A Comparison of Motivational Patterns in Sustainable Food Consumption between Pakistan and Finland: Duties or Self-Reliance?

Abstract

This research explores organic food consumption motivations in Pakistan and Finland. It links the findings to life goals typifying vertically collectivistic and horizontally individualistic cultures in order to produce a fuller understanding of cross-country variation in sustainable consumption. This study employs a means-end chain methodology, using a hard-laddering technique in Pakistan (n = 101) and Finland (n = 193) to collect the data. The key implications are that organic food choice motivations both converge and diverge between these countries and that culturally shaped life goals can be used to enrich their interpretation and advance theory building in further research.

Keywords:

• Consumption motivation
• culture
• horizontal individualism
• life goals
• organic food
• sustainability
• vertical collectivism

Introduction

The state of current consumption around the world is destructive; it compromises the ability of future generations to meet their basic needs and creates problems such as reduced biodiversity, rising sea levels, extreme weather conditions, and natural resource shortfalls (Nair & Little, 2016). Food is one of the three consumption domains, together with housing and transportation, that represent the most significant CO₂-emission sources (Steen-Olsen & Hertwich, 2015; Tukker, 2015). Its current usage and production are not at a sustainable level (Reisch, Eberle, & Lorek, 2013) and therefore contribute to climate change and environmental degradation (Thøgersen, 2017).

Cross-country differences in sustainable consumption practices exist, even between Western nations. For example, the organic food market share in Denmark is 7.2%, but in Italy, it is only 1.4% (Hemmerling, Hamm, & Spiller, 2015). Underlying motives for consuming responsibly can also differ: electric car adoption is mainly influenced by green self-identity in Denmark, by the environmental consequences of using cars in Belgium; and by the combination of green self-identity and moral obligation in Italy (Barbarossa, Beckmann, De Pelsmacker, Moons, & Gwozdz, 2015). In terms of the perceived significance of sustainability, less developed countries do not represent a homogeneous entity either. To illustrate, when choosing food, ethical concerns are more important for Filipinos than for Romanians (Januszewska, Pieniak, & Verbeke, 2011). Consequently, actionable understanding to support policymakers and marketers in encouraging sustainable rather than unsustainable consumption behaviors, in both industrialized and less-industrialized countries are badly needed (Nair & Little, 2016).

Many factors, both macro and micro, can explain cross-country differences in sustainable consumption. Sustainable consumption is shaped by the interaction between the national context and individual lifestyle preferences (Thøgersen, 2017). National culture can be regarded as one influential macro force shaping sustainable consumption. In his review of factors explaining cross-national differences in organic food consumption, Thøgersen (2017, p. 171) states, “Macro factors such as the food culture and the culture’s level of post-materialism and environmental concern play an additional role.” He also emphasizes the significance of political regulation, including legal definitions and standards, financial support for farmers, a national labeling system, and soil conditions. As sustainable consumption decision-making is complicated, the list of potential determinants does not end here. The degree of environmental awareness, distribution infrastructure, and income level comprise additional components accounting for cross-country variation (Milfont & Markowitz, 2016; Nair & Little, 2016; Thøgersen, 2017). To highlight this complexity, the evidence concerning the effect of availability of product options on sustainable consumption is mixed (Hemmerling et al., 2015). Liobikienė, Mandravickaitė, and Bernatonienė (2016) showed that the differences in terms of green purchase behavior in the EU countries did not depend significantly on economic development.

To conclude, no single micro or macro factor can exhaustively explain the existence of differences in sustainable consumption across countries (Milfont & Markowitz, 2016). Nevertheless, focusing on the role of cultural influences is justifiable. Nair and Little (2016, p. 178) consider national culture to be a critical factor: “Clearly in countries where cultures are not closely related (e.g., Germany and Italy, China and India, Japan and Malaysia) the profound differences in ethnic origin, history, and religion will influence green consumption.” Also, De Mooij (2017) stresses that cultural differences play an important role in forming individuals’ consumption behaviors.

Thus, in line with these recent developments in research, this study takes a fresh look at how cultural influences manifest themselves in sustainable consumption motivations in countries that differ from each other in many aspects. It seeks to make three contributions. First, it reviews the literature on cross-cultural differences in sustainable consumption to reveal valuable insights. Second, it links culturally defined life goals to organic food choice motivations in Pakistan and Finland—uncovering both divergence and convergence. Third, it capitalizes on new refined conceptions of cultural differences, namely horizontal and vertical versions of individualism-collectivism in an attempt to enrich the interpretation of the findings.

In the following, a review of studies addressing cultural differences in sustainable consumption is offered. Then, the methodological solutions, samples, analytical procedures, and key findings are reported. Finally, the article discusses the theoretical, managerial, and societal implications of the results, addresses their limitations, and offers ideas for further research.

A review of studies addressing cultural differences in sustainable consumption

Table 1 offers a snapshot of studies from 2010–2019 that have addressed cross-cultural differences in sustainable consumption. This compilation is illustrative rather than exhaustive and helps to discern three observations. First, in relation to sustainable consumption attitudes, motivations, and behaviors, many studies, but not all, find direct and indirect effects of cultural differences. This confirms the meaningfulness of concentrating on the culture-individual interaction in this context. Second, the countries included in the studies rarely represent South Asia—Western and South East Asian cultures predominate. Third, the cultural influences detected are mainly explained by the differences in the level of individualism-collectivism of the countries involved.

Table 1. Studies concerning cross-cultural differences in sustainable consumption.

