TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword __________________________________________________________ 5 PART I: INTRODUCTION TO MY STUDY ____________________________ 8

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION __________________________________________________ 8 1.1) WHY DID I CHOOSE TO STUDY ETHICAL CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IN DENMARK? _____________ 8 1.2) THESIS OBJECTIVE ____________________________________________________________ 9 1.3) APPROACH UNDERTAKEN_______________________________________________________ 9 1.4) LIMITATIONS _______________________________________________________________ 12

PART II: THE FAIR TRADE CONCEPT IN EUROPE AND IN DENMARK 13

CHAPTER 2: THE FAIR TRADE CONCEPT ______________________________________ 13 2.1) DEFINITION OF FAIR TRADE ____________________________________________________ 13 2.1.2) Fair trade in Europe ________________________________________________________ 14 2.1.3) Fair trade in Denmark ______________________________________________________ 16

PART III: SETTING UP A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ____________ 18

CHAPTER 3: CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ________________________________________ 18 3.1) THE CONTEXT OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR RESEARCH ________________________________ 18 3.1.1) Understanding consumer behaviour ___________________________________________ 19 3.2) DEFINITION OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ___________________________________________ 19 3.2.1) FACTORS WHICH AFFECT CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR __________________________________ 19 3.3) THE STUDY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR __________________________________________ 20 3.3.1) Who benefits from the study of consumer behaviour? _____________________________ 21 3.3.1.1) Reasons for academics to study consumer behaviour ____________________________ 21 3.3.1.2) Reasons for consumers to study consumer behaviour ____________________________ 22 3.3..2) Approaches to studying consumer behaviour____________________________________ 22 3.3.2.1) The managerial approach to studying consumer behaviour ________________________ 23 3.3.2.2) The holistic approach to studying consumer behaviour ___________________________ 23 3.3.2.3) Approach used within my framework for studying consumer behaviour _____________ 23 1

CHAPTER 4: TOWARDS A FRAME OF REFERENCE _____________________________ 24 4) TOWARDS A FRAME OF REFERENCE _______________________________________________ 24 4.1) THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BELIEFS, ATTITUDES AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ___________ 24 4.1.1) The traditional hierarchy of effects ____________________________________________ 24 4.2) THE CONCEPT OF BELIEFS AND VALUES IN EXPLAINING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ____________ 25 4.3) THE CONCEPT OF ATTITUDE IN EXPLAINING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR _____________________ 26 4.3.1) The importance of understanding a consumers attitude for predicting his behaviour _____ 26 4.3.2) Rosenbergs Expectancy-Value Theory ________________________________________ 27 4.4) BARRIERS TO ATTITUDE-BEHAVIOUR INCONSISTENCY ________________________________ 28 CHAPER 5: THEORETICAL PROBLEMS________________________________________ 28 5) THEORETICAL PROBLEMS _______________________________________________________ 28 5.1) THE THEORY OF REASONED ACTION _____________________________________________ 29 5.1.1) Fishbeins Theory of Reasoned Action _________________________________________ 29 5.1.2) Ajzen & Fishbeins Theory of Reasoned Action__________________________________ 30 5.1.2.1) Introduction to Ajzen & Fishbeins Theory of Reasoned Action____________________ 30 5.1.2.2) Criticisms of Ajzen & Fishbeins Theory of Reasoned Action _____________________ 33 5.2) THE OTHER VARIABLES EXPLANATION __________________________________________ 35 5.2.1) Can attitudes and intentions predict behaviour? __________________________________ 35 5.2.2) Interpretation of the other variables approach __________________________________ 36 5.3) THE THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOUR ___________________________________________ 39 5.3.1) From intentions to Actions: A Theory of Planned Behaviour________________________ 39 5.3.2) Theory of Planned Behaviour vs. Theory of Reasoned Action _______________________ 40 5.3.3) Modified version of the Theory of Planned Behaviour: an approach to explaining consumers ethical intentions _______________________________________________________________ 40 5.3.3.1) Introduction of ethical concerns within the Theory of Planned Behaviour ____________ 40 5.3.3.2) Criticism of the study undertaken on ethical consumer decision making in France _____ 41 5.3.4) Criticism of Ajzens Theory of Planned Behaviour _______________________________ 42 CHAPTER 6: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF MY STUDY______________________ 45

PART IV: A FIRST APPROACH TO THE METHODOLOGY ___________ 46

CHAPTER 7: INTRODUCTION TO THE METHODOLOGY USED ___________________________ 46 7.1) RESEARCH BASED ON A RESEARCH ON ETHICAL CONSUMER DECISION MAKING IN FRANCE ____ 46 7.2) ELABORATION OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE ___________________________________________ 46 2

CHAPTER 8: INTRODUCTION TO THE RESEARCH DESIGN USED _________________________ 47 8.1) RESEARCH DESIGN ___________________________________________________________ 47 8.2) DEFINITION OF THE INFORMATION NEEDED ________________________________________ 47 8.3) DIFFERENT RESEARCH DESIGNS USED ____________________________________________ 48 8.3.1) Exploratory research _______________________________________________________ 48 8.3.1.1) Analysis of secondary data _________________________________________________ 49 8.3.1.2) Qualitative research ______________________________________________________ 49 8.3.2) Conclusive research ________________________________________________________ 54

PART V: SETTING UP THE CONCLUSIVE RESEARCH _______________ 55

CHAPTER 9: CONTENT OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE_____________________________________ 55 9.1) WHO WILL PROVIDE ME WITH THE INFORMATION THAT I AM SEEKING FOR? _______________ 55 9.2) INFORMATION NEEDED FROM RESPONDENTS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE DANES ETHICAL BELIEFS,
ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOUR _______________________________________________________

56

9.3) CULTURE INFLUENCES IN EXPLAINING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR _________________________ 56 9.3.3) How can cultural meaning be analysed? ________________________________________ 62 9.3.3.1) Culture as a process ______________________________________________________ 62 9.3.3.2) The Environment ________________________________________________________ 63 a) Social environment ___________________________________________________________ 64 b) The physical environment ______________________________________________________ 69 c) Other factors which may influence a consumers behaviour____________________________ 69 9.3.3.3) Differences in beliefs, attitudes and behaviour that may be encountered within the same society _______________________________________________________________________ 72 CHAPTER 10: FORMAT OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE ____________________________________ 75 10.1) SPECIFICATION OF THE MEASUREMENT AND SCALING PROCESSES ______________________ 75 10.1.1) Measurement specification _________________________________________________ 75 10.1.2) Rating scale decisions _____________________________________________________ 76 10.2) CONSTRUCTION AND PRE-TEST OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE _____________________________ 78 10.2.1) Construction_____________________________________________________________ 78 10.2.2) Layout _________________________________________________________________ 79 10.2.3) Pre-testing the questionnaire ________________________________________________ 80 CHAPTER 11: SPECIFICATION OF THE SAMPLING PROCESS AND SAMPLE SIZE _____________ 80 11.1) A CLASSIFICATION OF SAMPLING TECHNIQUES_____________________________________ 80 3

11.2) THE SAMPLE SIZE ___________________________________________________________ 81 CHAPTER 12: FIELD WORK AND DATA COLLECTION PROCESS ___________________________ 81 12.1) THE QUESTIONNAIRE ________________________________________________________ 81

PART VI: ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS ____________________________ 82

CHAPTER 15: DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS AND COMPARISON OF THE RESULTS OBTAINED FROM THE
TWO SAMPLES

_________________________________________________________________ 82

15.1) DEMOGRAPHICS DESCRIPTION _________________________________________________ 82 14.2) DESCRIPTION OF THE RESULTS OBTAINED FOR EACH STATEMENT IN THE QUESTIONNAIRE AND
DIFFERENCES ENCOUNTERED FROM ONE SAMPLE TO THE OTHER ____________________________

84

CHAPTER 16: MOVING TOWARDS AN INTERPRETATION OF THE MODIFIED THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOUR ___________________________________________________________________ 97 16.1) REGRESSION ANALYSIS OF THE MODIFIED THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOUR _____________ 98 16.2) MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS OF AN ADJUSTED VERSION OF THE MODIFIED THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOUR __________________________________________________________ 100 CHAPTER 17: COMPARISON OF TWO GROUPS ACCORDING TO THE FREQUENCY WITH WHICH
THEY PURCHASE FAIR TRADE FOOD PRODUCTS

______________________________________ 102

17.1) DIVISION OF THE SAMPLE INTO TWO GROUPS _____________________________________ 102 17.1.1) T-test analysis for dividing the sample _______________________________________ 103 17.2) DIFFERENCES ENCOUNTERED WITHIN THE TWO GROUPS RELATED TO THEIR INTENTION TO
PURCHASE FAIR TRADE FOOD PRODUCTS _____________________________________________

104

17.3) POLITICAL STANCE OF THE CONSUMERS IN THE TWO GROUPS ________________________ 106 CHAPTER 18: EXAMINATION OF THE FACTORS WHICH EXPLAIN THE VARIATION IN INTENTION
FROM ONE GROUP OF RESPONDENTS TO THE OTHER

__________________________________ 110

18.1) A FIRST APPROACH TO THE RESULTS OBTAINED FROM THE STUDY IN FRANCE ____________ 110 18.2) MOVING TOWARDS VARIOUS ADJUSTMENTS OF THE MODIFIED THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOUR ____________________________________________________________________________ 111

PART VII: Discussions and conclusions_______________________________ 122 References _______________________________________________________ 134

APPENDICES 137 4

Foreword
The subject of this thesis is ethical consumer behaviour and its relation to fair trade in Denmark. The idea of the thesis came about because I felt that the fair trade concept in Denmark is still not as developed as in other European countries such as the United Kingdom or Italy. I was therefore entailed to wanting to discover the Danish perception of fair trade and why certain ethically concerned people are seldom lead to behaving ethically (which is referred to the act of purchasing fairly traded products within my study). I chose to limit studying consumer behaviour within Jutland in order to have the opportunity of actively seeking for the information concerning ethical consumer behaviour and how it is related to fair trade. This was also a project to extend and improve my own reading in the field of fair trade and its relation to the ever growing consumer society. This is a topic which I have personally been very attracted to for a long time now and it has been interesting looking into it. There are many people who I would like to thank for their help and support while I was writing my thesis. First of all I would like to thank Mr. Steen Weisner (International Student Counsellor at the Aarhus School of Business) for accepting me as a full time Master student at the school and telling me that one could start writing the master thesis whenever one wanted to. I would also like to thank Charlotte Bak Sorensen (International Student Counsellor at the School of Business) for her contribution in allowing me to follow the prerequisite courses enabling me to become a full time master student at the school and therefore leading me to write my master thesis for the school. I would also like to give a very big thank Karen Brunso who accepted to be my advisor while writing my master thesis although she had already reached the limit of students she was able to supervise. I would also like to give a big thank you to all of my friends who supported me while I was writing my thesis and to all the respondents who kindly took their time to answer the questionnaires, and often had some stimulating comments to say about the project. I would also like to thank Mr. John Niklasson (owner of the specialized store in Aarhus named Ren Kost) for allowing me to conduct surveys within his store during various weeks. A close thank you to all of the members of his staff as well for their support and smiles while I was conducting the surveys in their working place. 5

Furthermore, I would like to thank my professors Jacob Eskildsen and Kai Kristensen for always answering my questions related to the statistical interpretations when doing the various regression analyses I did throughout my study. Last but not least I would like to thank my two Danish friends Tenna Toft and Anne-Kristine Petersen who translated my questionnaire from English to Danish. In fact, without their help and support I would probably not have been able to conduct the surveys in Denmark due to the language barriers that would have been encountered for communicating with some of the respondents.

PART I: INTRODUCTION TO MY STUDY

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1) Why did I choose to study ethical consumer behaviour in Denmark?

Despite the fact that fair trade has experienced a significant increase in popularity and that fair trade products are being purchased by a growing number of ethically concerned consumers, I still believe that it is not a concept that is fully developed or fully accepted throughout the whole of Europe. In fact, it seems that it is a concept which people are more aware of in some countries in Europe (such as the United Kingdom or Italy, for example) than others1 I am therefore entailed to asking myself whether people are actually aware of fair trade in the countries where the concept does not seem fully implemented throughout the society, or whether they are just sceptical about believing that fair trade can help eradicate poverty (in a way) or are simply not interested in the concept. I then ask myself whether those who have accentuated ethical concerns and do believe in the fair trade concept are actually led to purchasing fairly traded products. In fact, there are many barriers which come to my mind which could stop an ethically concerned person from actually acting ethically and purchasing a fairly traded product. These barriers could be, among others, lack of information concerning the fair trade concept as a whole or lack of information concerning a fairly traded products contents, the high prices charged for fairly traded products, or simply the unavailability of fair trade products in supermarkets. Maybe these barriers which may be perceived as more of a problem in some countries than in others could give an explanation to the inequalities in the development of fair trade throughout Europe. All of these question I come to ask myself concerning ethical consumer behaviour, my general interest in the fair trade concept as well as the following phrase mentioned on Denmarks official Fair Trade web site is what brought me to the decision of writing my thesis on ethical consumer behaviour in Denmark, and more specifically its relation to the consumption of fair trade food products within Jutland (Denmark).

I will specify in which countries fair trade is developed to a larger extent in the next chapter of my study (The fair trade concept).

With this potential market in mind, there is still a great market to explore and a lot of campaigning to do in Denmark in order to make Fair Trade a part of everybodys life

This statement mentioned on Denmarks official Fair Trade web site may be true. However, before actually saying that a market of potential ethical consumers exists, the first thing to find out is whether the whole of the Danish society is actually aware of the fair trade concept, and if they are, whether their ethical concerns are actually related to third world issues.

1.2) Thesis objective

The thesis presents a study on consumer decision making related to ethical issues and, more precisely, related to the purchase of fair trade food products within Jutland (Denmark). The aim of my study is to try to bring an explanation to the following questions:

Are all Danish consumers aware of the fair trade concept? Do Danish consumers have a positive attitude towards fair trade and towards the purchase of fairly traded products? What is the relationship between their ethical beliefs and concerns, their attitude and their intention to purchase a fair trade product? The perspective I chose to develop my theoretical framework is historical in order to bring an explanation as to how different theories on consumer behaviour have been developed, modified and refined throughout the years. I considered this historical perspective was important for getting a better understanding of how I was brought to choosing the theory on which I based my research on ethical consumer behaviour and its relation to the purchase of fair trade products in Denmark.

1.3) Approach undertaken

In order to understand what fair trade is, I will start by giving a brief introduction to the concept in Chapter 2 (PART II) of my study in which I will give a definition of fair trade as well as how the concept is developed throughout Europe and Denmark. Then, in Chapter 3 (PART III) of my study I will show the importance that has been given to understanding consumer behaviour throughout the years. I will start by bringing an explanation to 9

what consumer behaviour actually is, the reasons for which so many studies within our societies are undertaken to get a better understanding of consumer behaviour and the various approaches which are used for doing these studies. Within Chapter 4 of my study we will move towards a frame of reference. Various concepts such as consumers values, beliefs and attitudes will be taken into consideration for explaining consumer behaviour in general as well as consumer behaviour related to the purchase of fair trade products. I will also mention within this part of my study the controversies that arose surrounding the relationship between attitude and behaviour as past studies undertaken reported little evidence that attitudes could predict behaviour (as it had been believed for a long time beforehand). In Chapter 5 we will further move towards the theoretical framework I will use as a basis for my research. Within this Chapter, I will mention various theories which are commonly used for explaining consumer behaviour. I will criticise each one of these theories by highlighting their weaknesses in explaining consumer behaviour related to ethical issues. In the final part of the introduction to my theoretical framework I will explain the reasons why I chose a modified version of the Theory of Planned Behaviour as the framework of my study. Within this Chapter 6, I will also give a description of the weaknesses of this model when it comes to explaining the ethical behaviour of mainstream consumers. Before establishing this framework, I looked into several studies that have been undertaken on general consumer behaviour and on more ethical consumer behaviour (related to organic food or ecological behaviour for example). I mainly focussed on the studies which have been done regarding ethical consumer behaviour since I could easily use them as inspirational tools due to the fact that different types of ethical behaviour can easily be related to one another. One study on ethical consumer decision making in France which was undertaken by N. Toulouse & Shaw at the end of 2006 strongly attracted my attention. In fact, the main focus throughout their research was on ethical consumer decision making related to fair trade products, which corresponds exactly to the type of study I had planned to undertake in Denmark. Their research was based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour which they modified in order to adapt the model to a specific type of behaviour: that is, ethical consumer behaviour.

10

I was strongly inspired by their study and their modified version of the Theory of Planned Behaviour, so I therefore decided to use their research as a basis for my study. This would enable me to see whether there are differences between the ethical decision making of consumers in Denmark and consumers in France, but this would also enable me to develop my own model for explaining the ethical behaviour of mainstream consumers in Denmark. PART IV and PART V of my study are closely related to one another in the sense that they both explain how I came to set up the final questionnaire which was used for conducting my research. In PART IV of my study I give an explanation of the first approaches (exploratory research) which were undertaken for setting up the final questionnaire used for my research on consumer decision making in Denmark related to ethical issues (and more specifically to the purchase of fair trade food products). In this part, I explain how and why I started with an exploratory research (focus groups) in order to get a better understanding of the awareness of the fair trade concept, ethical concerns, beliefs, attitudes towards fair trade, perceived behavioural control and ethical consumer behaviour in Denmark. PART V of my study focuses more on the conclusive part of my research. PART VI of my study is dedicated to the analysis of the data which were obtained from interviewing two samples of consumers (one representing the general Danish consumer society, the other representing a group of Danish consumers with accentuated ethical concerns). I started with a descriptive analysis of the data obtained in Chapter 15. This analysis was followed by an examination of the differences in the role and impact of the antecedents of the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour on intention to purchase fair trade food products found between mainstream Danish consumers, those who regularly purchase fair trade food products and those who never or rarely purchase fair trade food products. This comparison, similar to the comparison Toulouse et al. did within their research, will allow me to get a better understanding of factors likely to discriminate between those who regularly purchase fair trade food products as opposed to those who have little or no engagement in this market. This examination was undertaken through various multiple regression analysis of the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour based on the two separate groups of respondents. The results from these regression analyses enabled me to develop my own models for explaining the ethical behaviour of mainstream consumers. This part of my research can be found in Chapters 16 and 18. Chapter 17 is dedicated to an interpretation of the differences found between Danish consumers who are, in a way, more actively engaged in the fair trade market, and those who are not engaged to such a large extent, or not engaged at all. 11

Finally, PART VII of my study corresponds to the conclusions and discussions linked to the results that were obtained from my study.

1.4) Limitations
Although I refer to ethical consumer behaviour in Denmark throughout the whole of my study, it must be said that ethical behaviour can be made up by many different types of behaviours since many individuals have very different ethical concerns. I have therefore mainly focused my research on understanding consumer behaviour regarding the purchase of fair trade products in Denmark. Furthermore, I have limited my research to ethical consumer behaviour in Jutland as this would enable me to actively seek for the information concerning peoples awareness and actual commitment to fair trade. Moreover, considering the varieties of fair trade products currently offered on the market (from crafts to food), I have limited my study to measuring ethical consumer behaviour in Jutland and how this behaviour is related to fair trade food products.

12

PART II: THE FAIR TRADE CONCEPT IN EUROPE AND IN DENMARK

CHAPTER 2: THE FAIR TRADE CONCEPT

2.1) Definition of fair trade

According to Wikipedia: Fair trade is an organized social movement which promotes standards for international labor, environmentalism, and social policy in areas related to production of Fairtrade labeled and unlabelled goods. The movement focuses in particular on exports from developing countries to developed countries. Fair trade's strategic intent is to deliberately work with marginalized producers and workers in order to help them move from a position of vulnerability to security and economic self-sufficiency. It also aims at empowering them to become stakeholders in their own organizations and actively play a wider role in the global arena to achieve greater equity in international trade. Fair trade proponents include a wide array of international religious, development aid, social and environmental organizations such as Oxfam, Amnesty International, and Caritas International. As most developmental efforts, fair trade has proved itself controversial and has drawn criticism from both ends of the political spectrum. On the one hand, some economists consider that fair trade impedes growth. On the other hand, segments of the left criticize fair trade for not challenging enough the current trading system. I personally agree with the left-wing perception of fair trade. In fact, I tend to believe that fair trade has not got as much say in International Trade as it should have. In order to get a better understanding of fair trade, I will explain what its aims are, in which countries it is most developed in Europe and what challenges this concept currently faces. Nevertheless, please note that I am personally pro-fair trade, which means that my explanation of the concept may be somewhat subjective. That is to say, some of the readers may not agree with my point of view since their perception of the fair trade concept may be totally different.

13

2.1.2) Fair trade in Europe

As I have said, the aim of fair trade is to ensure fair and stable trading conditions for disadvantaged producers in developing countries (Ozcaglar-Toulouse et al.). Development agencies have now recognised the important role that consumers can play to improve the situation of producers. According to the Fairtrade organization, in order to generate greater sales on fair trade terms for the benefit of many more disadvantaged and marginalised producers, it is important to get commercial manufacturers involved, and to get fair trade into the supermarkets where most people do their shopping. In 1989, the Netherlands became the first country to launch the Fairtrade2 consumer guarantee - the Max Havelaar label. Today there are labelling initiatives in 20 countries, mainly throughout Europe and North America, and the product range now includes coffee, drinking chocolate, chocolate bars, orange juice, tea, honey, sugar and bananas. On sale in most major European supermarket chains, Fairtrade is now available to a much wider public with some Fairtrade products achieving 15% of national market share. In fact, I have personally noticed that a selection (although somewhat limited) of fair trade products is now available in supermarkets throughout various European countries. Furthermore, fair trade is now recognised as a force for aiding marginalized producers and has experienced a significant increase in popularity as fair trade products are being supported by growing numbers of socially and ecologically concerned consumers (Toulouse et al., 2006). Fair trade marked products are now available in seventeen countries (Young & Utting, 2005). Although the UK and Switzerland are the most important markets in terms of sale volume, the fastest growing markets for the period 2002-03 were Belgium, France, Italy and the US (Network of European Workshops, 2005). Nevertheless, fair trade clearly is not developed to the same extent throughout all European countries. In fact, only nine countries in Europe are members of the European Fair Trade Association. This does not mean that independent fair trade organizations do not exist throughout the rest of Europe or that fair trade products cannot be found in any other

Fairtrade (one word) is used to describe the certification and labelling system overseen by FLO International, a standard-setting body, and FLO-CERT, a certification body. The system involves independent auditing of producers and traders to ensure the agreed labour and environmental standards are met (Wikipedia, 2006).

14

country, but this could be considered as an indicator of the degree of involvement these countries may have in fair trade related issues. The countries in Europe who form part of the European Fair Trade Association are the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Austria, Belgium, France and Germany. Nevertheless, figures obtained seem promising. In fact, in 2005 fair trade certified sales were estimated at 1.1 billion worldwide, a 37 % year-to-year increase (Wikipedia).While this represents less than one hundredth of a percentage point of world trade in physical merchandise, fair trade products generally account for 0.5 - 5% of all sales in their product categories in Europe and North America. In October 2006, over 1.5 million disadvantaged producers worldwide were directly benefiting from fair trade while an additional 5 million benefited from fair trade funded infrastructure and community development projects (Wikipedia). Despite evidence of a steady (but, in my opinion, slow) growth in fair trade product sales this remains a relatively limited niche market. Fair trade products generally suffer from the lack of awareness of consumers that these products are actually on offer on the market. This problem is mainly due to limited budgets for promotion and branding of these products that, yet, must compete in markets alongside large companies who heavily promote their mainstream brands. The need therefore to understand emerging markets is critical to the further development of fair trade as an alternative business model (Toulouse et al.). Fortunately, in todays marketplace consumers are increasingly interested in the social and ethical component of the products they are purchasing (Brown & Dacin, 1997; Creyer & Ross, 1997) which may be considered as a promising opportunity for fair trade. Nevertheless, in order to take full advantage of this opportunity, it is critical to understand the decision-making process of consumers and potential consumers of fair trade products, particularly where marketing must consider alternative means of product promotion that do not rely on the large cash resources of large mainstream companies. This research focuses on ethical consumer behaviour in Denmark and how it is related to the purchase of fair trade products where there is still a great market to explore.3
According to Denmarks official Fair Trade web site: there is still a great market to explore and a lot of campaigning to do in Denmark in order to make Fair Trade a part of everybodys life
3

15

I will start by giving a brief explanation of fair trade in Denmark before going on to explaining which theories I looked into in order to undertake my study.

2.1.3) Fair trade in Denmark

The Danish labelling organisation Max Havelaar Denmark was founded in 1994 by six NGOs. It has 15 licensees who trade bananas, cocoa/chocolate, coffee, sugar/sweets, and tea under the fair trade label of the foundation. These labelled products are currently available in more than 2,700 supermarkets in Denmark. Other fair trade products which are not Max Havelaar labelled are also available on the Danish market: these are mainly handicraft products. These products have to be produced according to IFAT criteria for fair trade and are approved by Fair Trade Denmark before being imported into the Danish market. Max Havelaar Denmark received a huge boost with the launch of Fair Trade bananas in November 1997. Since then, Fair Trade labelled products have found their way into many supermarkets. The market share for both coffee and tea is 1.8%, and for bananas it is 2%. The net retail value of labelled products sold in Denmark exceeds 8 million Euros. A market survey in November 1999 by IFKA (Institut for Konjunktur- Analyse) found that 36% of the Danish population knew about Max Havelaar. Of those, 39% had purchased a fair trade labelled product in the past three months, another 19% had done so more than three months ago, and only 34% never had. Various institutions in Denmark, including the Ministry of Environment and the Danish Parliament, have now chosen to use Max Havelaar products such as tea and coffee. Denmark has one principal importer of Fair Trade products, Fair Trade Gruppen (The Fair Trade Group) Fair Trade Gruppen and six shops are members of Fair Trade Denmark, the Danish association of world shops, established in 1995. A project currently funded by Danida has given Fair Trade Denmark the opportunity to hire a small staff to carry out work to open new shops, shop-in-shops and generally promote fair trade in Denmark. But is this project working efficiently?

16

Although the aim of my study is not to find whether this specific project funded by Danida for promoting fair trade is efficient or not, I nevertheless want to understand whether Danish consumers are aware of the fair trade concept, whether they have a positive attitude to it and what their ethical behaviour resembles in relation to fair trade. In fact, I am lead to asking myself several questions regarding fair trade in Denmark: Do Danish consumers purchase fair trade products on a regular basis? If they do not, yet are, generally speaking, ethically concerned, what is stopping them from buying fairly traded products?

17

PART III: SETTING UP A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

In order to undertake my study on ethical consumer behaviour in Denmark, I started by giving an explanation of the various concepts and theories which make up the basis of the theoretical framework which I will be using throughout my research.

CHAPTER 3: CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

3.1) The context of Consumer behaviour research

Studies on consumer behaviour have now been undertaken for years. In fact, I have noticed that many professors within the Aarhus School of Business have undertaken different studies on Danish consumer behaviour regarding several topics from consumption of organic food (Grunert, Brunso) to environmental problems relating to consumption (Thogersen). When referring to the environmental problems that sometimes emerge from consumer behaviour, I must say that I do agree that consumption has often got a negative impact on the environment and that individual consumer decisions have external impacts that consumers are normally not aware of and therefore do not take into account in their decision making (Grunert & Thogersen). But how can consumers be made more aware of the impacts of their decision making? Could consumer behaviour be changed for the better of all of us? Although I do believe in the benefits that fair trade may have on the lives of producers in emerging economies, I also know that this type of commerce may be strongly criticised by consumers who are very concerned by ecological problems (such as Thogersen) because distributing fair trade products throughout the western societies entails the use of more transport methods than for distributing products made in European countries. But would this be a cause that may stop consumers from purchasing fair trade products within the Danish society? The aim of my study, as I have specified beforehand, is to understand ethical beliefs regarding fair trade in Denmark, their ethical attitudes as well as their ethical consumer behaviour and how it is related to fair trade.

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3.1.1) Understanding consumer behaviour

Understanding consumer behaviour has become increasingly important for marketers throughout the years. In fact, it now seems that consumers play one of the key roles when referring to the profitability of a firm. Henry Assael (2005) goes to the extent of saying that consumers determine the sales and profits of a firm by their purchasing decisions. As such, their motives and actions determine the economic viability of the firm. This has led business managers to realize that it is crucial for them to gain an understanding of consumers if their marketing strategies are to be successful.

