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Keywords Abstract
Local foods, organic, attributes, gastronomic,
externality, feasibility. Local food systems providing high-value products are seen as a tool to sustain economic
activity on family farms in rural areas. The objective of this study is to investigate the role
Correspondence of gastronomic, externality and feasibility characteristics in consumers demand for local
Jrgen D. Jensen, Institute of Food and and for organic foods. An Internet questionnaire survey was conducted in 2010 among
Resource Economics, University of Danish consumers. 3211 respondents completed the questionnaire, which included ques-
Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 25, Frederiksberg tions about respondents food-related values and their specific perception of organic and
DK-1958, Denmark. local varieties of honey and apples. Variables related to consumers food-related values and
E-mail: Jorgen@foi.ku.dk product perception were analysed using principal component analysis, in order to identify
overall dimensions (factors) in these variables. Although statements about gastronomic
doi: 10.1111/ijcs.12049 attributes (e.g. taste, appearance, quality) were quite strongly represented in three of these
factors, externality and availability concerns also contributed significantly to the overall
variation in the variables. Multinomial logit choice modelling was used for describing the
relationship between these dimensions and respondents stated choices regarding organic
and local varieties of honey and apples. Results suggest that although both organic and
local food supply chains are often associated with special attributes such as gastronomic
characteristics and relatively beneficial externality attributes, these attributes are perceived
differently for the two types of supply chains. Perceived gastronomic quality is the most
important determinant for food choice, but externality and feasibility aspects are also
important correlates.
environment, reduced food miles, local jobs) are important factors Table 1 Descriptive statistics socio-demographic variables
in determining consumers preferences for local and/or organic
Population
foods, e.g. in gastronomic concepts like the New Nordic Cuisine
(Statistics Denmark)
(Bocuse, dOr, 2013). Furthermore, feasibility aspects such as Mean Mean
price or availability could be expected to play an important role for
these preferences to materialize in consumption. Gender: (male = 1, female = 2) 1.50 1.50
Better marketing has been suggested as a means to stimulate the Age (years) 42.5 41.8
demand for local produce (Carpio and Isengildina-Massa, 2009; Number of children 1.6 0.7
Yue and Tong, 2009). If such marketing strategies should be suc- Household income 606 000 DKK 558 317 DKK
cessful, a thorough understanding of the demand for such local Capital region (share of 0.34 0.32
national)
foods is however crucial. With the aim of identifying relevant
Sealand region (share of 0.12 0.14
mechanisms to develop the markets for organic and local food
national)
products, it is the objective of this paper to explore the role of
South Denmark region (share of 0.23 0.21
gastronomic, externality and feasibility dimensions in the forma-
national)
tion of consumers values and product perceptions, and to deter- Central Jutland region (share of 0.23 0.23
mine the importance of the respective dimensions and their national)
interactions in consumers choice of local and/or organic product North Jutland region (share of 0.08 0.10
varieties. The studys objective is pursued on the basis of a ques- national)
tionnaire survey among Danish consumers, using honey and
apples as illustrative case products. For both honey and apples,
local conditions (climate, local vegetation, soil quality, etc.) influ-
ence the gastronomic quality, and in a Danish context, both kept by the Userneeds market analysis company (http://
product types are often sold locally. www.userneeds.dk/markedsanalyse). 3211 questionnaires were
completed. The sample was checked for representativeness by
Methods comparing with corresponding figures for the Danish adult popu-
lation (Table 1). There was an overrepresentation of middle aged,
Theory of households with children and of individuals with above-average
income. Non-responders had a socio-economic profile similar to
The point of departure is a micro-economic theoretical setting that of responders.
where consumers are expected to maximize utility. The consum- One section of the questionnaire included general questions
ers utility from a product depends on the perceived quality, which about the respondents normal choice of honey or apples (Most
in turn depends on the consumers knowledge about the products, often, I buy . . .) in terms of production method (organic, conven-
but also on his values, norms and attitudes. tional, other production method) and geographic origin (local,
Food quality exhibits different dimensions, including gastro- Danish, European, other). Organic is interpreted as following the
nomic, health and externality characteristics (Grunert et al., 2004). standards underlying the authorized Danish organic label, and
The consumer derives benefits directly from gastronomic and local is a product from the respondents own local area.