Study	Cultures compared	Data	Relevant findings for the present study
Ando, Ohnuma, Blöbaum, Matthies, and Sugiura (2010)	Germany vs. Japan	Representative of general populations No. for GER = 966 No. for JAP = 531	Subjective norms influenced more in Japan Germans exhibited more individual pro-environmental behaviors Japanese exhibited more collective pro-environmental behaviors
Bartels and Reinders (2010)	United States vs. United Kingdom vs. Germany	Representative of general populations No. for US = 1001 No. for UK = 1010 No. for GER = 961	Influence of social representation components on organic buying behavior differs between countries Culturally shared values and ideas play an important role in consumers’ perceptions of new food products
Oliver and Lee (2010)	United States vs. South Korea	Students No. for US = 1083 No. for SK = 783	Culture moderated the effect of social value on hybrid car purchase intentions, but the effect was stronger for more collectivistic South Koreans
Cordano, Welcomer, Scherer, Pradenas, and Parada (2011)	United States vs. Chile	Students No. for US = 256 No. for CH = 241	Altruism and social norms had a stronger effect on intention to behave in environmentally friendly way in more collectivistic Chile
Ruiz de Maya et al. (2011)	Italy vs. Denmark vs. United Kingdom, Finland, Greece, Spain, Germany, Sweden	Representative of chief household grocery shoppers No. for IT = 1000 No. for DE = 1003 No. for UK = 980 No. for FI = 855 No. for GR = 1043 No. for SP = 1006 No. for GER = 999 No. for SWE = 1128	Identification of four major segments of European countries whose citizens’ antecedents of purchase intention for organic products show differences that are related to the countries’ cultural values
Minton, Lee, Orth, Kim, and Kahle (2012)	United States vs. South Korea vs. Germany	Representative of social media users No. for US = 337 No. for SK = 323 No. for GER = 358	Collectivistic South Korea exhibited motivation patterns for sustainable behaviors that differed from those of more individualistic United States and Germany
Soyez (2012)	United States vs. Canada vs. Germany vs. Australia vs. Russia	Socio-demographically comparable quota samples No. for US = 169 No. for CAN = 283 No. for GER = 226 No. for AUS = 214 No. for RU = 204	While an ecocentric value orientation is important in the US, Canadian, German, and Australian samples which hold individualistic values, an anthropocentric value orientation is salient in the Russian sample, characterized by collectivistic values
Cho, Thyroff, Rapert, Park, and Lee (2013)	United States vs. South Korea	Students No. for US = 400 No. for SK = 327	Horizontal collectivism and vertical individualism as important influencers of perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE) PCE affects environmental attitude which results in pro-environmental commitment manifested in specific behavioral intentions
Loureiro and Kaufmann (2014)	United States vs. Portugal vs. Cyprus vs. Serbia vs. South Korea	Students No. for US = 300 No. for CYP = 250 No. for POR = 300 No. for SRB = 100 No. for SK = 250	Individualism, masculinity, and power distance moderate the effects of attitude and behavior on sustainable intentions
Sudbury-Riley et al. (2014)	United Kingdom vs. Germany vs. Japan vs. Hungary	Representative of senior citizens No. for UK = 502 No. for GER = 227 No. for JAP = 409 No. for HUN = 200	In Japan, the self-fulfillment value is the strongest predictor of environmental beliefs and attitudes In UK, the self-respect value is the strongest predictor of environmental beliefs and attitudes In Germany, the accomplishment value is the strongest predictor of environmental beliefs and attitudes In Hungary, the security value is the strongest predictor of environmental beliefs and attitudes
Barbarossa et al. (2015)	Denmark vs. Italy vs. Belgium	Socio-demographically comparable quota samples No. for DEN = 611 No. for IT = 794 No. for BEL = 600	Significant differences emerge concerning the influence of the antecedents of consumer attitude toward electric car adoption between Denmark, Belgium and Italy, which are discussed in light of Hofstede’s national cultural differences between these countries
Dermody, Hanmer-Lloyd, Koenig-Lewis, and Zhao (2015)	United Kingdom vs. China	Students No. for UK = 1037 No. for CHN = 1025	Materialism affected positively respondents’ pro-environmental self-identity and sustainable consumer behaviors in more collectivistic China, but not in more individualistic UK
Eom, Kim, Sherman, and Ishii (2016)	United States vs. Japan	Secondary data: World Values Survey (n = 67,268) Students No. for US = 149 No. for JAP = 102	National-level individualism explained the between-nation variability above and beyond the effects of other cultural values and independently of person-level individualism Environmental concern predicted environmentally friendly consumer choice among more individualistic European Americans but for more collectivistic Japanese perceived norms about environmental behavior predicted proenvironmental decision making
Liobikienė et al. (2016)	28 EU member states	Secondary data: Eurobarometer survey Ns not reported	Observed big differences in terms of green purchase behavior in the EU countries and it did not depend on economic development significantly Cultural dimensions are related to factors which directly influence green purchase behavior
Morren and Grinstein (2016)	28 countries	Meta-analysis of 67 studies	In developed and individualistic countries, intention to behave environmentally is more likely to translate to actual behavior, and attitudes toward the environment are related to environmental intention
Muralidharan, Rejón-Guardia, and Xue (2016)	United States vs. India	Representative of young consumers No. for US = 253 No. for IND = 253	The impact of environmental concern on green buying behavior was stronger for more individualistic United States than more collectivistic India The impact of peer communication on green buying behavior was stronger for more collectivistic India than more individualistic United States
Bonera, Corvi, Codini, and Ma (2017)	Italy vs. China	Non-representative sample of adult consumers No. for IT = 333 No. for CHN = 353	Nationality is important in describing eco-behavior and this effect is stronger than the effect of certain personal values
Tam and Chan (2017)	32 countries	Secondary data: International Social Survey Programme (n = 45,199)	Environmental concern-behavior association was stronger in societies with higher levels of individualism and looseness
Higueras-Castillo, Liébana-Cabanillas, Muñoz-Leiva, and Molinillo (2019)	Germany vs. Mexico vs. Spain	Non-representative sample of adult consumers No. for GER = 167 No. for MEX = 159 No. for SP = 163	Collectivism/individualism is a determinant of the formation of pro-environmental behavior and impacts on consumers’ attitudes toward the adoption of renewable energy systems Country with the highest level of collectivism develops stronger eco-friendly behaviors and stronger intentions to adopt renewable energy technologies

