Organic Consumers' Profile and Their Willingness to Pay (WTP) for Selected Organic Food Products in Greece

TLDR

The EU’s organic labeling schemes have emerged to meet rising consumer demand for certified quality foods, offering marketing advantages to producers. This study investigates Greek organic consumer profiles and evaluates the organic label’s marketing effectiveness among 1,612 households. Conjoint analysis was employed to assess consumers’ willingness to pay for selected organic products such as olive oil, raisins, bread, oranges, and wine.

Abstract

Abstract The adoption of different food quality assurance schemes by the EU, such as the organic label, has been a response to the growing demand for certified quality food products among the European consumers. Several useful benefits have been claimed for these schemes, including their value as marketing strategies. The present study develops at a two-fold level: first, it attempts to offer more insights into the Greek organic consumer profile, using a nationally representative sample of 1,612 households. Second, the study examines the effectiveness of the organic label as a marketing strategic orientation, given that addressing the highly motivated, quality conscious consumer is the core objective of any food quality assurance policy. The use of conjoint analysis in exploring organic buyers' Willingness to Pay (WTP) for a variety of organic products (olive oil, raisins, bread, oranges and wine from organic grapes) is selected as the most appropriate approach to that target.