The Role of Knowledge, Social Norms, and Attitudes Toward Organic Products and Shopping Behavior: Survey Results from High School Students in Vienna

Abstract

In 2005 a survey was used to investigate social norms and attitudes of Viennese high school students (14–20 years, n = 340) toward organic products. Young people, who already participate in household decisions and consume organic products, have not yet been recognized sufficiently in research. The Theory of Reasoned Action and discriminant analysis are used to explore relations of a number of variables and the complex field of factors influencing Viennese high school students’ shopping behavior when shopping for organic products. Key findings include the importance of primary socialization in forming social norms and shaping behavior. Surprisingly, knowledge of organic products does not explain students’ self-reported shopping behavior when shopping for organic products. Cultural patterns seem to be far more useful to predict behavior and attitudes toward organic products.

Keywords:

• attitudes
• high school students
• organic products
• shopping behavior
• social norms
• survey

Notes

Note. Calculation method (CM) 1 and 2 differ in the coding of shopping behavior for organic products. CM 1: buy little or never = buy at times + buy rarely + buy never. CM 2: Only the two extreme categories of shopping behavior for organic products are included: Buy never and buy regularly.

^a *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

^bOverall χ² (N = 279) = 37.130, p < .01.

^cOverall χ² (N = 75) = 47.474, p < .01.

^dCM 1: 71.3% of original grouped cases correctly classified. CM 2: 88.0% of original grouped cases correctly classified.

For European standards for labeling, production methods, and inspections of organic production see E.C. Regulation 2092/91.

This research represents a cooperative effort between the Department of Sustainable Agricultural Systems (Division of Organic Farming) and the Department of Economics and Social Sciences (Institute for Sustainable Economic Development) at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria.