Barbara Seegebarth

Customer value perception of organic food: cultural differences and cross-national segments

Purpose – Due to consumer concerns about food-related diseases and an increase in the use of genetically modified food, more and more “green consumers” integrate environmental considerations into daily purchases, asking for healthier, safer and higher quality food. Marketing managers still face the challenge of broadening the understanding of how and why consumers purchase organic food. Specifically, a deeper understanding of the value dimensions consumers perceive in the context of organic food products is required to develop and implement successful management strategies which might transfer positive consumer perceptions to actual buying behavior and satisfaction. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on theoretical and empirical insights on organic food consumption in different markets, this research investigates antecedents of organic food products and differences regarding the relative importance of the value-based drivers across two Western nations. Findings –...

Exploring the Boycott Phenomena from a Customer Value-Based Perspective: What are the Reasons for Consumers Non-Consumption?

During recent years, the topic of consumer boycotts has gained growing interest in both marketing research and practice. Understood as strategic tools or techniques of expressing consumers’ disapproval of corporate products and behavior or with the change of corporate actions, anti-social company behaviour implies the risk of being targeted by consumers buying avoidance. Existing studies on motivations why consumers participate in different types of boycotts uncovered various reasons: social responsibility, safety, environmental protection, social dilemma, affirmative and political actions. Generally speaking, research shows consumers’ beliefs, attitudes, and values play a crucial role in the context of consumer boycott activation.

What does Sustainable Consumption Really Mean? A Three-Dimensional Measurement Approach

The importance of understanding consumers’ perceptions of sustainable consumption is increasingly recognized in marketing and consumer research (Prothero et al. 2011). Sustainable consumption patterns have been extensively investigated over several decades by behavioral and social scientists (a review is given by Burgess et al. 2003). Even though the understanding of sustainability is commonly grounded on the triple bottom line approach (Elkington 1997), a one-dimensional operationalization has often been applied in previous empirical research (Bohlen, Schlegelmilch, and Diamantopoulos 1993).

CUSTOMER VALUE PERCEPTION: CROSS-NATIONAL PREFERENCES FOR ORGANIC FOOD

During the last decades more and more consumers worldwide, started integrating environmental considerations into daily purchases what leads the so-called ‘green consumer’ to ask for healthier, safer, and better quality food. Nonetheless, a deeper understanding of value dimensions consumers across nations perceive in the context of organic food products is still required to develop successful management strategies which might transfer positive consumer perceptions to satisfaction and resulting buying behavior. Against this backdrop, the present study focuses on a) the antecedents leading to the consumption of organic food products and b) the identification of differences regarding the relative importance of the value-based drivers across US and German consumers