Journal of Euromarketing

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Factors Affecting the Decision to Purchase Organic

Food

Christos Fotopoulos & George Chryssochoidis

To cite this article: Christos Fotopoulos & George Chryssochoidis (2001) Factors Affecting the
Decision to Purchase Organic Food, Journal of Euromarketing, 9:3, 45-66

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J037v09n03_03

Published online: 22 Oct 2008.

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 Factors Affecting the Decision
to Purchase Organic Food
Christos Fotopoulos
George Chryssochoidis

ABSTRACT. In investigating purchases of consumers familiar with

organic food products, emphasis must be placed on the psychological
and socio-economic factors determining their purchasing attitudes. To
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this end, the present study is undertaken as an investigative research,

based on psychometric methods. Regression analysis is then used to
assess the importance of each investigated factor. The most important
factors in actual organic food purchases are found to be: familiarity
with organic food enhanced by the conception of differences existing
between organic and conventional food and the thoughtful way con-
sumers purchase their food products. The increasing variety of organic
products and organic certification labels are also important. [Article
copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service:
1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: <getinfo@haworthpressinc.com> Website:
<http://www.HaworthPress.com> E 2000 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All
rights reserved.]

KEYWORDS. Organic food products, Greek consumer attitudes, actu-

al purchase, public policy

Christos Fotopoulos is Principal Researcher and Director of the Agricultural

Economics and Social Research Institute at the National Agricultural Research
Foundation, Athens, Greece, and Associate Professor of the University of Ioannina,
Greece. George Chryssochoidis is affiliated with Cardiff Business School, Cardiff
University, U.K., and the Agricultural University of Athens, Greece.
Address correspondence to: Dr. George Chryssochoidis, Agricultural University
of Athens, Dept of Agricultural Economics, Iera Odos 75, 18555, Votanikos, Greece
(E-mail: Chryssochoidis@aua.gr).
Submitted: March 1999; first revision: December 1999; second revision: March
2000; accepted: August 2000.
Journal of Euromarketing, Vol. 9(3) 2000
E 2000 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. 45
 46 JOURNAL OF EUROMARKETING

INTRODUCTION

During the last two decades, concern about the environment has
become a fundamental economic issue world-wide (Charter, 1992;
Peattie, 1992). Among the areas where this influence is most evident is
consumers’ attitudes towards food. Consumers now realise that many
food products are produced at nature’s expense by destroying soils and
polluting water via the excessive use of fertilisers, insecticides and
weed-killers in farming (Grunert and Kristensen, 1992).
The high concentration of nitrates in irrigation water or pesticide
residues and veterinary drugs in agricultural and processed food prod-
ucts are now considered to be a serious threat to human health (Foto-
poulos, 1996). This has triggered a change in food consumption. Con-
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sumers are gradually turning to the purchase of ‘‘organic’’ instead of

‘‘conventional’’ food products (de Vliger et al., 1993). The term ‘‘or-
ganic’’ food refers to those products the production and processing of
which is characterised by the lack of fertilisers, insecticides, synthetic
hormones, and artificial colours (Fotopoulos, 1992).
This consumer attitude change towards the purchase of organic
food opens unprecedented windows of strategic opportunity for indi-
vidual producers and firms that wish to endeavour in this new market.
However, organic food consumption is hindered by several factors
affecting the consumers’ preferences for organic food that researchers
are still not fully aware of. Such factors should be sought beyond mere
environmental awareness, long considered to be the only prerequisite
for positive consumer attitudes towards organic food purchases (Ophuis,
1989; 1991). Empirical investigations must consider issues relating to
both the psychological and socio-economic background of consumers
(Grunert and Kristensen, 1992). The psychological background may
include factors such as: (a) the relative importance specific food attrib-
utes may have for the buyer, (b) the manner via which a person
conducts food purchases (e.g., in a thoughtful as opposed to an impul-
sive manner), (c) the perceived (by the consumer) differences between
organic and conventional food and, (d) the consumer’s confidence in
themselves when conducting food purchases. Socio-economic factors
such as age, education, proximity of organic food outlets, income or
the proportion of food expenditure in the monthly household budget
are also important in purchasing food products (Grunert and Kristen-
sen, 1992). Identifying the actual influence of these factors may reveal
 Christos Fotopoulos and George Chryssochoidis 47