Recently, the more refined conceptions of cultural differences, namely horizontal and vertical versions of individualism-collectivism, have been introduced to the field of consumer research—producing new understanding (Shavitt & Barnes, 2018; Shavitt & Cho, 2016). Vertical individualism (VI) emphasizes individual status improvement, distinction from others, and competition, while horizontal individualism (HI) emphasizes social equality to others in status, expression of uniqueness, and self-reliance. In turn, vertical collectivism (VC) puts weight on compliance with authority, in-group cohesion enhancement, and self-sacrifice, whereas horizontal collectivism (HC) emphasizes sociability, communal interdependence, and cooperation (Shavitt & Barnes, 2018). Cultures, regardless of whether they are based on VI, HI, VC, or HC, are important because they partly define the life goals that the individuals embedded in them are supposed to strive for how those goals are achieved (Shavitt & Cho, 2016; Triandis, 1995). Examples of these life goals include a sense of accomplishment, of security and warm relationships with others—linking the goals to particular needs that can be satisfied by consuming specific products, such as ethnic dinners (Thienhirun & Chung, 2017). As another demonstration pertaining more directly to cross-cultural differences in sustainable consumption, Sudbury-Riley, Hofmeister-Toth, and Kohlbacher (2014) found that, in Japan (approximating a VC-culture), the life goal of self-fulfillment predicts environmental beliefs and attitudes, whereas in the UK (approximating a HI-culture) the life goal of self-respect.

Next, in the empirical part of the study, consumers’ organic food choice motivations and their connections with life goals are explored and compared between countries with differing cultures. According to Onwezen (2015, p. 261), examples of the most important options to reduce the environmental impact of consumers’ food consumption are: (1) the refusal of air-transported products, (2) a choice of organic products, and (3) a reduction in meat consumption. Thus, favoring organic foods can be regarded as constituting a form of sustainable consumption, although, recently, this has also been questioned. For example, according to Searchinger, Wirsenius, Beringer, and Dumas (2018), due to the inefficacy of organic farming methods as compared to conventional ones, the burden for the planet can sometimes be considerably higher. Yet, as consumers consistently perceive organic food as environmentally friendly (see, for example, Kushwah, Dhir, Sagar, & Gupta, 2019), its choice as a manifestation of sustainable consumption is justifiable.

Methodology

As explained, organic food consumption was selected as the focal target of empirical analysis. This is because consumers attach many motivations and meanings to organic food consumption. Well-established choice motives show that organic foods can symbolize health, hedonism, environmental friendliness, safety, and a concern for animal welfare (Bauer, Heinrich, & Schäfer, 2013). More recently, status symbolism has been connected with organic food choices (Luomala, Puska, Lähdesmäki, Siltaoja, & Kurki, 2020; Rana & Paul, 2017). Thus, organic foods can be chosen for reasons that are more-or-less consonant with various culturally related life goals. For example, status concerns more inherently imbue VC-culture life goals, whereas personal hedonism can inherently imbue HI-culture life goals.

Selecting Finland and Pakistan as targets of empirical research

Scandinavian countries, such as Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, are often considered to represent HI-cultures (Rantanen & Toikko, 2017, p. 293). For example, Finns have been found to prefer to use solution-oriented approaches to conflict. In communication situations, they do not argue or advocate positions on controversial issues. They do not tend to verbally attack the positions of others. (Croucher, Galy-Badenas, Jäntti, Carlson, & Cheng, 2016). In turn, Aycan, Schyns, Sun, Felfe, and Saher (2013) offered evidence suggesting that Pakistan is a VC-country. To illustrate, Pakistanis expressed more concern with the protection of family honor, experienced more emotional pain after witnessing a devaluation of their families, and worried more about its implications for their social image than European Americans did (Rodriguez Mosquera, 2018). Moreover, as the literature review indicates, up to now, South Asian countries have been underrepresented in cross-cultural studies.

According to Hofstede, Hofstede, and Minkov (2010), the individualism-score (range 0–100) is 63 for Finland and 14 for Pakistan—indicating that the former is an individualistic and the latter a collectivistic country. The power distance dimension of cultural difference (the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally) pertains to how vertical or horizontal society is. This score (range 0–100) is 33 for Finland and 55 for Pakistan (Hofstede et al., 2010). The net difference of 22 suggests that Pakistani culture can be described as more vertical and Finnish culture as more horizontal. Consequently, Pakistan and Finland were chosen as the data collection locations. However, this is not to suggest that all consumers in these countries share the same cultural life goals. It is known that distinct consumer segments within the same country can be identified because of their differences in cultural beliefs (e.g., Yoo, Donthu, & Lenartowicz, 2011).

