Bestimmungsgründe für die Präferenz von Bio- und Low-Input- Lebensmitteln

Kurzfassung

Food quality has become an important topic in the food market. Thus, suppliers have
started offering conventional products including additional quality attributes, such as
“free from GMO” or “free from additives”. We analysed the preferences and buying
behaviour regarding such conventional “low-input” products in competition with conventional
and organic product alternatives in consumer choice experiments in Germany
and Switzerland. In the experiments, we tested milk, yogurt and apples. The choice
experiments were combined with face-to-face interviews in order to collect information
about the participating consumers, which might explain the buying behaviour observed
in the choice experiment. We found that low-input products rather compete with conventional
than with organic products, because the low-input alternative was mainly
chosen by consumers, who also in their everyday’s life buy the respective product in
conventional quality. Furthermore, variances in the buying behaviour observed mainly
depend on consumers’ attitudes of food quality.