3.2) Definition of consumer behaviour

One may come to ask oneself what consumer behaviour actually is, and as I mainly deal with this concept throughout my study, I consider giving a definition of what is actually understood by consumer behaviour essential. Having mentioned the importance business managers and marketers give to understanding consumer behaviour in order to influence consumer choice, one may believe that consumer behaviour refers to the study of how a person buys a product or service. Nevertheless, consumer behaviour involves much more than this. J. Paul Peter, Jerry C. Oslon and Klaus G. Grunert define consumer behaviour as the dynamic interaction of affect and cognition, and environmental events by which human beings conduct the exchange aspect of their lives (Peter D. Bennet, Dictionary of Marketing Terms, 1989). I personally consider this definition as a complete definition for explaining consumer behaviour. In fact, there are at least three important ideas within this definition: (1) consumer behaviour is dynamic; (2) it involves interaction between affect and cognition, behaviour, and environmental events; and (3) it involves exchange (Peter et al., 1999). I will mention each one of these ideas in more detail throughout the rest of my study.

3.2.1) Factors which affect consumer behaviour

One point of the definition which I think is necessary to mention in more detail at this point is the fact that consumer behaviour is dynamic. This means that individual consumers, consumer groups, and society at large are constantly changing and evolving over time and this has important implications for the study of consumer behaviour (Peter et al., 1999). 19

In fact, consumer decision-making is never, or very rarely, straight forward. Consumers decisions can be affected by many factors, which will change as the consumer himself evolves over time. Hoyer & MacInnis organize these factors into four broad domains which are as follows: The psychological core which includes: The motivation, ability and opportunity of the consumer Exposure, attention and perception of the consumer The knowledge and understanding of the consumer The consumers attitude formation The consumers memory and retrieval Problem recognition and information search Judgement and decision making Post-decision process Consumer diversity Social class and household influences Psychographics: Values, Personality, and lifestyles Social Influences Adoption of, resistance to, and diffusion of innovations Symbolic consumer behaviour

The process of making decisions which includes:

The consumers culture which includes:

The consumers behaviour outcomes which includes:

It is therefore clear that, from the above mentioned domains that affect consumer behaviour, every consumer is unique and is affected by a unique set of background factors which are constantly evolving over time. The study of consumer behaviour is therefore a very complex project. This is why I have decided to undertake my study on consumer behaviour by basing it on a modified version of a theoretical model which has already been used to study ethical consumer decision making. I will come to mention this model later on in my study.

3.3) The Study of Consumer Behaviour

As I have previously mentioned, the term consumer behaviour goes beyond the subject of consumer purchasing. Consumer behaviour actually involves understanding a set of decisions

20

(what, whether, why, when, how much, how often) that an individual or group of consumers makes over time about the acquisition, use, or disposition of products, services, or activities. The study of consumer behaviour if often thought to benefit marketers who gain insights that will lead to more effective marketing strategies and tactics and help build relationships with consumers (Hoyer, MacInnis, 2007). This in turn will lead the firm to increase its sales and therefore make a higher profit. This is when I come to ask myself whether it is relevant to actually undertake a study on consumer behaviour regarding fair trade products. In fact, companies dealing with fair trade will often lack the resources necessary for developing effective marketing strategies and building relationships with their consumers. However, does the study of consumer behaviour only benefit marketers?

3.3.1) Who benefits from the study of consumer behaviour?

According to Hoyer & MacInnis, four different groups use consumer research: marketing managers as I have already mentioned, ethicists and advocates, public policy makers and regulators, consumers and academics. The reasons why these different groups actually study consumer behaviour vary from one group to another. The reasons why I have personally decided to undertake a research on consumer behaviour regarding fair trade products fall within the reasons why other academics and other consumers study consumer behaviour. I will briefly develop the main reasons for studying consumer behaviour for these two groups:

3.3.1.1) Reasons for academics to study consumer behaviour

According to Hoyer & MacInnis, academics generate knowledge about consumer behaviour when they conduct research on how consumers act, think, and feel when acquiring using, and disposing of offerings. In turn, such academic research is useful to marketing managers, advocacy groups, regulators, and others who need to understand consumer behaviour. Although I do not know whether I will acquire information that will be useful to the Danish Fair Trade Organization, I personally hope that my research on consumer behaviour regarding fair trade products will bring a better understanding as to why ethical consumer behaviour regarding fair trade is far from being fully developed in Denmark.

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3.3.1.2) Reasons for consumers to study consumer behaviour

According to Hoyer & MacInnis, an understanding of consumer behaviour can help make a better environment for consumers. When referring to a consumers environment, many things need to be taken into consideration such as products and services offered on the market that may be dangerous or unsuitable for some consumers, but also products or services that are destroying the environment. This is why consumers are also lead to wanting to understand the effects and impacts of their behaviour on other consumers as well as on the environment as a whole. This last point has had much attention drawn to it in the last few years probably due to the problems we are currently facing with global warming. Consumer research on disposition plays an important part in this sense as it has the potential to affect programs that conserve natural resources (Hoyer & MacInnis, 2005). Thus, many advertisements for recycling have recently been implemented with the aim of educating consumers of the benefits of recycling, or acting in an environmentally-friendly way. Although I personally consider that the marketing strategies for promoting recycling or other environmentally-friendly actions have still not been fully implemented, they nevertheless seem more developed than campaigns for promoting the concept of fair trade despite the fact that the development of fair trade can (in my opinion) have a positive impact on producers lives in emerging countries. In other words, as a consumer, and as an ethically concerned person, I have come to want to study consumer behaviour regarding fair trade products.

3.3..2) Approaches to studying consumer behaviour

There are two broad approaches to studying consumer behaviour. One approach is the managerial approach which views consumer behaviour as an applied social science. In this sense, consumer behaviour is studied as an adjunct to and as a basis for developing marketing strategies. The second approach is the holistic approach which views consumer behaviour as a pure science. In this sense, consumer behaviour is a legitimate focus of enquiry of itself without necessarily being applied to marketing.

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3.3.2.1) The managerial approach to studying consumer behaviour

The managerial approach, as mentioned beforehand, views consumer behaviour as an applied social science. This approach tends to be more micro and cognitive in nature than the second approach. It is micro in the way that it emphasises the individual consumer, his or her attitudes, perceptions, lifestyle, and demographic characteristics. The more macro environmental effects reference groups, the family, culture are studied in the context of how they influence the individual consumer. In being more micro, a managerial orientation is also more cognitive; that is, it emphasizes the thought processes of individual consumers and the factors that go into influencing their decisions (Henry Assael, 2004). This approach is normally used as an adjunct to and a basis for developing marketing strategies.

3.3.2.2) The holistic approach to studying consumer behaviour

On the other hand, the holistic approach views consumer behaviour as a pure rather than applied social science. This approach is more macro in its orientation as it tends to focus more on the nature of the consumption experience than on the purchasing process, stressing the broader, culturally derived context of consumption.

3.3.2.3) Approach used within my framework for studying consumer behaviour

For conducting my research on ethical consumer behaviour in Denmark and how it is related to fair trade, I will use the managerial approach. In fact, this approach will enable me to come closer to understanding the motives of Danish consumers for purchasing or not purchasing fair trade food products. Throughout my research, I will mainly be focussing on the thought processes of individual consumers and the factors that may influence their ethical behaviour, and more precisely their purchase decisions regarding fair trade food products.

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CHAPTER 4: TOWARDS A FRAME OF REFERENCE

4) Towards a Frame of Reference

Understanding consumer behaviour has more than clearly gained importance throughout the years. Companies have now realized that it is crucial for them to understand consumer behaviour in order for them to respond to their customers needs if they want to survive in a market which is ever more competitive. Nevertheless, as I have mentioned, companies are not alone when it comes to wanting to understand consumer behaviour. Other groups have also gained interest in understanding consumer behaviour for various reasons other than developing marketing strategies which is the main interest for companies. In fact, consumer behaviour is a complex concept when looked into in more detail and studies on this subject often reveal new information on how consumers act, think, and feel when acquiring, using and disposing of offerings in this ever changing world. As I have previously made clear, I will adopt a managerial approach for undertaking my study as I believe that when it comes to studying fair trade consumer behaviour regarding fair trade products it is important to understand the thought processes of individual consumers as well as the factors that may influence their decisions.

4.1) The Relationship between beliefs, attitudes and consumer behaviour

According to Henry Assael, the key concern of marketers is the relationship of how beliefs influence brand attitudes and how attitudes influence behaviour. The relationship between beliefs, attitudes, and behaviour is important to marketers because it indicates the success of marketing strategies. If advertising is successful in establishing positive beliefs about a brand, the consumer is more likely to evaluate the brand positively and to buy it.

4.1.1) The traditional hierarchy of effects

Although I do not believe that advertising will have inclined a consumer to have positive beliefs about fair trade food products since advertising for these types of products are very rare, I will nevertheless consider that this belief-attitude-behaviour relationship may bring an explanation as to 24

how an ethically concerned person may be inclined to purchase a fair trade food product. In fact, this traditional hierarchy of effects has often been used by studies on consumer behaviour for explaining the link between a persons beliefs, his attitude and actual inclination for behaving. The hierarchy of effect can be defined as the sequence of cognitive stages the consumer goes through in reaching a tendency to act. Needs are formulated, beliefs are formed, attitudes are developed in a positive or negative manner, and the consumer then forms an action predisposition. Nevertheless, only a persons salient beliefs about an object (those that are activated at a particular time and in a specific context) cause or create a persons attitude towards that object (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). Thus, one key to understanding consumers attitudes is to identify and understand the underlying set of beliefs (Peter et al., 1999). Is fair trade part of Danish consumers salient beliefs? I personally consider this belief-attitude-behaviour link needs to be taken into consideration when it comes to explaining consumer behaviour regarding fair trade products. In fact, one of the main factors which may incline an ethically concerned person to purchase a fair trade product is his actual beliefs about what he or others will obtain from his ethical behaviour.

4.2) The concept of beliefs and values in explaining consumer behaviour

According to Henry Assael, a consumers beliefs about a brand are the characteristics he or she ascribes to it. Within my study I will refer to belief as the characteristics the consumer ascribes to the actual fairly traded product, but also to the characteristics the consumer ascribes to the concept of fair trade as a whole. This is where I come to mention the concept of values for explaining consumer behaviour. In fact, social sciences often refer to values as the cognitive patterns by which individuals orientate themselves in their environment. In other words, values are criteria used to select and justify actions and to evaluate people, including one self, and events (Grunert, Juhl, 1994). Values are both self-centred and social-centred in the sense that they are at the crossroads between the individual and the society. According to Schwartz and Bilsky (1987), values are concepts or beliefs about desirable end-states or behaviours that transcend specific situations, guide the selection or evaluation of behaviour and events, and are ordered by relative importance. Values are said to serve both individualistic and collectivist interests as well as a mixture of these (Hofstede & Bond, 1984; Triandis et al., 1990). It is therefore relevant to refer to an individuals values when referring to his ethical behaviour. In fact, I tend to believe that a person will not purchase a fair trade product for the product in such, but for the value he obtains from his act. An ethically concerned person may believe that he will be acting as a benevolent person if he purchases a fair trade product, which in turn may make him 25

feel better with himself (self-esteem); thus this person will have fulfilled two of his life values from his act of purchasing a fair trade product. Nevertheless, I do not believe that all individuals have the same ethical concerns and therefore not all individuals will have the same life values which may lead to differences with respect to the purchase of fair trade food products from one individual to another.

4.3) The concept of attitude in explaining consumer behaviour

As I have mentioned beforehand, a consumers attitude towards a brand often directly influences whether he will buy a certain product or not (Henry Assael, 1992). Throughout my study I will not refer to attitude formation regarding an actual brand, but I will refer to an attitude formed regarding the actual concept of fair trade and the purchase of fairly-traded products. Attitude has been a key concept in psychology for more than a century, and at least 100 definitions and 500 measures of attitude have been proposed (Peter et al., 1999). According to Henry Assael, the most frequently used definition of attitudes was formulated over sixty years ago by Gordon Allport. He wrote: Attitudes are learned predispositions to respond to an object in a consistently favourable or unfavourable way. On the other hand, Peter et al. (1999) define attitude as a persons overall evaluation4 of a concept just like authors such as H. Fazio define attitudes. This last definition would be more appropriate when referring to a persons attitude regarding fair trade as I will tend to refer to attitude formation about fair trade as a concept throughout my study although attitude towards actual fair trade products (object) will also be mentioned.

4.3.1) The importance of understanding a consumers attitude for predicting his behaviour
Understanding individuals attitudes has been a major concern throughout the history of social psychology. Many social scientists assumed that attitudes could be used to explain human action since they viewed attitudes as behavioural dispositions (Ajzen & Fishbein, 2002). With few exceptions, this assumption went unchallenged until the late 1960s. For example, in their introduction to social psychology, Krech, Crutchfield, and Ballachey (1962) argued that Mans

Evaluations are affective responses. Overall evaluations are formed when consumers integrate (combine) knowledge, meanings, or beliefs about the attitude object.

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social actions whether the actions involve religious behaviour, ways of earning a living, political activity, or buying and selling goods are directed by his attitudes. Many theories were developed to explain the relationship between a consumers beliefs and attitude, which could in turn predict an individuals actual behaviour. The aim of these theories was often to implement efficient marketing strategies which would influence a consumers attitude positively regarding a certain brand or product. Two commonly used theories that focus on this relationship are: Rosenbergs Expectancy-Value Theory and Fishbeins Multiattribute Theory. In order to get a better understanding of this link between an individuals beliefs, his attitude and his behaviour, I will describe the first of these mentioned theories within the next paragraph and will describe a modified version of Fishbeins Multiattribute Theory in the following part of my study (see 4.1.1 Fishbeins Theory of Reasoned Action).

4.3.2) Rosenbergs Expectancy-Value Theory

Rosenbergs Expectancy-Value theory states a linkage between attitudes and intended or actual behaviour. Nevertheless, Rosenberg goes further within his theory and introduces the concept of values in attitudes. For example, a consumer may have values such as benevolence or social recognition and objects will be based on the degree to which they help or hinder the attainment of these values. Thus, a consumer who thinks benevolence is important may see purchasing fair trade chocolate as positive in attaining this value whereas he would consider purchasing chocolate made by a big multinational company as negative. Rosenberg uses the term perceived instrumentality to define the degree to which a value is attained or blocked by an object. Fair trade chocolate is instrumental in helping and chocolate made by a big multinational company in hindering the attainment of the value benevolence. Perceived instrumentality is, therefore, a belief about an object based on the consumers values. Attitudes towards a brand or company depend on the values consumers consider important and the perceived instrumentality of the object. According to his model, a positive (negative) attitude toward a brand (here concept) will increase (decrease) the likelihood that the consumer intends to buy and that positive buying intentions are likely to lead to actual behaviour. In other words, according to Rosenbergs theory: consumers will buy what they value most and avoid anything that blocks attaining their values (H. Assael). This theory seems relevant at first glance when referring to consumer behaviour regarding the purchase of fair trade products. It seems obvious that if what a person values most is helping others 27

(benevolence), and he knows that by purchasing a fair trade product he will contribute to helping others, he will avoid anything that blocks him from doing so. But is this always the case?

4.4) Barriers to attitude-behaviour inconsistency

Much controversy rose surrounding the relationship between attitude and behaviour as studies undertaken reported little evidence that attitudes could predict behaviour (Ajzen & Fishbein, 2002). In fact, after haven undertaken numerous studies on the attitude-behaviour relation, Wicker (1969) came to the conclusion that: It is considerably more likely that attitudes will be unrelated or only slightly related to overt behaviours than that attitudes will be closely related to actions. By the early 1970s, Fishbein & Ajzen undertook a research in order to develop an adequate theory for understanding and predicting human behaviour. Much of their early work was concerned with problems of attitude theory and measurement (Fishbein & Raven, 1962; Fishbein, 1963), and work during the last 15 years dealt with the prediction of behaviour in laboratory and applied settings (eg., Fishbein, 1967a; Ajzen & Fishbein, 1970; Fishbein, 1973; Fishbein & Jaccard, 1973; Ajzen & Fishbein, 1977). Their theory was introduced in 1967 (Fishbein, 1967a), but has been refined, developed, and tested over the years. In the next part of my study, I will bring some more detailed explanations of these gradual developments that were made throughout the years.

CHAPER 5: THEORETICAL PROBLEMS

5) Theoretical problems
Throughout the years, theories explaining the relationship between attitude and behaviour have continuously been modified. A new variable was soon added to attitudinal models: a consumers intention to buy. Intention to buy was added to the attitudinal models as an intervening variable between attitudes and behaviour.

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5.1) The Theory of Reasoned Action

Fishbein has often modified his attitudinal models in an attempt to making them ever more relevant for explaining the link between attitudes and behaviour. Throughout the next part of my study I will explain the various modifications that have been brought to these attitudinal models in order to make it clear how we have reached the theoretical models which are used today when trying to bring an explanation to consumer behaviour.

5.1.1) Fishbeins Theory of Reasoned Action

In 1967, Fishbein modified his multi-attribute model5 in an attempt to better explain the link between attitudes and behaviour. The resulting Theory of Reasoned Action obtained from these first modifications proposes that in order to better predict behaviour, it is more important to determine the persons attitude to that behaviour than to the object of behaviour (Henry Assael, 1992). A second modification in the model was to define beliefs as the perceived consequences of an action rather than the perceived attributes of a brand. A third modification consisted in introducing social influences into his model (normative beliefs and the motivation to comply). Many studies undertaken came to the conclusion that this model was found to predict intentions and behaviour better than the original model: attitudes towards purchasing a brand were more highly correlated with behaviour than were attitudes towards the brand itself (Henry Assael, 1992). This model would seem appropriate to use as a theoretical framework for explaining ethical consumer behaviour when looking at it at a first glance. In fact, one would tend to believe that an ethically concerned person, influenced by the people surrounding him, would be led to purchase a fairly traded product as he would believe that the consequences of his actions would be positive for both himself and a farmer in the third world, which would in turn lead him to having a positive attitude about his behaviour. This having being said, Fishbeins original model, that is Fishbeins Multiattribute Model, would have no sense for explaining ethical consumer behaviour related to the purchase of fair trade products, as I personally do not believe an ethically concerned person would be inclined to purchase

Fishbeins Multiattribute Model was similar to Rosenbergs Expectancy-Value Theory previously mentioned but described attitude formation as a response to attributes rather than values. This is why I did not mention it previously or explain it in more detail earlier on in my study as it did not seem relevant to refer to a fairly traded products attributes for predicting a consumers purchase as people tend to believe that fair trade products are often not the best of products offered on the market (high price, not of the best quality).

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a fairly traded product because of its attributes (many other products offered on the market could be considered of a much better quality for example). Nevertheless, if we consider that ethically concerned consumers have similar beliefs and attitudes towards fair trade, how can this theoretical framework bring an explanation as to why some ethically concerned people purchase fairly traded products and others do not?

5.1.2) Ajzen & Fishbeins Theory of Reasoned Action

Investigators have usually assumed different causes can explain different behaviours. Even within a given domain there is often little agreement as to the crucial determinants of behaviour. According to Ajzen & Fishbein (2002), this has consequently lead us to being confronted with a multitude of concepts and theories that have, at one time or another, been proposed to explain the many behaviours of interest to the social scientist. Ajzen & Fishbeins Theory of Reasoned Action has, over the years, been refined, developed, and tested (Fishbein & Ajzen, 2002), and they now want to show that it is possible to account for behaviour of various kinds by reference to a relatively small number of concepts embedded within a single theoretical framework. In their own words: unlike most other explanations of social behaviour, the Theory of Reasoned Action approach is not restricted to a specific behavioural domain; it is just as applicable to buying behaviour as it is to voting or family planning. Thus the Theory of Reasoned Action is considered to explain virtually any human behaviour. But can it explain an individuals ethical behaviour related to the purchase of fair trade products? In the next paragraph of my study I will give a detailed description of Ajzen & Fishbeins Theory of Reasoned Action. This detailed description of the theory will lead us to discovering important concepts for explaining ethical consumer behaviour which have not been included within their framework.

5.1.2.1) Introduction to Ajzen & Fishbeins Theory of Reasoned Action

Why Theory of Reasoned Action?

Ajzen & Fishbeins theory is referred to as a theory of reasoned action as it makes two assumptions: the first assumes that consumers will use available information rationally and systematically and the second establishes that people consider the implications of their actions before they decide to engage or not in certain behaviours. 30

Aim of the theory

The ultimate goal of this theory is to predict and understand an individuals behaviour: * The first step towards this goal is to identify and measure the behaviour of interest. Once the behaviour has been clearly defined, it is possible to ask what determines the actual behaviour. Within this theoretical framework, the assumption is made that most actions of social relevance are under volitional control and, consistent with this assumption, this theory views a persons intention to perform (or to not perform) a behaviour as the immediate determinant of the action. This theory therefore suggests that, an individuals behaviour can be predicted. For example, to predict whether an individual will buy fair trade coffee, the simplest and probably most efficient approach is to ask him whether he intends to do so. This does not mean that there will always be perfect correspondence between intention and behaviour. However, baring unforeseen events, a person will usually act in accordance with his or her intention (Ajzen & Fishbein, 2002). The notion that intentions predict behaviour does not provide much information about the reasons for behaviour, that is why the second step of the theory is to identify the determinants of intentions. * Second step: According to the theory of reasoned action, a persons intention is a function of two basic determinants, one personal in nature and the other reflecting social influence. The personal factor is the individuals positive or negative evaluation of performing the behaviour; this factor is termed attitude towards the behaviour. It simply refers to the persons judgement that performing the behaviour is good or bad, that he is in favour or against performing the behaviour. * Example: People may differ, for example, in their evaluations of buying fair trade coffee, some having a favourable attitude and others having an unfavourable attitude towards this behaviour. In fact, one person may have a very favourable attitude towards purchasing fair trade coffee as this action would fulfil his life value of benevolence which he considers as his main life value; on the other hand, another person may not value benevolence as a life value or may simply not believe that purchasing a fair trade product will fulfil this life value: he may be led to believe that fair trade does not actually benefit producers in developing countries. Another individual, who may also value benevolence as an important life value, may also differ in his evaluation of buying fair trade coffee as he may be more inclined to value conformity or the actual quality or taste of the product, and will therefore choose to buy another brand of coffee that he knows he will appreciate 31

more or will be appreciated by his guests who will drink this coffee. This is where I come to mention the second determinant of intention which corresponds to the persons perception of the social pressures put on him to perform the behaviour in question. Within the Theory of Reasoned Action, this factor is termed Subjective norm. To return to the act of buying fair trade coffee, a consumer may believe that most people who are important to him think that he should buy fair trade coffee or that he should not do so. In my first example, the individual may have had the intention of purchasing fair trade coffee as benevolence was among one of his life values and therefore did evaluate his intention to perform such a behaviour positively, but he did not believe that important others think he should buy fair trade coffee so did not fulfil his behaviour. In this particular example, the social influence on the consumers intention had a stronger effect than his personal attitude toward the behaviour. However, generally speaking, individuals will intend to perform a behaviour when they evaluate it positively and when they believe that important others think they should perform it. Nevertheless, this is not true in all cases as the relative weights of attitudinal and normative factors may vary from one person to another.

Ajzen & Fishbeins Theory of Reasoned Action for explaining ethical consumer behaviour

Ajzen & Fishbeins theoretical model is close to the one that I will use throughout my study. Behaviour is perceived as a direct function of an individuals intention to conduct the behaviour, and intention is considered to be a function of attitude as well as subjective norms, which in turn have underlying beliefs. Intention is therefore defined as a variable relating attitudes to behaviour and consider it as the main predictor of behaviour. Moreover, the intention variable is subject to be influenced according to the relative importance of a persons attitudinal and normative considerations. At first glance, this framework seems to be appropriate when considering consumers behaviour regarding the purchase of products such as fair trade products. In fact, I believe that for a consumer to be led to purchase a fair product, he actually has to believe in the fair trade concept and believe that his action will actually have a positive impact on producers in developing countries (or believe that his action will fulfil one of his life values such as benevolence). Studies have shown that a person will always form an attitude according to his beliefs (both behavioural and normative): An attitude toward a brand (product) would be determined by the consumers set of values (beliefs) (Rosenberg).

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As I have previously mentioned, a persons intention to purchase fair trade coffee for example will surely be influenced by the extent to which he actually believes in fair trade, or actually believes others think he should behave in an ethical-friendly way. In fact, it is the individuals beliefs which will in turn influence the degree of his ethical attitude and therefore his intention to actually purchase the product (behave). However is the relative importance of attitudinal and normative considerations the only factor that can have a positive or negative effect on the consumers intention? I personally do not believe so. This is where I come to question the Theory of Reasoned Action for predicting and understanding an individuals behaviour.

5.1.2.2) Criticisms of Ajzen & Fishbeins Theory of Reasoned Action

When it comes to consumer behaviour regarding fair trade products it seems that this theory does provide a satisfying enough explanation. In fact, the assumption that people consider the implications of their actions before they decide to engage or not in certain behaviours seems to provide an adequate explanation concerning ethical behaviour as a person that purchases a fair trade product will often do so because he has considered the various outcomes of his action. A person that buys fair trade coffee for example will probably have taken into consideration the fact that he is helping a farmer in Brazil, which will in turn fulfil the consumers benevolence life value and contribute to the consumers own self-esteem. However, the theory also argues that consumers will use available information rationally and systematically before engaging an action. But is information always available to ethically concerned consumers? This assumption does not bring a satisfying explanation to ethical behaviour: in fact, a consumer will not always be able to use available information rationally and systematically regarding fair trade products as I believe this information is seldom available because organizations dealing with fair trade lack the resources necessary to make the information regarding these products available. On the other hand, Ajzen & Fishbein mentioned themselves that within their theoretical framework, the assumption is made that most actions of social relevance are under volitional control. How are actions which are not under an individuals volitional control explained within their framework?

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This is an important concept when referring to ethical behaviour which has not been taken into consideration within their theoretical framework. In fact, when it comes to predicting ethical behaviour, many moderating variables which are not under the consumers control may be taken into consideration for explaining why attitudes do not always predict intentions and that intentions do not always lead to behaviour. An individual may, for example, strongly believe that fair trade actually does contribute to helping producers in developing countries and view purchasing a fairly traded product as a very positive action. He may also be led to believe that by purchasing fair trade coffee he will fulfil one or more of his life values (benevolence, self-esteem) which in turn will make himself feel better as a person. Moreover, this individual also believes that the people around him think that he should act as an ethically concerned person. These normative and behavioural beliefs will surely have a positive impact on his attitude and he will be entailed to want to behave ethically by purchasing a fair trade product the next time he goes shopping. Nevertheless, the chances this individual will actually purchase a fair trade product are, in my opinion, relatively low. There are many reasons that could explain why the consumer is not actually led to behave ethically although he did have the intention to. One reason may be that an unforeseen event occurred which stopped him getting to the supermarket for example (which was not meant to be taken into consideration within the Theory of Reasoned Action anyway), but when it comes to the purchase of a fairly traded product, other concepts may bring a better explanation as to why the ethically concerned consumer does not end up buying a fairly traded product. There are many variables which may explain how the relationship between an ethically concerned persons beliefs/attitude and behaviour is moderated. These variables, among others, may be the lack of information the consumer has on the product or on the fair trade concept as a whole, the availability of the product in the supermarket, the limited range of fairly traded products on offer, the price of the products, the location of the outlets, etc. (I will come to mention these variables in more detail later on in my study). I tend to believe that consumers with accentuated ethical attitudes are normally aware of these barriers, and I personally believe that these variables do not always have a negative impact on the behaviour of these type of consumers; but I believe that these barriers may have more of a negative impact on consumers who are, to some extent, less ethically concerned, that is, less determined to buy a fairly traded product for example. Having taken these moderating variables regarding the purchase of fairly traded products into consideration, we are actually inclined to think that Ajzen & Fishbeins Theory of Reasoned Action cannot necessarily explain virtually any human behaviour (Ajzen & fishbein, 2002). 34

5.2) The other variables explanation

Another theoretical framework which also takes into consideration other variables for explaining ethical consumer behaviour was obviously needed.

5.2.1) Can attitudes and intentions predict behaviour?

