Triple Bottom Line Values, Social Identification and Organic Food Consumption

Transcription

1 Triple Bottom Line Values, Social Identification and Organic Food Consumption Jos Bartels (PhD) and Marleen Onwezen (MSc) Wageningen University and Research Centre Agricultural Economics Research Institute, The Netherlands Middelfart, Denmark, May 14 th 2009

2 Road Map Introduction Aim of the study Method and Results Conclusions and Discussion Management Implications Limitations and Future Research Directions

3 Introduction Triple Bottom Line, 3BL (Elkington, 1997) Corporations success of health can and should be measured not just by the traditional financial bottom line, but also by its social/ ethical and environmental performance. 3BL and Corporate Social Responsibility are y used as synonyms (Norman and McDonald, 2004)

4 Introduction Important factors influencing consumer s reactions to CSR (Sen and Bhattacharya, 2001) Company-specific factors (CSR issues, quality of its products) Individual-specific factors (consumers personal support for the specific CSR issues, general beliefs about CSR) Mediating role of consumers perceptions of congruence between their own characters and that t of the company

5 Introduction Social Identification The perception of oneness with or belongingness to a group, where the individual defines him or herself in terms of the group of which he or she is a member (Mael and Ashforth, 1992, p. 104) Social Identification in consumer-company context (Ahearne et al., 2005; Bhattacharya and Sen, 2003) SI shows positive relationships with attitudes towards products and company

6 Introduction Few empirical i studies on consumers attitudes towards Triple Bottom Line or CSR issues One recent study on the role Social Identification in a consumer - consumer group context on GM food (Fransen, Reinders, Bartels & Maassen, in press)

7 Aim of the study To investigate the relationship between consumers attitudes towards Triple Bottom Line (TBL) issues, consumers identification with the organic food consumer and their organic food consumption.

8 Method Procedure Self-administered questionnaires Online panel studies in the US (n=1001) and the UK (n=1010) Representative for countries on age, gender, income and education Time period data collection: October-December, 2007 Analysis Regression analysis: Block 1: Demographics Block 2: Triple Bottom Line Values Block 3: Social Identification

9 Method Dependent variables Buying behaviour (Cronbach s α =.85 in the US and.86 in the UK): How often do you buy organic food? How much money do you spend each month on organic food? Independent variables Demographics Age, Gender, Education, Income

10 Method Independent variables Triple Bottom Line items I am more inclined to buy certain products, when I know that they support: Personal profit - weight prevention, vitality and health People - fair trade, black empowerment, education and training of farmers in developing countries, fair distribution of wealth, regional/ local area Planet - prevention of the use of pesticides and fertilizers, prevention of climate change, biodiversity, prevention of CO2 emission, nature conservation, animal welfare

11 Method My Identity Organic Consumer Construct validation of graphic cognitive identification scale: Ahearne et al. (2005) Bhattacharya and Sen (2003) Tropp and Wright (2001) Please indicate to what degree your self-image overlaps.. consumer s image

12 Results US study y( (n=1001) Descriptives (scale 1 5) Organic food buying behaviour (m = 2.13) Highest score: Vitality and health (m = 3.80) Lowest score: Black empowerment (m = 2.26) Social identification with organic consumer (m = 2.14) Triple Bottom Line values correlate r = (p <.01) Social identification correlates r =.66 (p <.01)

13 Results UK study y( (n=1010) Descriptives (scale 1 5) Organic food buying behaviour (m = 2.21) Highest score: Regional/ local area (m = 3.78) Lowest score: Black empowerment (m = 2.44) Social identification with organic consumer (m = 2.23) Triple Bottom Line values correlate r = (p <.01) Social identification correlates r =.59 (p <.01)

14 Results United States United Kingdom R 2 for demographics 7% R 2 for demographics 3% R 2 for 3BL values 20% R 2 for 3BL values 21% R 2 for Social R 2 for Social Identification 23% Identification 19% Total R 2 50% Total R 2 43%

15 Results United States Significant predictors Social identification Values Vitality and health Prevention use of pesticides Age, Gender, Education, Income United Kingdom Significant predictors Social identification Values Black empowerment Prevention use of pesticides Fair distribution of wealth Animal welfare Age, Education, Income

16 Conclusions and discussion Demographics Low predictability Ambiguous results In both countries, consistent individual effects of Social identification Prevention use of pesticides On consumption behaviour

17 Conclusions and discussion Triple Bottom Line All values correlate with behaviour However different significant predictors over countries Social Identification seem to be very robust over countries (see also Fransen et al, in press.)

18 Management Implications Marketing managers could use insights from social identity theory to enhance consumers identity salience with specific groups. Communicating feelings of belonging g to consumers who share ideas on conscious and sustainable behaviour will be effective in stimulation consumption behaviour towards organic food products. Insight into dominant Triple Bottom Line values could help marketing managers in effectively developing communication strategies. Finally, demographic characteristics could be used for market segmentation.

19 Limitations of the study Two Western countries Distinction of Triple Bottom Line dimensions There is more than cognitive identification Only one (food) product studied

20 Future research Further scale development consumer Triple Bottom Line instrument Triple Bottom Line and Emerging g markets (e.g. India and China) Cultural values as mediator/ moderator (Schwartz, Rokeach) Role of cognitive, affective and evaluative dimensions of Social Identification Other product domains (e.g. regional food products)

21 Thank you for your attention! Wageningen UR