Description of empirical research contexts: Organic food consumption in Finland and Pakistan

Background information concerning the local data-gathering contexts helps the evaluation of the validity and meaningfulness of the findings. Here, organic food supply structures and consumption patterns in Finland and Pakistan are briefly described. Finland is a developed western society, and organic food is available in practically all of the grocery stores. Marketplaces and direct selling from farms augment this supply. The market share of organic foods lies between 2–3% and has been rising continuously during recent years. Approximately every fourth Finnish consumer buys organic foods daily (Nuutila, 2019).

As Pakistan is a developing country, its retail supply structure differs from that of Finland. Even though the presence of organic foods in Pakistani supermarkets is smaller, there are markets (e.g., Khalis and Haryali) and outlets specializing in organic food (e.g., Himalayan organic food). The recent popularity of organic products in Pakistan has resulted in the launch of many organic food producers such as Zacky Farms, Ndoz Greens, Dali, and Reef’s Organic Box. However, the market share of organic food is still very low (no official figures available), although continuing to grow. Since 2013, organic and green products have gained popularity, and the increase in local organic produce sold has boosted consumer awareness and the use of green products. Regarding organic vegetables, two-thirds of Pakistani consumers residing in the Sindh province were aware of the concept, and the majority were willing to pay extra for these products (Akbar, Ali, Ahmad, Akbar, & Danish, 2019; Hasnain, 2018; Khan & Mohsin, 2017; Mangan, Shah, Laghari, Nangraj, & Nangraj, 2016; Qasim, Yan, Guo, Saeed, & Ashraf, 2019)

Recruitment of study participants and description of samples

An interception sampling technique was used. Potential study participants were approached as they patronized supermarkets, market squares, and greengrocery shops in city environments. In Pakistan (n = 101), data were collected during the autumn of 2016 from respondents living in the cities of Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Gujranwala, and Lahore. In Finland (n = 193), data were collected during the summer of 2017 from consumers living in the cities of Vaasa, Helsinki, and Jyväskylä. The data collection for the present study (see next section) involved conducting on-site hard-laddering interviews. In food consumption research, the means-end chain (MEC) approach has been utilized to explore choice motivations (Arsil, Li, Bruwer, & Lyons, 2014; Costa, Schoolmeester, Dekker, & Jongen, 2007; Grunert & Valli, 2001; Russell et al., 2004; Zanoli & Naspetti, 2002)—also in studies involving cross-cultural comparisons (Cerjak, Haas, Brunner, & Tomić, 2014).

Table 2 describes the basic characteristics of Pakistani and Finnish samples. The sampling was not based on any socio-demographic quotas but on the success of receiving consent from consumers in these commercial areas of the cities. Therefore, there is a degree of variation present between the Pakistani and Finnish samples in terms of socio-demographic profiles.

Table 2. Description of socio-demographic profiles of the Pakistani and Finnish samples.

Socio-demographic characteristic	Pakistani sample (n = 101)		Finnish sample (n = 193)
	Frequency	Percentage (%)	Frequency	Percentage (%)
(1) Gender
Female	38	38	143	74
Male	63	62	50	26
(2) Age (years)
18–30	77	77	99	51
31–45	19	18	45	23
46 or over	5	5	49	26
(3) Education
Bachelor or lower	80	79	172	89
Master or higher	21	21	21	11
(4) Monthly income (€)
€500 or less	84	83	20	10
€501–€2499	4	4	126	65
€2500–€4999	13	14	41	21
€5000 or more			6	3

This inquiry used on-site laddering interviews, and the sample sizes are comparable or even exceed those typical of prior studies. For example, Westerlund-Lind (2007) conducted 129 in-store interviews when exploring pork meat choice motivations, whereas Cicia, Del Giudice, and Ramunno (2009) had only 45 survey participants. However, it is not claimed that the samples secured from a limited number of locations represent the Finnish and Pakistani populations generally. Regional differences may exist in how organic foods are perceived in these countries (Al-Swidi, Huque, Hafeez, & Shariff, 2014; Puska, Kurki, Lähdesmäki, Siltaoja, & Luomala, 2016). Nevertheless, forming samples for the study in real commercial surroundings should facilitate the mundane realism aspect of the representativeness of the results because the research setting and operations resemble the participants’ everyday life events (Jaeger & Porcherot, 2017).

Means-end chain data collection procedures and analysis

An MEC is a knowledge structure that links consumers’ knowledge about product attributes with their personal knowledge about consequences and values (Zanoli & Naspetti, 2002). In general terms, it captures the hierarchical linkages between a product’s intrinsic and/or extrinsic attributes (A or the “means”), the subsequent use consequences (C) for the consumer, and the associated personal values (V or the “end”) (Le Page, Cox, Russell, & Leppard, 2005; Lin & Fu, 2001). The ACV associations or ladders are often seen as illustrations of the basic drivers that motivate consumer behavior and can be represented as hierarchical value maps (HVMs). According to Russell et al. (2004), an MEC model commonly comprises six levels of abstraction: concrete versus abstract product attributes, functional versus psychosocial use consequences, and instrumental versus terminal life values. The consequences, and especially the values, can vary in their personal or social orientations (Kahle, Beatty, & Homer, 1986).

MEC data can be gathered either through personal interviews, so-called “soft laddering,” or questionnaires administered by an interviewer or completed by the participant, so-called “hard laddering,” (Botschen, Thelen, & Pieters, 1999). The personal interviewer approach was selected for this study as the data collection occurred during everyday consumption practices in real commercial surroundings. The circumstances could have undermined the participants’ concentration on answering the questions. Moreover, this approach enables more extensive data sets than purely qualitative soft laddering interviews (Jägel, Keeling, Reppel, & Gruber, 2012).