As I have mentioned beforehand, the attitude-intention-behaviour link has received much controversy throughout the years. According to Ajzen & Fishbein (2002), by the early 1970s the low empirical relation between attitude and behaviour could no longer be neglected. Some investigators (eg. Abelson, 1972) simply concluded that attitudes cannot predict behaviour. Others, taking a more moderate position, have suggested that certain behaviours are so dependent on the situational context as to be virtually unpredictable from measures of attitude (Schuman & Johnson, 1976). For the most part, however, attitudes continued to be regarded as primary determinants of a persons responses to an object. At the same time, there was a growing recognition among investigators that there is no one-to-one correspondence between attitude and any given behaviour. In their opinion, the most popular view to emerge was that attitudes always produce pressure to behave consistently with them, but external pressures and extraneous considerations can cause people to behave inconsistently with their attitudes. Any attitude or change in attitude tends to produce behaviour that corresponds with it. However, this correspondence often does not appear because of other factors that are involved in the situation. (Freedman, Carlsmith & Sears, 1970). Since the 1970s many studies that have been undertaken show that intentions cannot be considered as a reliable predictor of behaviour. In fact, many factors started being taken in consideration, such as change in needs, economic circumstances, or alternatives available, which could intervene and considered to change intentions (Henry Assael, 1992). I believe that many of the factors previously mentioned (such as availability of the products, lack of information or price among others) may have a moderating effect on many consumers ethical behaviour related to the purchase of a fair trade food product. How are these factors that explain the attitude-intention-behaviour inconsistency therefore be taken into consideration within theories whose aim is to give an explanation to consumer behaviour?

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5.2.2) Interpretation of the other variables approach

The other variables approach explains how observed attitude-behaviour inconsistencies rely on other factors. The other variables approach can be interpreted in two ways: Interpretation One:

One of the interpretations to this approach is that attitudes is only one of a number of factors that influence behaviour, and other variables must also be taken into account. Among the variables suggested are conflicting attitudes; competing motives; verbal, intellectual, and social abilities; individual differences, such as personality characteristics; normative prescriptions of proper behaviour; alternative behaviours available; and expected or actual consequences of the behaviour (Ehrlich, 1969; Wicker, 1969). However, no systematic way of deciding which of the many other variables might be relevant for a given behaviour is given. Interpretation Two:

Another interpretation of the other variables approach is that the relation between attitude and behaviour is moderated by other variables. For example, Fazio and his associates (Fazio & Zanna, 1978; Reagan & Fazio, 1977) have reported attitude-behaviour relations of moderate magnitude when the respondents were given direct experience with the attitude object or with the behaviour. In the absence of such direct experience, the relation between attitude and behaviour was found to be relatively weak. Other moderating variables that have been suggested include actual or considered presence of others, possession of skills required to perform the behaviour, internal consistency of the attitude, confidence with which the attitude is held, and occurrence of unforeseen extraneous events. Although not all of these factors have been found to moderate the attitude-behaviour relation in a systematic fashion, they have often been invoked in attempts to explain why attitudes are found to predict behaviour in some situations but not in others (Ajzen & Fishbein, 2002).

The other variables approach for explaining ethical consumer behaviour

Whatever interpretation we adopt when referring to the other variables approach for explaining the inconsistency between an ethically concerned persons attitude and his actual behaviour regarding the purchase of fair trade products, many of these moderating factors can be taken into consideration. Moreover, the factors to take into consideration to predict an ethically concerned persons behaviour will differ form one person to another (How much does this person believe in fair trade? How much does he support it? What is his attitude towards purchasing fair trade 36

products? Does his surrounding positively support the fair trade concept? Is he easily influenced by the people that surround him?) but also from one situation to another (Is the product available in the supermarket? Is the price of the product acceptable? Is information on the product available and does it convince the consumer in purchasing the fairly traded product?). Nevertheless, when it comes to explaining this particular inconsistency between an ethically concerned persons attitude and his actual behaviour regarding the purchase of fair trade products, I consider that, other than the factors mentioned (that can actually explain attitude-behaviour inconsistencies when referring to practically any situation), additional and more specific moderating variables need to be taken into consideration. I previously mentioned these variables when criticising Ajzen & Fishbeins Theory of Reasoned Action (on page 24) but will further develop them within the next paragraph in order to get a clearer understanding of the impact they may have on an ethically concerned persons behaviour.

Moderating variables for explaining the inconsistency of the belief-attitudeintention-behaviour link of an ethically concerned person

Many variables can be taken into consideration for explaining the inconsistency between an ethically concerned persons behavioural beliefs and his actual behaviour. These could be any of the variables mentioned beforehand in the other variables approach, and there could more. Nevertheless, when it comes to fair trade, I believe that some moderating variables may have a better and more specific explanation to the inconsistency between an ethically concerned persons behavioural beliefs and his actual behaviour. I will give a brief explanation to every one of them below, highlighting them with a brief example. The availability of the actual product. A person may for example have had the intention to buy fairly traded milk, but milk is not marketed as a fair trade product. The limited range of fair trade products that are available. An individual may have the intention of buying fair trade coffee, but he only wants to buy decaffeinated coffee. He will most probably find that the range of fair trade coffee available on the market does not offer this type of coffee. The location of the outlets. An individual may have the intention to buy a fairly traded product but may find that he has to go to a particular outlet in order to buy the product he wants. This outlet may be situated in an inconvenient place, or the person may not want to

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make the effort of going to this particular outlet to buy the product he wants when he is able to purchase a conventional form of the product in any other supermarket. The price of fair trade products. A person that may have had the intention of purchasing a fairly traded product could find himself in a situation in which he discovers that this product is more expensive than the conventional product he normally does buy. This person may not be willing, or may not be able to afford, to pay that extra premium for a fair trade product, especially when a conventional form of this same product, whose quality and taste he is satisfied with, can be acquired for a much lower price. Obtaining the information. The information regarding what products are fairly traded may not be available to the consumer. In fact, a consumer may find himself in the position of having to actually seek this information for himself. This information may be regarding what products are actually traded fairly, but it could also be information regarding the actual contents or quality of the product. The consumer may also be reluctant to believe the information he is given or obtains. The consumer may have had the intention to behave ethically but does not due to the lack of information he has regarding these fairly traded products, and he will consequently, in many cases, be entailed to purchase a conventional product. In fact, according to J.Thogersen: As long as conventional food products are marketed, organic food products can be sold only if consumers are willing to buy them. I personally think this is the exact same case for fair trade products. Availability of fair trade products in supermarkets. Often fairly traded products are not available in supermarkets, and if they are available only a small range of these products is on offer. A person may have had the intention to purchase a fairly traded product but once he is in the actual supermarket he finds that the product he wanted to buy, for example fairly trade chocolate, is not available. When taking into consideration these more specific moderating variables one may be led to better understand the frequent inconsistency between an ethically concerned persons beliefs/attitude and his actual ethical behaviour. Although, as I previously mentioned, I believe that these moderating variables may have a bigger moderating impact on consumers which do not have so much of an accentuated ethical attitude.

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5.3) The Theory of Planned Behaviour

Ajzens Theory of Planned Behaviour (1985) corresponds to an extension of the Theory of

Reasoned Action through the addition of perceived behavioural control, thus seeking to account for behaviours that are not totally under an individuals control (N. Ozcaglar-Toulouse et al., 2006). The moderating variables I have enumerated in the previous paragraph could be considered as adequate explanations as to why an ethical concerned person may not be in complete control of his ethical behaviour related to the purchase of fair trade food products.

5.3.1) From intentions to Actions: A Theory of Planned Behaviour

According to Ajzens Theory of Planned Behaviour, similar to the previously mentioned Theory of Reasoned Action, actions are controlled by intentions, but not all intentions are carried out; some are abandoned altogether while others are revised to fit changing circumstances (Icek Ajzen). However, unlike the Theory of Reasoned Action, the Theory of Planned Behaviour concentrates on explaining goal-directed behaviours over which an individual has only limited volitional control. Various internal and external factors are said to influence the volitional control of an individual over his actual behaviour: these factors are referred to as perceived and actual control over the behaviour under consideration. This theory therefore tries to bring an explanation to the way in which goals and plans guide behaviour, and the factors that induce people to change their intentions, or prevent successful execution of the behaviour. Viewed in this light it becomes clear that, strictly speaking, every intended behaviour is a goal whose attainment is subject to some degree of uncertainty. This concept can be referred to as a behaviour-goal unit: and the intention constitutes a plan of action in pursuit of the behavioural goal. (Icek Ajzen). In fact, although volitional control is more likely to present a problem for some consumers behaviours than for others, many factors can obstruct the intention-behaviour relation. Generally speaking, a person will attempt to perform a behaviour if he believes that the advantages of success (weighted by the likelihood of success) outweigh the disadvantages of failure (weighted by the likelihood of failure) related to performing the action, and if he believes that referents with whom he is motivated to comply think he should try to perform the behaviour. This individual will be successful in his attempt if he has sufficient control over internal and external factors which, in addition to effort, also influence attainment of the behavioural goal.

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5.3.2) Theory of Planned Behaviour vs. Theory of Reasoned Action

Although the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Theory of Reasoned Action are similar to one another, there is however one very important variable which is present within the Theory of Planned Behaviour which is not taken into consideration within the Theory of Reasoned Action. This variable, as I have mentioned beforehand, corresponds to the variable highlighting the degree of control that a consumer has over his behavioural goal. In fact, the two theories are identical when the subjective probability of success and the degree of control over internal and external factors reach their maximum values. When this is the case, we are dealing with purely volitional behaviour to which the theory of Reasoned Action can be directly applied. When subjective probabilities of success and actual control are less than perfect, however, we enter the domain of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (Icek Ajzen). When referring to ethical consumer behaviour, it seems more than obvious that this variable needs to be taken into consideration in order to provide an explanation to the inconsistency between some ethically concerned individuals attitude and their actual ethical behaviour.

5.3.3) Modified version of the Theory of Planned Behaviour: an approach to explaining consumers ethical intentions
Ozcaglar-Toulouse et al. recently undertook a study on Ethical consumer decision making in France. In order to undertake their study they used a modified version of Ajzens Theory of Planned Behaviour. According to Ozcaglar-Toulouse et al., the Theory of Planned Behaviour in its current form does not consider ethical or social issues within its model measures. They also mentioned the fact that Ajzen (1991) invited the consideration of additional model measures stating that The theory of Planned Behaviour is, in principle, open to the inclusion of additional predictors if it can be shown that they capture a significant proportion of the variance in intention or behaviour after the theorys current variables have been taken into account.

5.3.3.1) Introduction of ethical concerns within the Theory of Planned Behaviour

In order to undertake their study in France, Ozcaglar-Toulouse et al., therefore modified Ajzens theory for the context of ethical concerns, including fair trade, in consumer decision making. They brought their modifications to the original model by adding measures which could better explain an ethically concerned persons behaviour. These measures which were added are:

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Ethical obligation

According to Ozcaglar-Toulouse et al., the tendency of the original theory to focus on the selfinterested concerns of individuals may be limiting given the more societal centred viewpoint of ethically concerned consumers. They also mentioned the fact that some researchers have argued that a measure of personal moral or ethical obligation should be added to the traditional Theory of Planned Behaviour structure (Eagly and Chaiken, 1993). Such a measure represents an individuals internalized ethical rules, which reflect their personal beliefs about right and wrong. The addition of such a measure has been found to improve the explanation of intention (Gorsuch and Ortberg, 1983; Raats et al., 1995). In their study examining the impact of fair trade concerns in consumer decision making, Ozcaglar-Toulouse et al. (2000) found the addition of a measure of ethical obligation to be significant in the explanation of behavioural intention to purchase a fair trade product. Furthermore, previous research on ethical consumers has also shown that individuals do hold strong feelings of obligation for others that impact their purchase choices (Shaw & Clarke, 1999). Ethical concerns and self-identity

Previous research had also suggested that the Theory of Planned Behaviour should incorporate a measure of self-identity (Granberg & Holmberg, 1990; Sparks & Shepherd, 1992; Sparks & Guthrie, 1998). As an issue becomes central to an individuals self-identity, then behavioural intention is accordingly adjusted. Shaw et al.s study (2000) supported the notion that ethical consumers make ethical consumption choices because ethical issues have become an important part of their self-identity. Self-identity was therefore found to be significant in the explanation of intention to purchase a fair trade grocery product (N. Ozcaglar-Toulouse et al.).

5.3.3.2) Criticism of the study undertaken on ethical consumer decision making in France
I agree that the modifications Ozcaglar-Toulouse et al. have brought to the Theory of Planned Behaviour bring a much clearer explanation to ethical consumer decision making. However, throughout their study, Toulouse et al. limited their research to examining the intention to purchase a fair trade food product of consumers with accentuated ethical concerns. That is to say, they did not go into measuring the ethical decision making related to fair trade of mainstream consumers. In fact, they concluded their research as follows: 41

As the fair trade market develops it will be important to assess the views of mainstream consumers who as yet may not be predisposed to purchasing fair trade products. Thus, additional understandings in this context may be achieved by considering the development of model measures that represent these areas which may aid the growth and stability of fair trade in the French market and other developing fair trade markets. I strongly believe that the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour may be an appropriate model for giving an explanation to the ethical decision making of consumers with highly accentuated ethical concerns, but this model will not be suited for predicting all consumers ethical behavioural intentions (even if they are considered as ethically concerned). There are many points that lead me to believe what I have just mentioned. First of all, in my opinion, ethical concerns may not be considered as being part of all individuals self-identity, whether they are ethically concerned or not. Second, I also strongly believe that not all individuals hold strong feelings of obligation for others that impact their purchase choices, even though they may be considered as ethically concerned. In fact, as Toulouse et al. mentioned within their study, the ethical concerns of consumers may be very different from one individual to another, and I strongly believe that the ethical concerns of some consumers will not always be related to other individuals or to environmental issues for example, but to their own well-being. This having been said, I believe that these types of consumers will not feel an ethical obligation for others that may impact their purchase choices, but their behaviour may be influenced by their ethical concerns related to their own well-being.

5.3.4) Criticism of Ajzens Theory of Planned Behaviour

Theoretical weaknesses noticed by John Thogersen

John Thogersen who has undertaken many studies concerning consumer behaviour regarding the environment has noticed a lack of coherency within the models framework. Although J. Thogersen does specify that Icek Ajzens theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1985, 1988, 1991) is the most successful attempt to develop an attitude model covering behaviours not completely in control of the actors free will, in terms of diffusion in the scientific community and the number of practical applications, it seems that the model contains some theoretical weaknesses. In fact, J. Thogersen pointed out that Icek Ajzen assumes that the effect of attitudinal factors and actual control on behaviour are additive while it would be more logical to assume them as multiplicative (or both 42

additive and multiplicative). In other words, according to John Thogersen, opportunities and abilities moderate the attitude-behaviour relationship. When it comes to explaining ethical behaviour, I personally believe that the attitude-behaviour relationship is often weakened by low opportunity and/or ability, just like J. Thogersen believes this relationship is weakened when it comes to environmentally friendly behaviour.

Interactions between attitude and behaviour

In John Thogersens opinion interactions between attitude and actual behaviour may arise for two reasons: 1) Ceiling and floor effects. For example, Guagnano and his associates (1995) suggest that both extreme unfavourable and extreme favourable conditions may weaken the attitude-behaviour relationship because variations in attitudes are unable to explain behaviour when even the strongest possible favourable attitude is insufficient or even the slightest possible favourable attitude is sufficient to trigger the behaviour. 2) Through its influence on perceived control, actual control may influence the motivation to spend time and effort on decision-making. Compared to a situation with high actual control, low actual control is likely to undermine individuals beliefs that their decision will make any difference and thereby reduce their motivation to make a thorough decision. Hence, attitudes formed under conditions of low actual control are likely to be weaker and less integrated than attitudes made under conditions of high actual control. (Thogersen, 1998).

Interactions between ethical attitude and ethical behaviour

The above mentioned interactions between attitude and actual behaviour seem more than relevant when talking about the purchase of fair trade products. In fact, to support the first assumption, I believe it is true that a person could be led to picking up and buying fair trade chocolate one day in a super market because that particular day he is in a good mood and wants to contribute to helping a poor farmer in Africa (for example). This action of 43

buying a product that was maybe more expensive than any other chocolate in the super market (give component) is traded for the get component that the consumer receives in return: the actual product and a feeling of well-being (for example) as he is conscience that he is doing a benevolent act. In this case, the get component that the consumer receives corresponds to a life value. A possible definition of life values could be as follows: values can be seen as concepts or beliefs about desirable end states or behaviours that transcend specific situations, guide selection or evaluations of behaviour and events, and are ordered by relative importance. As we have previously mentioned, these values (beliefs) have an influence on a persons attitude. In this case, we cannot say whether the person had a slightly positive attitude towards fair trade or a very positive attitude to the concept, but the behaviour was triggered because of certain circumstances (persons mood, availability of the product, etc.) These circumstances are very numerous and we often cannot know when they will actually trigger a persons behaviour: in other words, variations in attitudes are unable to explain behaviour when even the strongest possible favourable attitude is insufficient or even the slightest possible favourable attitude is sufficient to trigger the behaviour. Considering the numerous factors which may positively or negatively influence a consumers ethical behaviour related to the purchase of fair trade products, I will not try to give an explanation to actual ethical consumer behaviour, but will limit my research to giving an explanation of consumers ethical decision making related to fair trade. On the other hand, when we refer to actual control, we refer to variables that influence an individuals perceived control which in turn (according to J. Thogersen) has an impact on a persons attitude. Many barriers may be taken into consideration when referring to fair trade product consumption. It is when these barriers are high, and that the consumer lacks control over his actions, that his attitude as a whole may be influenced. Although I personally believe that these barriers may not necessarily interact with consumers where ethical attitudes are accentuated, I do believe they may have a moderating effect on the attitude of consumers who are generally less ethically concerned. I will, in this case, therefore refer to these barriers as moderator variables on the attitudebehaviour relationship.

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CHAPTER 6: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF MY STUDY

According to Peter et al. (1999), students of consumer behaviour must be careful to not over generalize theories and research findings. Although I know the model that I have chosen may be criticised in many different ways I personally believe it is the best model for explaining the relation between a persons ethical beliefs, his attitude and his ethical behaviour for consumers with accentuated ethical attitudes. A more appropriate model will need developing for consumers with less of an accentuated an ethical attitude. I will nevertheless develop this model based on the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour. I will therefore base my research on ethical consumer behaviour in Denmark on the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour just as Toulouse et al. did for their study on ethical consumer decision-making in France. A model of the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour can be found on the following page.

Behavioural beliefs and outcome evaluation Normative beliefs and motivation to comply Control Beliefs

Attitude

Subjective norm

Perceived Behavioural Control

Intention

Behaviour

Ethical concerns

Self-identity

Ethical obligation

Model of the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour 45

PART IV: A FIRST APPROACH TO THE METHODOLOGY

CHAPTER 7: Introduction to the methodology used

7.1) Research based on a research on ethical consumer decision making in France

I decided to base my research on the research Toulouse et al. recently did on ethical consumer decision making in France. Nevertheless, as I have previously mentioned, my research will not be limited to getting a better understanding of the ethical decision making of consumers with accentuated ethical attitudes in Denmark, but it will also be aimed at getting a better understanding of ethical decision making of mainstream consumers within the Danish society. Basing my research on Toulouse et al.s will enable me to use the questionnaire which they used for their research as a basis for inspiration and structure of my own questionnaire. This will in turn also allow me to briefly compare the results I obtain from my research to the ones they have obtained from their study in France.

7.2) Elaboration of the questionnaire

In order to get a better understanding of the various statements which make up my questionnaire as well as to get a better understanding of what these statements are expected to reflect once the data is recollected, I will give an explanation of the various factors which have been taken into consideration within my questionnaire. I consider this is important because, although my questionnaire is mainly based on the one used by Toulouse et al., a good understanding of the factors which have been taken into consideration within the questionnaire is essential. This explanation will be done in PART V of my study in which I will give a more detailed description of how the conclusive research was set up and, more precisely, what outcomes we could expect from the various statements that make up the questionnaire as well as the reasons why the answers may differ from one respondent to another.

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CHAPTER 8: Introduction to the research design used

8.1) Research design

A research design is a framework for conducting a marketing research project. It details the procedures necessary for obtaining the information needed to structure or solve marketing research problems (Malhotra, 1996). Although a broad approach to the problem within my study has already been developed based on the theoretical framework discussed in the previous chapter, the research design specifies the details the nuts and bolts of implementing that approach (Malhotra, 1996). A research design lays the foundation for conducting the project. A good research design will ensure that the marketing research project is conducted effectively and efficiently. The following components make up the research design: -Definition of the information needed - Design of the exploratory, descriptive or causal phases of the research - Specify the measurement and scaling procedures - Construct and pre-test a questionnaire - Specify the sampling process and sample size - Develop a plan of data analysis I will develop each of the above mentioned components in more detail within the next paragraphs of my study.

8.2) Definition of the information needed

As I have previously mentioned, the research that I will undertake within my study on consumer behaviour in Denmark regarding fair trade products will be based on the study which was undertaken on ethical consumer behaviour in France. Nevertheless, the research undertaken in France focused on ethical consumer decision making among consumers with accentuated ethical attitudes. Additional information was needed within my study on the ethical decision making of both ethically concerned and mainstream consumers. The first and probably the most important factor that needed taking into consideration was the Danish consumers awareness of fair trade and 47

their behaviour regarding fair trade products. A closer insight of consumers perceptions of the fair trade concept and their behaviour related to the purchase of fair trade food products or any other conventional food products was also needed. Furthermore, the variables used within the study undertaken in France by Toulouse et al. for explaining ethical decision making needed confirming and additional predictor variables important for explaining fair trade decision making in Denmark needed identifying. I will obtain this information by using a exploratory research method before conducting the surveys throughout the rest of the society.

8.3) Different Research Designs used

According to Malhotra, research designs can be broadly classified as exploratory or conclusive. The primary objective of exploratory research is to provide insights into and an understanding of the problem confronting the researcher. The findings from conclusive research are generally used as input into managerial decision making. Conclusive research designs can either be descriptive or causal. In order to get a better understanding of the awareness of fair trade and of ethical consumer behaviour in Denmark regarding fair trade products, I decided to first of all use an exploratory research method (in order to get a first insight) which would then be followed by a conclusive research (which would enable me to describe and analyse the data obtained from a larger group of respondents). Within the next paragraphs I will explain in more detail what each one of these research designs consists of and how they were used within my study on consumer behaviour regarding fair trade products in Denmark.

8.3.1) Exploratory research

There are various methods for undertaking exploratory research such as: - surveys of experts - pilot surveys - analysis of secondary data - qualitative research

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Within my study I will use the two last methods mentioned beforehand, that is: analysis of secondary data and qualitative research.

8.3.1.1) Analysis of secondary data

Secondary data are data that have already been collected for purposes other than the problem at hand (Malhotra, 1996). Although the data recollected concerned ethical consumer decision making in France of consumers with accentuated ethical attitudes, the findings from this research in France would serve me as an inspirational tool which would, in turn, enable me to formulate an appropriate research design to study both ethically concerned and mainstream Danish consumers decision making related to ethical issues. In fact, basing myself on this secondary data obtained from the study in France will provide me with valuable insights and lay the foundation for conducting my qualitative research.

8.3.1.2) Qualitative research

Like secondary data analysis, qualitative research is a major methodology used in exploratory research (Malhotra, 1996). Malhotra defines qualitative research as an unstructured, exploratory research methodology based on small samples that provides insights and understanding of the problem setting. Qualitative research is often used for generating hypotheses and identifying variables that should be included in the research. Although my research will be based on the theoretical framework used for conducting the research on ethical consumer decision making in France (secondary data), qualitative research needed conducting in order to get a better understanding of how fair trade and other ethical issues are perceived within the Danish society. This type of research will enable me to discover items (questions) which may need adding within my questionnaire. Qualitative research procedures can be classified as either direct or indirect, based on whether the true purpose of the project is known to the respondents. I used a direct approach when undertaking my qualitative research, that is, the purpose of my project was disclosed to the respondents. The direct technique I used for undertaking my qualitative research was the focus group interview technique.

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Focus Group Technique

A focus group is an interview conducted by a trained moderator in a non-structured and natural manner with a small group of respondents (Malhotra, 1996). Although I am not a trained moderator, I will nevertheless conduct a focus group interview in order to gain insights by listening to a group of people from the appropriate target market talk about fair trade and other ethical issues. Respondents which could be considered as relevant representations of Danish consumers were included within the focus group discussions. The value of the technique lies in the unexpected findings often obtained from a free-flowing group discussion. In fact, the findings obtained from the focus group interviews enabled me to adapt the questionnaire used for studying ethically concerned consumer behaviour in France by adding relevant questions for measuring awareness, beliefs, attitude as well as ethical and general consumer behaviour within the Danish society.

Planning and conducting the Focus Group

Various focus groups were conducted in order to get a more in-depth insight about consumer behaviour and its relation to ethical issues. Two of the focus groups were made up by nine respondents, and one other focus group was made up by eight respondents. All of these respondents were young adults (students and workers) who were living in the same student dormitory. The interviews were conducted on Thursday the 22nd and Friday 23rd of February and Thursday 1st of March. Each of the focus group discussions lasted for just under one hour and a half. There is a precise procedure for planning and conducting focus groups (Malhotra, 1996). I will enumerate each step of this procedure and I will give a brief explanation of what I did for each step. Step 1: Determining the objectives of the marketing research project and defining the problem. The objective of my marketing research is clear: I am interested in studying Danish consumer behaviour regarding fair trade products. The definition of the problem is: Can the whole of the Danish consumer society be considered as ethically concerned and how are their ethical concerns related to fair trade? Do they purchase fair trade products? If not, why?

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Step 2: Specifying the objectives of qualitative research The objectives of conducting this exploratory research is to bring a better understanding to Danish perception of fair trade as a whole as well as to Danish consumer behaviour regarding fairly traded products. This qualitative research will enable me to get a better understanding of the Danes awareness and perception of fair trade as a whole, as well as of their consumer behaviour regarding fairly traded products. Step 3: Stating the objectives/questions to be answered by the Focus Groups As I have mentioned beforehand, the objectives of conducting these focus group discussions is to get a better insight of Danish awareness of fair trade, their perception of the concept as well as their consumer behaviour regarding fairly traded products. The questions I will ask throughout the exploratory research will be based on the theoretical model and questionnaire which were used for the study which Toulouse et al. (2006) undertook on ethical consumer decision making in France. I added a few question which I believed were relevant for getting a better insight of general consumer behaviour in Denmark as well as of the Danes awareness of fair trade. Step 4: Writing a questionnaire I made a list of questions I wanted answered in order to understand the participants familiarity and knowledge of the concept, their consumer behaviour in general as well as their consumer behaviour regarding fairly traded products, their ethical concerns in general as well as their ethical concerns related to fair trade, their attitudes towards fair trade, etc. Although other questions were asked during the interviews as various subjects were brought up, the base of the questionnaire I used during the focus group discussions can be found in Appendix n1.

Step 5: Developing a guiding outline Twelve information requirements derived from the modified version of the Theory of Planned Behaviour were taken into consideration as a basis for developing the guide I used during the focus 51

group interviews. Theory therefore played an important role in developing the outline in my consumer behaviour regarding fair trade products in Denmark. The questionnaire in Appendix 1 was elaborated with specific questions that were used for each information requirement which makes up the theoretical model: the questions therefore cover each of the factors which make up the Modified version of the Theory of Planned Behaviour. As specified above, questions were also added for understanding the Danes awareness of fair trade and their consumer behaviour in general as well as their behaviour related to fair trade products. The information requirements needed were as follows: awareness of fair trade behavioural beliefs and outcome evaluation from purchasing fairly traded products attitude towards fair trade and ethical behaviour normative beliefs and motivation to comply ethical behaviour subjective norm control beliefs perceived behavioural control ethical concerns self-identity ethical obligation intention to purchase fair trade products behaviour: ethical consumer behaviour

Step 6: Conducting the focus group interviews During the interviews, I played the role of moderator. In order to get as much information as possible from my qualitative research I used the above mentioned questionnaire as well as the above mentioned outline to guide me throughout the whole of each one of the interviews.

Step 7: Analysis of the data Following the group discussions I reviewed and analysed the results obtained. Many of the answers given to my questions were expected. 52

In fact, many of the respondents were not fully aware of the fair trade concept. Other respondents were aware of fair trade but were unable to recognise a fair trade product if they saw one, or did not know what the FairTrade or the Max Havelaar label looked like (although most respondents seemed to know the name MaxHavelaar and claimed they would be able to recall the MaxHavelaar label without much difficulty) . Furthermore, as expected, price and availability of fair trade products were often mentioned as reasons which stop them from buying fair trade products on a regular basis. Nevertheless, a new idea that I had not thought of arose. That is, a few of the respondents mentioned the fact that they (and others around them) purchase organic products (which are also more expensive than any other conventional food product) because buying these products is trendy and fashionable in Denmark now and has been for some years now. Most respondents tended to agree that fair trade needs to be made more aware of and that it needs to be changed into a trendy concept: that is, fair trade needs to be given a special image which makes it fashionable to buy fairly trade products. Although this trendy concept was mentioned in more than one of the focus groups, it must be specified that all the respondents that referred to this concept were young adults that had never bought a fair trade product before. This concept may therefore not appeal to older Danish consumers. Finally, what was interesting is that within all the focus groups, there was a clear distinction between the different genders perception on the topic. Most female respondents had a more positive attitude towards fair trade whereas most male respondents were not aware or did not have so much of a positive attitude towards fair trade. There was also a clear distinction of the perception of fair trade from one political stance to another with the respondents with more of a left-wing orientation being more pro-fair trade than the ones with more of a right-wing political stance. Politics as well as politicians were often mentioned throughout the discussions. I have summarized the findings from the interview in more detail in Appendix 2.