health (intrinsic) characteristics. Products with characteristics like Another section of the questionnaire included respondents
high animal welfare, environmental friendliness or fair trade value statements regarding different product attributes (It is
(external characteristics) may yield benefits to others than the important to me that the product is . . .), such as organic, local,
consumer, but may also increase the consumers utility because of environmentally friendly, low fat, accessible or low cost, when
ethical or social motivations. buying different food categories (meats, dairy or fruits/
The consumers perceptions of product attributes are translated vegetables), on a 5-point agreement scale (fully disagree, partly
into consumption choices via his preferences. Such preferences disagree, neither agree nor disagree, partly agree or fully agree).
may be expressed in value statements by the consumers, e.g. stated As the responses within these three product categories were almost
concern for taste, freshness, health, environment, costs, conveni- identical, they were averaged into one (food) in the subsequent
ence, etc. (Lassen and Korzen, 2009) or in willingness to pay statistical analysis.
estimates for the respective attributes elicited (e.g. Loureiro The questionnaire also included questions about the respond-
and Hine, 2002). ents subjective perception and expectations of product attributes
Consumers are assumed to maximize utility subject to a budget and feasibility related to organic or locally produced honey and
constraint, and possibly other feasibility constraints on, e.g. time apples (e.g. organic products are more environmentally friendly)
or product availability, which in turn affect the consumer utility to be answered on a 5-point agreement scale. For a complete list of
indirectly via their influence on consumption decisions. Hence, we value and perception questions, see the Appendix.
hypothesize that consumers choice of organic or local product
varieties depends on their values, on their perception of product
variety attributes and on feasibility. Statistical methods
Statements reflecting knowledge/perceptions and values yielded
Data
40 variables. As some of these were suspected to be mutually
An Internet questionnaire survey was conducted in 2010 among correlated, they were aggregated into a smaller number of
Danish consumers aged 1865, recruited from an online panel orthogonal factors zi, using principal components analysis (PCA).
Perception and value statements were included in one PCA, in Table 2 Descriptive statistics stated buying behaviour variables
order to reveal possible correlations between the types of state-
Honey Apples
ment. Each factor constituted a new variable, which was inter-
preted as an aggregate dimension in respondents perceptions or Most often, I buy Average Average
values, based on varimax-rotated factor loadings.
Production method
In a next step of the analysis, these factors were used as explana- Organic 0.24 0.26
tory variables in a model describing respondents stated normal Conventional 0.38 0.59
choice between different product varieties (Aguilera et al., 2006). Other method 0.05 0.05
We assume that individual hs utility with respect to product No answer 0.33 0.10
variety i depends on the factors z. Furthermore, interactions Geographic origin
between some of the explanatory factors were suspected, in that Local 0.14 0.06
value variables were assumed to mediate the effects of Danish 0.43 0.54
knowledge-/perception-oriented factors, augmenting the specifi- Imported 0.06 0.15
cation of the utility function No answer 0.37 0.25
Combinations
Uih = i zh + v iv zhv zh + ih, Organic and local 0.05 0.02
where i {0} , v {value factors} Organic, not local 0.20 0.24
Local, not organic 0.09 0.03
(s and s are parameters). The probability of individual h choos- Neither organic nor local 0.66 0.71
ing product variety i is
P (Uih U jh j i ) = P (i zh + v iv zhv zh
+ ih j zh + v jv zhv zh + jh j i ) consumption, some reflecting consumers values and some reflect-
ing the respondents knowledge/perception of organic and local
foods characteristics.
where the varieties (i, j) are unordered. Assuming independent
The most significant factor (perceived quality, organic),
Gumbel distributions of the stochastic elements ih, the choice
accounting for about 26% of total variation in the 40 variables,
situations can be represented within an unordered multinomial
represents respondents perception of gastronomic quality in
logit modelling framework, with probabilities of choosing the
organic honey and apples, with relatively high, positive loadings
respective varieties given by
from responses to statements such as organic honey tastes better,
ei zh + v iv zhv zh etc. The second most important factor (perceived quality, local)
Pi = m 1
, i = 1, , m 1 accounts for 11% of total variation.
1 + j =1 ei zh + v iv zhv zh The third most important factor (value, externalities) accounts
1 for about 6% of total variation and represents value statements
Pm = m 1
1 + j =1 e j zh + v jv zhv zh regarding externality and product history issues related to foods.