As in Barrena, García, and Sánchez (2015), prior to the data collection, the hard-laddering approach applied included the fabrication of a list of concrete/abstract product attributes (A), functional/psychosocial consequences (C), and instrumental/terminal values (V). This list was an important tool in producing the key data for the analysis. The development of the ACV list (see Table 3) for this research was guided by prior MEC studies on organic food choices (Barrena & Sánchez, 2010; Chryssohoidis & Krystallis, 2005; Grebitus & Dumortier, 2016; Padel & Foster, 2005; Zagata, 2014; Zanoli & Naspetti, 2002). In practice, this means that the placement of the items into the categories of concrete/abstract attributes and functional/psychosocial consequences followed the conventions set by previous studies. For the instrumental and terminal values, Kahle et al. (1986) list of values was used—again following the example of Barrena et al. (2015).

Table 3. Pre-fabricated lists of attributes, consequences, and values given to study participants.

Concrete attributes	Abstract attributes	Functional consequences	Psycho-social consequences	Instrumental values	Terminal values
(1) Environmental friendly	(1) Chemical free	(1) It is a healthy product	(1) Makes me feel good	(1) Provides fun, pleasure and enjoyment	(1) I get a sense of social belonging
(2) Price	(2) Apparent freshness	(2) It is nutritious	(2) Consuming a quality food	(2) Enhances my quality of life and security	(2) Enhance my relations with others
(3) Easy to prepare	(3) Healthy	(3) Good value for money	(3) I get a sense of culture identification	(3) Provides me with emotional fulfillment	(3) I feel more respected by others
(4) Expensive	(4) Natural	(4) Appetizing and enjoyable to eat	(4) Enhances my social status	(4) I feel more successful	(4) I get a sense of self-fulfillment and accomplishment
(5) Tasty	(5) Better quality	(5) I help to sustain local agriculture	(5) Brings back memories		(5) Gives me peace of mind and self-respect
(6) Enhances animal welfare	(6) Nutritional value	(6) I help to protect environment	(6) It is genuine
(7) Support for farmers	(7) Prestige or status	(7) I am well-informed	(7) Regulates my health and of my family
(8) Fair wages	(8) Image of sustainable consumption	(8) Enjoyed by all the family	(8) Give me happiness and satisfaction
(9) Choice and availability	(9) Safety	(9) Makes life easier	(9) Improved quality of life
(10) Geographical region			(10) Ensure my family are well fed
(11) Information on label
(12) Packaging material

After receiving consent (no incentives offered), to standardize the level of past knowledge, the concept of organic food was briefly explained to the study participants by the field worker. This occurred by, first, showing the participants pictures of conventionally and organically produced food products. Then, they were asked to express their preference for either the former or latter (see Supplementary Appendix A). Those favoring organic foods were then given a simple definition by the fieldworker: they were told that organic foods are grown or produced without the use of human-made chemicals and that they do not contain genetically modified organisms. Subsequently, study participants were asked to think about the most important concrete attributes or features that convince them to buy organic food. To help their selection, they were given a list of the concrete attributes (see Table 3 and Supplementary Appendix B). This step was followed by the question, “And why is that important to you?” (see Supplementary Appendix A) along with a list of abstract attributes (on a separate paper, see Table 3 and Supplementary Appendix B), a list of functional consequences (see Table 3 and Supplementary Appendix B), and so on. This process continued until the level of terminal values (see Table 3 and Supplementary Appendix B) was reached, or the study participant expressed the inability to link a lower-level means to any of the higher-level ends.

Trained natives of the Pakistani and Finnish culture performed the fieldwork. They performed a pretest (n = 10) in their respective countries. The key issue here was to check how the study participants experienced the response procedure, how they perceived the directions (especially the order of answering) for the questionnaires, how they understood the ACV-terms used, and the connection between the ACVs. Based on these pretests, the instructions and wordings of the attributes, consequences, and values on the materials given to the study participants were slightly modified to improve their functionality.

The use of closed answering options (the ACV lists) expedited and simplified the data analysis, as laborious content analytical techniques (e.g., inductive meaning category development from open qualitative data) were not needed (Jägel et al., 2012). The second advantage of this method is that the ACV data entered are unambiguous, rendering cross-checking by multiple coders unnecessary. MECanalyst software assisted with the construction of an implications matrix (and, eventually, an HVM) by displaying how often an element leads directly and indirectly to another element in the ACV data. The implications matrix bridges the qualitative and quantitative elements of the laddering technique. It allows examination of the different types of relationships and the determination of the dominant paths likely to appear in the HVM (Jägel et al., 2012). The resulting HVM displays the dominant perceptual and motivational patterns, with the thickness of lines representing the strength of the association between the (meaning) categories emerging from the data (see, for example, Le Page et al., 2005).

The implication matrices (see Supplementary Appendices C and D) were also elemental in the construction of the hierarchical value maps or HVMs for this study. The HVMs display the most dominant perceptual and motivationally significant ACV linkages. Even though this important phase in the MEC analysis involves the determination of the cutoff point, there is no fixed and unambiguous way to define it (Zanoli & Naspetti, 2002). The optimal balance between data retention and reduction is often sought by experimenting with various cutoff points (Jägel et al., 2012). This approach was also followed here, leading eventually to a cutoff level of 9 for the Pakistani HVM and 16 for the Finnish HVM. The interpretability and comparability of the findings were deemed highest at these cutoff levels.