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Step 8: Summarizing the findings and planning for follow-up research After having summarized the findings obtained from the various focus group interviews, I was able to start planning my follow-up research: that is, my conclusive research.

8.3.2) Conclusive research

Conclusive research is more formal and structured than exploratory research. It is based on large, representative samples, and the data obtained are subjected to quantitative analysis. This type of research is designed to assist the decision maker in determining, evaluating and selecting the best course of action to take in a given situation (Malhotra, 1996). Conclusive research designs may either be descriptive or causal. According to Malhotra (1996), exploratory and descriptive research are frequently used in commercial marketing research. I decided to use a descriptive conclusive research which would enable me to describe the Danish market characteristics regarding fair trade. Once this first approach has been taken, I will then go into doing a regression analysis of the results obtained in order to test the reliability of the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour for explaining the ethical decision making of consumers with accentuated ethical concerns. This regression analysis will also enable me to develop a model that can explain mainstream consumers ethical behaviour. Descriptive research presupposes that a sound causal model of the marketing system exists in the mind of the decision maker (Kinnear and Taylor, 1991). Although I was led to question the reliability of the Modified version of the Theory of Planned Behaviour for predicting the ethical behaviour of mainstream consumers, I will use this model as the basis of my descriptive research. . Nevertheless, before undertaking my conclusive research, many things need to be taken into consideration such as the information I want to obtain (based on the information obtained during the focus group discussions), the purpose for gathering this information and the population I want to gather the information from before specifying the measurement and scaling procedures, constructing and pre-testing the questionnaire and specifying the sampling process and sample size. I will explain each one of the components in more detail in the following part of my study.

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PART V: SETTING UP THE CONCLUSIVE RESEARCH

CHAPTER 9: Content of the questionnaire In order to elaborate an efficient questionnaire, all of the above mentioned components need to be taken into consideration. Nevertheless, the first, and probably the most important of them are the precision of the information needed, what this information is needed for and who will provide me with this information. I will start by the last of these specifications.

9.1) Who will provide me with the information that I am seeking for?
The first thing that needs specifying is who I am going to be studying throughout my research. The aim of my study is to understand ethical (or non-ethical) consumer behaviour regarding fair trade products in Denmark. It is therefore important for me to gather information which relates to actual Danish consumers. I will explain in more detail in Chapter 10 the sampling technique that I used within my research. An important point which needs to be taken into consideration is that not all Danish consumers will have the same beliefs and behaviour: in fact, within my questionnaire one respondent will be differentiated from another according to various factors which may influence his beliefs, attitude and behaviour towards fair trade products. Many factors should be taken in consideration when studying consumer behaviour. Malhotra (1999) includes the following factors when considering consumer behaviour: The number and geographical location of the buyers and non-buyers Demographic and psychological characteristics Product consumption habits and the consumption of related product categories Media consumption behaviour and response to promotions Price sensitivity Retail outlets patronized Buyer preferences

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Although these factors will not be analysed precisely, each one of them will be taken into consideration within my questionnaire under each variable which makes up the Theory of Planned Behaviour such as awareness of fair trade, beliefs, attitude and behaviour.

9.2) Information needed from respondents for understanding the Danes ethical beliefs, attitudes and behaviour
As I have said beforehand, the information that I will seek for throughout my conclusive research is based on the questionnaire used in Toulouse et als research undertaken in France as well as on the results obtained from the focus group interviews. Nevertheless, I consider that the importance of gathering information related to each variable needs highlighting. In fact, many consumers differ from one another and various factors have implicitly been taken into consideration within each part of the questionnaire. I will therefore give an explanation to various factors (such as culture and environment among others) that may have an influence on each consumer, which, in turn, will lead to differences in their responses to the various statements which make up my questionnaire.

9.3) Culture influences in explaining consumer behaviour

According to Peter et al. (1999), culture has a pervasive influence on consumers. Although marketers have found it difficult to understand how culture does influence a consumers behaviour, recent theoretical developments have helped clarify the concept of culture and how it affects people. Within my study I will refer to culture as the meanings that are shared by (most) people in a social group (Peter et al., 1999) In a broad sense, cultural meanings include common affective reactions, typical cognitions (beliefs), and characteristic patterns of behaviour. Each society establishes its own vision of the world and constitutes or constructs that cultural world by creating and using meanings to represent important cultural distinctions (Peter et al., 1999). The content of culture therefore includes the beliefs, attitudes, goals, and values held by most people in a society, as well as the meanings of characteristic behaviours, rules, customs, and norms that most people follow. An example of this could be the consumption of organic food products which has recently become a hype in Denmark and now, in some way, forms part of the Danish culture. In fact, it seems as if an increasing amount of Danish consumers are purchasing these types of products which are becoming ever more available in different supermarkets throughout Denmark. 56

By the end of my study I would like to see how people actually perceive the whole fair trade concept and how they respond to it. In some way, I would like to see to what extent fair trade forms part of the Danish culture. From my personal observations, I believe that fair trade is not a concept which is well established within the Danish culture, but then again, I may be mistaken. Before being able to jump to conclusions on what I believe, data needs recollecting. The following questions for measuring consumer awareness of fair trade may be relevant when considering whether fair trade plays a role in the cultural aspect of Danish society:

1) (1.1) I know what fair trade is (1.2) I know what fair trade products my local supermarket sells (1.3) I know what the Max Hevelaar label looks like

Strongly Agree

Strongly disagree

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

(1.4) I have recently seen the advertisements for Fair Trade on the bus stops in Aarhus

If fair trade does form part of the Danish culture, we could expect the answers to these questions to be more oriented towards the strongly agree side of the scale (except for the last one of these questions which will depend on whether the person lives in Aarhus or not or was actually in Aarhus at the time of the advertising). A consumers culture cannot simply have an affect on his awareness about a certain topic such as fair trade, but it can also have a big impact on his behaviour towards fair trade. In fact, as mentioned beforehand, I consider that buying organic food has more or less become part of the Danish culture in the way that more and more people are buying these types of products.

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The following questions are made up to understand consumer behaviour in general, as well as his behaviour towards fair trade:

2) (2.1) I buy fair trade food products (2.2) I buy organic food products (2.3) I respond to promotion when food shopping (2.4) I take price of food products into consideration when shopping (2.5) I tend to buy the same products over and over again when I go food shopping

Always

Never

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

The various questions asked within this box were made up according to the issues which were mentioned during the focus groups. In fact, an answer to one of the questions such as I take price of food products into consideration when shopping may reveal why a person may not be inclined to purchasing fair trade products (which are generally more expensive than conventional food products). Later on within the survey, the question whether price poses a problem when it comes to purchasing fair trade products will be asked directly, this will enable me to confirm the price factor which may influence the amount of fair trade food products purchased by Danish consumers. Furthermore, it may also be interesting to compare consumers who purchase organic products to ones that purchase fair trade products. Are these types of behaviour related? I would expect more positive answers from Danish consumers related to the purchase of organic food products than related to fair trade food products. One of the reasons is because organic food products are more available and are now purchased by more and more Danes. I consider the purchase of these products has become part of the Danes culture in a way whereas fair trade does not seem to be as present within their every day lives. Two other questions were also asked which directly relate to typical consumer behaviour: that is the degree to which one responds to promotions and the degree to which one automatically buys the same products when one goes shopping. These types of behaviours may also differ from one culture to another, but also from one consumer to another. 58

Furthermore, a consumers behavioural intention may be closely linked to this cultural explanation in a way that if fair trade was part of the Danes culture, a Danish consumers intention to purchase a fair trade food product would probably be higher than if it is not part of their culture. The following question may be taken in consideration for explaining this idea:

3) Likely Unlikely (3.1) The next time you go food shopping how likely are you to purchase a fair trade product (3.2) You would purchase fair trade food products if it were trendy to 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

The second question was added according to the subject being brought up by various respondents during the focus group discussions. In fact, many claimed that buying organic food products had now become trendy in Denmark and believed that fair trade would be purchased more frequently if it were fashionable to. Behavioural beliefs may also be explained by a consumers culture to a certain extent. The question related to what the consumer believes purchasing a fair trade food product will entail or what the outcome will be (My purchasing a fair trade product will) which was used within Toulouse et als study was used again within my study. I nevertheless added one element which was mentioned during two of the focus group discussions: My purchasing a fair trade product will entail purchasing a fashionable product During the focus group discussions the fact that when something is trendy and fashionable everybody starts behaving in the same way was mentioned. According to a large number of the respondents from the focus groups, when something becomes fashionable it gradually becomes

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part of a persons culture and every day life. This means it gradually becomes a characteristic pattern of their behaviour. Nevertheless, these questions may only be relevant to the younger generation of mainstream consumers, and I would expect negative answers to these statements from consumers with accentuated ethical concerns who decide to purchase these types of products for other reasons than fashion. Ethical obligation which also has an impact on the ethical behaviour of consumers according to the modified version of the Theory of Planned Behaviour may also differ from one culture to another. In fact, when ethical obligation becomes part of a societys culture, there are more probabilities that a person will behave ethically. Nevertheless, this behaviour may not always be related to fair trade, that is why I have included other questions (than the ones used in Toulouse et als study) which do not relate to fair trade but are linked to ethical obligations in general. These questions will enable me to discover whether ethical obligation forms part of the Danes culture. The questions for measuring ethical obligation are as follows: 12) I feel that I have an ethical obligation Strongly agree (12.1) to collaborate in as many ethical issues as possible (12.2) to purchase fair trade grocery products (12.3) but would not necessarily purchase fair trade products (12.4) I do not feel that I have an ethical obligation Strongly disagree

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

The measure of ethical obligation which was also included within Toulouse et al.s study on ethical decision making in France, was included as suggested by Sparks et al. (1995). In fact, according to Sparks et al., measures of perceived ethical obligation [] did provide a significant contribution to the prediction of attitudes. We can therefore believe that if a person feels that he does have an ethical obligation, he may be more inclined to have a positive attitude towards fair trade. 60

I added questions to see whether this ethical obligation variable can really be related to a persons act of purchasing fair trade products. In fact, I tend to believe that not all people who do feel they have an ethical obligation will automatically be inclined to think that they should purchase fair trade products. Furthermore, some respondents may not feel an ethical obligation at all. Self-identity and an index of ethical concerns followed the structure as suggested by Sparks and Shepherd (1992). Toulouse et al. also used this structure within their research. The questions for measuring ethical concerns were not modified for my survey as no other ethical concerns were highlighted during the focus group discussions. Nevertheless, two questions were added for measuring self-identity since some respondents mentioned the fact that they would be more concerned about ethical issues (and would consider it as forming part of their self-identity) providing they had more free time which would enable them to. Furthermore, other respondents also mentioned the fact that sometimes people actively collaborate with many ethical issues in order to feel good with themselves and to be socially recognised: in other words, collaborating in these issues becomes part of their self-identity. The questions relating to a persons self-identity regarding ethical issues is as follows:

13) I think of myself as someone who Strongly agree (13.1) is concerned about ethical issues. (13.2) collaborates with many ethical issues (13.3) has not got enough time to be concerned about ethical issues Strongly disagree

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

I personally found it was important to distinguish between a person who perceives ethical issues as forming part of his self-identity, and a person who perceives himself as someone who is actively ethically concerned. I personally believe this clearly relates to fair trade: in fact, a person may be concerned about third world issues (to the extent that these concerns become part of his self-identity) and he may believe in the benefits of fair trade, but may not necessarily be inclined to purchase fair trade products. 61

The questions which I have added to the basic questionnaire used by Toulouse et al. highlight the fact that, even if the content of culture includes the beliefs, attitudes, goals, and values held by most people in a society, as well as the meanings of characteristic behaviours, rules, customs, and norms that most people follow, there may be big differences from one person to another within the same culture. In fact, a persons self-identity and ethical concerns may for example be totally different to another persons self-identity and ethical concerns, even if these two people are living under the same roof. This can also be the case for a persons attitude and behaviour although it may not be as noticeable due to the social environment effect (which I will discuss further on in my study). Within the next part of my study I will explain how cultural meaning can be analysed and I will then explain why it is important to differentiate respondents within a same culture in order to get a better understanding of their beliefs, attitudes and behaviour regarding fair trade.

9.3.3) How can cultural meaning be analysed?

Cultural meaning can be analysed at different levels. Often, culture is analysed at macro level of an entire society or country. However, cross-cultural differences do not always coincide with national borders (Peter et al., 1999). And I believe that even within an entire society, beliefs can differ from one individual to another. Therefore, I will be inclined to analysing cultural meanings of subcultures or social classes.

9.3.3.1) Culture as a process

Understanding the content of culture is useful for designing effective marketing strategies, but we can also think about culture as a process (Peter et al., 1999). According to Shalom H. Schwartz (1994), cultural meaning is present in three locations: in the social and physical environment, in products and services, and in individual consumers. The cultural process describes how this cultural meaning is moved about or transferred between these locations by the actions of organizations (business, government, religion, education) and by individuals in society. According to Peter et al., there are two ways that meaning is transferred in a consumption-oriented society. First, marketing strategies are designed to move cultural meanings from the physical and social environment into products and services in an attempt to make them attractive to consumers. Second, consumers 62

actively seek to acquire these cultural meanings in products in order to establish a desirable personal identity or self-concept. During the focus group discussions, the purchase of organic food products was often mentioned as a trendy behaviour. In fact, the respondents mentioned that purchasing organic food products is often regarded as a means for acquiring a cultural meaning as it is now fashionable to purchase these types of products and such a behaviour enables them to establish a desirable personal identity. During the focus groups discussions the fact that marketing strategies had made these products attractive to the consumer when they were first launched was also highlighted. However, are organizations that deal with fair trade able to develop effective marketing strategies and make fair trade products attractive for consumers? I personally believe that they have a big challenge as they lack the resources for implementing effective marketing strategies and, form simple observation, fair trade seems far from being part of the Danish culture and physical and social environment. Within this last paragraph, the importance of a consumers social and physical environment was mentioned in that marketing strategies are designed to move cultural meanings from the physical and social environment into products and services in an attempt to make them attractive to consumers. I will discuss in more detail in the next paragraphs the role that the environment, both social and physical, plays on consumer behaviour.

9.3.3.2) The Environment

The environment refers to all the physical and social characteristics of a consumers external world, including physical objects (products and stores), spatial relationships (location of stores and products in stores), and the social behaviour of other people (who is around what they are doing). (Peter et al., 1999). Marketers are especially interested in the interpreted environment, sometimes called the functional (or perceived) environment, because this is what influences consumers actions. Because each consumer has a unique set of knowledge, meanings and beliefs, the perceived or functional environment for each consumer will be somewhat different (Peter et al., 1999). I will mention how the differences between respondents will be taken in consideration in my questionnaire later on in my study. I will first of all give a more detailed description of each one these environments and explain how they may influence a consumers beliefs, attitudes and behaviour regarding fair trade products. 63

a) Social environment

Broadly defined, the social environment includes all social interactions between and among people. Consumers can interact with other people either directly (you might discuss the fair trade concept with a friend, or the fair trade products which are available in your local supermarket for example) or vicariously (you observe other people buying fair trade food products in the supermarket or watch an important business man discussing the fair trade concept on television). It is useful to distinguish between macro and micro levels of the social environment. The macro social environment refers to the indirect and vicarious social interactions among very large groups of people. Researchers have studied three macro social environments culture, subculture, and social class that have broad and powerful influences on the values, beliefs, attitudes, emotions, and behaviours of individual consumers in those groups (Peter et al., 1999). I have mentioned the influences culture may have on an individual consumer and I will explain how social class and subcultures may influences the values, beliefs, attitudes, emotions, and behaviours of individual consumers later on in my study. The micro social environment includes face-to-face social interactions among smaller groups of people such as families and reference groups. These direct social interactions can have strong influences on consumers knowledge and feelings about products, stores, or ads and on their consumption behaviour. In fact, people learn acceptable and inappropriate behaviours and acquire many of their values, beliefs, and attitudes through direct social interaction with their families and reference groups. These reference groups and their influence a consumers behaviour are taken into consideration within the Theory of Planned Behaviour under the variables normative beliefs (and motivation to comply) and subjective norms. A more precise explanation of how reference groups and family have major influences in the micro social environment will be given within the next paragraphs.

Reference Groups and Family

Two major influences in the micro social environment can be distinguished: Families and Reference Groups. References groups and family are important in transmitting (moving) cultural meanings in the overall society, subcultures, and social class to individual consumers.

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- Reference Groups A reference group involves one or more people that someone uses as a basis for comparison or point of reference in forming affective and cognitive responses and performing behaviours. Reference Groups are cultural groups in that members share certain common cultural meanings. These reference groups can influence the affective and cognitive responses of consumers as well as their purchase and consumption behaviour. Reference groups can have both positive and negative effects on consumers. Many social groups incorporate desirable, positive cultural meanings and become associative reference groups that consumers want to emulate or be affiliated with. Other social groups embody unfavourable or distasteful meanings and serve as a negative point of reference that people want to avoid; they become dissociative reference groups (Peter et al., 1999). When conducting the focus group interviews, one of the respondents mentioned the fact that buying fair trade products was seen as a hippy thing and that many Danes want to avoid being seen as a hippy. In other words, this respondent was clearly referring to the people who normally purchase fair trade as a dissociative reference group which would stop many other Danish consumers from purchasing fair trade. Nevertheless, Asger Aamund (important businessman and one of the spokesmen for fair trade in Denmark) was also mentioned during the focus group discussions. Here again, some respondents agreed that he was a positive reference, whereas others claimed that they would consider him as a negative point of reference. Throughout my study I would like to discover whether reference groups have a positive or negative impact on Danish consumer behaviour regarding fair trade products.

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Questions such as the following will be used to elicit the influence of reference groups:

7) Very likely (7.1) If important people within the Danish society support fair trade, I will also support it (7.2) Most people who are important to me think I should purchase fair trade grocery products (7.3) If a fair trade food product is available in the shops, my closest friends will buy it Unlikely

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Nevertheless, reference groups are not the only factors which may influence an individual consumer. In fact, as mentioned before, a consumers family may have a great impact on his beliefs, attitude and behaviour.

-Family Marketers are highly interested in family decision making how family members interact and influence each other when making purchase choices for the household. Children- both younger kids and teenagers - can have a major influence on the budget allocation decisions and purchase choices made by the family. Although the influence on family purchase decision vary by product category, studies have shown that it is highest for child-related products like toys and for food products (Peter et al., 1999). I personally am inclined to believe that children will not directly influence their parents into buying fair trade food products as they will be more attracted by conventional food products which are more advertised. Nevertheless, I believe children may have an indirect influence on the purchase of fair trade food products through their influence on the purchase of organic food products which parents buy since they perceive them as healthier for their children. In fact, during one of the focus group interviews one of the respondents who works in Fotex mentioned that she has observed an increase in the number of young parents buying organic food products. Although I may be mistaken, I am inclined to believe that parents who do buy organic food products (that is, who 66

behave ethically) may also be inclined to purchasing fair trade food products. In fact, I think that one ethical behaviour will lead to another. I therefore tend to believe that there is a link between the influences of children and the purchase of organic food products, which in turn will lead to the purchase of fair trade food products. In order to get a better insight of this link, a question will be asked about the number of children living within the respondents household. Things having been said, the questions asked within my questionnaire to elicit the influences of reference groups, family and other people (such as reference groups) present within a consumers social environment will be as follows:

8) Please indicate below how likely it is that the following groups think you should purchase fair trade grocery products: Very likely (8.1) friends (8.2) family (8.3)fair trade producers (8.4) ethical organizations (e.g. charities, environmental groups, etc.) (8.5) multinationals (8.6) retailers who stock fair trade products (8.7) important Danish business men such as Asger Aamund (8.8) Danish politicians Very unlikely

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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9) Please indicate below how much, in general, you want to do what the following groups think you should do: Very much (9.1) friends (9.2) family (9.3) fair trade producers (9.4) ethical organizations (e.g. charities, environmental groups, etc.) (9.5) multinationals (9.6) retailers who stock fair trade products (9.7) important Danish business men such as Asger Aamund (9.8) Danish politicians Not at all

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Although business men and politicians were not referred to as reference groups in the study undertaken on ethical decision making in France, I considered they were important individuals to take into consideration when considering the effect they may have on a consumers behaviour regarding fair trade. I considered they needed to be taken into consideration not only because political stance was often mentioned during the focus group discussions but also because at the time I was undertaking the focus group discussions, fair trade was been promoted by an important business man in Denmark.6

Although the elements present in a consumers social environment such as the ones enumerated in the question above may have an influence on a consumers beliefs, attitude and behaviour regarding fair trade, other elements present within the consumers physical environment also need to be taken in consideration.

There are many examples of the use of reference group concepts in advertising which may involve celebrities (Peter et al.). During the month of February, Asger Aamund discussed fair trade on Danish television. He is apparently a traditional business man who many Danes look up to and he may have an influence on Danish consumers beliefs, attitudes and behaviour regarding fair trade. 68

b) The physical environment

The physical environment includes all the nonhuman, physical aspects of the field in which consumer behaviour occurs. Virtually any aspect of the physical environment can affect consumer behaviour (Peter et al., 1999). When referring to this physical environment related to fair trade within my study, I will include everything from advertising of fair trade to fair trade product availability in supermarkets. I believe that a consumers physical environment can have an impact on his awareness of fair trade, his beliefs, his attitude towards the concept as well as his ethical behaviour: I tend to believe that this physical environment is one of the main factors which has a negative impact on consumer behaviour related to fair trade. In fact, as I have mentioned beforehand, fair trade lacks promotion and fair trade products are seldom available. Questions were included in my questionnaire that may elicit the influence of a consumers physical environment on his awareness of fair trade and his intention of purchasing fair trade products, which in turn will influence his behaviour. Furthermore, I also consider that it is important to mention and take into consideration other factors that cannot be directly related to a consumers physical or social environment but that may have an influence on a consumers behaviour.

c) Other factors which may influence a consumers behaviour

- Money Money is the amount a person must spend to purchase a product or service. Research has shown that the same monetary amount may be perceived differently by different individuals and market segments, depending on income levels and other variables (Peter et al., 1999). Therefore, the price of a fair trade food product may have a negative impact on the ethical buying behaviour of some, but not all, consumers. During the focus group discussions some respondents mentioned the high price of fair trade products as one of the reasons why they would not buy these types of products, whereas other respondents said that they would pay the premium since it is for a good cause and they did not consider the price difference being that big.

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Value

According to Peter et al. (1999), it seems that whatever is being purchased must be perceived as being of greater value to the consumer than merely the sum of the costs. In other words, the consumer should perceive the purchase of fair trade food products as offering benefits greater than the costs. While this view of price is useful, we want to restate that consumers seldom (if ever) finely calculate each of these costs and benefits in making purchase decisions. Rather, for many types of consumer packaged goods, the amounts of money, time, cognitive activity, and behaviour effort required for a purchase are very similar (Peter et al., 1999). Nevertheless, all of these factors which are normally taken into consideration when purchasing a packaged good seem to go against a person buying fair trade. In fact, fair trade products are generally more expensive, need to be actively looked for in the supermarket, need to be compared to other conventional food products whose quality may seem more trustworthy, all of which leads to the consumer making more of an effort as a whole when purchasing a fair trade product. -

Time

Time has become more precious to many people as the pace of family life gets more hectic and as more families have two wage earners or are headed by single parents (Klaus G. Grunert, Suzanne C. Grunert, 1995). Millions of people are stressed about time, believe they dont have enough of it, and are striving to save it. This entails me to believe that some consumers may consider that they do not have enough time to be ethically concerned, which in turn will negatively affect their behaviour related to fair trade food products. Furthermore, even the ethical behaviour (related to fair trade) of consumers who are ethically concerned may be negatively influenced by the time factor. In fact, these people are prime candidates for convenience products of all types that can save time, which then can be used for more enjoyable or profitable purposes (Peter et al., 1999). Although these convenience products are more expensive, people may prefer spending their money on ready made meals, which in turn may lead them to not want to spend money on other more expensive food products such as fair trade products. Furthermore, many of these people see shopping as a stressful chore that interferes with their leisure. Many consumers have developed time-saving shopping strategies such as having a ready made list of products that need buying or automatically buying the same products over and over again. When I asked the respondents during the focus group discussions how they generally food 70

shopped, most of them tended to agree that they practically always purchased the same brands or food products over and over again when they knew they were satisfied with it. In fact, cognitive work involved in comparing purchase alternatives is often considered as stressful, and some consumers find it very difficult and dislike making purchase (or other types) of decisions (Peter et al., 1999). Only few respondents said that they took the time to actively look and compare products and were inclined to testing other products every now and again. Nevertheless, these respondents also said that they never really took any notice of fair trade food products, and are often more attracted to products that are on special offer.

All of the above mentioned factors may have a big impact on the consumers behaviour. The questions that I will include within my questionnaire to measure the influence of these factors will be taken into consideration by the questions related to general consumer behaviour (questions in box 2) as well as by the following questions related to the perceived behavioural control and the control beliefs variables.

10) Very easy (10.1) For me the purchase of fair trade food products is (10.2) For me, getting a good value for money fair trade food product is (10.3) For me, planning to buy a fair trade food product is Very difficult Dont know

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

0 0

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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11) Please indicate below whether or not you consider that the following are problems which affect the amount of fair trade grocery products which you purchase: Never a problem (11.1) availability (11.2) limited range (11.3) location of retail outlets (11.4) price (11.5)obtaining information regarding what products are fairly traded (11.6) availability in supermarkets Always a problem Dont know 0 0 0 0 0 0

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Although all of the above mentioned factors such as a consumers culture, his social and physical environment, and factors such as money, value and time can have an impact on a consumers ethical behaviour, not all consumers are influenced in the same way. In fact, as I have often mentioned, two consumers with the same culture and the same environment (both physical and social) may be influenced in totally different ways. Within the next part of my study I will explain these differences that may be encountered from one consumer to another and how I will take them into consideration within my study.

9.3.3.3) Differences in beliefs, attitudes and behaviour that may be encountered within the same society
Subcultures are distinctive groups of people in a society that share common cultural meanings for affective and cognitive responses (emotional reactions, beliefs, values, goals), behaviours (customs, scripts and rituals, behavioural norms), and environmental factors (living conditions, geographic location, important objects). Although most subcultures share some cultural meanings with the overall society and/or other subcultures, some of a subcultures meanings are unique and distinctive (Peter et al., 1999). 72

Some major types of subcultures which are commonly analysed in a consumer behaviour context are as follows: geographic, age and gender subcultures. All of these subcultures will also be taken in consideration within my research.

Geographic subculture

National boundaries are a result of a host of factors: historical, political, economic among others. Regions within countries are commonly known to differ in terms of various aspects of consumer behaviour and can therefore be treated as subcultures. A Danish consumer living in the countryside may not perceive or have access to fair trade food products in the same way as a person living in Aarhus city. Geographic location will therefore be taken into consideration within my research although I believe that in our modern western societies, differences between people living in one geographic location and another one are not as accentuated as they used to be.

Age subculture

Age subcultures can also be analysed as subcultures because they often have distinctive values and behaviours. Within my research the target group I will study will correspond to the Danish normal population of consumers. I will discuss the sampling procedure later on in my study.

Gender as subculture

Despite the modern tendency to downplay differences between men and women, there is ample evidence that men and women differ in important respects. For example, women seem to be more generous than men (Peter et al., 1999) and tend to value possessions that can enhance personal and social relationships. Compared to most men, women seem to value caring to controlling, sharing to selfishness, and cooperating to dominating. This tendency was made clear during the focus group discussions with more female than male respondents being aware of and having more of a positive attitude to fair trade. Furthermore, most female respondents seemed more ethically concerned than the male respondents. Nevertheless, this observation needs confirming with the conclusive research.

