British Food Journal

The decision to buy organic food products in Southern Italy

Tiziana de Magistris Azucena Gracia
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Tiziana de Magistris Azucena Gracia, (2008),"The decision to buy organic food products in Southern Italy",
British Food Journal, Vol. 110 Iss 9 pp. 929 - 947
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Athanasios Krystallis, George Chryssohoidis, (2005),"Consumers' willingness to pay for organic food:
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Raffaele Zanoli, Simona Naspetti, (2002),"Consumer motivations in the purchase of organic
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Joris Aertsens, Wim Verbeke, Koen Mondelaers, Guido Van Huylenbroeck, (2009),"Personal determinants
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Organic food
The decision to buy organic food products in
products in Southern Italy Southern Italy
Tiziana de Magistris and Azucena Gracia
Centro de Investigación y Tecnologı́a Agroalimentaria de Aragón, 929
Unidad de Economı́a Agraria, Zaragoza, Spain

Abstract
Purpose – The aim of the paper is to investigate the consumers’ decision-making process for
organically produced foods in Italy.
Design/methodology/approach – A structural equation modelling approach has been used with
information provided by a survey conducted in Italy (Naples).
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Findings – Results indicate that consumer’ attitudes towards organic food, in particular towards the
health attribute and towards the environment are the most important factors that explain consumers’
decision-making process for organic food products. Moreover, it has been found that larger
information on the organic food market, which drives to a higher consumers’ organic food knowledge,
is important because it positively influences consumers’ attitudes towards organic food products.
Finally, consumers who try to follow a healthy diet and balanced life are likely to have more positive
attitudes towards organic food products and towards the environment, inducing a more likely
intention to purchase organic foods.
Originality/value – Findings provide more evidence on consumers’ underlying motivations to buy
organic food to the already existing evidence in Europe to evaluate the future implementation of the
recently approved Regulation (EC) no. 834/2007 of 28 June 2007 on organic production and labelling of
organic products. In addition, empirical results would help local policy makers to establish appropriate
market strategies to develop the future demand for these products.
Keywords Organic foods, Food products, Consumer behaviour, Italy
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
Since Regulation 2092/91 on organic food production of agricultural products was
enacted, organic food farming has rapidly grown in all European countries (Foster and
Lampkin, 2006). Organic production is a production system that combines best
environmental practices, a high level of biodiversity, the preservation of natural
resources, and the application of high-animal welfare standards, thus providing
specific higher quality products that would be able to respond to certain consumers’
demand. In particular, consumers highly concerned on health and safety of food
product and on friendlier with the environment production systems would be more
willing to buy organic products. Therefore, the demand for organical produce in
Europe showed a remarkable growth in all Member States in recent years (Official
Journal of the European Union, 2007). However, the future development of the organic
market in Europe is still facing some shortcomings, pointed out by the European
Action Plan or Organic Food and Farming (European Commission, 2004). This Action
concludes that consumers are not well informed on the rules of organic production, British Food Journal
Vol. 110 No. 9, 2008
limiting their recognition of what an organic food product is. Thus, it proposes to pp. 929-947
define more explicitly the principles applicable to organic production in order to q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0007-070X
contribute to market transparency and to consumer confidence[1]. However, there is DOI 10.1108/00070700810900620
 BFJ substantial empirical evidence of previous studies on consumers and organic foods
110,9 where organic food products are perceived by consumers as less damaging to the
environment and healthier than conventional grown foods (Schifferstein and Oude
Ophuis, 1998; William and Hammit, 2001). This might indicate that consumers have
their own perception on what an organic food product is regardless of the formal
definition. Therefore, evaluating the future perspective of the demand for organic food
930 products in order to identify the factors that explain the consumers’ decision-making
process for organically produced foods would be very useful.
This is the aim of the paper, to investigate the factors that explain the consumers’
decision-making process for organically produced foods in Italy. Italy has been chosen
because it is the country with the highest number of farms and the largest cultivated area
devoted to organic production in the EU (IFOAM, 2006) and where the lack of knowledge
