Consumer motivations and cognitive structures behind quality food purchasing

Fotopoulos, Christos V.; Maglaras, George Ch; Pagiaslis, Anastasios P.

Abstract

The present chapter presents a two-stage study which aims to depict the motivations and cognitive structures of quality food consumers through the use of the Means-End Chain (MEC) approach and laddering technique. Quality food entails both organic and local protected/traditional products. The first stage of the research involved a meta-analysis of published journal articles regarding the purported motivations and cognitive structures of consumers when purchasing quality food. The results show that the values and motivations identified by the various studies varied greatly, thus a thematic categorization followed in order to produce a useful conceptual framework for the analysis of quality food cognitive structures. In the second stage we validated the proposed conceptual framework through 50 laddering interviews. A discussion, regarding the ability to organize the motivations and cognitive structures of various consumer groups in order to highlight and analyze shifts in consumer behaviour related to quality food, is provided. The results show that the various consumer groups do not differentiate in their basic motivation of purchasing quality foods but in the path they will follow in order to achieve the benefits of consumption. © 2011 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

Citation

Fotopoulos, C. V., Maglaras, G. C., & Pagiaslis, A. P. (2011). Consumer motivations and cognitive structures behind quality food purchasing. In A resilient European food industry in a challenging world (125-166). Nova Science Publishers

• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2011
• Deposit Date: Nov 3, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 14, 2020
• Journal: A Resilient European Food Industry in a Challenging World
• Publisher: Nova Science Publishers
• Pages: 125-166
• Series Title: European political, economic, and security issues
• Book Title: A resilient European food industry in a challenging world
• Chapter Number: 8
• ISBN: 9781611220322
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3184293