the strategies to be used in persuading consumers to buy organic

foodstuff.
Lack of information in many countries regarding the above is press-
ing. For instance, Thompson’s (1998) literature review of empirical
research in the area of consumer demand for organic food products
does not comprise any research conducted outside the United States.
Grunert and Kristensen (1992), Roddy et al. (1996) and Kyriakopou-
los and van Dijk (1997) report, however, research in consumer beha-
viour towards organic foodstuff in the Danish, Irish and Dutch mar-
kets respectively. Empirical evidence still remains scarce, however,
and the understanding of specific issues in consumer behaviour to-
wards organic products at best vague. This constitutes lack of informa-
tion on appropriate marketing practices for producers of organic food
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products and public policy makers alike. This is a particularly acute

problem in countries like Greece (The Financial Times, 11.11.1989;
IOBE, 1989), although Greece’s case is definitely not unique among
developing countries. The enlargement of the European Union to
Mediterranean and East European countries brought to the surface, in
the context of the recent GATT agreement, the marketing disadvan-
tages suffered by food producers in these countries. Only by way of
better understanding of consumers’ attitudes in the marketplace will
the food producers develop better marketing strategies. It is therefore
of importance to examine the case of Greece in a more detailed way
and reach some conclusions. This is the purpose of the present study.
The findings may also be useful to public policy makers interested in
identifying strategies to increase the demand for organic food.

Objectives

More specifically, this study aims to identify whether specific psy-

chological and socio-economic factors influence consumers in their
actual purchases of organic food products. Actual organic food pur-
chases reflects the consumers’ purchase of organic food irrespective of
the actual frequency of purchases. This is different from much of
previous research that focuses on the ‘‘intention’’ to purchase rather
than the actual purchase of organic food products.
 48 JOURNAL OF EUROMARKETING

FACTORS AFFECTING THE PURCHASE

OF ORGANIC FOOD

We sought to construct a wide list of relevant factors based on the

existing literature. These factors relating to consumer environmental
consciousness, psychological and socioeconomic characteristics are
outlined below:
1. Ecological consciousness reflects the respondents’ level of knowl-
edge about environmental issues and ecological concerns. Environ-
mental factors may influence the consumers’ purchasing attitude re-
garding ecological products (i.e., environmentally friendly products)
in general (i.e., Bohlen et al., 1993; Grunert and Kristensen, 1992;
Ophuis et al., 1992). Baade (1987) suggested that consumers of organ-
ic food have developed environmental consciousness. Kristensen and
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Grunert (1990) identified the concern for protecting the environment

as a major motive for consuming organic food. Kyriakopoulos and van
Dijk (1997) in their study of Dutch consumers also found that con-
sumer concern for the environment influenced in a positive manner
purchase intention towards organic food products. Similarly, Roddy et
al. (1996) found in their study of Irish consumers that those who prefer
organic foodstuff consider organic farming to be good for the soil.
Hence, our hypothesis:

H1: The higher the consumers’ ecological consciousness, the great-

er their actual purchases of organic food.

2. Importance of organic food attributes: Spieker (1988) argues that

the importance consumers place upon various food attributes reflects
their personal attitudes regarding food consumption. At the same time,
organic food products are characterised by special features (Kinnear,
1982). These include: healthiness (Ophuis, 1991; Spieker, 1988; Puja-
ri and Wright, 1996), nutritional value (Feenstra, 1991) as well as
certification, taste, and variety (Fotopoulos, 1996). These may be
important for the increased consumption of organic food products.
Kyriakopoulos and van Dijk (1997) found that consumer concern
about their health influenced positively consumers’ purchase intention
towards organic food products. Physical appearance has, in contrast,
been pointed out as an element hindering the purchase of organic food
(de Vlieger et al., 1993). Organic food products rank more frequently
 Christos Fotopoulos and George Chryssochoidis 49

and to a greater extent behind conventional food in terms of appear-

ance (size or other defects). Thus, we offer:

H2: The higher the importance attributed by consumers on specific

food attributes (e.g., nutritional content, organic certification
label, absence of pesticides/insecticides, flavour, and product
variety), and the lower on product appearance, the greater
their actual purchases of organic food.

3. The manner of conducting food purchases: The process by which

consumers purchase food is an important factor to consider. Purchas-
ing food may be a complex and thoughtful decision since this may
encompass thinking about higher-level food value issues (Kyriako-
poulos and van Dijk, 1997). This may affect positively the purchases
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of organic food. This leads us to consider:

H3: The more thoughtful the consumers when purchasing food

products, the greater the actual purchase of organic food.