and recognition about organic food product is specially high (Torjusen et al., 2004).
In Italy, several empirical studies on organic foods and consumers have been
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conducted[2]. Some of them focused on analysing willingness to pay for organic foods
(Boccaletti and Nardella, 2000; Corsi and Novelli, 2003; Canavari et al., 2005); customer’s
satisfaction with organic foods (Asciuto et al., 2003; Cembalo et al., 2004); and consumers’
store perception with regard to organic foods (Naspetti and Zanoli, 2004). The rest of
papers have studied preferences regarding organic food attributes (Cicia et al., 2002;
Scarpa et al., 2002), and consumers’ attitudes towards organic foods (Canavari et al.,
2002; Chinnici et al., 2002; Zanoli and Naspetti, 2002; Saba and Messina, 2003), which are
more closely related to the aim of this paper. Almost all of them analyse consumers in the
North of Italy, with only two analysing consumers in the South of Italy: Cicia et al. (2002)
for Naples consumers and Chinnici et al. (2002) for consumers in Sicilia. However, the
Italian organic food market shows significant difference among regional areas. Most
organic consumption takes place in the cities and in the northern parts of Italy where the
highest average income levels are found while production is concentrated in the South
and the Islands (Torjusen et al., 2004). To fill this lack of evidence on consumers’
decision-making process for organic food products in the South of Italy, this study is
focused on consumers in the Southern Region of Italy (Campania). Moreover, the Public
Administration in Campania enacted the F Measurement Action 2 of Plans for Rural
Development to support the diffusion of organic production methods and promote
consumers’ health (Regione Campania, 2007). On the other hand, in Campania, only 6 per
cent of total organic farms sell organic food production with organic certification due to
the high costs to obtain organic certification and the problems to get organic produce
into the distribution channel (Regione Campania, 2007).
Consumers make organic food purchase decision under asymmetric information
due to the lack of information about organic food production. Thus, they cannot clearly
differentiate the unique attributes of organic from conventionally grown alternatives.
It might negatively influence the development of organic food demand.
Then, information on which factors explain the consumers’ decision-making
process for organically produced foods in this region, in particular, the intention to
purchase organic food products, as a precursor of the final decision, would be very
useful. Findings will provide more evidence on consumers’ underlying motivations to
buy organic food to the current evidence in Europe. In addition, this information will
help local policy makers to establish appropriate market strategies for the development
of the future demand for these products.
 To do that, a structural equation modelling (SEM) approach is used. This study uses Organic food
survey data gathered from 200 Italian consumers in 2003. products in
The paper is structured as follows. It begins by presenting the research framework
and hypothesis specification. Section 3 describes information and variables definition. Southern Italy
Section 4 presents the empirical application and the results, and finally, Section 5
concludes with a discussion of the marketing implications.
931
2. Research framework and hypothesis specification
The study of food choice is a complex phenomenon that represents one of the most
important parts of human behaviour, where several cognitive and behavioural factors
can vary sharply between individuals. Thus, whether consumers intent or decide to
purchase organic foods is a difficult task because it depends on many factors that
cannot be directly observed.
Since the organic food market started its rapid growing trend, numerous empirical
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studies on this market have been undertaken. Pioneers studies on the organic food
market focused on the price, in particular, on the difference or premium between
conventional and organic food product. They analysed the willingness to pay for organic
food products and the factors explaining them (Ott, 1991; Jolly, 1991; Misra et al., 1991;
Govindasamy and Italia, 1999; Boccaletti and Nardella, 2000; Gil et al., 2000; Loureiro
and Hine, 2002; Millock et al., 2004; Sanjuán et al., 2003; Soler et al., 2002; Corsi and
Novelli, 2003; Brugarolas Mollà-Bauzà et al., 2005; Canavari et al., 2005; Batte et al., 2007).
A second group of studies tried to analyse factors that explain consumer’s organic
purchase decision (Grunert and Juhl, 1995; Gil et al., 2000; Schifferstein and Oude
Ophuis, 1998; Torjusen et al., 2001; Loureiro et al., 2001; Sanjuán et al., 2003; Millock et al.,
2004; Chryssohoidis and Krystallis, 2005; Durham and Andrade, 2005; Padel and Foster,
2005; Yiridoe et al., 2005; Kuhar and Juvancic, 2005; Verhoef, 2005; Honkanen et al., 2006;
Chen, 2007a, b; Poelman et al., 2008).
This section is focused on this last group of organic food studies in order to provide