The fourth factor (perceived availability, local) represents
respondents perception of feasibility aspects (accessibility and
price) of local foods and the fifth factor represents perceived health
Results
and environmental attributes in terms of lower pesticide residues
Table 2 shows the distribution of the respondents stated normal in organic products (perceived environment effect, organic). Two
product variety choice for honey and apples. mutually uncorrelated factors representing high perceived acces-
About one quarter stated that they normally buy organic honey sibility (perceived availability, organic) and low perceived price
or apples. Fourteen and 6% normally buy locally produced honey (perceived price, organic) of organic products, were identified.
and apples respectively. Five percent stated that they normally Finally, the PCA yielded factors representing perceived environ-
choose honey that is both organic and locally produced, whereas mental friendliness of local products (perceived environment
only 2% of the respondents replied similarly for apples, suggesting effect, local), high valuation of geographic origin (value, geo-
only moderate overlap between the choice of organic and local graphic origin) and high valuation of feasibility aspects (value,
varieties of the two product categories. feasibility).
Supplementary analysis of the components suggested that
value, geographic origin was relatively more important for
Principal components analysis
respondents in the Capital and Sealand regions, indicating that the
The pool of 10 value variables and 30 perception variables (15 for interest in local or domestic products may be highest in the Capital
honey and 15 for apples) was analysed in a PCA. Based on the and its surroundings.
number of eigenvalues larger than one, 10 factors were retained, There is only limited overlap between consumers perception of
explaining almost 70% of the variation in the data (Table 3). Using organic and local foods gastronomic characteristics, represented
varimax rotation, these factors represented relatively clear dimen- by perceived quality, organic and perceived quality, local. A
sions, of which some were interpreted as perceived gastronomic or similar observation applies to the perceived externality character-
pleasure dimensions, some represent externality or public good istics, perceived environment effect, organic and perceived
aspects, and some represent feasibility related to purchase and environment effect, local, whereas there appears to be more
Variance 0.262 0.110 0.060 0.056 0.046 0.037 0.033 0.032 0.030 0.027
Cumulated var 0.262 0.372 0.432 0.488 0.533 0.570 0.603 0.635 0.665 0.691
OrgEnvHoney 0.52 0.01 0.11 0.03 0.42 0.00 0.01 0.27 0.05 0.13 0.56
OrgHealthHoney 0.71 0.07 0.16 0.00 0.29 0.00 0.02 0.12 0.02 0.04 0.63
OrgPestHoney 0.31 0.07 0.08 0.01 0.86 0.05 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.02 0.84
OrgAppealHoney 0.71 0.18 0.05 0.03 0.04 0.11 0.12 0.02 0.13 0.01 0.58
OrgQualHoney 0.82 0.14 0.10 0.05 0.10 0.03 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.72
OrgAccessHoney 0.10 0.08 0.02 0.13 0.04 0.90 0.11 0.01 0.04 0.05 0.85
OrgPriceHoney 0.10 0.09 0.04 0.14 0.01 0.11 0.88 0.03 0.07 0.04 0.83
LocEnvHoney 0.13 0.31 0.10 0.08 0.03 0.05 0.02 0.78 0.08 0.00 0.75
LocHealthHoney 0.21 0.74 0.06 0.08 0.02 0.02 0.07 0.10 0.15 0.06 0.65
637
Role of gastronomic, externality and feasibility attributes
Note: Explanation for detailed variables see Appendix Tables A1 and A2.
Role of gastronomic, externality and feasibility attributes J.D. Jensen and M.R. Mrkbak
Organic Local Organic and local Organic Local Organic and local
congruence in respondents perception of availability attributes of without interaction effects, but the extended model for honey
organic and local foods respectively. suggests that value, externalities works as a mediator for organic
honeys perceived environmental friendliness.
Respondents general concern for feasibility aspects value,
Multinomial logit analysis feasibility is negatively associated with their propensity to choose
The 10 factors were used as explanatory variables in unordered organic or local products, but perception of availability of certain
multinomial logit models for honey (Table 4) and apples (Table 5). varieties tends to affect the choice of these varieties positively.