4. Perceived differences: This reflects the extent to which respond-

ents recognize and understand the differences between organic and
conventional products. Perceived differences include both objective
(e.g., quality) and subjective (e.g., symbolic, hedonistic) characteris-
tics of the considered products (Zaichkowsky, 1985) and may lead to
increased consumption of organic food. Kyriakopoulos and van Dijk
(1997) found, for instance, that the higher perceived value of organic
foods influenced positively consumers’ purchase intention towards
such products. Consequently:

H4: The greater the consumers perceive differences to exist be-

tween conventional and organic food, the greater their actual
purchases of organic food.

5. Perceived self-competence: This reflects the self-perceived abili-

ty of the consumers to make rational choices (Kapferer and Laurent,
1983) and their subjective and objective self-confidence to utilise
information on the products to be purchased (Miled and Esparcieux,
1997). This perceived self-competence may differentiate the consum-
ers who actually purchase organic food from those who do not. More
exactly, this implies that a weak perceived self-competence is likely to
 50 JOURNAL OF EUROMARKETING

keep consumers away from organic food because they do not feel
informed enough to make a rational choice. Thus:

H5: The greater the consumers perceive their ability to distinguish

between conventional and organic food, the greater their actu-
al purchases of organic food.

6. Proximity to organic food outlets: Scarcity of outlets has long

been considered as an inhibiting factor in the diffusion of organic food
due to the small number of outlets regularly offering organic food (de
Vlieger et al., 1993; Grunert and Kristensen, 1992; Thimm et al., 1991).
Hence:

H6: The greater the consumers’ proximity to organic food outlets,

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the greater their actual purchases of organic food.

7. Age, food proportion in the monthly household budget, education

and income: Higher income may be expected to allow consumers to
purchase the usually more expensive organic food. Kyriakopoulos and
van Dijk (1997) in their study of Dutch consumers found in fact that
higher income influences positively the purchase intention towards
organic food products. Similarly, increased organic food purchases
should be observed for consumers with lower proportion of food
expenditure in their monthly household budget. Budget availability
may increase the consumers’ willingness to buy organic. Regarding
education, more educated consumers are expected to be more in-
formed of the nutritional value of organic food. Age may also play a
fundamental role. Specifically, younger consumers may be more re-
ceptive towards organic food consumption. Consequently, we offer:

H7: The higher the consumers’ income; the higher their level of
education; the younger their age; and the lesser the propor-
tion of food expenditure in their total household budget, the
greater their actual purchases of organic food.

The preceding list comprises factors of different types that may

offer a clearer picture of the consumer’s way of thinking when con-
ducting organic food purchases. Figure 1 summarises the theoretical
framework of the present study.
The proposed model examines only the direct effect of the hypothe-
 Christos Fotopoulos and George Chryssochoidis 51

FIGURE 1. Conceptual Framework

Ecological
consciousness

Importance of
organic food
attributes

Manner of
conducting food
purchases

Perceived Actual purchase of organic food

differences
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Perceived
self-competence

Proximity to
organic food
outlets

Demographic
characteristics
(age, education,
income)

sised independent variables upon the actual purchase of organic food-

stuff (the dependent variable). Cross relationships among the indepen-
dent variables--which would require structural equation modelling
analytical techniques--were not examined. Some of the variables con-
sidered as independent here may play the role of endogenous factors
while others may play the role of exogenous factors in a context of a
broader theoretical structural model. Nonetheless, in the first stages of
theory development, as it appears to be the case regarding the actual
purchase of organic food products and countries like Greece, research-
ers do not have full knowledge of the variables considered to influence
such purchases. We need to restrain ourselves at the present time
therefore, to a simpler model before proceeding further in higher-order
more complex conceptualisation of the interactions between the in-
fluencing variables.
 52 JOURNAL OF EUROMARKETING