evidence on which factors to include in the explanation of the decision-making process
for organic food products. Some of these studies have analysed, in particular, the
intention to purchase organic foods because as Ajzen (1991) in the theory of planned
behaviour, stated intention is the best predictor of behaviour. Intention is the cognitive
representation of a person’s readiness to perform a given behaviour, and it is
considered the immediate antecedent of behaviour. Fishbein and Manfredo (1975)
considered the analysis of determinants of intention to perform behaviour often to be
identical to the analysis of the determinants of the behaviour itself. Honkanen et al.
(2006), Chen (2007a, b) and Poelman et al. (2008) studied the intention to purchase
organic food products while the rest of papers studies consumers’ underlying motives
to buy organic food products.
Findings from all of these studies reveal that consumers’ attitudes towards different
organic food attributes (human health, safety, etc.) and towards the environment are
the most important factors that explain consumers’ decision-making process for
organic food products.
Grunert and Juhl (1995) analysed the environmental attitudes and their relationship
with the decision to purchase organic foods. They concluded that positive attitudes
towards environmental issues are positively correlated to the buying of organic foods
and the frequency of purchase. Loureiro et al. (2001) found that apart from
 BFJ socio-demographic characteristics, the consumers’ motivations to buy organic apples
110,9 are consumers’ environmental and food safety attitudes. Torjusen et al. (2001) found
that attitudes towards the health attribute of organic foods have been statistically
significant to explain organic foods choice. Millock et al. (2004) claimed that
environmental and animal welfare attitudes influence organic food choice to a lesser
extent that than the attitudes towards taste, freshness and health aspects of organic
932 food. Durham and Andrade (2005) stated that the main reasons explaining organic food
purchases are consumers’ attitudes towards the health and the environmental
attribute, but the latter is more influential than the former. Chryssohoidis and
Krystallis (2005) indicated that the most important motives behind the purchase of
organic products are healthiness and better taste of the organic food. However,
environmental motives influence organic foods choice to a lesser extent. Padel and
Foster (2005) concluded that consumers buy organic food products because they
perceived them to be better for their health. Moreover, they found that the attitude
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towards environmental protection was also a factor that explains organic food buying
decisions. Kuhar and Juvancic (2005) stated that two quality aspects of a food product
(taste and visual attractiveness) and consumers’ environmental concerns are also
factors explaining the frequency of purchasing organic fruit and vegetables. Honkanen
et al. (2006) studied the motives driving organic food choice in Norwegian consumers.
The findings indicated that ecological motives and attitudes towards organic food have
a significant influence on the intention to purchase organic food. Finally, Chen
(2007a, b) analyzed the intention to purchase organic food in Taiwanese consumers.
The results indicated that attitudes towards organic food, related with health beliefs
and better quality than conventional food, have positive effects on the intention to
purchase organic food.
In general, based on those papers, it can be conclude that the more favourable health
and environmental attitudes consumers have, the more likely they will buy organic
food product. In accordance with this, the first hypothesis of the proposed model is
defined as follows (Figure 1):
H1. When the consumer’s attitudes towards organic food products (H1a) and
towards the environment (H1b) are positive, the consumer’ intention to
purchase organic food products will be more likely to be positive.
Consumer’s knowledge is a relevant construct that affects how and what consumers
decide to buy. Organic food information perceived by consumers is an important issue
in the organic food market because it represents the only instrument that consumers
have to differentiate the attributes of organic food products from those of conventional
ones, and build positive attitudes towards organic food (von Alvesleben, 1997).
Moreover, Yiridoe et al. (2005), in their literature review, stated that knowledge on
organic food products can affect consumers’ organic buying decision for two reasons.
The first one, the lack of knowledge, is considered the number one reason why
consumers do not buy organic food. The second reason is that consumers who do not
consider that organic food products have enough detailed information cannot clearly
differentiate the unique attributes of organic from conventionally grown alternatives.
Usually, many organic food consumers identify organic products based on the organic
logos and labels attached to the product. The authors concluded that information about
organic food helps to transform the credence characteristic of such products into search
 Organic food
products in
Southern Italy

