The Importance of Beliefs and Purchase Criteria in the Choice of Eco-labeled Food Products
Grankvist, G., & Biel, A. (2001). The importance of beliefs and purchase criteria in the choice of eco-labeled food products. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 21(4), 405-410. doi:10.1006/jevp.2001.0234.
Examined importance attached to purchase criteria, beliefs about the characteristics of eco-labeled alternatives of food products, and prescriptive norm strength as potential predictors of purchasing eco-labeled products. It is argued that the purchase of ordinary food products is a behavior often guided by habits. This implies that to purchase eco-labeled alternatives often require a change of habit. Data were obtained from 2 separately mailed questionnaires, 1 which assessed eco-labeled product purchase behavior and beliefs (returned by 228 Ss), and 1 which assessed environmental attitudes (returned by 220 Ss). Attaching importance to the purchase criteria environmental consequences and human health, expressing positive beliefs about eco-labeled products, and experiencing a strong prescriptive norm were positively correlated with a high relative frequency of choosing eco-labeled alternatives. The experimenters conclude that environmental values in particular may create a predisposition to change purchase habits.