Results

Figures 1 and 2 present the final HVMs for the Pakistani (n = 101) and the Finnish (n = 193) data. As mentioned above, the thickness of the lines in HVMs indicates the strength of ACV associations. In each of the boxes in Figures 1 and 2, “nr” indicates the absolute number of participants who have brought up that specific attribute, consequence, or value during the process of laddering, whereas “sub” refers to their relative proportions. For example, the information “nr: 70; sub: 36%” in the instrumental value box of the Finnish HVM means that 70 participants produced ladders involving it—making up 36% of all participants.

Figure 1. Hierarchical value map for Pakistan (n = 101).

Figure 2. Hierarchical value map for Finland (n = 193).

The results are presented in two stages. First, the organic food choice motivations between Pakistan and Finland are compared. Second, to enrich the interpretation of the results, they are viewed through the lens of the life goals that typify a VC-culture (maintaining and protecting in-group status; retaining conformity; deferring to authorities and in-groups; cherishing harmony) and the HI-culture (being distinct and separate from others; being self-directed; expressing modesty; signaling uniqueness)—see the theoretical part of the article.

Comparing organic food choice motivations between Pakistan and Finland

At first glance, the Pakistani and Finnish HVMs appear relatively similar (see Table 4). However, at the attribute level, tasty emerged only in the Pakistani HVM, and price and support for farmers only emerged in the Finnish HVM. Furthermore, of the attributes present in both HVMs, environmentally friendly and healthy were more pronounced in the Pakistani HVM (see Table 4). The abstract attributes, natural and chemical-free were equally present in both HVMs (see Table 4). The concrete and abstract attributes represent the more-or-less extrinsic reasons for choosing organic foods.

Table 4. Unique and shared elements in the Pakistani and Finnish HVMs.

HVM-element	Unique for the Pakistani HVM	Unique for the Finnish HVM	Present in both of the HVMs, but more pronounced in one of them	Equally shared in both of the HVMs
(1) Concrete attributes	Tasty	Price support for farmers	Environmentally friendly → PAK+ (Z = 3.00, p < 0.01)
(2) Abstract attributes		Apparent freshness	Healthy → PAK+ (Z = 2.51, p < 0.05)	Natural (Z = 1.27, p = 0.20) Chemical-free (Z = 0.40, p = 0.69)
(3) Functional consequences	It is nutritious	I help to sustain local agriculture	It is a healthy product → PAK+ (Z = 3.23, p < 0.01)
(4) Psycho-social consequences				It is genuine (Z = 0.86, p = 0.38) Consuming a quality food (Z = 0.38, p = 0.82) Makes me feel good (Z = 0, p = 1.00) Regulates the health of me and my family (Z = 0, p = 1.00)
(5) Instrumental values		Provides me with emotional fulfillment	Enhances my quality of life and security → PAK+ (Z = 4.73, p < 0.01) Provides fun, pleasure and enjoyment → FIN+ (Z = 4.42, p < 0.01)
(6) Terminal values				Gives me a peace of mind and self-respect (Z = 1.79, p = 0.08) I get the sense of self-fulfillment and accomplishment (Z = 0.53, p = 0.60)

Of the functional consequences, it is nutritious appeared only in the Pakistani HVM, while I help to sustain local agriculture was only present in the Finnish HVM. Furthermore, it’s a healthy product surfaced in both HVMs, but again more strongly in the Pakistani one (see Table 4). Statistically significant differences in the relative magnitude between the shared psychological consequences across the Pakistani and Finnish data set could not be established: it is genuine; makes me feel good; consuming a quality food; and regulates my health and of my family (see Table 4).

In terms of the instrumental values, provides me with emotional fulfillment turned out to be a unique aspect of the Finnish HVM. Moreover, two differences in the relative magnitude could be detected for the shared HVM-elements. Enhances my quality of life and security highlighted more in the Pakistani HVM, whereas provides fun, pleasure, and enjoyment in the Finnish HVM (see Table 4). The two HVMs shared equally the terminal values of gives me peace of mind and self-respect, and I get the sense of self-fulfillment and accomplishment, even though the former had marginally more weight in the Finnish HVM (see Table 4).

To summarize, organic food choice motivations both converge and diverge between Pakistan and Finland. In total, eight attributes, seven consequences, and five values were extracted to underlie organic food choices. The most striking differences in the HVMs can be witnessed at the level of concrete attributes and instrumental values. However, a simple level-by-level juxtaposition of attributes, consequences, and values between the Pakistani and Finnish HVMs is not enough to provide an in-depth understanding of the cultural influences on organic food consumption motivations. To achieve that, the contents of the Pakistani and Finnish HVMs will be considered from the viewpoint of dominant VC- and HI-culture life goals.

HI and VC life goals as keys to understanding cultural influences in organic food choice motivations within and between Pakistan and Finland

Interestingly, within both the Pakistani and Finnish HVMs, there was a variation in how strongly their content relates to life goals characterizing VC- and HI-cultures, respectively. This consideration began with the highest level: values. The terminal value gives me peace of mind and self-respect can be seen as more congruent with HI-culture life goals (e.g., being self-directed; expressing modesty) than with VC-culture life goals. However, it did not motivate organic food choices differently in Pakistan and Finland (see Table 4). The case was analogical with the second HI-spirited terminal value, I get a sense of self-fulfillment and accomplishment (inferred congruence with the signaling uniqueness life goal): no statistically significant difference could be found (see Table 4).