On a further note, it should be noted that the present model has not
considered important issues such as country of origin, brand and re-
tailers’ influence upon consumer assessment. The reasons relate to the
current state of the development of the organic foods’ market in
Greece. First, the majority of currently available organic food products
are produced locally by small producers. Similarly, most marketing
practices currently employed by Greek organic food producers appear
not to consider brand issues in a serious manner. Many products are
sold in primitive packaging and we witness limited attention on the
part of producers to project through strong brand-building strategy the
differentiation of their products from their conventional food counter-
parts. To make this point clearer, it may be sufficient to mention that
among the main elements that currently seem to distinguish the organ-
ic from the conventional food products in the country is their mere
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availability in organic food markets or organic food shops. This means

that higher-order branding issues have not acquired their full impor-
tance in the context of the specific market enough to include them in
the present study. This is not only based upon pilot data collected
within the wider framework of the present research, but also upon
extensive personal experience with the market and qualitative evi-
dence drawn from other experts (see Fotopoulos et al., 1999 for more
details). Last, but not least, retailers’ influence upon consumer assess-
ment was not considered for reasons having to do again with the actual
nature of retailing structure for organic foodstuff in the country. The
large organised retailing chains are still largely inoperative in the
sector. Retailing is very fragmented with a substantial number of small
shops--small open markets also exist in major cities.

METHODOLOGY
Our research focuses on a sample of 205 Greek consumers familiar
with organic food products. It is part of a broader project conducted by
the Athens-based Agricultural Economics and Social Research Insti-
tute on the structure of the Greek agricultural sector. It should be
stressed that this research is only exploratory in nature and the sample
should not be considered as representative. There is not a clear picture
of the total population who buy organic food products since relevant
statistical information is not available. An effort was made, however,
to reach a population familiar with organic foodstuff by collecting data
 Christos Fotopoulos and George Chryssochoidis 53

in locations frequented by organic food consumers (open markets or

shops selling only organic food products).
The initially developed questionnaire was pre-tested using a set of
20 consumers, so as to identify any necessary modifications due to
ambiguous wording. Most statements were evaluated on a 5-point
semantic differential Likert-type scale in line with previous research
(i.e., Boedeker, 1993; Grunert and Kristensen, 1992; Ophuis et al.,
1992). Certain statements were negatively worded to avoid respond-
ents’ biasing and leading (Bohlen et al., 1993). As mentioned also
above, respondents were contacted only at organic food outlets or
street markets selling organic food. Interviews took place throughout
the day to reduce time-of-shopping related bias. Thus, one third of
respondents (31%) were interviewed between 9-11:00 am, one quarter
(25%) between 11:00-14:00, another quarter (24%) between 14:00-16:00,
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and the remaining 20% between 16:00-20:00.

Several towns throughout the country (Athens, Piraeus, Salonica,
Larissa, Volos, Heraklion) are represented in the sample, the selection
criterion being the existence of local outlets or street markets for
organic food. According to the theories on the diffusion of innova-
tions, the preceding towns may be considered to be poles of major
organic consumer concentrations. In other words, if one considers that
the concept of purchasing organic food is spread (diffused) from major
towns towards the country side and this diffusion is manifested via the
development of ‘‘organic’’ street markets and outlets, then limiting the
data collection in these towns may be justified.
All 205 respondents were aged above 18 with women (60%) out-
numbering men (40%). One third of the sample was in the age of 22 to
38 years old, another third in the age of 39 to 49 years old and the
remainder in the age of 50 to 75 years old (age average: 45 years and
standard deviation: 12 years of age). Approximately 40% of the re-
spondents belonged to up to 2-member families (24% were living in
2-member families and 17% were living alone). The remaining 60%
concerned 3 up to 6-member families. The majority of the sample
(62%) had no child, 24% had one child and 14% had two children
under the age of 20.
One quarter (24%) were bachelors, 63% were married and the
remaining 13% were either widowed or divorced. Ten percent of the
sample had a nine-year education, 18% had a high-school education,
64% had a college education and 8% had postgraduate education.
 54 JOURNAL OF EUROMARKETING

Among the respondents, 32% were freelance-professionals, 19% were

scientists, 15% were private employees, 14% were public servants,
2% were skilled workers, 2% were unemployed and unskilled work-
ers, 1% were farmers, 2% were students and 3% were house wives.
The above show that the respondents’ majority are professionals,
high-income scientists, married, private employees with a good level
of education. Although it is not feasible to check sample representa-
tiveness of the total population, its use may still be justified, based on
its composition and the criteria explained earlier.
Exploratory-principal components’ analysis was applied to uncover
the underlying factors. Three factors were revealed: ecological con-
sciousness (X1), thoughtful manner of conducting food purchases
(X8), and perceived differences [between organic and conventional
food products] (X9). The three factors mentioned above (X1, X8, X9)
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were subjected to reliability analysis. The reliability of these factors

(Cronbach’s alpha) ranged from 0.60 to 0.92 (a = 0.92 for X1, a = 0.60
for X8 and X9) which are generally accepted values for the present
analysis. The average of answers to the questions forming each factor
was used in the subsequent analysis (Hair et al., 1995).
The organic food attributes that we expected to exhibit certain un-
derlying dimensions (i.e., factors) have not produced any statistically
appropriate and conceptually meaningful solution. This means that
consumers purchasing organic food products do consider the individu-
al food attributes that we examined to be conceptually distinct from
each other. Thus, we used these attributes as separate independent
variables: the products’ nutritional content (X2), the label of organic
certification (X3), the lack of insecticides/pesticides (X4), the prod-
ucts’ physical appearance (X5), the products’ taste (X6), the products’
variety available (X7). We also expected the following three elements:
consumers’ familiarity with differences between organic and conven-
tional food products; consumers’ ability to identify these differences;
and consumers’ familiarity with organic food products to reflect a
single factor. This has not materialised. Consumers familiar with or-
ganic products seem not to be fully and clearly aware of what the
differences between organic and conventional food products are.
Consumers also feel at the same time that the ability to distinguish
such differences is also a different matter altogether. Thus, the vari-
ables that entered the regression equation were: the consumers’ famil-
iarity with differences between organic and conventional food (X10),
 Christos Fotopoulos and George Chryssochoidis 55

the consumers’ ability to identify these differences (X11), their famil-

iarity with organic food products (X12), the proximity of ‘‘organic’’
outlets (X13), age (X14), education (X15), income (X16), and food
expenditure [as a percentage of the monthly household budget] (X17).
Table 1 presents more details about the components and the rest of the
variables. The actual purchase of organic food is the dependent vari-
able (Y). This was measured through two questions: (a) ‘‘I always
purchase organic fruit and vegetables’’ and, (b) ‘‘I always prefer the
rest of food products to be organic.’’
An empirical model linking linearly the dependent variable Y to the
independent variables X1 to X17 was subsequently estimated in the fol-
lowing OLS multiple regression equation: Y = b0 + b1X1 + b2X2 + . . .
+ b17X17 + e.
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RESULTS
The characteristics of the answers to the dependent variable were
first examined. The mean answer to the two questions tapping the
actual purchase of organic food products was 3,80 in a scale 1 (= ‘‘not
at all’’) to 5 (= ‘‘very much’’) with a standard deviation of 1,09. The
distribution of answers regarding the frequency of actually purchasing
organic food has a mean 85 (times/year), standard deviation 106
(times/year) and is summarised the following way: first quadrant: 24
times/year; second quadrant 52 times/year; third quadrant 96 times/
year; finally, 11% of the respondents answered that they purchase
organic food daily. It should be stressed that these data were collected
in outlets or street markets selling organic food; this is the main reason
for the aforementioned high consumption frequencies of organic food.
The characteristics of the answers to the independent variables were
examined next. Transformations were necessary for five variables
(namely, the variables X2, X4, X9, X15, X16) by using the square root
(X9, X16), the decimal logarithm (X15) or the inverse squared root (X2,
X4). Last, but not least, we examined the presence of outliers in our
data. By using the likelihood criterion p < 0.001 for the value of the
distance Mahalanobis (D 2) and distance Cook a small number of ob-
servations bearing extreme values were disregarded (final sample size,
n = 190).
Table 2 shows the correlation coefficients (Product moment correla-
tion coefficients) among the variables examined. The values of these
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56
56

TABLE 1. List of Key Constructs and Conceptual Roots

Items tapping each construct Factor e* variance a**

Code Name of construct (summary of the question asked) Loading (%)
I am very familiar with issues regarding:
X1 Ecological Acid rain 0.80 4.88 69.7 0.92
consciousness Ozone layer depletion 0.88
Pollution from pesticides/insecticides 0.87
Forest destruction 0.77
Nuclear waste 0.86
World population explosion 0.79
Sea/river pollution 0.84

The following are important in purchasing organic products:

X2 Nutritional content --
X3 Organic certification label --
X4 Absence of pesticides/insecticides --
X5 Product appearance --
X6 Product flavor --
X7 Available product variety --
JOURNAL OF EUROMARKETING

Regarding the purchase of your food:

X8 Thoughtful manner I am very demanding with my food purchases 0.85 1.44 72.4 0.60
of buying food I take a lot into account before buying food products 0.85
X9 Perceived differences I think there are significant differences between organic and 0.84 1.43 71.7 0.60
conventional food products
There is quality difference between organic and conventional food 0.84
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Items tapping each construct Factor e* variance a**