933
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Figure 1.
Proposed model for the
organic food products
decision-making process
for Italian Southern
consumers

attributes, thereby allowing the consumer to better evaluate the quality before deciding to
buy the product. Poelman et al. (2008) analysed whether information on organic
production and fair trade affects the preference for and perception of pineapples in British
and Dutch individuals. The results indicated a slight positive impact of organic product
information on consumers’ preference and perception for pineapple.
According to these findings, the second hypothesis can be stated as follows:
H2. When a consumer has higher organic food knowledge, he/she will be more
likely to have positive attitudes towards organic food products.
The concept of “food-related lifestyle” was developed in the mid-1990s as a
segmentation tool, which is tailored to the consumer’s role as a food shopper
 BFJ (Grunert and Brunsø, 1997). Lifestyles are important exogenous factors in the
110,9 decision-making process influencing consumers’ attitudes included in the alternative
evaluation process (Engel et al., 1988).
Previous researches have shown that the willingness to buy for organic food is more
influenced by individual way of living than socio-demographic profiles (Gil et al., 2000;
Schifferstein and Oude Ophuis, 1998; Sanjuán et al., 2003; Chryssohoidis and
934 Krystallis, 2005).
Gil et al. (2000) and Sanjuán et al. (2003) indicated that consumers’ lifestyles are the
most important factors explaining organic food behaviour in Spain. Schifferstein and
Oude Ophuis (1998) stated that health behaviour, such as additional exercise and habits
related to food intake, affects positively the organic food choice and Chryssohoidis and
Krystallis (2005) stated that most of Greek organic buyers claimed to follow a balanced
and healthy diet.
In general, organic food products are preferred by those consumers interested in
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maintaining a particular lifestyle associated with the production, processing, and

handling of food products. Moreover, consumers with a special interest in health and
those who try to follow a healthier diet and a more balanced life are more likely to show
positive attitudes towards organic food and towards the environment. Thus, the third
hypothesis of the proposed model is defined as follows:
H3. Consumers’ lifestyles related to healthy diet and balanced life influence
internal factors of consumers, such as, attitudes towards organic foods (H3a)
and attitudes towards the environment (H3b) during the decision process to
buy organic food products.
The causal relationship among attitudes, organic knowledge, lifestyles and intention to
purchase organic food are shown in Figure 1.

3. Methodology
3.1 Data collection
Data were collected from a survey conducted in the Italian region of Campania in 2003.
The main town in Campania, Naples, was chosen for two reasons. Firstly, Naples
represents 30 per cent of the population of the whole region. Secondly, it can be
considered a representative sample of Campania Region since its economic indicators,
such as average expenditure on food products (23 per cent), average income (1,868 e)
and most of demographic characteristic are very close to the economic indicators for
the Campania Region (ISTAT, 2006; Regione Compania, 2003). The final sample
included 200 consumers, with a confidence level of 95.5 per cent (k ¼ 2), and assuming
p ¼ 0.5, the error is 7 per cent. The sample was selected using a stratified random
sample of consumers by quotas based on age and town districts. The questionnaire
was designed to analyse consumers’ organic food knowledge, attitudes and purchase
behaviour. Then, respondents were asked on three different aspects. The first question
was related to their knowledge on organic food products. The second set of questions
comprised those related to organic food consumption (consumption level, intention to
purchase, frequency of purchase, perceived quality, place of purchase, etc.). Finally,
several questions on consumers’ attitudes towards organic food products and
environmental aspects were included. The questionnaire also contained questions on
socio-demographic characteristics (i.e. sex, family size and composition, age, education
 level, income) and lifestyles. The questionnaire format was validated using a pilot Organic food
survey. The final questionnaire was administrated face to face and respondents were products in
the primary food buyers in the household. The final percentage of the sample per age
group was: 40 per cent of respondents aged from 25 to 35 years old; 35 per cent aged Southern Italy
from 36 to 50 years old; 18 per cent aged from 50 to 65 years old and, 7 per cent of
respondents with more than 65 years old[3]. Most respondents were female (65 per cent)
and 15 per cent were housewives. The average household size was 2.7. Approximately, 935
46 per cent of the participants had completed higher education and 29 per cent of
respondents received a monthly income below 600 e and 11 per cent above 2,301 e.