However, the instrumental values present in both HVMs (enhances my quality of life and security, provides fun, pleasure, and enjoyment) showed a different story. As already mentioned above, the former was more prominent in the Pakistani HVM and the latter in the Finnish HVM. This seems logical as the first instrumental value shares connotations with the VC-culture life goals of deferring to authorities and in-groups, and the second shares connotations with the HI-culture life goal of being self-directed. Thus, the VC- and HI-culture life goals seemed to partly differentiate organic food consumption motivations.

Next, the focus of the analysis shifted to the A-C-chain patterns observable in the Pakistani and Finnish HVMs. Here again, both convergence and divergence were apparent. In both HVMs, the A-C-chain labeled as the ecology-driven health control could be detailed (see Figures 1 and 2). For Pakistan, it went as follows: environmental friendliness → healthy → it is a healthy product → regulates my health and of my family. The Finnish HVM shared this chain, with the exclusion of the abstract attribute healthy. This A-C-chain appears more accordant with VC-culture life goals (e.g., deferring to authorities and in-groups; cherishing harmony) than with the HI-culture life goals. Yet, it was present in both of the HVMs.

Two unique A-C-chains could be filtered out from the Pakistani HVM (see Figure 1): taste-driven health control (tasty → healthy → it is a healthy product → regulates my health and of my family) and ecology-driven life satisfaction (environmental friendliness → chemical-free → it is a healthy product → makes me feel good). These A-C-chains were especially interesting as they both appear to possess qualities that are simultaneously congruent with both VC- and HI-culture life goals (deferring to authorities and in-groups; cherishing harmony; being self-directed), although, at the outset, Pakistan supposedly embraces the former more than the latter.

The Finnish HVM enabled the disentanglement of three separate A-C-chains (see Figure 2). The chain price → it is a healthy product → regulates my health and of my family was named as the price-driven health control as the idea that higher prices guarantee greater health benefits hallmarked it. This chain again exhibited a logic that does not contradict either VC- or HI-culture life goals (e.g., deferring to authorities and in-groups; cherishing harmony; being distinct and separate from others). The second chain, freshness-driven quality, and the third, ethicality-driven pro-sociality, were the shortest ones derived from the HVMs (apparent freshness → consuming a quality food; support for farmers → I help to sustain local agriculture), respectively. The freshness-driven quality-chain can be construed to be more in line with HI-culture life goals (being distinct and separate from others; signaling uniqueness) and, thus, expectedly present in the Finnish HVM. In contrast, the ethicality-driven pro-sociality chain reflects somewhat more the VC-culture life goals (retaining conformity; maintaining and protecting in-group status). However, it appeared in the Finnish HVM and not in the Pakistani HVM.

Discussion and conclusion

In this research, the ways in which organic food consumption motivations between Pakistan and Finland both converge and diverge were identified and linked to life goals typifying VC- and HI-cultures in an attempt to produce a fuller understanding of cross-country variation in sustainable consumption. Intriguing relationships between VC- and HI-culture life goals and the motivational patterns underlying organic food choices could be established. However, some motivational aspects were not differently shaped by VC- and HI-culture life goals suggesting apparent universal commonalities: organic foods can be preferred for self-centered (e.g., provide fun, pleasure, and enjoyment) or other-centered (e.g., regulates the health of my family) reasons both in Pakistan and in Finland. These findings make implications and future research suggestions. These will be addressed in the following sections.

Theoretical, social, and managerial implications

Based on the findings, organic food choices in both Pakistan (approximating a VC-culture) and Finland (approximating a HI-culture) are motivated mainly by the same life goals. At the general level, this could be taken as evidence for the blurring of cultural differences due to globalization (Kumar, Anand, & Song, 2017). In support of this idea, Reisinger and Crotts (2010) found only minor differences in power distance, individualism-collectivism, masculinity-femininity, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation among Australia, Greece, the UK, the US, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. However, this may be a premature conclusion as the choice of motivations is bound to be consumption domain-specific (Hemmerling et al., 2015)—allowing more room for cultural influences (De Mooij & Hofstede, 2011). The finding that organic food choice is more strongly driven by the VC life goal of deferring to authorities and in-groups in Pakistan and by the HI life goal of being self-directed in Finland is consistent with this view. Thus, it is theoretically important to acknowledge that cultural variation in sustainable product consumption motivations can emerge due to differences in both the content and relative magnitude of the underlying life goals.

Second, in three out of the six A-C-chains identified, health was involved both as a functional and a psychosocial consequence. However, different product attributes drove this. In the case of the shared A-C-chain, the key feature was environmental friendliness; in the case of the A-C-chain, unique for Pakistan was taste; and, in the case of the A-C-chain, unique for Finland was higher price. At the outset, this appears baffling, but it is indicative of the multiplicity of health meanings. For example, according to Geeroms, Verbeke, and Van Kenhove (2008), consumers aspire to stay healthy because it enables physical and emotional well-being, good appearance, energy, vitality, achievements, and social responsibility. Hence, there is a need for theorizing that is capable of incorporating variation stemming from culturally influenced life goals leading to health-relevant product choice motivations. To illustrate, the greater prevalence of the “suits my lifestyle”—justification for consuming calorie-reduced foods among Danish (vs. Californian) consumers (Johansen, Næs, & Hersleth, 2011) could pertain to the distinct emphasis of the unique expression life goal (vs. status communication) in a HI-culture (vs. a VI-culture). In other words, instead of examining the extent to which health motivates sustainable food choices, a more relevant question may be the ways in which it motivates them in different cultures.