Code Name of construct (summary of the question asked) Loading (%)
X10 Familiarity with I know how to distinguish organic from conventional food --
existing differences
between organic and
conventional food
X11 Ability to identify Before buying I know which differences to look at --
these differences
X12 Close familiarity with I know a lot about organic food products --
organic products
X13 Proximity to organic I prefer to buy food close to my house --
food outlets
X14 Age Years of age --
X15 Education Level of education (7 levels) --
X16 Income Monthly income (7 levels) --
X17 Portion of food The biggest portion of our monthly household budget is spent on food --
expenditure in
monthly budget
Y Actual I always try to buy organically grown fruits and vegetables 0.88 1.56 78.3 0.71
Christos Fotopoulos and George Chryssochoidis

Purchase I always prefer the rest of food products to be organic 0.88

*e = eigenvalue; **a = coefficient Cronbach’s alpha

57

57
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58
58

TABLE 2. Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficients

Construct x1 x2 x3 x4 x5 x6 x7 x8 x9 x10 x11 x12 x13 x14 x15 x16 x17

X1
X2 --
X3 0.19** --
X4 -- -- --
X5 -- -- 0.69*** --
X6 -- -- 0.57*** -- 0.80***
X7 -- -- 0.57*** -- 0.80*** 0.98***
X8 -- −0.25*** -- -- -- -- --
X9 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
X10 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.22**
X11 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.97**
X12 0.14* -- -- -- -- 0.18* -- -- -- 0.96*** 0.98***
X13 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
JOURNAL OF EUROMARKETING

X14 -- −0.20** -- −0.15* -- -- -- 0.28*** -- -- -- -- −0.19**

X15 0.33*** -- -- -- -- -- -- −0.20** -- -- -- -- -- −0.37***
X16 -- -- -- -- 0.35*** 0.29*** 0.28*** -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.14*
X17 -- −0.15* -- -- -- -- -- 0.20** -- -- -- -- -- 0.23*** −0.19** −0.16**
Y -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.27*** 0.31*** -- -- 0.39*** -- -- -- -- --
-- : Statistically insignificant, * : significant at the 0.05 level, ** : significant at the 0.01 level, *** : significant at the 0.001 level
 Christos Fotopoulos and George Chryssochoidis 59

coefficients range between +/− 0.14 and 0.98; for example, a correla-
tion of 0.70 between two variables implies that one unit change in one
of the two variables will bring a 0.70 change upon the other (possible
values are in the interval −1 to +1). There is a general trend of lack of
statistical significance in the correlation among the variables ex-
amined; this lack however is not of major importance at present. This
is because our objective is to clarify whether a range of specific
psychological and socio economic factors positively affect consumer
organic food purchases, not the inter relationships among these fac-
tors. On the one hand, the preceding trend of lack of statistical signifi-
cance in the correlation among the variables examined hints a possibly
interesting issue for further analysis. More exactly, this issue is the
significant dispersion of respondents regarding their responses to
questions (e.g., there is no clear trend of correlation between ecologi-
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cal consciousness (X1) and age (X14) in the organic food consumers,
interviewed). On the other hand, the existence of certain high values
indicates possible serious inter dependency of some factors. For exam-
ple, product appearance (X5) is highly correlated (0.69) with the exis-
tence of an organic certification label (X3).
Table 3 presents the parameter estimates of the independent vari-
ables in the regression equation above and the corresponding t-statis-
tics. The statistical results are fairly satisfactory. The determination
coefficient R2 is 0.38. Five variables appear to be statistically signifi-
cant in explaining the actual consumption of organic food, in the
present sample. The variables X12 (familiarity with organic food; t-
statistic = 4.782, p < 0.001) and X9 (conception of differences existing
between organic and conventional food; t-statistic = 3.901, p < 0.001)
are significant at less than 0.1 percent level. The variables ‘‘label of
organic certification’’ X3 (t-statistic = 2.982, p < 0.01) and ‘‘the thought-
ful manner of conducting food purchase’’ X8 (t-statistic = 2.793, p <
0.01) are statistically significant at the 1 percent level. Finally the
variable ‘‘available variety of products’’ X7 (t-statistic = 2.543, p <
0.05) is statistically significant at the 5 percent level. The rest of the
independent variables do not seem to play a significant role in the final
actual purchase of organic food, with respect to our present sample.
No multicollinearity problems or other violations of the statistical
process were identified (Hair et al., 1995)--the values of VIF range
from 1.0 to 1.4. Table 4 shows how the results compare with the initial
model hypotheses.
 60 JOURNAL OF EUROMARKETING