3.2 Variables definition

In the proposed model of organic food products, the “intention to purchase organic
food” is measured by one observed variable “I would buy organic foods if they were
sold in the shops I use to buy”. Consumers report in one scale from 1 to 5 their level of
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agreement with this statement, where 5 indicates the higher level of agreement.
Organic food knowledge was measured by two observed variables. The first one is the
consumers’ self-reported level of organic food knowledge in one scale 1-3 where 3
indicates the highest level of knowledge. The second one was measured asking
consumers their degree of agreement with the right definition of “organic production”
in one scale 1-5 where 5 indicates the highest level of agreement (Table I).
Lifestyles were measured by seven observed variables related to following a health
diet and healthy habits on a 1-5 scale where 5 means the highest level of agreement
(Table I).
Attitudes towards environmental aspects were measured by five different variables
related to general consumers’ concerns on environmental damages (“the current
development path is destroying the environment” and “unless we do something,
environmental damage will be irreversible”), and individual environmental
conservation practises (“I practice environmental conservation tasks”, “I prefer
consuming recycled products”, and “I dispose of my garbage in different containers”).
Respondents were asked to rate these sentences on one scale from 1 to 5 where 5 means
the higher level of agreement.
Attitudes towards organic food products were measured by three variables on a 1 to
5 scale where 5 means the higher level of agreement. The first one measures whether
consumers believe that organic food products are healthier than conventional ones.
The second indicator measures to what extent consumers believe that organic food
products have, in general, higher quality than conventional ones and the last variable
measures whether consumers think that organic foods are tastier than conventional
ones.

4. Results and discussion

To analyze the factors affecting the intention to purchase organic foods, a SEM approach
has been used. This approach has been selected because some of the factors influencing
the intention to purchase such as, knowledge, attitudes and lifestyles cannot be directly
observed, but can be considered latent variables measured by one or more items.
Moreover, the SEM allows analyzing simultaneously the relationships between
dependent and independent variables in the organic food intention to purchase model.
 Downloaded by Temple University At 07:07 30 January 2016 (PT)

BFJ

936
110,9

Table I.

exogenous and
Measurement of the

endogenous variables
Factors Observed variables Score Variable name

Intention to purchase organic foods I would buy organic food products 1 ¼ strongly disagree Intention to buy
...
5 ¼ strongly agree
Organic knowledge Consumers’ self- report organic knowledge 1 ¼ very low level Knowledge
2 ¼ medium level
3 ¼ high level
Organic foods are produced without the use of 1 ¼ strongly disagree Definition
conventional pesticides, artificial fertilizers, human ...
waste, or sewage sludge 5 ¼ strongly agree
Healthy diet and balanced life I do exercise regularly 1 ¼ strongly disagree Exercise
...
5 ¼ strongly agree
I avoid eating processed food 1 ¼ strongly disagree Processed food
...
5 ¼ strongly agree
I often eat fruit and vegetables 1 ¼ strongly disagree Fruit and vegetables Deleted
...
5 ¼ strongly agree
I rarely eat red meat 1 ¼ strongly disagree Red meat Deleted
...
5¼ strongly agree
I avoid eating food products with additives 1 ¼ strongly disagree Additive free
...
5 ¼ strongly agree
I take regular health check-ups 1 ¼ strongly disagree Check-ups Deleted
...
5 ¼ strongly agree
I try to have an organized and methodical lifestyle 1 ¼ strongly disagree Balanced life Deleted
...
5 ¼ strongly agree
(continued)
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Factors Observed variables Score Variable name

Environmental attitudes The current development path is destroying the 1 ¼ strongly disagree Pollution Deleted
environment ...
5 ¼ strongly agree
Unless we do something, environmental damage will 1 ¼ strongly disagree Damage
be irreversible ...
5 ¼ strongly agree
I practice environmental conservation tasks 1 ¼ strongly disagree Conservation
...
5 ¼ strongly agree
I prefer consuming recycled products 1 ¼ strongly disagree Recycled
...
5 ¼ strongly agree
I dispose of my garbage in different containers 1 ¼ strongly disagree Recycling Deleted
...
5 ¼ strongly agree
Attitudes towards organic food products Organic products are healthier 1 ¼ strongly disagree Health
...
5 ¼ strongly agree
Organic products have superior quality 1 ¼ strongly disagree Quality
...
5 ¼ strongly agree
Organic products are more tasty 1 ¼ strongly disagree Taste Deleted
...
5 ¼ strongly agree
Organic food

Southern Italy

937

Table I.
products in
 BFJ SEM was employed to examine the general fit of the proposed model showed in
110,9 Figure 1 and to test the hypothesis. The data analysis procedure consists of a
confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to assess the measurement model, and the SEM
analysis to examine the overall relationships among these constructs (Anderson and
Gerbing, 1988; Hair et al., 2001) shown in Figure 1.

938 4.1 Testing the measurement model

The first step in the SEM process is to validate the measurement model, applying a
CFA where the factors are the latent variables. The adequacy of the measurement
model is evaluated by:
.
the criteria of overall fit with the data;
.
the reliability of each of the constructs evaluated by the a coefficient, and the
indicator loadings statistical significance; and
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.
the discriminant validity.