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Social class

Generally social class as a marketing concept has become less useful in Europe over the past decades, because rises in the general level of income and education have blurred many of the differences traditionally associated with consumption behaviour of social classes (Peter et al., 1999). Furthermore, according to Peter et al., the change is most pronounced in the Scandinavian countries, where one of the major ingredients of social class income has to an extent been redistributed through heavy taxation and considerable social welfare. Although social class still exists in the mind of some people in these countries, I will not take it into consideration within my research as questions related to a respondents education, occupation and level of income may lead to the respondent feeling uncomfortable. I will nevertheless include two questions that were not used within Toulouse et al.s questionnaire. These questions will be related to the place where the respondents normally shop and to their political stance. I consider these are important questions since I believe they can be strongly related to why some consumers may be lead to buying fair trade products and others may not. First of all, by knowing where a person generally does his food shopping, one can see whether this person is more preoccupied by the quality of the food products he buys or by the price he pays for them. For example, a person that shops in Netto (which is known to be a more economical supermarket than Fotex) may not buy fair trade food products because he purposely shops in Netto to avoid paying high prices when food shopping. Secondly, I consider that the question related to political stance was also important to include within my questionnaire. In fact, ethical and political consumer concerns are often considered to be inherently interlinked (Micheletti et al., 2003), and politics was often mentioned throughout the focus group discussions. Throughout the discussions, it seemed that respondents with more of a left-wing political orientation were more pro-fair trade and generally more interested in the topic than respondents with more of a right-wing political orientation who often disagreed with the whole concept and believed it was a set up by governments and multinationals.

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By including a question related to political orientation within my questionnaire, this link between ethical and political consumer concerns may be confirmed. Now that all the information which needs to be taken into consideration within my conclusive research has been defined, more precise details for setting up a proper questionnaire need to be specified.

CHAPTER 10: Format of the questionnaire

10.1) Specification of the measurement and scaling processes

Measurement means assigning numbers or symbols to characteristics of objects. In marketing research, numbers are usually assigned as they permit statistical analysis of the resulting data (Malhotra, 1999). Scaling may be considered as an extension of measurement. Scaling involves creating a continuum on which measured objects are located (Malhotra, 1999). Within my research, I will use a scale for locating consumers according to how they respond to the questions that relate to each variable which makes up the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour. These scales will provide me with numerical scores that can be used to compare individuals and groups (Sommer, 2002).

10.1.1) Measurement specification

Data analysis involves the partitioning, analysis, identification, and measurement of variation in a set of variables, either among themselves or between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables (Hair et al., 1998). Without measurement, a researcher cannot partition or identify variation unless it can be measured. This therefore means that measurement is a crucial part of my research. A correct measurement specification will enable me to measure the data recollected efficiently.

Measurement specification according to data type

There are two basic kinds of data: non-metric (qualitative) and metric (quantitative). Non-metric data are attributes, characteristics, or categorical properties that identify or describe a subject. Non75

metric data describe differences in type or kind by indicating the presence or absence of a characteristic or property (Hair et al., 1998). In contrast, metric data measurements are made so that subjects may be identified as differing in amount or degree (Hair et al., 1998). Within my research, I will use both metric and non-metric measurements. Non-metric measurements will be used to characterize the respondent according to his age, gender, political stance, etc. thanks to a nominal type scale; and the metric measurements will be used to measure consumers awareness, beliefs, attitudes, etc. towards fair trade and other ethical concerns thanks to an interval scale which will then enable me to rank the different individuals or group of individuals according to the numerical distances scored on the scale.

10.1.2) Rating scale decisions

Many things need to be taken into consideration when deciding which scale should be used for the questionnaire.

Number of categories

According to Malhotra (1996), although there is no single, optimal number, traditional guidelines suggest that there should be between five and nine categories. Furthermore, according to Kai Kristensen, the larger the scale used, the more precise the results obtained will be since the standard deviation will be smaller. I decided to use a 10-point scale within my questionnaire as this type of scale is generally used when conducting surveys within the Danish society.

Balanced versus unbalanced

In general, the scale should be balanced to obtain objective data. Nevertheless, in order to force a response in one direction or another, a rating scale with an even number of categories (balanced) should be used. I feel that within my research, the respondents should either have a positive or negative answer to each one of my questions which are all related to ethical issues and the fair trade concept. Although some of the questions may not be relevant to consumers who are totally unaware about fair trade, I decided to keep a standardized-type questionnaire in order to compare answers obtained from the respondents who are aware of the fair trade concept and those who are not. I therefore decided to always be present when handing out the questionnaires to the respondents as to help them with any doubts they may encounter while answering the questionnaire. In fact, when 76

respondents were not aware of fair trade, I told them to answer all the other questions related to ethical issues.

Scales of measurement selected for my questionnaire

The questionnaire used for my conclusive research was developed to measure the components of the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour just like Toulouse et al.s.. In order to keep my conclusive research as reliable as possible I decided to design the questionnaire in a similar way to Toulouse et al.s. That is to say, just like Toulouse et al.: Questions to elicit behavioural intention, behavioural beliefs, attitudes towards the behaviour, subjective norm, normative beliefs and motivation to comply were structured as suggested by Ajzen & Fishbein (1980), and the measures for perceived behavioural control in accordance to Ajzen (1985) who says that in most applications of the theory, evaluative (eg. very important unimportant) and probabilistic (eg. very likely unlikely) semantic differential scales have been employed. Moreover, just like Toulouse et al., within my questionnaire, the outcome evaluation measure used an important to unimportant scale, which reflects that used by for example, Manstead et al. (1983) and Raats et al. (1995). The measure of ethical obligation takes on the format suggested by Sparks et al. (1995). Self-identity and an index of ethical concerns followed the structure as suggested by Sparks and Shepherd (1992). Beliefs underlying each of the model measures were drawn from Toulouse et al.s research on ethical decision making in France. To assure applicability of these beliefs, such as Toulouse et al. did, I undertook initial exploratory research by conducting three focus group discussions as mentioned beforehand. Some items additional to the ones used by Toulouse et al. were identified and added to my questionnaire. I also included some questions for measuring Danish consumers awareness of fair trade as well as questions for measuring their general consumer behaviour and their behaviour related to fair trade. Questions were also added for measuring their general ethical concerns (not necessarily related to fair trade). Consumers awareness was measured by a Likert-type scale (strongly agree strongly disagree) and consumer behaviour was measured by a evaluative (always never) semantic differential type scale. A Likert-type scale presents a list of statements on an issue to which the respondent indicates degree of agreement (Sommer, 2002). According to Sommer (2002), the first step for constructing a Likert-type scale is to collect statements on a topic from people holding a wide range of attitudes, from extremely favourable to extremely unfavourable. The statements

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added within my questionnaire correspond to statements mentioned during the focus group discussions.

Scoring the scales when analysing the data

During the first part of my data analysis, I will consider most of the items individually in order to get a first approach to and a better understanding of the outcomes. During the second part of my data analysis, I will treat each one of the scales as summated which will enable me to do a multiple regression analysis of the data. A summated scale aligns people according to how their responses add up (Fink, 2006). In this way, the score for each variable would be the algebraic sum of the persons responses to each one of the items which make up the variable. This type of scoring will enable me to simplify my data analysis and enable me to differentiate one group of individuals from another according to their responses to each one of the statements which make up the different variables.

10.2) Construction and pre-test of the questionnaire

10.2.1) Construction
According to Sommer (2002), when constructing a questionnaire, the number of questions included should be carefully taken into consideration (no desired information should be omitted, but the questionnaire should not be too long) and the questions should be clear and meaningful to the respondents. Nevertheless, Sommer specifies that no one writes a perfect questionnaire the first time and the secret of learning to write clear questions is practice, feedback, more practice, more feedback, and still more practice. I want to clarify that, although I am mainly basing my questionnaire on the one which was used by Toulouse et al., I have added questions to my questionnaire which may end up being insignificant. Furthermore, the original questionnaire that I set up was in English. This questionnaire was then translated into Danish in order to undertake the field work: that is, collecting data from Danish consumers. The translation of the questionnaire may also lead to errors. In order to avoid these errors, a back translation procedure was used. In back translation, the questionnaire is translated from the base language by a bilingual speaker whose native language is 78

the language into which the questionnaire is being translated. This version is then retranslated back into the original language by a bilingual whose native language is the initial or base language (Malhotra, 1996). This way, translation errors in the questionnaire were identified.

10.2.2) Layout
A self-administered questionnaire must begin with an introductory statement, present the questions in an easily read and easily answered format, and end with a note of thanks or appreciation (Sommer, 2002). I took these elements into consideration when setting up my questionnaire.

Question order

As suggested by Malhotra (1999), my questionnaire will begin with filter questions whose aim are to measure the consumers familiarity with the fair trade topic. These filter questions will enable me to filter out respondents who are not adequately informed, that is, respondents who are not fully aware of what the fair trade concept is. In fact, not all the answers provided by a respondent who is unaware of the fair trade concept should be taken into consideration because these answers will be inaccurate for the purpose of my research. Nevertheless, the number of respondents who are unaware of the fair trade topic as well as some of their answers such as the ones to the questions related to general ethical issues - will be taken into consideration when analysing the data obtained. Then, as suggested by Sommer (2002), the questionnaire must begin with factual, non-controversial questions (such as the ones related to consumer behaviour) which will help establish a good relationship with the respondent. These opening questions should be interesting, simple, and nonthreatening (Malhotra, 1999). Furthermore, as suggested by Kai Kristensen, the questions related to the endegeneous variables (that is, buying behaviour and intention) should be placed at the beginning of a questionnaire in order to not bias or influence the answers given to them. Finally, general questions on a topic should precede specific questions (Sommer, 2002). In fact, Malhotra (1999) considers that as a rule of thumb, general questions should precede the specific questions. I respected this rule when setting up my questionnaire. Finally, Sommer (2002) recommends the questionnaire should not begin with overly personal or sensitive questions regarding political opinions for example. These personal types of questions were therefore asked at the end of my questionnaire. 79

10.2.3) Pre-testing the questionnaire

Pre-testing refers to the testing of the questionnaire on a small sample of respondents in order to identify and eliminate potential problems (Malhotra, 1999). According to Malhotra, as a general rule, a questionnaire should not be used in the field survey without adequate pre-testing. I tested all aspects of the questionnaire including question content, wording, form and layout, question difficulty, and instructions on a sample of fifteen respondents drawn from the Danish consumer society (which corresponds to the population I will be conducting the survey on once it is ready). I did encounter difficulties when conducting the survey on respondents that were unaware of the fair trade concept but decided to purposely keep a standardized questionnaire in order to compare the results obtained from the different groups of consumers when analysing the data.

CHAPTER 11: Specification of the sampling process and sample size

11.1) A classification of sampling techniques

According to Sommer (2002), the key issue in sampling is to select an unbiased assortment. There are two general ways of constructing samples: probability (representative) sampling and nonprobability sampling (Sommer, 2002). Within my study I will use both representative and non-probability sampling. On the one hand, I will use a representative sampling technique in order to get answers from consumers within the Danish society with accentuated ethical concerns. I will have access to these respondents by conducting my surveys in a specialized shop in Aarhus that sells organic and fair trade food products. On the other hand, although non-probability samples are generally not an accurate representation of the population, these types of samples may yield good estimates of the population characteristics (Malhotra, 1999). I will use this type of sampling within my study in order to get an estimation of the characteristics of the general Danish consumer society and how the various consumers respond

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to ethical issues. The type of non-probability sampling I chose to use corresponds to a convenience sample which consists in taking what you can get. (Sommer, 2002). Using these two sampling techniques will enable me to compare the results obtained from one group of respondents to the other when I come to analyse the data obtained.

11.2) The sample size

According to Sommer (2002), large samples provide more reliable and representative data than small samples. Nevertheless, when deciding on sample size, one needs to consider both statistical logic and practicality. The reduction in sampling error that results from a large sample may not be worth the extra time and effort required to obtain the additional data (Sommer, 2002). Furthermore, increasing sample size does not necessarily decrease sampling error, but it may also increase nonsampling error, for example by increasing interviewer errors (Malhotra, 1996), such as the ones that may occur when typing in the data. I therefore decided to focus on obtaining 100 observations from the group of consumers with accentuated ethical concerns and 200 observations from the group of respondents which will represent the general Danish consumer society. Taking into consideration that the size of the sample has a direct impact on the statistical power of the significance testing in multiple regression, and that, as a rule of thumb, there should be at least 20 times more cases than independents variables (Ho Robert, 2006), these two sample sizes can be considered as a good target for my study since the explanatory power of five independent variables on the endegeneous variable intention will be analysed. Finally, the aim of having access to these two different samples is to, first of all compare the results obtained from one sample to the other, and then, once the two data sets are put together later on in my study, compare the results obtained between consumers who purchase fair trade food products with some regularity and those who never/rarely purchase these types of products.

Chapter 12: Field work and data collection process

12.1) The questionnaire

According to Sommer (2002), eye appeal is important. In fact, the respondents will need to be stimulated to respond voluntarily to my questionnaire. I therefore decided to make the printed 81

layout of the questionnaire as attractive as possible by using a simple but clear presentation of the questions grouped into different boxes according the variables they represent. I will distribute each one of these printed questionnaires individually and be present when the respondents answer the questionnaire in case difficulties are encountered when answering the questionnaire.

PART VI: ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS

.CHAPTER 13: Preparing for data analysis Once all of the questionnaires had been filled in, all of the data needed recollecting. I decided to use the SPSS programme in which I directly entered the data obtained for each statement from each respondent into a spreadsheet. This would later on enable me to do a descriptive analysis of the data as well as various multiple regression analysis in order to get a better insight as to which factors could be considered as the main drivers in explaining the ethical behavioural intentions of the various respondents who answered my survey. I decided to use two separate data sheet: one data sheet was used for the answers obtained from the consumers representing the general Danish consumer society, the other data sheet was used for the answers obtained from the consumers with more accentuated ethical concerns. Once the data was entered, before undertaking any type of descriptive analysis thanks to the SPSS computer programme, I first of all had to reverse the scale for all of the variables except for the Perceived behavioural Control and Control Beliefs variables. By reversing the scales I would be able to do my analysis in a more simple and logical manner (as, once the scales reversed, the higher the positive relation to the statement, the higher the number obtained on the scale). I did not modify the scales of the two variables mentioned above since with the scales left as they were laid out in the questionnaire, I would find it easier to interpret the degree of difficulty encountered by the respondents when purchasing a fair trade food product.

CHAPTER 15: Descriptive analysis and comparison of the results obtained from the two samples

15.1) Demographics description

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Before starting to analyse any of the data obtained, I filtered out observations which could be considered as outliers. Once this was done, I was left with a reliable data base which could be analysed in different ways. I started with a descriptive analysis as to get a first approach to the results obtained from one group of respondents to the other. In order to make my descriptive analysis a little clearer, I will refer to each one of the groups of respondents as Sample 1 (representing the general Danish consumer society) and as Sample 2 (representing the specifically selected Danish consumers with accentuated ethical concerns)

General society (Sample 1)

Out of the 171 respondents from the general Danish consumer society, 49% were male and 50% were female, with 1% not specifying their gender. In terms of age, 50% were aged 20-26 years, 15% were aged 27-33 years, 12% were aged 34-40 years, 9% were aged 41-47 years, 10% were aged 48-54 years and 4% were aged 55-61 years. In terms of political stance, 46% were more leftwing tendency, 25% were centre tendency, 13% were right wing tendency and 16% preferred not to specify or did not vote. Out of all of these respondents, only 8% claimed that they were part of an organization which deals with fair trade.

Purposely selected ethically concerned consumers (Sample 2)

Out of the 116 ethically concerned respondents who were interviewed in the specialized shop (Ren Kost), 24% were male and 76% were female. One of the possible reasons there were more female respondents could be explained by the fact that the questionnaires were being handed out in a store, and although it is not always the case, I believe that more women tend to normally do the food shopping. In terms of age, 10% were aged 20-26 years, 15% were aged 27-33 years, 21% were aged 34-40 years, 15% were aged 41-47 years, 19% were aged 48-54 years and 21% were aged 55-61 years. In terms of political stance, 72% were more left-wing tendency, 10% were more centre tendency, 3% were right wing tendency and 14% did not want to specify or did not vote. These high percentages of respondents with a left-wing political tendency comes to (in some way) confirm what was mentioned during the focus groups: that is, that normally people who are considered as more ethically concerned tend to have a left-wing orientation. Out of all of these respondents, 16% claimed that they were part of an organization which deals with fair trade.

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Although the age category of the respondents is not homogeneously distributed throughout the two samples which may lead to some bias in the results obtained, I must nevertheless specify that there is a reason for this difference between the age categories of the respondents. In fact, one of the reasons the group of respondents with accentuated ethical concerns practically all correspond to adult/older consumers could be that the choice of behaving ethically (that is, buying organic or fair trade food products for example) carries a price which younger generation consumers often cannot afford to pay: practically no consumer aged between 20 and 26 years old entered the shop where I was conducting the surveys.

14.2) Description of the results obtained for each statement in the questionnaire and differences encountered from one sample to the other
Degree of awareness

In addition to the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour measures, the survey also included a measure of the degree of awareness of the actual fair trade concept since this survey was not only directed to consumers with accentuated ethical attitudes, and therefore not all respondents were expected to know what fair trade is. In order to make the analysis more simple throughout my study, I reduced the scale to a 3 point scale by adding the percentages obtained for the 4 highest point scales from my 10-point scale and by adding the percentages obtained for the 4 lowest point scales. The 2 middle point scales were also added to obtain a mid-class answer.

Sample 1 Among the general society 68% of the respondents claimed that they know what fair trade is, 9% were not certain of the significance of the concept and 23% claimed that they did not know what fair trade is. In terms of knowing which fair trade products are available in their local supermarkets, 29% of the respondents claimed that they are aware of the fair trade products that are available within their local supermarket, 15% were uncertain and 56% claimed that they do not know. When it comes to knowing what the Max Havelaar label looks like, 59% claimed to know what it resembles, 5% were uncertain about it and 36% did not know what the label looks like. When it comes to the amount of respondents that noticed the fair trade advertisements on the bus stops in Aarhus, only 21% claimed that they noticed these advertisements. Nevertheless, although this 84

statement gives us an idea as to the low amount of respondents who actually noticed the advertisements for fair trade, it is not a good measure of consumer awareness regarding fair trade as many of the respondents may not have been in Aarhus at the time of the advertising. However, from observing the data I recollected, there is a close relation between the number of respondents that noticed the advertising and their general awareness of fair trade. In fact, none of the respondents who do not know what fair trade is noticed these advertisements. (I will highlight this point a little later on in my study). By briefly looking at these statistical outcomes it becomes clear that fair trade is not a concept everybody is aware of among the general Danish consumer society. Moreover, when comparing awareness of fair trade between one gender and another, it seems that the female respondents are slightly more aware of the concept than the male respondents.

Sample 2 Among the ethically concerned consumers, 7% claimed that they do not know what fair trade is although they shop in a store where fair trade products are on offer (which I found quite surprising!). In terms of knowing which fair trade products are available in their local supermarkets, 60% claimed that they are aware of what products are on offer against 21% who claimed that they do not know. When it comes to knowing what the Max Havelaar label looks like, 88% claimed that they are aware of what the label resembles. These results clearly show that there is a difference between the two groups of respondents. In fact, the degree of awareness related to fair trade is much higher among the group of purposely selected ethically concerned consumers. It was nevertheless surprising that even among the ethically concerned consumers, some of the respondents do not know what the fair trade concept consists of. Here again, when comparing the degree of awareness of fair trade from one gender to another, it seems as if the female respondents have a slightly higher degree of awareness of the concept. On the other hand, I also wanted to measure to what degree the FairTrade advertisements on the bus stops in Aarhus were noticed by the different respondents. In order to get a more correct measurement of the degree by which the advertisements were noticed, I decided to put my two sets of data into one data base (made up by 287 respondents) and then reduce this data base by filtering it down as to only include the respondents who live in Aarhus or in the outskirts of Aarhus. Although the following interpretation cannot be considered as very reliable since many factors need to be taken into consideration such as the fact that some of the respondents may not have been in 85

Aarhus at the time FairTrade was being advertised on the bus stops, or the fact that some of the respondents may not have noticed these advertisements because they do not take the bus or do not generally pay attention to the advertisements which are on the bus stops throughout the city; the results obtained reflect in some way what I was expecting. In fact, just as I was expecting, there is a tendency in that consumers who claim to be more aware of the fair trade concept actually noticed these advertisements more than those who are not aware of the concept (or are less aware of the concept). The results from this interpretation can be seen on the Graph below.

Graph showing the relation between consumers awareness of the fair trade concept and them noticing the advertisements for Fair Trade on the bus stops throughout the city of Aarhus.

Mean 1.4 I have recently seen the adevertisements for Fair Trade on the bus stops in Aarhus

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1.1 I know what fair trade is

Things having been said, I must say that this interpretation leads me to highly believe that before fair trade can be advertised to mainstream consumers, the first thing that needs clearly explaining 86

to the general consumer society is what fair trade actually is, only then will advertisements for this concept possibly catch their attention. This said, I strongly believe that making the fair trade concept more aware of throughout the Danish consumer society before engaging into advertising FairTrade as such is crucial if future advertising wants to have an effect on the sales of fair trade products in Denmark.

Consumer behaviour

Coming back to the description and comparison of the results I obtained from each one of my samples in the Danish consumer society, just as Toulouse et al. did for their study on ethical decision making in France, I also included a measure of past behaviour regarding the purchase of fair trade food products. I nevertheless decided to also add questions for measuring general consumer behaviour regarding the purchase of organic food products and behaviour related to promotions and automatic re-buy which I also thought could be considered as factors which could have an influence (either positive or negative) on a consumers purchase of fair trade food products. First of all, it must be said that a clear difference was found in the consumer behaviour of the sample of consumers with accentuated ethical attitudes and the consumer behaviour of the sample of consumers selected in the general society. In fact, within the sample of consumers from the general society there seems to be no or very little relation between the purchase of organic food products and the purchase of fair trade products: 46% of these consumers claim that they purchase organic food products on a regular basis against only 12% who claim that they purchase fair trade products on a regular basis. Within the sample of consumers with accentuated ethical attitudes, the purchase of organic and fair trade products seems somewhat more correlated although the purchase of fair trade products is still much lower than the purchase of organic food products: 42% of these respondents claim that they purchase fair trade food products against 89% that purchase organic food products on a regular basis. Although the amount of fair trade food products this sample of ethically concerned respondents purchases is higher than the amount Sample 1 purchases, it still is somewhat low in comparison to the amount of organic food products purchased by this second sample. In terms of how the consumers in the different samples respond to promotions, price and automatic re-buy when food shopping, the results are somewhat similar. In fact, the two groups of respondents claim that they do not respond to promotions but are often entailed to repurchasing the same 87

product automatically. Although both group of respondents claim that they take the price of food products into consideration, it seems as if this price consideration is much higher among the general society than among the more ethically concerned consumers. However, various points need to taken into consideration when mentioning these various consumer behaviours such as the fact that 50% of the respondents who make up the group of respondents representing the general society are aged 20-26 years. This may be a factor which can highly influence the amount of fair trade and organic food products which are purchased by this group of respondents as this age group cannot generally afford to buy these type of products which are often more expensive then conventional food products. In fact, these younger respondents tend to take price more into consideration when food shopping than adult respondents do. The respondents within the general society sample who are most likely to purchase organic and fair trade food products are the group of respondents aged 27 to 40 years. Furthermore, within both the group of respondents there seems to be a close relation between the number of children living in the respondents household and the amount of organic and fair trade food products purchased. In fact, the amount of organic as well as fair trade food products purchased increase with the number of children living in the household. This confirms what I had mentioned earlier on in my study (on page 60). That is: parents will be inclined to purchase organic food products because they believe that these products are healthier for their children, and the purchase of organic food products will lead to the purchase of fair trade food products in the way that both these types of consumer behaviour are ethically oriented. Furthermore, there seems to be no link between the amount of fair trade food products which are purchased and the place where the person lives (that is, a city, the countryside, etc.). In fact, I was expecting a lower percentage of respondents from the countryside to purchase fair trade or organic food products due to them having less access to these types of products, but as I mentioned earlier on in my study, geographic subculture does not seem to be relevant in this case for comparing one consumer behaviour to another (page 66). In fact, it seems as if within the sample of consumers with more of an accentuated ethical attitude, the respondents coming from bigger cities and the countryside purchase fair trade products on more of a regular basis, and among the respondents from the general society, consumers living in the outskirts of Aarhus city and in the countryside purchase fair trade food products with somewhat more regularity. Moreover, after having had a few conversations with some of the more ethically concerned respondents, many of them claimed that they purposely get the train or bus into Aarhus city in order to buy these types of products once or twice a week.

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This having been said, within our increasingly mobile societies, geographic subcultures for differentiating the ethical behaviour of one consumer to another is not relevant nowadays since most consumers within our western societies do have access to the same selection of products offered on the market. Nevertheless, it must be noted that not all consumers (very ethically concerned or not) who live in the countryside may want to make the effort of going all the way into Aarhus city to purposely buy organic and fair trade food products. There may therefore be some bias in this interpretation since the respondents from the countryside were actually in Aarhus city at the time they answered the questionnaire which probably means that these specific respondents do not perceive geographic location as a barrier to having access to these types of products. The answers may have been different had I conducted some of the surveys in the countryside.

Intention

When it comes to the intention of the respondents to purchase a fair trade food product the next time they go shopping, here again there are very big differences between one group of respondents and another. In fact, only 23% of the consumers selected from the general society claimed they intended to buy a fair trade food product the next time they went shopping, whereas 69% of the ethically concerned respondents claimed that they would intend to. When referring to the statement I would purchase a fair trade food product if it were trendy to, most of the respondents from both groups strongly disagreed with this statement. This therefore responds to one of the issues that was brought up during the focus group discussions in a negative way: making fair trade a fashionable or trendy concept is not the answer to making it become part of the Danes every day life.

Behavioural beliefs and outcome evaluation

In order to get a better understanding of the respondents behavioural beliefs and the outcome evaluation, I purposely filtered the group of respondents from the general society sample. In fact, I only wanted to analyse what the respondents who were actually aware of the fair trade concept believed the outcome would be from them purchasing a fairly traded product. The evaluations of the outcomes do not differentiate to a large extent from one group to another. In fact, all respondents seem to strongly agree with most of the statements. There are however a few small differences relating to some of the statements. In fact, 72% of the more ethically concerned respondents believe that the purchase of a fair trade product will give them a peace of mind against 59% of the 89

respondents selected from the general society. Furthermore, 73% of the purposely selected ethically concerned respondents believe that them purchasing a fair trade food product will lead to retailers stocking the products against 67% of the respondents from the general consumer society, and 82% of the selected ethically concerned respondents believe that purchasing a fair trade product entails purchasing a quality product against 66% of the respondents from the general consumer society. For both groups of respondents, the purchase of a fair trade product did not entail purchasing a fashionable product. The above mentioned points show that, although the outcome of the purchase of a fair trade food product may be perceived in a similar way by the two groups of respondents, some of the differences highlight the fact that the consumers with a more accentuated ethical attitude have somewhat of a more positive perception of the outcome.

Attitude

Although the degree to which the respondents claim to have a positive attitude towards ethical concerns is similar, it is nevertheless somewhat higher for the group of consumers from sample 2. In fact, the mean for this group of respondents is 9 for all of the statements related to ethical attitude, whereas the mean for the group of respondents from the general consumer society is just about 8 for general attitude related to ethical concerns and somewhat lower for ethical concerns related to fair trade. Nevertheless, in both groups there is a tendency in which the female respondents appear to be more concerned about ethical issues than the male respondents. This comes to confirm what was mentioned in the methodology part of my research (on page 67): Compared to most men, women seem to value caring to controlling, sharing to selfishness, and cooperating to dominating (Peter et al., 1999). Although the difference is very small within my research, it is nevertheless interesting to notice this tendency in which female respondents seem to be generally more ethically concerned.

Subjective Norm

Answers from the two groups of respondents relating to the questions that were asked for measuring the effect of subjective norm on the purchase of fair trade products were quite different from one 90

group of respondents to the other. In fact, it seems as if among the group of more ethically concerned respondents there seems to be an ethical movement trend which these respondents have chosen to form part of no matter what the rest of the society thinks of his/hers ethical actions. In fact, only 9% of these respondents claimed that they would be influenced into purchasing fair trade products if other important people in the Danish society supported this concept (against 14% of the respondents from the general consumer society) and only 26% claimed that most people who are important to them think they should purchase these types of products. Nevertheless, 40% claimed that if these types of products were available in the shops, their closest friends would buy them. This leads me to believe that most people with accentuated ethical concerns form part of a sort of ethical movement in which they claim to behave in a certain way without being influenced by the people who surround them because they choose to behave in this way. An interesting result was obtained from the analysis of the data recollected from the respondents with accentuated ethical attitudes. In fact, here again, the female gender may be considered as more altruist, or to a certain extent more ethically concerned than the male gender. This could be highlighted by comparing the answers given by each gender within this group of respondents: many more male respondents seemed to agree to the statement Most people who are important to me think I should purchase fair trade food products. Within this statement, we may be inclined to believe that the person who is important to this male respondent could be his mother or wife. The same could be said about the female respondents who do not agree to such a large extent that important people think they should purchase fair trade food products.