TABLE 3. Regression Analysis

Statistical
Coefficient significance
Variables estimates t statistic p<

Constant 0.082 --
X1: Ecological consciousness −0.095 −1.335 --
X2: Nutritional content 0.031 0.468 --
X3: Organic certification label 0.195 2.982 0.01
X4: Absence of pesticides/insecticides −0.036 −0.560 --
X5: Product appearance −0.026 −0.372 --
X6: Product flavor 0.097 1.455 --
X7: Available product variety 0.170 2.543 0.05
X8: Thoughtful manner of conducting purchase 0.201 2.793 0.01
X9: Perceived differences 0.261 3.901 0.001
X10: Familiarity with differences existing between
org. and conv. food 0.022 −0.329 --
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X11: Ability to identify these differences 0.025 0.362 --

X12: Familiarity with organic products 0.328 4.782 0.001
X13: Proximity to organic food outlets −0.046 −0.674 --
X14: Age 0.044 0.575 --
X15: Education 0.138 1.804 --
X16: Income −0.063 −0.948 --
X17: Portion of food expenditure in monthly budget 0.049 0.721 --

TABLE 4. Initial Hypotheses and Results

Sign of initial
Hypothesis hypothesis Result

H1: Ecological consciousness + non significant

H2: Nutritional content + non significant
H2: Organic certification label + +
H2: Absence of pesticides/insecticides + non significant
H2: Product appearance − non significant
H2: Product flavor + non significant
H2: Available product variety + +
H3: Thoughtful manner of conducting food purchases + +
H4: Perceived differences + +
H5: Familiarity with differences existing between organic
and conventional food products + non significant
H5: Ability to identify these differences + non significant
H5: Familiarity with organic products + +
H6: Proximity to organic food outlets + non significant
H7: Age − non significant
H7: Education + non significant
H7: Income + non significant
H7: Portion of food expenditure in monthly budget − non significant
 Christos Fotopoulos and George Chryssochoidis 61

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

The objective of the present study was to identify whether particular
psychological and socio-economic factors affect consumers when they
conduct their actual purchases of organic food products. The present
study is a systematic piece of research which deals with how particular
factors of different type such as: environmental consciousness, nutri-
tional product features, manner of conducting food purchases, per-
ceived differences between organic and conventional food or self-per-
ceived purchasing ability and socio-economic characteristics relate to
the purchase of organic food. This study is also important for Greece,
since it provides a first important assessment of the current state of the
market and consumers’ attitudes towards the purchase of organic food-
stuff.
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Close familiarity with organic food products appears to be the ma-

jor cause of (organic food) purchases, assisted by: (a) the conception
that differences exist between organic and conventional food, (b) the
label of organic certification and, (c) the thoughtful manner of con-
ducting purchases. The actual buyers of organic food believe that
differences exist between organic and conventional food because they
understand these differences, they trust the ‘‘organic’’ labels and they
enjoy an increased variety of different products. These indicate that
the strategy of the producers and agricultural policy makers to increase
organic food consumption must focus on the following three direc-
tions:
S First direction: Campaigns to inform and educate the consumers.
Here, the consumers will be influenced by the rules of gradually
diffusing innovations (Rogers, 1983). There is advanced knowl-
edge in the area of marketing on how an innovation is diffused
into the market. Organic food products are for the wider public
an innovation much like high technology products (e.g., micro-
wave ovens, walkman radios and home computers). It may be
noted that what is considered to be a general diffusion curve in-
cludes a consumer group (probably the size of about 2.5-7%)
which are seen to be the ‘‘innovators.’’ This implies that one must
identify the features of those consumer groups which are the
‘‘consumption-leaders’’ of the wider Greek public. At the same
time, one must identify how these consumer groups will be edu-
cated to get deep knowledge about organic food products (this
 62 JOURNAL OF EUROMARKETING

was the major factor of actual organic food purchases, in the

present study). Let us not forget that the purchase of organic food
occurs via a thoughtful rather than an impulsive manner.
S Second direction: More emphasis on the organic certification la-
bel. It was shown that the existence of such a label is an essential
element in the purchase of organic food.
S Third direction: Enlargement of the available variety of organic
food products. Organic food products may be considered a new
product range, presently differentiated. This necessitates the
management of this product range in an integrated manner so that
a distinct, strong, and permanent differentiation from their con-
ventional counterparts is achieved. There is sufficient knowledge
in marketing on how this may be achieved. At the same time, the
development of these products may need the support of a central
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mechanism. Only a moderate and programmed development

which will target specific market segments and will focus on key
products in the Greek consumer’s diet will create the necessary
conditions for the market’s take-off. Failure to do so will bring
essential delays upon the further development of organic food
products in general.