Four response levels were assumed (organic/not local, local/not This effect is mediated by respondents concern for availability in
organic, organic/local, not organic/not local), with the latter as the the case of honey. Perception of local foods availability influences
reference outcome. For each product, we estimated a model the choice of these foods positively. Perception of organic prod-
without interaction between the components, and an extended ucts availability surprisingly affects the propensity to choose
model, where the two value factors value, externalities and organic negatively for both honey and apples, whereas the per-
value, feasibility were assumed to mediate the effects of the ceived price of organic honey does not significantly influence the
associated perception variables on the respondents choices. choice of honey product.
High-quality perception of organic products is positively asso- Supplementary estimations of the four econometric models
ciated with higher propensity to choose organic varieties (and indicated that the influence of perceived feasibility tended to be
negatively associated with choice of local, non-organic varieties), more significant in western regions than in the rest of the country,
and vice versa. The coefficients in Tables 4 and 5 represent mar- whereas concern for origin and perceived quality attributes in
ginal effects of the variables on the propensity to choose different locally produced foods were less influential in the models for
product varieties, represented in log odds ratios. For example, for western Denmark.1 These findings might suggest an east-west
a respondent with a score of 0.1 above average in the perceived or urban-rural divide in the importance of feasibility and geo-
quality, organic dimension, the log odds ratio for choosing graphic origin to the consumers.
organic, non-local honey would be 0.1235 higher than average in
the extended model for honey. With an average probability of
Discussion
choosing organic, non-local honey of 0.2 (cf. Table 2), this corre-
sponds to a 3.1% higher probability of choosing this variety. The PCA identified fairly distinct dimensions in the 40 response
The value factor value, externalities is positively associated variables, with clear distinctions between value dimensions and
with stated propensity to buy both organic and local product vari- perception dimensions. Furthermore, rather clear distinctions were
eties. Respondents perception of the organic and local products found between perception dimensions related to organic and local
environmental friendliness seemed to have only modest direct
1
influence on their stated choice behaviour, according to the models Results can be obtained from the authors upon request.
Organic Local Organic and local Organic Local Organic and local
foods respectively. This suggests that consumers tend to perceive quality (and to a lesser extent the products externality and feasi-
characteristics of organic and local products differently, as regards bility characteristics) may stimulate the propensity to choose these
gastronomic, externality and feasibility attributes. Somewhat cor- products.
responding patterns were found by Weatherell et al. (2003) and It may appear surprising that high perception of organic prod-
Zepeda and Deal (2009). ucts availability affects the propensity to choose organic nega-
Findings from the multinomial logit analysis suggest that tively. An interpretation could be that non-organic consumers have
although consumers perception of foods gastronomic quality is a biased subjective estimates of the availability, or that high avail-
main driver of their stated product variety choice, their values and ability undermines the exclusiveness of organic products.
perceptions regarding externality and feasibility attributes are Some methodological issues should be mentioned. First, the
important co-drivers for their propensity to choose organic or local analysis is based on respondents stated purchasing behaviour,
products. Whereas consumers concern for feasibility affects the which may deviate from actual choice behaviour. This is suspected
propensity of choice directly, their concern for externality aspects to induce an upward bias in the estimated propensity to choose
tends rather to mediate the effects of perceived externality attrib- organic or local varieties, whereas the influence on ranking and
utes. Hence, provision of information on such attributes may have significance of the explanatory variables in the statistical analysis
strongest influence on the purchasing behaviour of already con- is unclear. Second, the sequence of questions in the questionnaire
cerned consumers. may have affected some of the results, if questions cross-
A difference in results and identified mechanisms regarding contaminate each other. Third, aggregation of 40 response vari-
externality attributes between honey and apples suggest a differ- ables into 10 principal components makes the representation of
ence in consumers perception of the organic varieties environ- consumers values and perceptions more parsimonious, but may
mental friendliness for the two product categories. also blur some of the detailed nuances from the individual state-
An important implication of these findings is that efforts to ments. Fourth, due to the cross-section nature of the data, causal
promote the demand for organic and/or local foods, through interpretations should be made with care. Fifth, as the socio-
product information and building of product image should be demographic composition of the survey participants has an over-
carefully targeted because synergy between these variety types can representation of high-income households and households with
only be anticipated to a limited extent. In contrast, initiatives that children, the results may provide a biased representation of the
increase consumers general concern for externality issues may population as a whole. Whereas high income level is suspected to
affect the demand for both organic and local varieties positively. imply an upward bias in estimated propensity to choose organic
In relation to geographic labelling schemes in broader contexts, products, the implications for choice of local products are less
such as the European PDO, PGI or TSG schemes, our findings clear. Furthermore, it is not a priori clear, to what extent the
imply that initiatives to improve and sustain consumers positive findings for honey and apples can be generalized to other product
perception of geographically labelled products gastronomic categories, e.g. highly processed foods.