Third, some researchers have divided organic food choice motivations into individualistic or self-centered (e.g., health, hedonism, status) and collectivist or other-centered (e.g., environmental friendliness, animal welfare) (Kareklas, Carlson, & Muehling, 2014; Schrank & Running, 2018). The A-C-chains uncovered in this research also reflect them relatively well. Even though in principle, the VC-cultures promote other-centeredness more inherently and HI-cultures inherently promote self-centeredness, the results showed that, in practice, these organic food choice motivations exhibit a blend of these interests in both Pakistan and Finland. Tradeoffs involving self-centered benefits in collectivistic societies and other-centered benefits in individualistic ones continuously occur (Zagata, 2014). The conceptualization of environmental and collective action as types of social interaction that regulate communal relationships represents a promising approach to reconciling these apparent contradictions (van Zomeren, 2014). Its application also offers a fruitful point of departure for advancing the understanding of cultural differences in sustainable consumption motivations.

Culturally adapted advertising has generally been regarded as delivering more effective consumer responses than culturally non-adapted advertising (Hornikx & O’Keefe, 2009). Thus, both social and commercial marketers can utilize the findings in designing appealing messages to promote sustainable consumption options. The findings suggest that, in Pakistan and probably in other VC-cultures, it may make sense to emphasize how the good taste and environmental friendliness of organic food lead to the healthy well-being and life satisfaction of extended families. In turn, according to the results, in Finland, and probably in other HI-cultures, a more compelling advertising strategy probably revolves around justifying the higher price of organic food by the extra health benefits and the value to local farmers. Yet, in the case of organic food advertising, advertisements combining self-centered and other-centered claims have also been found to be persuasive—at least in the VI-culture of the US (Kareklas et al., 2014).

In VC-cultures, status life goals are prevalent, while in HI-cultures, pleasure-seeking life goals are more acceptable (Shavitt, Johnson, & Zhang, 2011). However, based on the HVMs extracted from the Pakistani and Finnish data sets in this study, organic food choices are motivated by multiple life goals, consequences, and attributes that are both common and unique in these culturally divergent countries. From the viewpoint of promoting sustainable food consumption globally, this could be good news. It suggests that regardless of the culture, consumers are able to link various qualities such as hedonism, healthiness, reputation, environmental friendliness, and animal welfare to sustainable product choices (cf. Puska, Kurki, Lähdesmäki, Siltaoja, & Luomala, 2018; Rahman, 2019). This positive development process could be cultivated by government authorities, media, and celebrities worldwide (Lundahl, 2017).

Study limitations and future research suggestions

A few limitations can be identified in this study. These limitations also represent opportunities for future research. First, the data were collected from selective samples in only two countries, believed to represent a VC and a HI-culture. Therefore, more observations should be obtained from a broader range of cultures, including actual measurements of their VC, HC, HI, and VI orientations in order to cross-check the validity of the results of this research. Finland is believed to be a culturally homogeneous country (Puska et al., 2016). However, Pakistan consists of large provinces such as Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh that can entail within-country cultural diversity. Shah and Amjad (2011) found that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa possessed the most distinctive cultural value profile. However, they concluded that provincial differences are not sufficiently significant to nullify the meaningfulness of the concept of national culture in the case of Pakistan. Despite this, a conservative generalization of the results is advisable. The results should hold true for younger food consumers with middle-level education and those who live in Punjab or western/southern Finland.

Second, due to differences in the local data collection circumstances, the socio-demographic profiles of the Pakistani and Finnish samples vary. For example, in Pakistan, female participants are not easily accessible due to cultural constraints (Hameed, Waris, & Ul Haq, 2019). This variation in socio-demographic factors needs to be noted as it could have a role in determining consumers’ organic food attitudes and purchase behaviors (Padilla Bravo, Cordts, Schulze, & Spiller, 2013). In a similar vein, one could argue that the results could be more efficiently explained by differences in incomes than in culturally embedded life goals. Yet, as demonstrated in the literature review, cross-country food studies have produced evidence supporting the influence of cultural factors in circumstances where the income level does not vary among the nations being compared. As a case in point, Denmark and Germany represent countries with equal per capita GDPs, but they differ culturally. This is evident in the more significant effect of the opinions of others on organic food purchase intentions in Denmark than in Germany (Ruiz de Maya, López-López, & Munuera, 2011). Moreover, Qasim et al. (2019) showed that the level of income does not influence Pakistani consumers’ intention to consume organic food.

Third, the study did not control for participants’ prior organic food knowledge. Familiarity with the product can influence its perception (see, for example, Fischer & Frewer, 2009). Prior organic food knowledge varies more in Pakistan than in Finland (Al-Swidi et al., 2014; Nuutila, 2019), and that, in principle, can affect the findings. This potential bias was counteracted in the present study by providing all participants with the same information about and definition of organic foods at the beginning of the interview.

Fourth, the methodological approach employed typically triggers conscious processing in study participants, leaving more subtle and socially disapproved motivations, such as status and impression-making (Rucker, Galinsky, & Dubois, 2012) unexplored. Thus, future studies addressing cultural influences in sustainable consumption motivations should follow the principles of methodological triangulation. Fifth, the results were produced using only one form of sustainable food consumption. The motivational patterns that other forms of sustainable food consumption, such as habitual consumption of fair-trade products (Kimura et al., 2012), consumption of local foods (Memery, Angell, Megicks, & Lindgreen, 2015), or even consuming less (Brooks & Wilson, 2015) generate in various cultures, are unanswered questions.