At the same time, it may be seen that other important factors do not
play the expected role. Thus, income or the high proportion of food
expenditure in the monthly household budget, or the proximity of
‘‘organic’’ outlets to home are not essential factors in the purchase of
organic food. The same holds for other factors such as the physical
taste or the products’ appearance. However, one may note their high
correlation coefficients to the label of organic certification (0.57-0.69,
p < 0.001); this implies that the consumer considers them as given
when the product is certified. In contrast, the lack of correlation be-
tween the nutritional content or the lack of pesticides/insecticides to
the actual purchase is a point that merits further examination. At the
same time, there is a series of other elements that the present study
brings to the surface, the indications of which appear in Table 2 (cor-
relation coefficients). One example is the low (although statistically
significant) positive correlation between income and education (0.14,
p < 0.05) for the sample analysed. The same holds for the relationship
between age and the portion of food expenditure in the monthly bud-
get (0.23, p < 0.001). This indicates that older individuals spend more
 Christos Fotopoulos and George Chryssochoidis 63

on organic food. Alternatively, the lack of statistical association be-

tween the hypothesised and the dependent variables may be due to the
existence of multiple layers of intervening variables. The variables
identified to be the most important ones probably occupy the first
layer of influencing variables while others play the role of anteced-
ents.

For instance, ecological influence may be an antecedent which

channels its effect upon food purchases through the thoughtful
way consumers conduct such purchases. The subject of cross
relationships needs to be the subject of a different study as also
mentioned earlier.
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The current findings need to be considered, however, in a forceful way

since they may have major public policy implications. They may mean
that the Greek government may need to direct advertising funds for the
promotion of organic food consumption into increasing consumer
learning about organic foods. This will drive Greek consumers
through a two-stage sequence, where it is the increase of their knowl-
edge of organic foods that will subsequently lead to increased con-
sumption of organic foodstuff. Such an attempt may fail, however, if
the State does not provide at the same time the quality assurance
infrastructure needed to decrease consumer risk associated with the
lack of organic labels. Only the presence of a trusted label supplied by
a network of State inspectors will guarantee to the eyes of the Greek
public security and fact truthfulness. Third, it is reasonable to consider
the current existence of a trade-off between consumers’ willingness to
invest time and effort to seek organic foodstuff and acquisition of what
consumers consider a necessary ‘‘basket’’ of food products for the
household. When there are few food products in this ‘‘basket’’ it will
be more difficult for the consumer to spend time and effort to search
for organic foodstuff. Greater the organic food products variety avail-
able to purchase, greater then the consumer willingness to spend the
necessary time and effort to seek their purchase. It will be a fundamen-
tal error of public policy if there is no strong support towards exten-
sion of organic food products available in the Greek market. This
basically means two things. The first is to promote the cultivation of a
wider range of organic fruits and vegetables. The second is to support
the innovativeness of the producers and food manufacturers in order to
 64 JOURNAL OF EUROMARKETING

develop and commercialise products based upon organic food ingredi-

ents.
A last reminder though. The present study has not considered im-
portant issues such as country-of-origin, branding and retailers’ influ-
ence on consumer assessment. These need to be considered in future
endeavours since their importance will be quite pronounced as mar-
kets develop, become more sophisticated and international.

AUTHOR NOTES
Christos Fotopoulos has published over 60 academic and conference papers and
participated in 15 international and European Union research programs, in 5 of which
he acted as scientific coordinator. He serves on the editorial board of academic
journals including the international Supply Chain Management and the national
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Agriculture Research.
George Chryssochoidis’ work has focused on commercialisation of innovations
and food marketing. He has published in the Journal of Global Marketing, the
International Journal of Technology Management, the European Journal of Innova-
tion Management, the Journal of Product Innovation Management, the European
Journal of Marketing, and the Journal of International Food and Agribusiness Mar-
keting among others.

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