Yue, C. & Tong, C. (2009) Organic or local? Investigating consumer Zepeda, L. & Leviten-Reid, C. (2004) Consumers views on local food.
preference for fresh produce using a choice experiment with real eco- Journal of Food Distribution Research, 35, 16.
nomic incentives. HortScience, 44, 366371.
Zepeda, L. & Deal, D. (2009) Organic and local food consumer behav-
iour: alphabet theory. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 33,
697705.
Appendix
Table A1 Descriptive statistics stated product perception for honey and apples, organic vs. conventional production, or local vs. non-local production
Honey Apples
Mean SD Mean SD
OrgEnvHoney Organic products are more environmentally friendly (honey) 3.14 1.04 3.22 0.95
OrgHealthHoney Organic products are healthier (honey) 2.82 1.14 2.97 1.09
OrgTasteHoney Organic products taste better (honey) 2.51 1.11 2.55 1.13
OrgPestHoney The are no pesticide residues in organic products (honey) 3.11 1.01 3.13 0.96
OrgAppealHoney Organic products look more appealing (honey) 1.88 1.05 1.83 1.04
OrgQualHoney The quality is better in organic products (honey) 2.50 1.12 2.49 1.11
OrgAccessHoney Organic products are easier to find in the shop (honey) 1.83 1.01 1.78 1.01
OrgPriceHoney Organic products are cheaper (honey) 0.50 0.73 0.55 0.75
LocEnvHoney Locally produced goods are more environmentally friendly (honey) 2.53 1.11 2.61 1.09
LocHealthHoney Locally produced goods are healthier (honey) 1.80 0.99 1.98 1.01
LocTasteHoney Locally produced goods taste better (honey) 2.10 1.03 2.17 1.01
LocQualHoney The quality is better in locally produced goods (honey) 2.08 1.00 2.11 0.99
LocAccessHoney Locally produced goods are more accessible (honey) 1.99 1.08 1.99 1.07
LocPriceHoney Locally produced goods are cheaper (honey) 1.48 0.97 1.55 0.98
LocMyHoney Locally produced goods are produced in my area (honey) 2.74 1.23 2.73 1.22
Response levels: 1, fully agree; 2, partly agree; 3, neither agree nor disagree; 4, partly disagree; 5, fully disagree.
Variable names are shown for honey. Corresponding names apply for apples, e.g. OrgEnvAppl represents the statement Organic products are more
environmentally friendly (apples).
FoodOrg . . . the product is organic 1.94 1.28 2.38 1.40 2.27 1.25 2.20 1.31
FoodOri . . . that I can see the origin 3.35 0.97 3.22 1.00 3.20 1.01 3.26 0.99
FoodImp . . . the product is produced abroad 0.65 0.89 0.59 0.88 0.81 0.92 0.68 0.90
FoodDK . . . the product is produced in Denmark 2.69 1.18 3.03 1.12 2.58 1.15 2.77 1.15
FoodMy . . . the product is produced in my local area 1.50 1.09 1.64 1.08 1.66 1.02 1.60 1.06
FoodAcc . . . the product is easily accessible 3.09 0.81 3.23 0.80 3.17 0.80 3.16 0.80
FoodEnv . . . the product is produced in an 2.86 0.99 2.98 0.99 3.01 0.96 2.95 0.98
environmentally friendly way
FoodWelf . . . the product is produced with high animal 3.10 0.93 3.11 0.96 3.11 0.95
welfare
FoodFat . . . the product is low fat 3.06 0.98 3.02 1.05 3.04 1.02
FoodPrice . . . the price is low 2.26 1.08 2.34 1.13 2.36 1.10 2.32 1.10
Response levels: 1, fully agree; 2, partly agree; 3, neither agree nor disagree; 4, partly disagree; 5, fully disagree.