Normative Beliefs and Motivation to comply

Among the respondents from the two groups, most of them considered it was likely that fair trade producers, ethical organizations and retailers who stock fair trade food products were among the groups who think they should purchase fair trade food products. Concerning the rest of the groups mentioned in the questionnaire some differences were found from one sample of respondents to the other. In fact, most of the respondents which made up the sample of respondents with accentuated ethical attitudes believed that their friends as well as important Danish business men such as Ager Aamund were among the group of individuals who, to some extent, think they should purchase fair trade food products. These respondents tended to believe that their family and Danish politicians corresponded to the group of individuals who least thought they 91

should purchase fair trade food products followed by multinationals. On the other hand, the sample of respondents representing the general Danish consumer society claimed that they believed important Danish business men and Danish politicians were among the groups of individuals who they think they should purchase fair trade food product and they believed that their family, friends and multinational were among the groups who least thought they should purchase fair trade food products. These results are interesting to the extent that, although most respondents from the two samples claimed that they generally do not do what others think they should do, the respondents representing the general consumer society claimed that they are generally more motivated to comply with what their family and friends think they should do. Nevertheless, these respondents also claimed that they are, to a certain extent, generally motivated to comply with what ethical organizations think they should do. This could be interpreted in the following way: these respondents do claim to be ethically concerned (in the way that they want to comply to a certain extent with what ethical organizations think they should do), but they would not necessarily be inclined to purchase fair trade food products as they believe that their family and friends do not necessarily think they should. Furthermore, these respondents motivation to comply with what Danish business men think they should do was the lowest out of all of the reference groups mentioned. This leads me to question whether using Asger Aamund as one of the spokesmen for promoting fair trade in Denmark is a good reference. When it comes to analysing the various groups with whom the respondents with accentuated ethical concerns want to comply, there seems to be quite a clear classification. The order of this classification is as follows: Ethical organizations, fair trade producers, retailers who stock fair trade products, their family, their friends, Danish business men, Danish politicians and multinationals. This classification of the reference groups with who these respondents want to comply with is interesting to the extent that they give more importance to doing what ethical organizations, fair trade producers and retailers who stock fair trade products think they should do than they do to what their family and friends think they should do. This leads me again to believe that these respondents feel part of some sort of an ethical movement in which ethical concerns are the top of their priorities. Moreover, these respondents claim they would want to comply with what ethical organizations think they should do before complying with what fair trade producers think they should do which I believe highlights once more that they strongly feel part of sort of a social ethical movement which in turn could give an explanation to their ethical behaviour and its relation to fair trade. In fact, as Toulouse et al. mentioned in their research, feeling connected to a movement of similarly concerned consumers, real or imagined, has been found to be an important 92

motivation in ethical consumption choice (Ozcaglar-Toulouse, 2005; Shaw et al.). Nevertheless, although these consumers do want to comply with what ethical organizations want to do, only 13% claimed to form part of an ethical organization that deals with fair trade. We can therefore believe that they will not necessarily be inclined to purchase a fair trade food product when they behave ethically. This is where I come to mention the barriers which may stop some of these ethically concerned consumers from purchasing a fairly traded product.

Perceived Behavioural Control

In order to get a clearer understanding of the degree of difficulties that a respondent may encounter when purchasing a fair trade food product, the scales for measuring the perceived behavioural control and the control beliefs variables were not reversed and were kept the same as in the questionnaire: that is, the higher the ranking on the scale, the higher the problem/or difficulty the respondent claims he encounters related to the purchase of fair trade food products. Quite large differences were found between the two groups of respondents. In fact, among the more ethically concerned respondents, most of the questions were answered and it seems as if not many of them perceive big problems when it comes to purchasing fair trade food products. That is, only 9% claimed that they encountered difficulties when it came to purchasing fair trade food products, 19% claimed that they had difficulties finding a good value for money fair trade food product and 21% claimed they found it hard to plan the purchase of these types of products. On the other hand, among the respondents selected to represent the general consumer society, about 40% of the respondents answered I dont know to the majority of the statements set up in the questionnaire for measuring the perceived behavioural control and control beliefs variables. I therefore decided to filter the number of respondents as to only get the answers from the individuals who are actually aware of the fair trade concept and who were able to give an answer other than I dont know to each one of the statements set up for measuring the perceived behavioural control and the control beliefs variables. Although these respondents did claim to find the purchase of fair trade food products more problematic than the respondents with accentuated ethical attitudes, I was nevertheless expecting these respondents to consider the purchase of fair trade food products much more problematic than they actually did. That said, the percentages of respondents finding the purchase of fair trade food products is much higher for this group of respondents. In fact, 24% 93

consider that for them the purchase of fair trade food products is very difficult, 38% consider they would find it hard to get a good value for money fair trade food product and 35% claimed that they find it difficult to plan the purchase of these types of products.

Control Beliefs

Here again, the answers to the statements for measuring which factors could have a moderating effect on the amount of fair trade food products a Danish consumer purchases were quite different from one group of respondents to another. In order to get a good analysis of the answers provided by the respondents from the general society, I used the filtered data set again (which was also used for analysing the answers given to the previous set of statements). The first thing that can be said is that the more ethically concerned consumers seem to believe that they do not encounter big problems which may affect the amount of fair trade food products they purchase: they therefore believe that they are in control of their actions. From the graphs and the frequency tables, we can say that the main problem which may affect the amount of fair trade food products that these consumers buy is the limited range of fair trade products offered on the market (38% claimed that this could be a problem which may limit their purchases). Furthermore, 35% claimed that the availability of the products in supermarkets would be a problem which would affect the amount of fair trade food products they purchase, 27% claimed price could be a problem, 22% said the location of the outlets could affect their fair trade shopping and 21% claimed the lack of information available could be a problem. On the other hand, among the respondents from the general society, the number of respondents claiming they would encounter problems which could affect the amount of fair trade food products they purchase were somewhat higher, and the problems encountered were ranked differently to the problems encountered by the last group. In fact, 46% of the respondents claimed price would be a problem, 45% claimed the availability in the supermarkets would be a problem (and 44% said general availability of the products would be a problem) as well as the limited range of the products available would be a problem, 35% claimed the location of the outlets would be a problem and 29% claimed the lack of information regarding which products are fairly traded would be a problem which could affect the amount of fair trade food products they purchase. These results are interesting to the extent that the more ethically concerned respondents do not encounter big difficulties when they want to purchase a fair trade food product as they are obviously aware of the various factors the purchase of this type of product may entail (that is, having to 94

purchase it in a specialized store and having to pay a premium for the purchase of a fair trade product). Nevertheless, these respondents claim that availability in supermarkets as well as limited range may be factors which limit their purchase of fair trade products. These barriers need to be taken into consideration by organizations that deal with fair trade because these moderating factors are against the consumers own will power. On the other hand, the problems which may effect the amount of fair trade food products purchased by the general society are different in the way that many of these respondents encounter the same barriers as the more ethically concerned respondents do, but they also consider price may have a big influence on the amount of fair trade food products they purchase. Nevertheless, I must remind you that more than 50% of the respondents which represent the general society sample are aged between 20 and 26 years, which corresponds to an age group in which the price of products often plays a crucial part in the consumers decision making. However, I must mention the fact that from the graphs obtained, price does not seem to be one of the most problematic factors which may affect the amount of fair trade food shopping of the respondents aged 20 to 26 years. In fact, it seems as if this factor is most problematic for the respondents aged 27 to 33 years and 34 to 40 years. This of course is a factor that cannot be totally controlled by organizations that deal with fair trade food products since the costs for importing these types of products are higher than the costs for importing any other conventional food products which are manufactured in Europe. Nevertheless, I believe that this barrier could be overcome once consumers are stimulated into buying these types of products and perceive them as carrying a bigger value than cost. I will discuss this point later on in my study.

Perceived Ethical Obligations

Here again, differences can be seen between the answers given by sample 1 and sample 2. In fact, as I had expected, the mean of the answers given by sample 1 is lower than the mean obtained for sample 2. That is, the respondents from sample 1 agree to a lower extent than the respondents from sample 2 with the statements positively related to their ethical obligations. However, larger differences were encountered regarding the two statements related to the purchase of fair trade food products. In fact the mean for the statement I feel I have an ethical obligation to purchase fair trade food products is much lower for the respondents representing the general society (that is, below 6) than for the more ethically concerned respondents (that is, a mean of 8). Moreover, another interesting comment can be made on the answer to the last statement (I do not feel that I have an 95

ethical obligation) given by the respondents from the two groups. In fact, to my surprise, not all respondents replied completely negatively to this statement, that is, for the respondents representing the general society, the mean of the answers to this statement is 4. For the respondents representing the ethically concerned consumers the mean of the answers to this statement is much lower (that is, 2) but still not completely negative which is somewhat surprising.

Self-identity

Interesting results were obtained from the answers given to the different statements set up in the questionnaire for measuring the self-identity variable. In fact, ethical issues seem to clearly form part of the more ethically concerned consumers self-identity which in turn should have a positive impact on their intention to purchase fair trade food products. 89% of the respondents within this group agreed to the two following statements: I think of myself as someone who is concerned about ethical issues I think of myself as someone who collaborates with as many issues as possible On the other hand, only 9% of these respondents agreed that they did not have enough time to be concerned about ethical issues. On the contrary, the amount of positive answers related to the two first statements mentioned above is somewhat lower among the sample of respondents representing the general society. In fact, the amount of positive answers was reduced to 67% for each one of these two statements. On the other hand, 19% agreed that they did not have enough time to be concerned about ethical issues. These results are interesting to the extent that they clearly show that ethical issues and concerns do not necessarily form part of all individuals self-identity.

Ethical concerns

Large differences were found between the two groups of respondents when it comes to their ethical concerns when food shopping. In fact, among the respondents from sample 1, it appears that their main ethical concerns are their own health and the health of others who will eat the food they purchase, they then claimed to be concerned by environmental damage and animal cruelty and to a lower extent by third world issues and the place of origin of the food product they purchase. Finally, the last of their concerns is the amount of energy and the amount of waste involved in producing the food they buy.

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On the other hand, among the more ethically concerned consumers, the main ethical considerations when food shopping were environmental damage and animal cruelty, followed by their own health and the health of others who will consume the food they purchase as well as third world issues. These ethical concerns were closely followed by considerations concerning the place of origin of the food as well as the amount of energy and amount of waste involved in producing the food they purchase. These results are interesting to the extent that the general consumer society seem to give a much bigger importance to their own well-being and the well-being of close others around them when it comes to selecting products while food shopping. Although the differences between the importance given to one ethical consideration and the other are somewhat low, this is nevertheless an interesting point which may enable us to give a better explanation as to why fair trade is only developed to a little extent in Denmark. All of the results that make up the above mentioned descriptive analysis can be found in the appendices 3A, 3B and 3C at the end of my study.

CHAPTER 16: Moving towards an interpretation of the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour Although I have just given a descriptive explanation of the results obtained for two different samples within the Danish consumer society: that is, one sample representing the general consumer society and the other representing a sample of Danish consumers with accentuated ethical attitudes, these explanations only give us a first approach to understanding what may be the different factors which could explain a persons ethical behaviour and how it is related to fair trade. Nevertheless, a more precise analysis of these factors and how they may differ from one group of consumers to the other is needed in order to get a precise understanding of ethical consumer behaviour within the Danish society. I therefore decided to put both sets of data obtained from the two groups of respondents into one unique data set and filter it in order to be left with only those respondents who were actually quite strongly aware of the fair trade concept. I was left with a sample of 233 respondents aware of the fair trade concept (out of the 287 Danish consumers surveyed in total).

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16.1) Regression analysis of the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour

In order to get a first approach to understanding how this sample of consumers may be led to purchasing a fair trade product, I decided to see what factors may have an influence on the ethical intention of this sample of consumers. The examination of the influence the different variables have on intention was undertaken through a standard multiple regression analysis7 of the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour. First of all though, to ensure a reliable multiple regression analysis would be done, I tested the reliability of the scales for each one of the variables. This procedure needed doing since I added some statements in my questionnaire which were not in Toulouse et al.s questionnaire used as the basis of my research. The reliability of the scales for each one of the variables was tested thanks to the Cronbachs Alpha reliability statistics. The results obtained for each scale were very satisfying since the Cronbachs Alpha obtained were all higher than 0,70 (minimum required to ensure a reliable scale). I nevertheless had to eliminate some of the items from my questionnaire which were irrelevant and therefore affecting the reliability tests in a negative way. These reliability tests can be found at the end of my study in Appendices 4, 6 and 7. Finally, since quite a few of my questionnaires had missing data in them, I decided to use the Exclude cases Pairwise technique in order to not reduce the sample size down dramatically (as it would be if the Exclude cases listwise technique were used).

Multiple regression is a technique through which one can analyze the relationship between a dependent variable (here intention) and a set of independent variables (attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, self-identity and ethical obligation) (Ho Robert, 2006)

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The results obtained are as follows:

M od el

R Square

Adjusted R Square

Std. Error of the Estimate R Square Change ,418

Change Statistics F Change 25,268 df1 5 df2 176 Sig. F Change ,000

,646(a)

,418

,401

2,09874

Model Summary a Predictors: (Constant), ethicalobligation, PBC, subjnorm, selfidentity, attitude

Coefficients(a) Unstandardized Coefficients Model 1 B (Constant) attitude subjnorm PBC selfidentity ethicalobligation a Dependent Variable: intention -4,062 ,180 ,111 ,079 ,005 ,062 Std. Error ,988 ,035 ,037 ,029 ,053 ,033 ,395 ,190 ,165 ,007 ,142 Standardized Coefficients Beta t -4,112 5,180 3,035 2,740 ,095 1,866 Sig. ,000 ,000 ,003 ,007 ,925 ,064 ,568 ,845 ,907 ,617 ,573 1,762 1,183 1,102 1,620 1,744 Collinearity Statistics Tolerance VIF

The results, as revealed in the Table above, show that the factors or independent variables which make up the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour (such as attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, ethical obligation and self-identity) can explain 41,8% of the variation in the dependent variable intention (which is explained by R Square). 8 For this sample of consumers who are, generally speaking, aware of the fair trade concept, attitude ( = 0.395, P < 0.001), subjective norm ( = 0.190, P < 0.01), perceived behavioural control ( = 0.165, P < 0.01) are the key divers of variation in these consumers intention to purchase fair trade food products. The variables ethical obligation and self-identity (which were added to the Theory of Planned Behaviour by Toulouse et al.) appear as non-significant, but they nevertheless add significant additional explanatory power in the regression model. In fact, the addition of these variables into the model yields an adjusted R Square = 0.401, which is an improvement from an adjusted R Square of 0.395 obtained for the basic Theory of Planned Behaviour structure (the results of these regressions can be found in Appendix 4 at the end of my study).

The square of the correlation R*(0.646* = 0.418) is the proportion of variation in y (dependent variable) attributable to x (independent variables); that is, 41.8% of the variation in a consumers intention is attributable to a consumers attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, ethical obligation and self-identity. (Gerber & Voelkl, 1997).

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The fact that these variables appear as non-significant could be due to the disadvantage which comes from using a standard multiple regression: that is, the possibility for an independent variable to be strongly related to the dependent variable, and yet be considered as an unimportant predictor, if its unique contribution in explaining the dependent variable is small (Ho Robert, 2006). Another possible explanation for the two variables self-identity and ethical obligation to appear as non-significant in predicting the dependent variable (intention) could be the fact that these variables are highly correlated and share essentially the same information (Ho Robert, 2006). This means that they may together explain part of the dependent variable, but may not individually contribute significantly to the model due to their multicollinear relation (that is to say, due to the fact that the independent variables are highly correlated). From the tables above, we can see that multicollinearity is not a problem that we are faced with in this case. In fact, the VIF (variance inflation factor) is below 10, which means that no further investigation is needed in this sense: that is, we can reject the hypothesis that these variables may be correlated and causing their nonsignificance. Another explanation therefore needs finding as to why these variables appear as non-significant within our model. I personally believe that this explanation can be found by interpreting more closely and precisely which differences were encountered from one consumer to the other in terms of the different answers given to the items which make up the questionnaire. I will do this later on in my study by dividing the two samples into two groups according to the frequency with which they purchase fair trade food products. First of all though, I would like to see whether the model can be improved for giving an explanation to the buying intention of this sample of Danish consumers (made up by both mainstream and consumers with accentuated ethical attitudes) who are all aware of the fair trade concept.

16.2) Multiple Regression Analysis of an adjusted version of the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour
Throughout my study we found that most respondents had more of a positive attitude towards ethical issues and could be considered as ethically concerned in some way or another. Furthermore, most of the respondents seemed to consider that they generally had some sort of ethical obligation. Nevertheless, when taking the high level of non-significance of self-identity of this model into consideration, I am inclined to question myself at this point whether ethical concerns can automatically be considered as part of any individuals self-identity and whether all individuals within a society do actually feel that they have an ethical obligation. I therefore decided to do 100

another regression analysis of the model by replacing the self-identity variable by the ethical concerns variable. The results obtained are as follows:
Model Summary Adjusted R Std. Error of Square the Estimate R R Square ,682(a) ,466 ,450 2,01091 a Predictors: (Constant), Ethicalconcerns, PBC, subjnorm, ethicalobligation, attitude Model 1 Coefficients(a) Unstandardized Coefficients Model 1 B -5,677 ,148 ,092 ,063 ,061 ,034 Std. Error 1,017 ,033 ,035 ,028 ,015 ,031 Standardized Coefficients Beta ,325 ,157 ,132 ,264 ,079 t -5,580 4,522 2,594 2,268 3,965 1,121 Sig. ,000 ,000 ,010 ,025 ,000 ,264 ,586 ,830 ,903 ,685 ,606 1,705 1,205 1,108 1,459 1,649 Collinearity Statistics Tolerance VIF

(Constant) attitude subjnorm PBC Ethicalconcerns ethicalobligation

a Dependent Variable: intention

The results, as revealed in the Tables above, show that the independent variables which make up this adjusted version of the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour (attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, ethical obligation and ethical concerns) can explain 46,6% of the variation in the dependent variable intention (which is explained by R Square). This model, with an adjusted R Square of 0.45 (compared to 0.401 obtained for the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour) is clearly a significant improvement on the previous model mentioned (that is, the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour). For this sample of consumers who are, generally speaking, aware of the fair trade concept, attitude ( = 0.325, P < 0.001), subjective norm ( = 0.157, P < 0.01), perceived behavioural control ( = 0.132, P < 0.05) and now ethical concerns ( = 0.264, P < 0.001) are the key divers of variation in these consumers intention to purchase fair trade food products. The variable ethical obligation appears as non-significant, and when removed from the model, the adjusted R Square remains unchanged. I have nevertheless decided to keep this variable within my model since the t-value obtained is above 1 (which according to Jacob Eskildsen means that the variable contributes to the model even though it appears as non-significant). This raises interesting questions such as: is Toulouse et al.s modified Theory of Planned Behaviour the best model for predicting all individuals ethical decision making? 101

I personally believe that the self-identity variable can only be included in a model for explaining the ethical decision making of consumers with extremely accentuated ethical concerns, which I believe are somewhat rare within our modern societies. I therefore think that the above mentioned model which corresponds to an adjusted version of the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour may be considered as having a better explanatory power of the ethical decision making of all consumers within the Danish society. In fact, Toulouse et al. found in their own study on ethical consumer decision making in France (in which they divided their samples into two groups based on the frequency of their purchase of fair trade food products) that the self-identity variable added much more of an additional explanatory power in the regression model for the group of respondents who purchased fair trade food products with some regularity. They also found that ethical obligation had a more significant explanatory power for the group of respondents who never or rarely purchased fair trade food products. Nevertheless, I do not want to reject the validity of Toulouse et al.s modified version of the Theory of Planned Behaviour as I strongly believe that it can have a high explanatory power of the ethical intentions of consumers with very accentuated ethical concerns. In order to get a better insight of this point, I decided to divide my sample of Danish consumers aware of the fair trade concept into two subgroups according to the frequency with which they purchase fair trade food products (just as Toulouse et al. did in their study).

CHAPTER 17: Comparison of two groups according to the frequency with which they purchase fair trade food products

17.1) Division of the sample into two groups

I therefore divided this data set of Danish consumers aware of the fair trade concept into two sample groups according to the frequency with which they purchase fair trade food products, just as Toulouse et al. did in their study on ethical decision making in France. In the questionnaire, respondents were requested to indicate their frequency of purchase of fair trade food products on a 10-point scale, I therefore divided them into two groups: those who never or rarely purchased fair trade food products (1-5) and those who purchased fair trade food products on a more regular basis (6-10). I was left with 121 respondents who made up the group who seldom or never bought fair trade food products and 112 respondents for the group who purchase fair trade food products with somewhat more regularity. Taking into consideration that the size of the sample has a direct impact 102

on the statistical power of the significance testing in multiple regression, and that, as a rule of thumb, there should be at least 20 times more cases than independents variables (Ho Robert, 2006), the two samples obtained fulfil the requirements which will enable us to go onto further regression analysis of the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour. For a more precise interpretation, the respondents should have been filtered out according to more extreme buying behaviour (that is, never/very regularly) because the middle part of the scale may bring bias to the interpretation, but for sample size reasons, I decided to keep the division of the two groups as previously mentioned. Furthermore, is important to note that despite the fact that all of the respondents included in this sample are aware of the fair trade concept, it does not necessarily mean that all of these respondents will be ethically concerned (or equally ethically concerned) or share concerns about the same ethical issues. In fact, as Toulouse et al. pointed out within their study: given the wide-ranging nature of ethical issues, it cannot be assumed that all consumers (ethically concerned to a large extent or not) will act on the same issues and therefore behave homogeneously (Toulouse et al., 2006). Toulouse et al. added that the complexity of many ethical concerns means individuals ethical consumption projects can be highly diverse and not necessarily consistent. In fact, as we have seen beforehand, the respondents ethical concerns differed largely from one group of respondents (general/ethically concerned) to the other with the sample representing the general Danish consumer society being more concerned about their own well being and the well being of others who may eat the food they purchase. Nevertheless, by dividing this sample into two groups, we come somewhat closer to giving an explanation of the differences found between the two groups of respondents and how these differences may have a positive or negative impact on their purchase of fair trade food products.

17.1.1) T-test analysis for dividing the sample

As Toulouse et al. did in their study on ethical decision making in France, comparisons of the two groups identified, in terms of each component of the modified theory of Planned Behaviour was undertaken through parametric t-test. An independent t-test is used for testing the differences between the means of two independent groups and is particularity useful when the research question requires the comparison of variables obtained from the two independent samples (Ho Robert, 2006). Results of these tests can be found in the Appendix 5A at the end of my study (T-test). I must specify that, contrary to what Toulouse et al. found in their study, the results do not show that 103

differences exist between the two groups on all of the model measures. In fact, significant differences were found between the two groups for intention, attitude, ethical obligation and selfidentity, whereas differences between the two groups regarding subjective norm and perceived behavioural control were non significant. This may be explained by the fact that Toulouse et al. were able to use more extreme differences between the frequency with which these two groups of respondents purchase fair trade food products.

17.2) Differences encountered within the two groups related to their intention to purchase fair trade food products
When examining the respondents intention to purchase fair trade food products, just as Toulouse et al. found in their study, I have also found that level of intention varies not only across the two groups but also to a large extent within each group (Toulouse et al., 2006). These within-group variations are evident when looking at the following figures.

Consumers who buy fair trade food products on a regular basis

25,0%

20,0%

Percent

15,0%

10,0%

5,0%

0,0% 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

3.1 The next time you go food shopping how likely are you to purchase a fair trade product

104

Consumers who rarely/never buy fair trade food products

20,0%

15,0%

Percent

10,0%

5,0%

0,0% 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

3.1 The next time I go food shopping how likely are you to purchase a fair trade product

These two graphs clearly show that there is a large contrast in the respondents intention to purchase a fair trade food product between those who regularly purchase fair trade food products and those who never or seldom do purchase fair trade food products. In fact, the results clearly show that many of the respondents who regularly purchase fair trade food products have a very positive intention towards buying this type of product the next time they go food shopping. On the other hand, the results obtained for the group of respondents who rarely or never purchase fair trade food products clearly show that this group of respondents intention to purchase a fair trade food product the next time they go food shopping is somewhat low. Nevertheless, what is quite surprising is to observe that approximately 35% claim that they would have somewhat of a more positive intention in this direction (that, is, just over 35% of the respondents gave an answer of 6 or more on the 10-point scale, which can be considered as somewhat of a positive answer). Furthermore, just over 15% of the respondents answered 6 on the 10-point scale which shows that they are just above the threshold between having a negative intention or more of a positive intention to purchasing a fair trade food product the next time they go food shopping. This result is interesting in the way that analysis needs to be made in order to bring an explanation to what would 105

stimulate these respondents and increase their intention to purchase a fair trade food product the next time they go food shopping. (This analysis will be mentioned later on in my study.)

17.3) Political stance of the consumers in the two groups

I decided to go further within my study than Toulouse et al. to discover which type of individual makes up each one of these groups (regular consumers/rare consumers of fair trade food products) in terms of their political stance. In fact, according to Micheletti et al. (2003), ethical and political consumer concerns are often considered to be inherently interlinked. The results obtained from my research regarding the relation between the consumers political stance and his buying behaviour related to fair trade products is as follows:

Legend 1 2 3 4 Enhedslisten SF Socialdemokratiet Radikale Ventre 5 Venstre 6 Konservative 7 Dansk Folkeparti 8 Prefer not to specify/ Did not vote

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Consumers who buy fair trade food products on a regular basis Chart 1

15.8 Which political party did you last vote for in the general elections?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Graph 1
BuyingBehaviour intention

10,00

8,00

6,00

Mean
4,00 2,00 0,00 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

15.8 Which political party did you last vote for in the general elections?

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Consumers who rarely or never purchase fair trade food products Chart 2

15.8 Which political party did you last vote for in the general elections?
1 2 3 4 5 6 8

Graph 2

6,00

BuyingBehaviour intention

5,00

4,00

Mean

3,00

2,00

1,00

0,00 1 2 3 4 5 6 8

15.8 Which political party did you last vote for in the general elections?

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The results obtained are interesting to the extent that they in some way confirm the relation I believe exists between an individuals political stance and his general attitude towards fair trade and the purchase of fair trade food products. This issue was also discussed to a large extent during the focus group discussions. In fact, from the charts above we can see that more then 50% of the respondents who regularly purchase fair trade food products can be considered as having more of a left-wing political stance (see Chart 1 showing the different Danish political parties and the percentage of respondents who voted for each one of the parties in the last general elections) and only a small minority of the more right-wing political stance consumers claim that they purchase fair trade food products on a regular basis. The group of respondents who claim to never or rarely purchase fair trade food products is also made up by just over 50% of consumers with more of a left-wing political stance (see Chart 2), but what is interesting is that this group of respondents is made up by a somewhat larger number of consumers with a right-wing political stance in comparison to the first group of consumers. Furthermore, when examining the graphs obtained for each group of respondents in which the relation between the political stance of the consumer, his buying behaviour regarding fair trade food products and his intention to purchase a fair trade food product the next time he goes food shopping is represented, some interesting results are obtained. In fact, when looking at the interpretation of this relation regarding consumers who purchase fair trade food products with some regularity (Graph 1), a distinction between the intention of consumers to purchase a fair trade food product the next time they go shopping can be made between consumers with more of a left-wing political stance and those with more of a right-wing political stance. That is, the intention to purchase a fair trade food product of the consumers who have more of a left-wing political stance is higher than their actual buying behaviour, whereas the intention to purchase a fair trade food product of the consumers who have more of a right-wing political stance is lower than their actual buying behaviour regarding these types of products (see Graph 1, political party 6 and 7). On the other hand, another interesting interpretation of this relation between an individuals political stance and his behaviour related to the purchase of fair trade products can be made from the results obtained for the group of consumers who never or rarely purchase these types of products. In fact, there seems to be a clear relation between the consumers intention to purchase these types of products and his political stance. The more left-wing consumers seem to have a much higher intention to purchase a fair trade food product the next time they go food shopping than those who have more of a right-wing political orientation. This entails us to believe that consumers with a left-wing political orientation are easy targets for organizations dealing with fair trade and that these organizations should prioritize their strategies 109

for promoting and making this concept more aware of throughout the Danish consumer society by concentrating on meeting the ideologies of consumers with left-wing tendencies. Only then, do I believe they should concentrate on making the fair trade concept more aware of throughout the whole of the society. That having being said, the link observed between ethical and political consumer concerns needs further looking into as, within my study, most of the respondents that answered my questionnaire were generally more left-wing oriented which could lead to some bias in the interpretation. Nevertheless, what is also surprising within the group of respondents who never or rarely purchase fair trade food products, is that all of the respondents, disregarding their political stance, claim their intention to purchase a fair trade food product the next time they go shopping is higher than their actual buying behaviour in this sense. This result is interesting to the extent that it shows that many of the respondents who are aware of fair trade, although they only buy these types of products occasionally (or never), have more of a positive intention towards buying fair trade food products. Although the mean of the intention variable is not very high (that is, between 4 and 6 on the 10-point scale), it would be interesting to find out why their buying behaviour is lower than their actual buying intention. What is actually stopping these consumers from fulfilling their buying intention? This having been said, what now remains to be closely analysed is what factors are the key drivers of variation in intention for those who never or rarely purchase fair trade food products and those who regularly purchase fair trade food products. By understanding these key factors, organizations will then be able to develop strategies for increasing the sales of these types of products among the consumers who are already aware of the fair trade concept.

