quality of food in Germany (Baker et al., 2004). For Italians familiarity, usability, naturalness, and healthy are perceived as important in food products (Bredahl et al., 2001). In search of quality and freshness, we explored the level of influence that they have on the purchase of organic food. As provided in the second chapter, country inhabitants are

89

characterized as organic producers and exporters rather than consumers. This fact is linked to the FSC, as most organic food is either overproduced or produced on a small scale and destined for the domestic market. Consequently, farmers who sell through direct marketing in the organic markets are also within the FSC suppliers of conventional supermarkets and organic shops. Therefore, overproduction that is not sold by the other supply channels is destined for the organic markets, thus our interest to explore how consumers perceive the quality and freshness at the POS.

Available information: this factor deals with information concerning organic farming such as principles, and methods of produce (e.g. brochures, flyers, etc.) provided by stores, and advice provided by staff or producers in the organic markets. Due to the emerging stage of the Mexican organic market, information plays an important role in attracting new consumers, increasing consumers’ knowledge, and involvement in purchasing organic food by occasional consumers. Another marketing strategy that was explored is promotion.

Since the third section is devoted to motivations driving consumption of organic food, an adaptation of the FCQ of Steptoe et al. (1995) was undertaken. As already mentioned, this measurement instrument contains items related to attitudes, and beliefs connected with healthy consumption. The influence of cultural factors on the habits of consumption, preparation of food, social interaction, and hedonistic factors such as taste, weight control, and emotions were also included, as well as environmental growing concerns. However, since not all the dimensions correspond to motivations to purchase organic food, it was decided to retain only seven dimensions in this model: 1) health, 2) convenience, 3) sensory appeal, 4) natural content, 5) price, 6) weight control, and 7) familiarity. In the original FCQ the Likert-type scale of 4-points (not at all important, a little important, moderately important and very important) was used, but because of our interest in the mean value -average values of groups-, we adopted a 5-points Likert-type scale: (-2) not at all important; (-1) somewhat unimportant;

(0) neither important not important; (1) somewhat important; (2) very important.

To extrapolate the motivations regarding an ethical buying behavior, some items of the ethical food choice survey were adapted for this study, which had been successfully employed in Scandinavian countries. This decision was made after long reflection, since the employment of this instrument in a developing country could be seen as risky. In fact, ethical motives are supposed to have an influence on choice of organic food, but, especially in cross-cultural

90

comparisons, their usage can be misleading. As they relate to the domains of values, which, in turn, are a core element of culture (Kluckhohn, 1951/1967 cited in Hofstede, 2001; Mooij, 2004) they may be valid only for the specific country under study. Nevertheless, since concern about environment, environmentally friendly attitudes, and animal welfare are considered in international literature as significant motivations to purchase organic food, the following dimensions have been included in this model: 1) environmental protection, 2) animal welfare, and 3) political values.

The fourth section concerns the measurement of values which are considered a proxy for detecting underlying cultural differences among countries. To this end, the SVS measurement model was adapted according to the six dimensions of values that are intended to be strictly related to purchasing organic food. To operationalize the measurement of values, the original SVS was adapted. The changes are summarized as follows: in the SVS Schwartz (1992) also used a 9-points Likert-type scale: (7) supremely important, (6) very important, (5) unlabeled, (4) unlabeled, (3) important, (2) unlabeled, (1) unlabeled, (0) not important, (-1) opposite to my values. However, to facilitate answers by respondents, it was considered more functional to use the Likert type scale of five points (-2) not at all important to (2) supreme important which is also used in the measurement of values. Regarding the section on presumed purchase factors at the store image level, similarly a 5-points Likert type-scale: (-2) strongly disagree;

(-1) disagree; (0) neither agree nor disagree; (1) agree; (2) strongly agree was used.

Finally, a set of questions regarding socio-demographic information was included in the fifth section. Table 15 provides an overview of the motivation and value constructs included in the pretest of the multi-item scale to provide a cross-cultural survey. The survey was designed in English (appendix) and translated simultaneously into German and Spanish by native speakers using back translation procedures and sent to the authors. Discrepancies regarding the meaning of words were reviewed and modified (more details are provided in the next section).

91

Table 15: Definition of variables included in the model

Theoretical Construct Items Source

Motivations to purchase organic food:

Environmental concern 2 Adapted from Lindeman and Väänänen, 2000.

Animal Welfare 2 Adapted from Lindeman and Väänänen, 2000.

Political concern 2 Adapted from Lindeman and Väänänen, 2000.

National concern ^{2 Author}

Lifestyle 2 Author

Weight control 2 Adapted from Steptoe et al., 1995.

Sensory appeal 2 Adapted from Steptoe et al., 1995.

Health 2 Adapted from Steptoe et al., 1995.

Natural content 2 Adapted from Steptoe et al., 1995.

Free of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) ² _Author

Familiarity 2 Adapted from Steptoe et al., 1995.

Price 2 Adapted from Steptoe et al., 1995.

Cooking convenience 2 Adapted from Steptoe et al., 1995.

Shopping Convenience 2 Adapted from Steptoe et al., 1995.

Organic labeling 2 Author

Dimensions of values:

Stimulation ₂ Adapted from Schwartz, 1992.

Self-direction 2 Adapted from Schwartz, 1992.

Hedonism 2 Adapted from Schwartz, 1992.

Security ₂ Adapted from Schwartz, 1992.

Benevolence 2 Adapted from Schwartz, 1992.

Universalism 2 Adapted from Schwartz, 1992.