title: Do information, price, or morals influence ethical consumption? A natural field experiment and customer survey on the purchase of Fair Trade coffee.
abstract: We address ethical consumption using a natural field experiment on the actual purchase of Fair Trade (FT) coffee in three supermarkets in Germany. Based on a quasi-experimental before-and-after design the effects of three different treatments - information, 20% price reduction, and a moral appeal - are analyzed. Sales data cover actual ethical purchase behavior and avoid problems of social desirability. But they offer only limited insights into the motivations of individual consumers. We therefore complemented the field experiment with a customer survey that allows us to contrast observed (ethical) buying behavior with self-reported FT consumption. Results from the experiment suggest that only the price reduction had the expected positive and statistically significant effect on FT consumption.
authors.affiliation: Universität Kassel, Steinstraße 19, 37213 Witzenhausen, Germany. Electronic address: andorfer@uni-kassel.de.
authors.forename: Veronika A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Andorfer
authors.affiliation: Universität Bern, Fabrikstrasse 8, 3012 Bern, Switzerland. Electronic address: ulf.liebe@soz.unibe.ch.
authors.forename: Ulf
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Liebe
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003069:Coffee; D003132:Commerce; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D004032:Diet / Q000941:ethics*; D005260:Female; D005515:Food Labeling; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009014:Morals; D009042:Motivation; D057566:Self Report; D012935:Social Justice; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D003069:Coffee
keywords: Ethical consumption; Fair Trade; Natural field experiment; Observed and self-reported behavior; Survey