Consumers’ purchasing and store switching intentions in respect of eco-marked products

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study consumers' buying behaviours towards certified eco-friendly food and to estimate their willingness to buy this food. It also examines the role of the retailer to replace the certification and to add value by analysing the consumer's 'willingness to switch store' in order to purchase a certified product. Results indicate that consumers' intentions to purchase eco-certified food depend on the level of awareness about production conditions, the eco-mark experience and credence attribute associations, occupation and household income. Therefore, the eco-mark and the most preferred retailer could add value for customers. A methodological insight is that when the consumer's decisions for eco-friendly products are analysed, the distinction of eco-mark representations in three different attribute associations improves the explaining capacity of the consumer's decision model.