Do Consumers Pay Attention to the Organic Label When Shopping Organic Food in Italy? - Organic Food and Agriculture: New Trends and Developments in the Social Sciences - page 113

consumer preferences for organic food labels to calculate consumers' Willingness to Pay
(WTP) for the presence of them, implying their intention to purchase organic foods, taking
into account the presence of organic label on packaging. Paying attention to organic labels
depends also to the degree of self-knowledge that consumers have towards organic food
products when shopping. Moreover, consumers might show a certain level of knowledge
about the information that organic label provides to them such as that organic food
products, free OGMs, they support the animal welfare and they content 95% of organic
ingredient at least. Hence, organic food label perceived by consumers is an important issue
in the organic food market because it represents the only instrument that consumers have to
differentiate the attributes of organic food products from those of conventional ones, and
build positive attitudes towards organic food (von Alvesleben, 1997). Moreover, Yiridoe et
al. (2005), in their literature review, stated that knowledge of organic food products can
affect consumers' organic buying decision for two reasons. The first one, the lack of
knowledge of organic labeling is considered the number one reason why consumers do not
buy organic food. The second reason is that consumers who do not consider that organic
food products have enough detailed information cannot clearly differentiate the unique
attributes of organic from conventionally grown alternatives. Usually, many organic food
consumers identify organic products based on the organic logos and labels attached to the
product. The authors concluded that information about organic food helps to transform the
credence characteristic of such products into search attributes, thereby allowing the
consumer to better evaluate the quality before deciding to buy the product. Organic
knowledge can be considered as a part of formation that consumers acquire from organic
food products. Hill and Lynchehaun (2002) found that knowledge represents an important
factor influencing the purchase of organic products. Poelman et al. (2008) analyzed whether
information on organic production and fair trade affects the preference for and perception of
pineapples in British and Dutch individuals. The results indicated a slight positive impact of
organic product information on consumers' preference and perception for pineapple. Gracia
and de Magistris (2008) and de Magistris and Gracia (2009) also provided evidence on the
positive influence of consumers' organic knowledge on purchasing behavior. Based on these
previous findings, the model of intention to purchase organic food products is presented in
figure 3.
3. EU organic labeling legislation
The EU legislation on organic labeling is laid down in the following four Regulations: i)
Regulation (EEC) No 2092/21, ii) Commission Regulation (EC) No 331/2000 , iii) Council
Regulation (EC) No. 834/2007 of 28 June 2007 and, iv) Commission Regulation (EU) No
271/2010.
Regulation (EEC) n. 2092/91 was adopted in 1992 when organic agriculture received the
official recognition from EU members within the EU Common Agricultural Policy. The main
importance of this Regulation is it created the common minimum standards for the entire
European Union inducing European citizens to trust organic products coming from other
European countries. Even though plant products were regulated, additional rules were laid
down later. These rules regarded animal feed, prevention of illness, veterinary treatment,
animal protection, and livestock breeding. Moreover, the use of genetically modified
organisms was expressly prohibited while the imports of organic products from Third
Countries were allowed after being recognized as equivalent by EU.