CHAPTER 18: Examination of the factors which explain the variation in intention from one group of respondents to the other

18.1) A first approach to the results obtained from the study in France
According to the results obtained from Toulouse et al.s study on ethical consumer decision making in France, and according to the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour which I have employed as a basis for my research in Denmark, the key drivers of variation in intention of consumers to purchase a fair trade food product are: attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, ethical 110

obligation and self-identity. Nevertheless, as Toulouse et al. noticed from their study, these key divers differ from one group of respondents to another: that is, they found that the key drivers of variation in intention for consumers who regularly purchase fair trade food products are attitude, self-identity and perceived behavioural control (with subjective norm and ethical obligation being non-significant) and the key drivers of variation in intention for consumers who never or seldom purchase fair trade food products are subjective norm, ethical obligation and attitude (with selfidentity and perceived behavioural control being non-significant).

18.2) Moving towards various adjustments of the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour
From the previous descriptions and comparisons of the answers obtained from the sample representing the general Danish consumer society and the more ethically concerned Danes, a clear distinction could be made between the two samples regarding whether they considered ethical issues as part of their self-identity or not. I was therefore inclined to question whether (even though an individual may be, generally speaking, concerned about ethical issues) we can go to the extent of saying that ethical issues form part of their self-identity. In fact, we saw in part 16.2 of my study that ethical concerns could be considered as a better predictor than self-identity for explaining the behavioural intentions of the sample of consumers who both purchase fair trade with some regularity and those who dont. This is where I come to question the Toulouse et al.s modified version of the Theory of Planned Behaviour to the extent that it may be a model which can bring very good explanations to the buying behaviour of consumers with a very accentuated ethical attitude, but I believe that this model is not the most appropriate for explaining the buying behaviour of all ethically concerned consumers9 (that is, I believe it is not the best model for explaining the buying behaviour of consumers with more of a moderate ethical attitude). In order to get a better insight into this interpretation, I decided to remain as close as possible to the procedures Toulouse et al. undertook when doing their research on ethical decision making in France. I therefore decided to examine the potential differences in the role and impact of the antecedents of the modified Theory of Planed Behaviour on intention to purchase fair trade food products from one group of respondents to the other. This examination was undertaken through two

Within this part of my study we will consider that all of the respondents are, to some degree, ethically concerned since all of them gave a score of 6 or higher on the 10-point scale when asked about their concerns about different ethical issues.

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separate multiple regression analyses of the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour based on the two separate groups of respondents. In terms of the results obtained for the multiple regression analysis, which are revealed in the tables below, I must say that they are very interesting to the extent that they clearly show that the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour is not the best model for explaining all ethically concerned consumers buying behaviour regarding fair trade products. In fact, this model seems to be perfectly well suited for giving an explanation to the buying behaviour of the consumers who purchase fair trade food products with some regularity, but it is far form being the best model for predicting the behaviour of ethically (or less ethically) concerned consumers who do not purchase these types of products on a regular basis. The results obtained from the multiple regression analysis of the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour can be seen in the following tables:

Consumers who buy fair trade food products on a regular basis

M od el Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate

R Square

Change Statistics R Square Change F Change ,321 8,613 Model Summary df1 5 df2 91 Sig. F Change ,000

,567(a)

,321

,284

1,54548

a Predictors: (Constant), selfidentity, subjnorm, PBC, ethicalobligation, attitude Coefficients(a) Unstandardized Coefficients Model 1 B -1,058 ,135 ,042 ,069 ,115 ,038 Std. Error 1,348 ,037 ,036 ,032 ,108 ,036 Standardized Coefficients Beta ,373 ,106 ,189 ,110 ,103 t -,785 3,617 1,181 2,137 1,066 1,044 Sig. ,434 ,000 ,241 ,035 ,289 ,299 ,700 ,933 ,957 ,700 ,768 1,429 1,072 1,045 1,428 1,302

Collinearity Statistics Tolerance VIF

(Constant) attitude subjnorm PBC selfidentity ethicalobligation

a Dependent Variable: intention

From the tables, we can see that the independent variables which make up the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour (such as attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, ethical obligation and self-identity) can explain 32% of the variation in the dependent variable: intention. The important factors influencing these consumers intention are: attitude ( = 0.373, P < 0.001) 112

and perceived behavioural control ( = 0.189, P < 0.05). The variables subjective norm and ethical obligation were found to be non-significant (just as Toulouse et al found in their study). Nevertheless, unlike what Toulouse et al. found within their study, I found that self-identity was non-significant in giving an explanation to the variation in intention of this group of consumers. However, the adjusted R Square for the model of the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour of 0.284 is much higher than the adjusted R Square obtained on the basic Theory of Planned Behaviour Structure: this shows that the modified version of the Theory is a significant improvement (F of change in R* = 8 613) on the basic Theory of Planned Behaviour Structure. In fact, after doing several multiple regressions using the different independent variables, it became clear that the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour is the model which is most appropriate for explaining the intentions of this group of consumers to behave ethically10. Moreover, for each one of the variables that appear as non-significant, the t-value is above 1 which means that, according to Jacob Eskildsen, these variables should be maintained within the model. The fact that these variables appear as non-significant is probably due to the multicollinearity which may occur between the variables.11 Consumers who never or rarely purchase fair trade food products

M od el

R Square

Adjusted R Square

Std. Error of the Estimate

Change Statistics Sig. F Chan ge ,000

R Square F Change Change 1 ,497(a) ,247 ,199 2,27569 ,247 5,183 Model Summary a Predictors: (Constant), ethicalobligation, PBC, subjnorm, selfidentity, attitude Coefficients(a) Unstandardized Coefficients Model 1 B -2,214 ,147 ,111 ,024 -,006 ,042 Std. Error 1,539 ,054 ,062 ,044 ,075 ,050 Standardized Coefficients Beta ,340 ,183 ,056 -,010 ,111 t -1,439 2,710 1,789 ,559 -,083 ,844

df1 5

df2 79

Collinearity Statistics Sig. ,154 ,008 ,077 ,578 ,934 ,401 ,605 ,915 ,943 ,682 ,554 1,652 1,093 1,061 1,466 1,804 Tolerance VIF

(Constant) Attitude subjnorm PBC selfidentity ethicalobligation

a Dependent Variable: intention

10 11

All the results obtained can be found in the Appendix 6 at the end of my study.

Even though the VIF numbers appear as being low (that is, below 5) which means that multicollinearity should not be a problem within our model, according to Jacob Eskildsen there will always be some degree of multicollinearity which may explain why these variables appear as non-significant although they contribute to the enhancement of the Adjusted R Square of the model.

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From the tables which represent the multiple regression analysis of the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour for the group of respondents who never or rarely purchase fair trade food products, we can see that the independent variables which make up the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour (such as attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, ethical obligation and selfidentity) can explain 24,7% of the variation in the dependent variable: intention. Nevertheless, unlike for the consumers who purchase fair trade food products on more of a regular basis, none of the independent variables, except for attitude, play a significant role in the variation in intention of these consumers who never or seldom purchase these types of products. In fact, for this group of consumers, there seems to be only one key driver based on the modified theory of Planned Behaviour which can explain the variation in this group of consumers intentions: that is, attitude ( = 0.337, P < 0.01). All of the other factors which make up the model appear to be non-significant in the variation in these consumers intention to purchase fair trade food products, with perceived behavioural control and self-identity (having a negative effect) being the least significant of them all. This is interesting as two questions may be raised: 1) If these consumers do not feel that they are in complete control of their ethical behaviour related to the purchase of fair trade food products, what are the main difficulties they encounter? 2) Do ethical concerns form part of all individuals self-identity to the extent that self-identity can predict their ethical decision making? Answering the first question is important to the extent that by understanding the main barriers that negatively affect these consumers buying behaviour regarding fair trade products will enable organizations to take action and try to overcome these barriers and therefore increase the amount of fair trade food products these consumers purchase. The results are similar to the ones which were obtained when analysing the barriers encountered by the general consumer society in the first part of my analysis. The graphs obtained are as follows:

114

Mean

0 11.1 Availability 11.2 Limited is a problem range is a which affects problem which the amount of affects the fair trade food amount of fair products which trade food I purchase products which I purchase 11.3 Location of retail outlets is a problem which affects the amount of fair trade food products which I purchase 11.4 Price is a problem which affects the amount of fair trade food products which I purchase 11.5 Obtaining information regarding what products are fairly traded is a problem which affects the amount of fair trade food products which I purchase 11. 6 Availability in supermarkets is a problem which affects the amount of fair trade food products which I purchase

According to the results obtained from my survey, the main problems (represented in the graph above) which these consumers find may affect the amount of fair trade food products they purchase are: the availability of the fair trade food products in supermarkets, the limited range of the products available and the price of these products. Furthermore, although consumers who regularly purchase fair trade food products do not seem to encounter big difficulties when purchasing these types of products, it seems as if there is one common problem that the two groups of consumers encounter: that is, the limited range of the products on offer (See Appendix 6 for Graph representing the barriers encountered by regular consumers of fair trade food products). Taking into consideration that the consumers who never/rarely purchase fair trade food products encounter barriers which have a negative impact on their ethical behaviour related to fair trade, it seems more than obvious that organizations dealing with fair trade need to concentrate on overcoming these problems before expecting the sales of fair trade food products to increase. Nevertheless, even if these problems (availability in supermarkets and range of the fair trade food products on offer) were solved, would consumers who never or seldom buy fair trade food products be entailed to buying these types of products on a more regular basis?

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This is where I come to mention the second question which was raised beforehand, that is, whether ethical concerns can be considered as part of the self-identity of all individuals whether they are very ethically concerned or not. In fact, as I have previously mentioned, I tend to believe that the modified theory of Planned Behaviour cannot explain the ethical behaviour of all individuals to the extent that self-identity is not a significant factor in explaining all consumers ethical behaviour (even though some may be just as ethically concerned as the consumers who do consider ethical concerns as being part of their self-identity). I agree that, as Toulouse et al. also mentioned within their study, ethical concerns may vary from one individual to another even though these types of concerns are often to some extent interlinked (Shaw and Clarke, 1999), but I do not believe ethical concerns can go to the extent of being considered as part of all individuals self-identity. This is where I come to question whether this model can be considered as the best model for explaining these consumers intention in purchasing fair trade food products. In fact, from these results it is clearly obvious that ethical issues do not form part of this group of respondents selfidentity. In this sense, I decided to take the self-identity variable out from the model of Planned Behaviour and replace it by the ethical concerns variable (just as I did when analysing the appropriateness of the model for explaining the ethical intentions of all consumers strongly ethically concerned or not). This would enable me to see whether the adjusted version of the model gives a better explanation to the ethical intention of consumers who never or seldom purchase fair trade food products. The results obtained are as follows:

Model Summary Mo del Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate R Square Change ,293

R Square

Change Statistics F Change 6,549 df1 5 df2 79 Sig. F Change ,000

,541(a)

,293

,248

2,20504

a Predictors: (Constant), Ethicalconcerns, PBC, subjnorm, ethicalobligation, attitude

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Coefficients(a) Unstandardized Coefficients Model 1 B -3,765 ,118 ,101 ,022 ,021 ,051 Std. Error 1,608 ,053 ,060 ,042 ,046 ,022 Standardized Coefficients Beta ,272 ,166 ,051 ,054 ,242 t -2,342 2,215 1,677 ,538 ,445 2,269 Sig. ,022 ,030 ,098 ,592 ,658 ,026

(Constant) Attitude subjnorm PBC ethicalobligation Ethicalconcerns

a Dependent Variable: intention

From the tables above, we can first of all clearly see that the Adjusted R Square has increased from 0.199 (obtained from the regression based on the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour) to 0.248, which means that this second model is better suited for explaining this group of consumers intention to behave ethically. We can also see that the explanatory power of factors, or independent variables which make up the adjusted version of the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour (such as attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, ethical obligation and now also ethical concerns) in explaining these consumers intention to behave ethically has also changed. In fact, once again the key influencing factor is attitude ( = 0.272, P < 0.05), and as expected, ethical concerns ( = 0.242, P < 0.05) is also a key diver of variation in these consumers intention to behave ethically. Once again, ethical obligation and perceived behavioural control are highly non-significant. Subjective norm also appears as non-significant but to a lower extent. The fact that ethical obligation is completely non-significant raises an interesting question which may lead us to improving the model that can be used to explain this group of consumers ethical intentions. The question raised is as follows: how can a consumer be, generally speaking, ethically concerned and not feel he has an ethical obligation, that is to say, that he does not feel any external pressure in behaving ethically? I decided to look into which were the main ethical concerns of this group of consumers in order to get a better understanding to this issue. Furthermore, looking into which are the main ethical concerns of this group of consumers is critical (considering the high explanatory power this variable has on intention) to the extent that only then can we get a better understanding as to what 117

may enhance these consumers intention to purchase fair trade food products. The results can be seen in the following graph:

Graph representing the ethical concerns of consumers who never/rarely purchase fair trade food products

10

Mean

0
14.1 In general, 14.2 In general, 14.3 In general, 14.4 In general, 14.5 In general, 14.6 In general, 14.7 In general, 14.8 In general, your health is an the health of environmental amount of amount of waste place of origin of animal cruelty is third world important ethical others who will damage is an energy involved involved in the food is an an important issues is an consideration to consume that important ethical in producing the producing the important ethical ethical important ethical you when you go food is an consideration to food is an food is an consideration to consideration to consideration to food shopping important ethical you when you go important ethical important ethical you when you go you when you go you when you go consideration to food shopping consideration to consideration to food shopping food shopping food shopping you when you go you when you go you when you go food shopping food shopping food shopping

The results obtained are somewhat similar to those obtained from the sample representing the general Danish consumer society to the extent that their main ethical concerns when food shopping are mainly related to their own well-being (as well as the well-being of the people in their close surrounding) than to the well-being of others (in the third world for example) in general. That is, their two main ethical concerns are their own health and the health of the others who may eat the food they buy. Another ethical concern for this group of respondents is environmental damage 118

which, in a way, can be related to their well-being and the well-being of their closest friends and family. These findings are interesting to the extent that many of these consumers can be considered less altruist than the other group of consumers who buy fair trade food products on a more regular basis. This said, it will be important for fair trade organizations to focus on promoting fair trade food products as healthy products that have also been made in an environmentally friendly way. Another concept which could be considered is this sense which may enhance this groups of consumers purchase of fair trade food products is the merging of organic production under the auspices of the fair trade movement (Toulouse et al., 2006). I therefore decided it was necessary to have an approach to the amount of organic food products these consumers buy. The results obtained are as follows.

Graph representing the percentage of consumers and the regularity with which they purchase organic food products (among the consumers who rarely purchase fair trade food product)

2.2 I buy organic food products

20

15

Percent

10

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2.2 I buy organic food products

From the results obtained from the graph above, it is clear that within this group of consumers, not all of them purchase organic food products with the same frequency, nevertheless, more than 50% claim to purchase these types of products with some regularity although they never or rarely 119

purchase fair trade products. From observing this tendency as well as from analysing which are the main ethical concerns of these consumers, one can expect that the ethical obligation variable looses explanatory power when it comes to predicting these consumers intention to behave ethically. In fact, we may interpret that among this group of consumers, few individuals actually feel an ethical obligation, as their main ethical concerns involve just themselves and the people that are around them. This is where I come to see whether a better model than the last one mentioned may be used for explaining the ethical behaviour of this group of consumers. I therefore did a multiple regression analysis of the model last mentioned (where ethical concerns replaced self-identity) by excluding the variables which were non-significant (that is, ethical obligation and perceived behavioural control) in predicting this group of consumers intention to behave ethically. The results obtained are as follows:
Model Summary Adjusted R Square ,270 Std. Error of the Estimate 2,17227

Model 1

R ,537(a)

R Square ,289

a Predictors: (Constant), Ethicalconcerns, subjnorm, attitude

Coefficients(a) Unstandardized Coefficients Model 1 B -3,573 ,131 ,108 ,053 Std. Error 1,232 ,038 ,049 ,018 Standardized Coefficients Beta ,302 ,178 ,251 t -2,899 3,456 2,202 2,901 Sig. ,004 ,001 ,030 ,004

(Constant) Attitude subjnorm Ethicalconcerns

a Dependent Variable: intention

From the tables above, we can first of all clearly see that the Adjusted R Square has increased in comparison to the Adjusted R Square we obtained for the last model (from 0.248 to 0.270) which means that this last model is better suited in explaining this group of consumers intention to behave ethically. We can also see that the explanatory power of the factors, or independent variables included (attitude, subjective norm and ethical concerns) can all be considered as being key divers in the variance of these consumers intention to behave ethically. In fact, all of these

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factors are significant with attitude ( = 0.302, P < 0.001) being the key driver, followed by ethical concerns ( = 0.251, P < 0.01) and subjective norm ( = 0.178, P < 0.05). Nevertheless, this model may be relevant for predicting this group of consumers ethical intention in such, but it may not necessarily lead to predicting their intention to purchase fair trade food products since third world issues does not seem to be among their priority ethical concerns as discussed beforehand. Having said this, I am therefore entailed to believe that the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour is a good model for explaining the ethical behaviour related to the purchase of fair trade food products among consumers who have accentuated ethical concerns (that is, ethical concerns beyond their own well-being), but this model is not necessarily appropriate for predicting the ethical intentions of consumers whose main ethical concerns are primarily related to their personal wellbeing, or the well-being of the people who are closest to them. Two models have therefore been developed for explaining the ethical decision making of Danish consumers: one model representing the drivers of the ethical intentions of all mainstream consumers (both engaged to fair trade and not) and the second model representing the drivers of the ethical decision making and intentions of Danish consumers who have no or very little engagement to fair trade. Having checked the most important assumptions regarding regression analysis (VIF), and having obtained quite satisfying explanatory power from the models developed for explaining these two groups of consumers ethical behavioural intentions, I will conclude this part of my study by saying that the results obtained from my analyses are satisfying and reliable. If my models had had a very low explanatory power (which is not the case), other measures could have been taken into account (such as normal distribution of the error terms, or autocorrelation for example) in order to test the reliability of the models. Within the next part of my study I will discuss the results obtained from my analyses and draw conclusions regarding the future development of fair trade.

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PART VII: Discussions and conclusions

The results obtained from my study have brought interesting answers to the interpretations I had made while setting up of the questionnaire. In fact, as I had expected, fair trade does not, generally speaking, form part of the Danish culture. That is to say, quite a high percentage of Danish consumers are unaware of the fair trade concept, and, many of those who are aware of it, never or seldom buy fair trade food products. Moreover, what has also been interesting to discover is that many consumers within the Danish society are unaware of the fair trade food products which are on offer in the supermarkets despite the fact that there is an increasing amount of these types of products on offer. In fact, MaxHavelaar has recently made a list (which can be found on their web site) of the products that are available in the various supermarkets throughout Denmark (see Appendix 8) which clearly shows that an interesting range of products are actually available in various of the supermarkets throughout Denmark. Having said this, I must specify that I was unable to relate the place where consumers normally shop to their degree of awareness of the fair trade concept, or to the amount of fair trade food products they purchase since many Danish consumers seem to shop in various supermarkets situated throughout Aarhus. Another interesting point which is worth mentioning is that the advertisements for FairTrade that were recently set up throughout Aarhus city seemed to have been noticed to a larger extent by those who are actually aware of the fair trade concept. This obviously shows that the first thing that organizations dealing with fair trade must concentrate on is actually making the fair trade concept generally more aware of: that is, making mainstream as well as ethically concerned consumers within the Danish society aware of what fair trade actually is, the benefits it can have on the lives of producers and their families in emerging economies, and how consumers can contribute to making trade fair (by simply purchasing a fair trade food product each time they go shopping for example). Only then should further advertisements for fair trade be made. It was also interesting to discover that Danish women aged 27 and over were the main consumers of fair trade food products, which highlights the point raised during the elaboration of my questionnaire: that is, the fact that women seem to be more generous then men (Peter et al., 1999). In fact, many of the female respondents within the Danish society could be considered as very profair trade as many of them, while conducting my survey, were often very interested in my research

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and often wanted to go into discussing the fair trade concept and how so many people within the Danish society are actually completely unaware of the concept or just simply uninterested in it. That said, as Toulouse et al. found within their study on ethical decision making in France, I also found that although most consumers were somewhat ethically concerned, not all of them could be considered to operate as one homogeneous group (Toulouse et al., 2006). My study on ethical consumer decision making in Denmark also revealed two distinct groups of consumers based on their frequency of purchasing fair trade products. Nevertheless, although Toulouse et al. found that the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour model was significant in explaining intention to purchase fair trade food products for both groups, I found that this model could only be applied to the group of consumers who purchase fair trade food products with some regularity. In fact, the significance of the factors in explaining behavioural intention differed largely from one group of consumers to the other. For those consumers who regularly purchase fair trade food products, the significant drivers to behavioural intention was primarily attitude, followed by perceived behavioural control, with selfidentity, subjective norm and ethical obligation being non-significant but nevertheless contributing to the enhancement of the Adjusted R Square of the model. This ranking of the significance of the factors in explaining these consumers behavioural intentions clearly highlights the fact that these consumers have very accentuated ethical attitudes and feel that they are in control of their ethical buying behaviour despite the barriers that exist related to the purchase of fair trade food products. In fact, these consumers do not encounter major difficulties or barriers related to the purchase of fair trade products. As Toulouse et al. found within their study, the significance attached to perceived behavioural control by the regular consumers of fair trade could perhaps be explained by their desire to avoid multinational companies as evident through their normative beliefs. Thus, to avoid the high concentration of supermarkets in society arguably requires more effort on the part of the consumer in terms of time, convenience and cost, but they freely choose to shop in this way which, in turn, leads them to not consider encountering major difficulties while purchasing products such as fair trade. Nevertheless, I consider it important to mention the fact that two of the barriers seemed to be more problematic than the others: that is, the availability of fair trade food products and the limited range of these types of products. Therefore, organizations dealing with fair trade should be aware that even consumers who regularly purchase fair trade food products claim to encounter some 123

barriers which may moderate the amount of fair trade food products they purchase against their own will-power. Toulouse et al. interpreted that the group of consumers in France who regularly purchase fair trade food products have established an attitude about fair trade beyond their purchasing being influenced by significant others, and Toulouse et al. claim that these consumers benefit from a support network of others who support their beliefs and purchasing in this context. Within my study, I found that the variables subjective norm as well as self-identity were non-significant factors in explaining Danish consumers behavioural intentions among those who frequently purchase fair trade food products although the two variables were found to contribute to the model (by increasing the adjusted R Square). The fact that self-identity appears as non-significant for explaining this group of consumers ethical behavioural intentions within my study (although Toulouse et al. found it was significant) could simply be due to multicollinearity problems between the variables (which were not very high) or due to the fact that not all these consumers consider their ethical concerns as being part of their self-identity that is, their main reason for behaving in an ethical manner is explained by their behavioural beliefs and their attitude towards fair trade. This having been said, even within this group of consumers who buy fair trade food products with some regularity, differences in this sense may be found. In fact, we saw within the first part of my analysis that subjective norm played a more significant role in male consumer intentions than in female consumer intentions, and differences can also be found from one individual to another regarding ethical concerns being part of their self-identity: that is, some but not all consumers that purchase fair trade food products on a regular basis will consider ethical concerns as being part of their self-identity which in turn will lead them to behave ethically. Furthermore, just like Toulouse et al., I also found within my research that ethical obligation is a non-significant factor in explaining the behavioural intentions of this group of consumers (although the factor contributed to the enhancement of the Adjusted R Square of the model within my research). This again may be due to multicollinearity problems between the variables, or it may be interpreted by the fact that this group of consumers have established an attitude about fair trade beyond their purchasing being influenced by significant others or any sense of obligation towards others: that is, these consumers merely behave according to their behavioural beliefs and outcome evaluation

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which in turn influences their attitude towards fair trade which leads to their ethically oriented behavioural intentions. This having been said, big differences between consumers within this sample may be encountered and a more accurate study based on a sample of consumers with more extreme ethical behaviour (that is who purchase fair trade products on a very regular basis) may need doing. In fact, as mentioned beforehand, many of the consumers included in this sample are only just on the threshold of being considered a regular buyer of fair trade and a non-regular buyer. All of this therefore leads me to suggest that, in order to maintain the regular purchase of fair trade food products among this group of consumers, or in order to increase the amount of fair trade products these consumers actually do purchase, first of all interventions need to be taken by organizations to make these products more available. Then, I believe that interventions to encourage purchase should be targeted towards persuasions which focus on the idea of a feeling of belonging to an ethical movement since I tend to believe that many of these consumers are influenced by the feeling of being connected to a movement of similarly concerned consumers. In fact, by simply observing how the consumers were interacting among one another within the specialized store where I was conducting the surveys, I soon understood that this ethical movement and the feeling of belonging to such a movement seemed to have a large influence on these consumers. In fact, this tendency has been found to be an important motivation in ethical consumption choice (Ozcaglar-Toulouse, 2005; Shaw et al., in press). Finally, I believe that interventions to encourage purchase should be made in a way that they meet left-wing political ideologies, since (as discussed during the interpretation of my analysis) consumers with left-wing political orientations seem to be the best and easiest target for organizations dealing with fair trade. Finally, although ethical obligation and subjective norm do not play a very significant role, the two variables do contribute to the model which reveals that decision making in this context for some consumers is more emotive and reflective than rational economic approaches (Toulouse et al., 2006). As such, I believe, just as Toulouse et al. do, that the utilization of labelling which seeks to connect the consumer to the producer through product labelling and advertising, as can often be seen in fair trade promotions (Goodman, 2004; Bji-Bcheur et al., 2005), should continue to develop the human and social connection between producer and consumer.

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All of the above mentioned interventions should be taken into consideration in order to maintain these consumers as regular purchasers of fair trade food products, or in order to increase the amount of fair trade food products they currently purchase to a larger extent. In fact, in my opinion, even though many consumers do purchase fair trade food products on somewhat of a regular basis, they still seem to be purchasing more organic food products than fair trade ones. In this sense, organizations should not only focus on gaining market (that is, new consumers), but they should also make big efforts to maintain these current consumers on which fair trade depends on by increasing their motivation to purchase these types of products.

Nevertheless, organizations dealing with fair trade need to take into consideration that consumers who purchase fair trade food products on somewhat of a regular basis are not the only targets that need encouraging to engage to fair trade to a larger extent. In fact, probably the group of consumers where more effort and work needs doing in order to get them to engage to fair trade corresponds to the group of consumers who never or rarely purchase fair trade food products. Here again, I found big differences between the results obtained from my study and the results obtained by Toulouse et al.s study on ethical decision making in France. This was expected since Toulouse et al. focussed on conducting their research on consumers with quite accentuated ethical attitudes whereas I concentrated on gathering information related to both consumers with accentuated ethical attitudes and mainstream consumers. The first thing that I must mention is that the modified theory of Planned Behaviour is not the best of models which can be applied for giving an explanation to the ethical behavioural intentions of the group of consumers who never/rarely purchase fair trade food products. That is, although I found, just as Toulouse et al. did, that self-identity and perceived behavioural control were non-significant factors for explaining the ethical behavioural intentions of these consumers, I also found that ethical obligation was non-significant. Furthermore, I found that the ethical concerns variable had a significant explanatory power on these consumers ethical behaviour intentions. This means that from my research on ethical behaviour in Denmark, I found that among the Danish consumers who are actually aware of fair trade and who rarely or never purchase fair trade food products, the key influencing factors of their intention to behave ethically are attitude, ethical concerns and subjective norm.