A modification index was adopted to select indicator variables in each of the constructs.
After repeated filtering, a total number of 11 indicators variables were included in the
final model (the indicators not finally included are named as deleted in Table I).
Several fit indices were used to assess the overall model fit (Arbuckle and Wothke,
2004). The overall goodness-of-fit (GFI) indices for the measurement model are
x2ð35Þ ¼ 58:4 ð p , 0:0001Þ, the x 2 =df ¼ 1:669, smaller than 3; the GFI index
(GFI) ¼ 0.95, the adjusted GFI index (AGFI) ¼ 0.91, the root mean square error of
approximation (RMSEA) ¼ 0.058. Taken into account all of these fit indexes it can be
said that there is a satisfactory fit between the proposed model and data.
Reliability refers to the consistency of the measurement. In Table II, results indicate
that the a values, measuring scale reliability of organic knowledge and lifestyles,

Variables Cronbach’s a Standardized factor loading (g) t-Value

Healthy diet and balanced life (F1)

Exercise 0.70 0.73 (0.000)a
Processed food 0.55 6.551 *
Additive free 0.73 8.062 *
Organic knowledge (F2)
Knowledge 0.77 0.743 (0.000)a
Definition 0.847 6.165 *
Environmental attitudes (F3)
Damage 0.675 0.73 (0.000)a
Conservation 0.66 7.178 *
Recycled 0.61 6.801 *
Attitudes towards organic food products (F4)
Health 0.65 0.631 (0.000)a
Quality 0.726 6.165 *
Intention to purchase organic food products (F5)
Intention to buy 1.000 (0.000)a
Table II.
a
Results for the Notes: *Significant at the 0.001 significant level. Values were not calculated because loading was set
measurement model to 1.0 to fix construct variance
 exceed the recommended level of 0.70, while the a parameters relating to attitudes Organic food
towards organic food and towards environmental are closed to 0.70. products in
Convergent validity is evaluated by the t-ratio tests for the factor loadings. In
Table II, it can be observed that for each variable, the t-values associated with each of Southern Italy
the loading exceed the critical values at 1 per cent of significance. It means that all
variables are statistically significant in their specified constructs, verifying the posited
relationships between indicators and constructs. Thus, we can conclude that the fit of 939
the measurement model is quite reasonable.
Finally, discriminant validity is achieved if the correlations between different
constructs, measured by their respective indicators, are relatively weak. The x 2
difference test is used to assess the discriminate validity of two constructs by
calculating the difference of the x 2 statistics for the constrained and unconstrained
measurement models. The constrained model is identical to the unconstrained
model, where all constructs co-vary, except the correlation between the two
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constructs of interests that is fixed at 1 (Chen, 2007a). Discriminant validity is

demonstrated if x 2 difference tests (with 1 degree of freedom) is statistically
significant, where the model in which the two constructs are viewed as distinct, but
correlated factors is superior.
Since every pair of five constructs need to be tested, we use the Bonferroni method
where the probability a for every comparison-wise has to be less than 0.01/6 ¼ 0.0016.
Then, under the overall 1 per cent significant level, the critical values of the
x 2(1) ¼ 6.635 (Table III).
Because all of them exceed 6.635, the discriminant validity of the model is successfully
achieved.

4.2 Testing the structural model

The model component connecting the endogenous and exogenous variables is called
the structural model. The structural coefficients in the model have been estimated
using the maximum likelihood estimation procedure with the AMOS 5.0 computer
software. Table IV presents the standardized parameter estimates for the structural
model, the t-ratios and the single-headed arrows casual relations.
Standardized structural coefficient estimates are used to compare the relative
importance of the independent variables. The results indicate that all the t-values for

Standard measurement model x2ð35Þ ¼ 58.3 ( p , 0.0001)

