Fair trade supporting group: what they know, feel and prefer

Abstract

Against free trade, another type of trade, namely Fair Trade, offers to small producers in the underdeveloped countries of the Third World a guaranteed minimum price for each product. Fair Trade increased rapidly during the last decade in Europe and North America, while in Greece it has been recently introduced by the Altromercato shops in Athens and Thessaloniki. The Fair Trade Hellas also developed a group of supporters. This paper presents the results of a preliminary on-line research study that examined supporters’ intentional purchasing behaviour towards all available fair trade products; also their preferences about a new fair trade marmalade. The investigation included a set of variables that may influence future behaviour, such as consumers’ level of awareness, their prior buying experiences, their attitudes towards fair principles and objectives, as well as selected demographic and psychographic characteristics of the sample. It was found that supporters would like to buy mostly fair snacks, coffee, pasta, rice, sugar and souvenirs. With regard to a new fair marmalade, supporters prefer this to be offered at a reasonable price and to be organic by all means. Also, it might be produced in two types, one that might contain nuts and another that might contain honey. It was also found that these consumers hold very strong positive attitudes towards principles, objectives and effectiveness of the fair trade movement. They are very scrupulous people, who share strong universalistic and collectivistic values, while low levels of power and individualism. Though limited due to the small response rate, the results of this study open significant paths for future research in order to understand better the insights of the ethical consumption that concerns the fair trade products in Greece.