Construct pair Unidimensional model x2ð36Þ x 2Difference

(F1, F2) 169.1 110.8

(F1, F3) 74.3 16
(F1, F4) 123.3 65
(F1, F5) 127.1 68.8
(F2, F3) 104.0 45.7
(F2, F4) 133.5 75.2
(F2, F5) 113.9 55.6
(F3, F4) 97.6 39.3 Table III.
(F3, F5) 104.1 45.8 Discriminant validity for
(F4, F5) 86.7 28.4 the measurement model
 BFJ the standardized coefficients are above the 1.96 threshold. Thus, the estimated
110,9 parameters are all significantly different from zero.
The assessment of the overall fit of the proposed model, which ensures that it is
an adequate representation of the entire set of casual relationships, is shown in Table V,
where measures of absolute fit, incremental fit and parsimonious fit measures
were used.
940 Absolute fit measures determine the degree at which the overall model (structural
and measurement models) predicts the observed covariance or correlation matrix. The
likelihood-ratio x 2 of 78.78 with 40 degree of freedom is statistically significant at the 5
per cent significant level. Since the x2 statistic is very sensitive to sample size, other
measures (GFI, RMR and RMSEA) are examined to assess the model GFI. In fact, the
GFI value is close to 1 and the RMR value is close to zero that provides reasonable
results. Moreover, the RMSEA value is 0.070, which indicates a reasonable error of
approximation. Thus, these results mean that there is a good correspondence between
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the resulting model-implied covariance matrix and the empirical or data-based

covariance matrix. Regarding the comparisons to a baseline model, the TLI, the NFI,
the IFI, the CFI and the AGFI values were calculated, and Table V shows that they
are at 0.90 or better values, indicating that the proposed model can be acceptable.

Organic purchase behaviour Parameters t-Values

H1a. Attitudes towards organic foods ! Intention to purchase 0.47 4.513 ( p , 0.01)
H1b. Environmental attitudes ! Intention to purchase 0.30 3.453 ( p , 0.01)
H2. Organic knowledge ! Attitudes towards organic foods 0.28 2.944 ( p ¼ 0.003)
Table IV. H3a. Healthy diet and balanced life ! Attitudes towards organic
Results for the structural foods 0.65 5.202 ( p , 0.01)
model H3b. Healthy diet and balanced life ! Environmental attitudes 0.61 5.173 ( p , 0.01)

Measures Acceptable Estimated model

Absolute fit measures

X2 78.78
g.l 40
P p . 0.05 0.000
GFI Close to 1 0.94
RMR Close to zero 0.090
RMSEA (0.05-0.08) 0.070
Incremental fit measures
TLI .0.90 0.91
NFI .0.90 0.90
IFI .0.90 0.94
CFI .0.90 0.94
AGFI .0.90 0.90
Parsimonious fit measures
x 2/g.l (1-5) 1.97
PRATIO Close to 1 0.73
Table V.
Model goodness-of-fit Source: Arbuckle and Wothke (2004)
 Finally, the parsimony fit measures represents the degree of model fit per estimated Organic food
coefficient. These measures attempt to correct any “over fitting” of the model and products in
evaluate the parsimony of the model compared to the GFI (Hair et al., 2001). The results
indicate that the model is parsimonious because the PRATIO value is close to 1 and Southern Italy
x 2/g.l is included between the interval values suggested by Arbuckle and Wothke
(2004).
Based on the findings, it can be concluded that the proposed model describing 941
consumers’ intention to purchase organic food appears statistically reasonable.
Moreover, the three hypothesises stated in the paper have been verified and main
results are presented in the next section.

4.3 Hypotheses verification

The path diagram of the structural model for the intention to purchase organic food is
shown in Figure 2. This figure represents the latent variables as ellipses; the
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single-headed arrows are the causal relations. Path coefficient values are placed on
the arrows from latent variables to indicators, or from one latent to another one.
In addition, the standardized values (between 0 and 1) of the estimated coefficients for
each indicator and for each latent variable are represented.
The positive estimate coefficients between the attitudes towards organic food and
towards the environment and the “intention to purchase” (0.47 and 0.30, respectively)
indicate that the first hypothesis stated in the model is verified. Then, consumers who

Figure 2.
Path diagrams of the
estimated model for
organic food
decision-making process
of Southern Italian
consumers
 BFJ have positive attitudes towards organic food and towards the environment present a
110,9 higher intention to purchase organic food. In particular, it can be said that those
consumers who consider to a greater extent that organic food products are healthier,
and of higher quality, will present a higher intention to purchase organic food
products. These findings are in agreement with those obtained by Millock et al. (2004),
Padel and Foster (2005), Chryssohoidis and Krystallis (2005) and Chen (2007b). In
942 addition, those consumers who are more concerned on the environmental damage (they
highly believe that the environment is being destroyed and this damage will be
irreversible), and more involved on environmental practices (through recycling
activities and conservation initiatives), will be more willing to buy organic food
products. Moreover, attitudes towards organic food products have a greater influence
on the intention to purchase organic food products than environmental attitudes. This
result is in agreement with Millock et al. (2004), Padel and Foster (2005), Chryssohoidis
and Krystallis (2005) and Chen (2007b) who found that the health attitudes are more
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influential than the environmental ones in consumers’ purchases of organic foods, but
not with Durham and Andrade (2005) who found, for US consumers, that environment
is more influential than health in consumers’ organic purchase decision.
Regarding the second hypothesis, the positive estimate parameter for organic food
knowledge on attitudes towards organic foods (0.28) indicates that those consumers
more knowledgeable about organic food will have more positive attitudes towards the
organic food products because they believe to a greater extent that they are healthier,
and of higher quality.
Finally, the results indicate that lifestyles associated with healthy food intake and
balanced life positively influence environmental attitudes and attitudes towards
organic food. It means that consumers who try to follow a healthy diet and balanced
life tend to have more positive environmental attitudes and they believe that organic
food are healthier and of better quality than conventional ones.

5. Conclusions
The aim of this paper is to analyse consumers’ organic decision-making process for a
group of Italian consumers. Results provide evidence on factors that determine the
intention to purchase organic food, extending the existing evidence to European
consumers, and give useful information to local policy makers to promote the future
development of the demand for organic food products in the Campania Region.
Campania Region is located in the South of Italy where organic production is important
although almost all organic farms do not certify organic production, selling the organic
food products as conventional ones.
Main results show that consumers’ attitudes towards organic food, in particular
towards the health attribute and towards the environment are the most important
factors that explain consumers’ decision-making process for organic food products.
Moreover, the predominant motives for buying organic food are the attitudes towards
organic food products because they have a greater influence on the intention to
purchase organic food products than environmental attitudes.
In particular, results indicate that those consumers who highly believe that organic
food products are healthier, and of higher quality than conventional ones will have a
higher intention to purchase organic food products. Moreover, those consumers who
are more concerned on the environmental damage (they highly believe that the
 environment is being destroyed and this damage will be irreversible) and more Organic food
involved on environmental practices (through recycling activities and conservation products in
initiatives), will be more willing to buy organic food products.
In order to encourage consumers’ willingness to buy organic foods, a useful strategy Southern Italy
might be to use some health claims for marketing communication campaigns, specially
stressing more the properties of organic food products such as healthiness, and quality
than environmental protection. However, such campaigns must be designed with care 943
because there is not scientific evidence that organic food products are healthier or more
nutritious than conventional food. However, what it is true is that organic foods are
produced without the use of synthetic chemicals, pesticides, fertilizers, or additives and
do not contain genetically modified substances, what may induce some consumers to
perceive them as healthier than conventional. Then, organic food products should be
marketed pointing out his different production method from the conventional ones.
On the other hand, consumers with higher knowledge on organic food products
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present more positive attitudes towards the organic food products because they believe
to a greater extent that organic foods are healthier, and of higher quality. This
demonstrates that, as the European Action Plan states, increasing consumers’ organic
knowledge is of vital importance for the development of organic food demand because
organic knowledge influences attitudes towards organic food products that directly
determine the decision or intention to buy the product.
Thus, it is expected that the new legislation on organic production and labelling of
organic products focused on increasing market transparency and on providing
information on the organic production, making the EU logo mandatory, will definitely
stimulate the demand of organic foods come into force in 2009.
Finally, consumers who try to follow a healthy diet and balanced life are likely to
have more positive attitudes towards organic food products and towards the
environment inducing a more likely intention to purchase organic foods.

Notes
1. As a result, recently a new legislation on organic production and labelling of organic
products was approved (Regulation (EC) no. 834/2007 of 28 June 2007 (O.J., 2007). In order to
search for higher recognition of organic products, this new legislation make the use of a
EU-logo compulsory for all pre-packaged food produced although National and private
logos may be used in the labeling, presentation and advertising of organic food products.
This requirement will be in force from 2009.
2. We have only included those empirical papers available in English, although there are some
studies also in Italian.
3. According to ISTAT (2001), the distribution of Naples population is: 25 per cent of
inhabitants aged from 25 to 35 years old; 34 per cent aged from 36 to 50 years old; 27 per cent
aged from 50 to 65 years old and, 14 per cent of inhabitants with more than 65 years old.

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Corresponding author
Tiziana de Magistris can be contacted at: tmagistris@aragon.es
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