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This having being said, it becomes clear that organizations need to first of all set their priorities in overcoming the barriers which may stop these consumers feeling that they are in control of their behaviour. In fact, by making these products more readily available as well as making a bigger range of these types of products available, organizations may find sales will increase dramatically. Nevertheless, other things than the barriers encountered by these consumers need to be taken into consideration. In fact, having looked into which were the main ethical concerns of this group of consumers, an interesting point was highlighted which I believe would lead to the solution of increasing the engagement to fair trade of these consumers, as well as the engagement of most consumers within the Danish society. That is, I found that their main ethical concern when food shopping was related to their own health and to the health of others who may eat the food they buy. This having being said, what is also interesting regarding this issue is that during the focus group discussions, many of the respondents claimed that organic food products were being bought by many mainstream Danish consumers as it was seen as a positive ethical and fashionable behaviour throughout the whole of the society: that is, many Danish consumers buy these products not only because they are healthy, but also due to the influences of subjective norms. I am therefore strongly inclined to believe that organizations dealing with fair trade should take two actions into consideration: the first one should be to merge organic production under the auspices of the fair trade movement , which, as mentioned by Toulouse et al. has become a new development in this area; and the second action to be taken should be to encourage purchase of these types of products thanks to persuasions via peer and social groups (just as Toulouse et al. suggested). All this having been said, I strongly believe that the combination of bio-fair trade products would strongly increase the amount of fairly traded products purchased by many consumers throughout the whole of the Danish consumer society. In fact, these types of products would also be of great interest to those consumers who already do purchase fair trade products on a regular basis since these products would enable them to meet more than one of their ethical concerns at a time. In fact, just as Toulouse et al. mentioned, although different in origin from the fair trade debate, the principles of organic agriculture are wide ranging and include concerns for safe food production, the environment, animal welfare and issues of social justice. The products involved therefore are not only produced through environmentally friendlier production methods, but are also distributed via socially responsible trade, which creates more equitable and favourable conditions for increasingly marginalized small scale producers in the global South. Toulouse et al. also added that

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this would also aid those consumers who currently feel overwhelmed by their ethical concerns and allow them to act on more than one issue when purchasing. Furthermore, as Toulouse et al. also mentioned the existence of multiple concerns also highlights the opportunities in utilizing channels of information which refer to several issues, perhaps benefiting organizations through the utilization of one means of communication which addresses multiple concerns. I personally believe that relating fair trade to organic food products and selling them as socially correct but also healthy products would give a huge boom to the sales of fair trade food products in Denmark where so many mainstream consumers seem to be primarily concerned about their health when food shopping, but also feel to a certain extent generally concerned about other ethical issues. Although these products can currently be found in Denmark in specialized shops (such as Ren Kost where I conducted a large amount of my surveys), they have not yet become mainstream, which leads me to think that many consumers may still be unaware of the existence of these types of products (to a matter of fact, the first time I had ever seen them myself was when I was conducting the surveys in Ren Kost). Big marketing efforts therefore need to be made to make consumers aware of the existence of such products, and big efforts need to be made as for these products to be readily accessible in local supermarkets. Nevertheless, making fair trade a mainstream concept may lead to decreases in the engagement of the consumers who are currently engaged in this market. In fact, I have noticed that a small range of products sold with the fair trade label under the name of big multinationals are readily accessible in mainstream shopping areas. In Denmark, these types of products are quite common: some examples could be fair trade chocolate sold by Anton Berg (sold as fair trade, but without the actual fair trade label), or fair trade coffee sold by Amora or Caf Noir. Toulouse et al. also mentioned the fact that the FairTrade Foundation in the United Kingdom has recently endorsed a fair trade brand for the large multinational Nestl. He specified that this brand was launched amid much controversy. In fact, I personally do not agree that fair trade should be sold under the name of big multinationals (especially ones such as Nestl who are known for their unethical past behaviour) since this may entail consumers to think that there is a whole set up by the multinationals who may be considered as simply seeking to make extra money by selling these types of products (who would of course be sold at a premium once they are fair trade labelled). 128

This having being said, I come back to what I considered was a solution to making fair trade become part of Danish consumers every day life: that is, selling fair trade food products in relation to organic production. In fact, I personally consider that if fair trade were to become mainstream, it should be kept within an ethical tendency as it would be when sold in relation to organic food production. Nevertheless, if the merging of organic production under the auspices of the fair trade movement (Toulouse et al., 2006) is not a possibility, I believe that fair trade organizations should concentrate on promoting fair trade food products as healthy and environmentally-friendly products. I must specify that, the above mentioned ideas simply correspond to my personal point of view based on the interpretation of the results obtained from my research, and further specific studies should be made in this sense in order to see whether the various strategies (selling fair trade related to organic production or selling fair trade related to multinational brands) may have a positive or negative impact on the sales of fair trade. In a few words, now that a first approach has been done to understand ethical consumer behaviour in Denmark and how it relates to fair trade, it is clear that actions need to be taken in order to increase the awareness of the concept throughout the Danish society, as well as to increase the availability and the range of these types of products currently on offer on the market. All things having been said, I consider that I have achieved somewhat satisfying results which have enabled me to get a first approach of the views of very ethically concerned as well as mainstream Danish consumers regarding fair trade and the purchase of fair trade food products. Then, findings from my research support the importance of the self-identity and ethical obligation measures added by Toulouse et al. for the enhancement of the Theory of Planned Behaviour when explaining the ethical decision making of consumers with accentuated ethical concerns. In fact, although the variables were found as non-significant, they were nevertheless found to contribute to the model (by enhancing the Adjusted R Square in comparison to the normal version of the Theory of Planned Behaviour). Moreover, further understandings were achieved by using the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour which lead to the development of two new models: one representing the ethical decision 129

making of the whole of the Danish consumer society (involving those very ethically concerned and those less ethically concerned), the other representing the ethical decision making of consumers who are currently not (or to a very low extent) engaged to the fair trade market. Finally, from the interpretations of the various results obtained within my research, additional understandings as to how fair trade may become part of the Danish consumers every day life were developed which in turn, if applied, may lead to the growth and stability of fair trade in a developing fair trade market such as Denmark. This having being said, as I mentioned beforehand, further research would need doing in this sense.

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The first model which I developed for interpreting ethical consumer behaviour of the Danish consumer society is as follows: (that is, involving both very ethically concerned consumers and less ethically concerned consumers

Awareness of concept and existence of products

Behavioural beliefs and outcome evalutation

Attitude

Ethical concerns Ethical obligation Control Beliefs Perceived Behavioural Control

Intention

Behaviour

Normative beliefs and motivation to comply

Subjective Norm

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The second model which I developed for interpreting ethical consumer behaviour of Danish consumers who do not purchase fair trade food products on a regular basis is as follows:

Awareness of concept and existence of products

Behavioural beliefs and outcome evalutation

Attitude

Ethical concerns

Intention

Behaviour

Normative beliefs and motivation to comply

Subjective norm

I have not included the variables Control Beliefs and Perceived Behavioural Control in this model since Perceived Behavioural Control appears as having a non-significant effect on intention when doing the regression analysis. In fact, these consumers tend to perceive that they are not totally in control of their ethical behaviour related to the purchase of fair trade food products, probably due to the fact that they are not ready to engage in this market (because it is not related to their main ethical concerns), but maybe also due to the fact that this market is difficult to engage into because of the various barriers such as product availability (among others).

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This is where I come back to J. Thogersens criticism of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (mentioned in part 5.3.4 of my study) in which he says that compared to a situation with high actual control, low actual control is likely to undermine individuals beliefs that their decision will make any difference and thereby reduce their motivation to make a thorough decision. Hence, attitudes formed under conditions of low actual control are likely to be weaker and less integrated than attitudes made under conditions of high actual control. (Thogersen, 1998). This is interesting to the extent that all of the consumers within the Danish society are subject to the same barriers, but the latter become less of a problem when a consumer is actively engaged in the market (such as for consumers with accentuated ethical concerns when purchasing a fair trade food product). This having being said, with fair trade food products being sold under the auspices of organic production, as well as with campaigns for making these types of product more aware of and somewhat more readily available, the consumers who never/rarely purchase fair trade food products may perceive that their decision will make a difference (that is, it would entail purchasing a healthy product as well as a fairly traded one) which in turn may lead them to become more engaged in this type of market, and consequently perceive that they can overcome the possible barriers which may have a negative influence on their ethical decision making. All things considered, only once these types of organic-fair trade food products are made more aware of and somewhat more readily available can the measures of Control Beliefs and Perceived Behavioural Control be included in this model. For the time being, however, it seems as if these measures have more of a moderating effect on these consumers ethical behavioural intentions.

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Toulouse O.N.; Shiu E. & Shaw D. (2006) In Search of fair trade: ethical consumer decision making in France (International Journal of Consumer Studies, 30; pp 502-514). Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Tsal Y. (1985) On the Relationship Between Cognitive and Affective Processes: A Critique of Zajonc and Markus (Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 12). Vaus D.A. (1999) Surveys in Social Research Social Research Today (Fourth Edition). UCL Press Limited, London. Waters D. (1994) Quantitative Methods for Business. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. Zajonc R. & Markus H. (1982) Affective and Cognitive Factors in Preferences. (Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 9) Internet References : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_trade http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/get_involved_university.htm http://www.oxfam.org/en/programs/campaigns/maketradefair/index.htm http://www.fairtrade.dk/sw299.asp http://peopleandplanet.org/tradejustice/ http://www.utexas.edu/academic/diia/assessment/iar/how_to/methods/survey.php#organize http://dss.princeton.edu/online_help/analysis/codebook.htm http://www.maxhavelaar.dk/Default.aspx?ID=623

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APPENDICES

138

APPENDIX 1: Questions asked during the focus group discussions and summary of the outcome from the discussions.

APPENDIX 2: Questionnaires - Questionnaire in English (original questionnaire which was translated) - Questionnaire in Danish (conducted in Aarhus during the month of March 2007)

APPENDIX 3: Descriptive results obtained from the data recollected from two different samples in the Danish consumer society - APPENDIX 3 (A): Outcome obtained from the sample representing the general Danish consumer society - APPENDIX 3 (B): Outcome obtained from the sample representing the Danish consumers with accentuated ethical concerns. - APPENDIX 3 (C): Relation between the degree of awareness of fair trade and the degree to which consumers noticed the Fair Trade advertisements in Aarhus during the end of February.

APPENDIX 4: A first approach to the interpretation of Danish consumers ethical decision making with the modified Theory of Planned behaviour and other adjusted models. APPENDIX 5: Moving towards an interpretation of the ethical decision making of different groups of consumers within the same society - Results from a T-test - Differences in the intention of the two groups of consumers to purchase a fair trade food product. - Differences in political orientation of the consumers who make up the two groups. APPENDIX 6: Interpretation of the decision making of consumers who frequently purchase fair trade food products. - A multiple regression analysis of the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour (and other models). APPENDIX 7: Interpretation of the decision making of consumers who never/rarely purchase fair trade food products. - A multiple regression analysis of the modified Theory of Planned - A multiple regression analysis of an adjusted version of the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour. APPENDIX 8: A list of supermarkets in Denmark which sell fair trade food products.

APPENDIX 1: Questions asked during focus group discussions and summary of the results obtained Planning and conducting the focus group.

Although focus groups are normally conducted by experienced moderators, I considered it was essential I got a better understanding on the Danes perception and behaviour regarding fair trade. I therefore decided to plan and conduct three focus groups myself. Two of the focus groups were made up by nine respondents, and one other focus group was made up by eight respondents. All of these respondents were young adults (students and workers) who were living in the same student dormitory. The interviews were conducted on Thursday the 22nd and Friday 23rd of February and Thursday 1st of March. Each of the focus group discussions lasted for just under one hour and a half. There is a precise procedure for planning and conducting focus groups (Malhotra, 1996). Each step of this procedure and a brief explanation of what I did for each step has been mentioned within the main framework of my master thesis. I will nevertheless mention the questions that were asked and present a summary of the information obtained within this appendix.

The questions asked during the focus group discussions

I made a list of questions I wanted answered in order to understand the participants familiarity and knowledge of the concept, their consumer behaviour in general as well as their consumer behaviour regarding fairly traded products, their ethical concerns in general as well as their ethical concerns related to fair trade, their attitudes towards fair trade, etc.

Although other questions were asked during the interview as various subjects were brought up, the base of the questionnaire I used during the focus group interview is as follows:

Are you aware of fair trade? Do you know what the FairTrade label looks like? What about the MaxHavelaar label? What does fair trade mean to you? Do you believe in it? Are you interested in fair trade? Why?

Are you part of an organization which deals with fair trade? Are you part of any other ethically concerned organization? What do you do to collaborate with ethical issues? Do you consider yourself as an ethically concerned person? What do you think your contribution will be to you buying fair trade products? (personal, others, producers, product, etc.) Do you think it is important you purchase fair trade products? Why? What is your general attitude to fair trade? Have you seen promotions/advertisements for it? Where? Do you know which products are available in stores? Have you noticed any recently? What do you think of these products? (quality/price) Have you ever bought any of these products? Why? Do you buy them on a regular basis or intend to start buying them on regular basis? Which products would you buy, if any? Why? What influences you in buying a fair trade product? Why? Do you think others consider it is important you buying fair trade products? Do you want to comply with others expectancies when buying a fairly traded product? Do you find purchasing fair trade products easy? What affects you not purchasing fair trade products? What ethical considerations do you have when you go shopping? Do the problems you encounter when it comes to purchasing fair trade products tend to affect your whole attitude and beliefs about fair trade? When you go food shopping do you normally automatically buy the same products over and over again? Why?

Summary of the findings and plan follow-up research

Awareness, behavioural beliefs and outcome evaluation

The first thing which must be mentioned is the fact that within the focus groups not all respondents were aware of the fair trade concept.

When the respondents were asked whether they had noticed any advertisements for fair trade, only a few respondents had noticed any. One of the respondents who noticed advertisements for fair trade was one of the respondents who claimed to be very ethically concerned and who has undertaken various studies in the past on fair trade related issues, so we can believe that she is more aware of the concept than the other respondents and often actively seeks information or marketing concerning fair trade. Two other respondents were given a leaflet at Christmas time when they walked passed the fair trade store in Aarhus at Christmas time. Although these two respondents were Christmas shopping and the leaflet they were given was advertising fair trade product presents at reasonable prices, neither of the two respondents entered the fair trade store. When they were asked why they did not enter they claimed that they forgot about it.

When the respondents were asked about which fair trade products are available in supermarkets and what they thought about them many interesting concepts were mentioned. First of all, one of the respondents who actually works in Fotex supermarket said that she was unable to make the difference between fair trade food products and conventional food products even though she was in regular contact with these types of products. She claimed that she once bought fair trade honey without even realizing it was actually fair trade. She specified that she picked that jar of honey up as its cost was similar to all the other brands on offer. She then specified that she ended up giving the honey to a friend because she did not like the taste of it. She therefore said that she would not buy fair trade honey again.

Most respondents who claimed to be aware of the fair trade concept said that they have seen fair trade sugar, coffee, honey and chocolate in supermarkets but that they rarely buy any of these fair trade products. Various reasons explain why the respondents do not buy these types of products. Some say they do not buy them because they do not believe in fair trade as a whole anyway, others claim that they are always inclined to buying the cheapest products available and others said that they would be more inclined to purchasing organic products. One of the respondents claimed that she buys fair trade products every do often but that she would be more inclined to purchasing dark chocolate than any other product as she finds the other products such as coffee taste a little funny.

On the other hand, not all respondents said that they believe in the fair trade concept and among the respondents who do believe in fair trade, one respondent specified that she did not believe that all fair trade brands were totally honest. This respondent specified that she did believe in the Max 4

Havelaar label but was often doubtful about other fair trade labels as she feared that producers did not actually receive as much benefits (if any) from the products sold under different label names. All of the respondents nevertheless specified that clear rules should be made about where the money actually ends up. They all said that they believed them purchasing a fair trade food product was important and was a good idea for helping producers and their families in developing countries as long as there was no possibility that big companies or governments in Europe could abuse from this concept through corruption. The respondents behavioural beliefs related to their purchase of fair trade food products that were mentioned during the focus group discussions were similar to the behavioural beliefs that were taken into consideration within Toulouse et al.s questionnaire. The degree to which each one of the respondents agreed with each one of the behavioural beliefs nevertheless differed from one respondent to another.

Attitude

In terms of attitude, most respondents mentioned the fact that they had a very positive attitude towards ethical issues and most of them agreed that there should be more of a focus on making people aware of the fair trade concept. Some of the respondents also mentioned the fact that a focus should be made on clearly showing people where their money will end up and in which way they will contribute to peoples lives in the third world when purchasing a fair trade product. Most respondents, although not all of them, claimed they were generally interested in the fair trade concept but they all tended to agree that fair trade is not really working. In their point of view, fair trade is a concept which can easily be seen as corrupt (as mentioned beforehand) and it also encounters political barriers which does not allow the concept to be fully implemented such as farmers in Europe receiving huge subsidies from the European Union which makes their products much cheaper on the market than products imported from developing countries.

Ethical Obligations, Ethical concerns and Self-identity

On the other hand, most respondents also claimed that they felt they have an ethical obligation and claimed that they participate in ethical issues in various ways such as by buying second hand clothes from charity shops and by participating in money collections for the red cross. A few of the respondents mentioned the fact that they recently bought their Christmas presents through the Internet in an ethically concerned way. This purchase through the Internet actually consisted in 5

sending an electronic card to their parents or friends in which it said that three chickens had just been bought for them but were sent to a family in Africa. The respondents found this way of behaving ethically funny, easy and original which was what inclined them to act in such a manner. Although most respondents claimed to feel an ethical obligation, they said that there are too many ways to collaborate in ethical issues and one can only choose among a few of them as behaving ethically is to some extent time consuming and can end up being quite expensive. In terms of ethical concerns, most of the respondents claimed that they mainly took their own health into consideration when purchasing food products so were more inclined to purchasing organic food products before fair trade food products. Nevertheless, some of the respondents claimed that they took none of the mentioned ethical concerns into consideration and mainly focussed on the price of the products when food shopping. Very few of the respondents claimed that they purchased organic food products and fair trade food products from time to time as a part of their self-identity.

Normative beliefs, motivation to comply and subjective norm

When asked what the respondents contribution would be when buying a fairly traded product most of them agreed that they would be doing something good (ie. Helping a farmer in the third world) if they knew it was not corrupt. Some of the respondents said that if they did purchase fair trade products they would let all their friends know to impress their friends but also to feel good with themselves. They said that they would make their food products visible to the people around them at any occasion they had. Other respondents claimed that, although they would feel good personally, they would not want to impress their friends with fair trade products and would probably even avoid serving their friends fair trade products as they do not think the quality or the taste of fair trade products is the best out of all the products offered on the market. The answers given by the respondents when they were asked whether other people think they should purchase fair trade food products were somewhat different from one respondent to another. In fact, the respondents who were most pro-fair trade claimed that within their circle of friends purchasing fair trade food products was a nom whereas respondents who were not pro-fair trade to such a large extent claimed that their friends would be completely indifferent to them purchasing fair trade food products or any other conventional food products. However, one of the respondents claimed that people around her did not necessarily believe she should purchase fair trade food products as it was not a norm among her group of friends, but was sometimes entailed to purchasing these types of products for her own peace of mind. 6

Intention

When the respondents were asked whether they would intend to buy a fair trade food product the next time they went food shopping, none of them claimed that they would intend to buy a fair trade food product. When the respondents were asked what would incline them to purchasing a fair trade food product, most of the respondents agreed that if they would buy a fair trade product it would be on an impulse which would then bring them an extra good feeling as they know that they have done something good. One of the respondents mentioned that purchasing fair trade chocolate would be a luxury for her and that she would make the chocolate last longer than any other conventional chocolate. She also claimed that she would buy this chocolate only on a special day and consider this purchase as something extra as it is more expensive than other chocolate available in supermarkets. She also claimed that when you buy fair trade products, it you that has to actually choose to buy it as you have to often look for it in the supermarket, or it costs more expensive than other products available. Another respondent claimed that she is sometimes inclined to purchasing fair trade products because it enables her to make a political statement and to show other people that she is ethically concerned.

Control beliefs and perceived behavioural control

All respondents who are aware of which fair trade products are available in their local supermarkets tended to agree that the purchase of fair trade food products is not a simple task and claimed that they often encounter difficulties in purchasing (or even noticing these products). In fact, they claimed that they do not find it easy to purchase fair trade food products as they are not always available in supermarkets or they are not always visible from the way they are displayed on the shelves which makes them forget about fair trade products when they go shopping Moreover, many of the respondents claimed that they are not inclined to purchasing fair trade food products as they are more expensive than other conventional food products, or simply do not trust the quality of the fair trade food products on offer.

Is there a solution to consumers being inclined to purchasing fair trade products to a larger extent?

Most respondents tended to agree that if fair trade food products were readily available in the supermarkets where they do their food shopping, their image could push them to buying a fair trade food product but stated that they would be more inclined to impress others by purchasing organic food products. A few respondents then stated that to make themselves feel better they would probably consider organic and fair trade products as having the same effect but would probably be more inclined to buying organic food products as they are more available and there is more awareness about organic food products than there is of fair trade ones (more promotions, more advertisements, specific location in supermarket, more availability, etc.) Furthermore, the respondent who works in Fotex mentioned that many elderly people as well as young parents tend to buy organic food products as they are concerned with their health and can afford to pay the price premium that comes with buying these kind of products. She added that many other people buy these products as the tendency has been hipped up and organic food products are considered as luxurious products which will not only make you feel healthier but will also make you look good in front of the people surrounding you. She then said that fair trade products have not become as fashionable as organic products. Most respondents agreed that buying fair trade was not fashionable and they believed that this is why people are not more inclined to purchasing these types of products. Most respondents agreed that there should be more campaigning to make consumers more aware of the concept and the variety of products available and some added that they should turn the FairTrade label into something fashionable and more attractive so that you are proud to show others that you have purchased a fair trade product. All respondents agreed that once buying fair trade products has become a trend people will start buying them more often and they will probably become more available in supermarkets in turn. They all believe that once people are fully aware of fair trade and find it trendy to buy these products, there will be a spread affect. They believe that once people start talking about it positively there will be a positive impact from word-of-mouth. They believe that if the organizations that deal with fair trade do not have the resources available for promoting fair trade, the concept should be made more aware of by getting it spoken about on the news just like they did with organic products.

One respondent said that she thinks fair trade products should start off by being promoted in supermarkets thanks to special offers such as buy two bags of coffee for 50DKK just to catch peoples attention while they are shopping as they tend to repurchase the same products over and over again when food shopping. Finally, one of the respondents stated that people may be aware of fair trade but they are not inclined to purchasing fair trade product as it is seen as hippy thing and most people in Denamrk do not want to be seen as a hippy. This respondent believes fair trade should be made mainstream so that it looks good to buy fair trade products. This respondent finished off by saying that fair trade is a concept whose image needs renewing in order to make it more popular.

Throughout the discussions in all of the focus groups, political stance was often mentioned and there seemed to be a clear correlation between pro-fair trade respondents and their left-wing tendency.

APPENDIX 2: Questionnaire conducted in Aarhus during the month of March 2007. A) Questionnaire in English: original questionnaire set up based on the questionnaire used by Toulouse et al. (2006) for their study on ethical decision making in France The aim of the following survey is to help me with my research on consumer behaviour in Denmark regarding fair trade products. The survey will only take a few minutes and the data obtained will be very helpful for completing my study. This questionnaire is made up by 7 pages. Please make sure that you answer the questions on each page. Thank you.

Please indicate your view on each of the following statements:

1)

Strongly Agree

Strongly disagree

(1.1) I know what fair trade is (1.2) I know what fair trade products my local supermarket sells (1.3) I know what the Max Hevelaar label looks like (1.4) I have recently seen the advertisements for Fair Trade on the bus stops in Aarhus

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2) (2.1) I buy fair trade food products (2.2) I buy organic food products (2.3) I respond to promotion when food shopping (2.4) I take price of food products into consideration when shopping (2.5) I tend to buy the same products over and over again when I go food shopping

Always

Never

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

10

3) Likely Unlikely

(3.1) The next time you go food shopping how likely are you to purchase a fair trade product

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

(3.2) You would purchase fair trade food products if it were trendy to

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

4) My purchasing a fair trade product will:

Likely (4.1) result in a fair price for fair trade producers (4.2) support fair trade producers (4.3) result in the non-exploitation of fair trade producers (4.4) result in my peace of mind (4.5) encourage retailers to stock fair trade products (4.6) withdraw support from non-ethical companies (4.7) entail purchasing a product which is not available in all supermarkets (4.8) entail purchasing a product which is more expensive (4.9) entail purchasing a quality product (4.10) entail purchasing a fashionable product

Unlikely

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11

5) I believe that me purchasing a fair trade product is

Very important

Unimportant

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

6)

Very favourable

Very unfavourable

(6.1) In general, my attitude towards ethical issues is (6.2) In general, my attitude towards fair trade is (6.3) My attitude towards making fair trade more aware of is (6.4) In general, my attitude towards purchasing a fair trade product is

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

7) Very likely Unlikely

(7.1) If important people within the Danish society support fair trade, I will also support it (7.2) Most people who are important to me think I should purchase fair trade grocery products (7.3) If a fair trade food product is available in the shops, my closest friends will buy it

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

12

8) Please indicate below how likely it is that the following groups think you should purchase fair trade grocery products: Very likely (8.1) friends (8.2) family (8.3)fair trade producers (8.4) ethical organizations (e.g. charities, environmental groups, etc.) (8.5) multinationals (8.6) retailers who stock fair trade products (8.7) important Danish business men such as Asger Aamund (8.8) Danish politicians Very unlikely

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

9) Please indicate below how much, in general, you want to do what the following groups think you should do: Very much (9.1) friends (9.2) family (9.3) fair trade producers (9.4) ethical organizations (e.g. charities, environmental groups, etc.) (9.5) multinationals (9.6) retailers who stock fair trade products (9.7) important Danish business men such as Asger Aamund (9.8) Danish politicians Not at all

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

13

10) Very easy Very difficult Dont know

(10.1) For me the purchase of fair trade food products is (10.2) For me, getting a good value for money fair trade food product is (10.3) For me, planning to buy a fair trade food product is

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

0 0

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11) Please indicate below whether or not you consider that the following are problems which affect the amount of fair trade grocery products which you purchase:

Never a problem (11.1) availability (11.2) limited range (11.3) location of retail outlets (11.4) price (11.5)obtaining information regarding what products are fairly traded (11.6) availability in supermarkets

Always a problem

Dont know 0 0 0 0

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

0 0

12) I feel that I have an ethical obligation Strongly agree (12.1) to collaborate in as many ethical issues as possible (12.2) to purchase fair trade grocery products (12.3) but would not necessarily purchase fair trade products (12.4) I do not feel that I have an ethical obligation Strongly disagree

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 14

13) I think of myself as someone who Strongly agree Strongly disagree

(13.1) is concerned about ethical issues. (13.2) collaborates with many ethical issues (13.3) has not got enough time to be concerned about ethical issues

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

14) How important, in general, are the following ethical considerations to you when you go grocery shopping? Very important (14.1) your health (14.2) the health of others who will consume that food (14.3) environmental damage (14.4) amount of energy involved in producing the food (14.5) amount of waste involved in producing the food (14.6) place of origin of the food (14.7) animal cruelty (14.8) third world issues Unimportant

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

15

15) Please answer the following questions by indicating the number which classifies you best: (15.1) Are you Danish? (1) Yes (2) No

(15.2)Your gender

(1) Male (2) Female

(15.3)Your age in years

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

20-26 27-33 34-40 41-47 48-54 55-61

(15.4) The number of children you have and that are living within your household (1) None (2) 1-2 (3) 3-4 (4) 5 - more than 5 (15.5)Where are you from? (1) Aarhus City (2) Aaruhs Suburb (3) City with more than 30.000 inhabitants (4) City with less than 30.000 inhabitants (5) Countryside

B) Translation of the questionnaire in Danish: questionnaire conducted throughout the Danish (15.6)Where do you normally shop? (1) Fakta (4) Super Brugsen consumer society (2) Netto (5) Fotex (3) Bilka (6) Kvickly (7) Other (15.7)You consider your political stance is: (1) Enhedslisten (2) SF (3) Socialdemokratiet (4) Radikale Venstre (5) Venstre (6) Konservative (7) Dansk Folkeparti (8) Prefer not to specify/Did not vote (15.8) Are you member of an organization which supports fair trade?

(1) Yes (2) No

Thank you very much for your time and collaboration.

16

Questionnaire in Danish (conducted in Aarhus during the month of March 2007) Dette sprgeskema har til hensigt at undersge forbrugeradfrd med hensyn til fair trade produkter i Danmark. Det tager kun f minutter at udfylde sprgeskemaet, og svarene vil vre en stor hjlp i forbindelse med udarbejdelsen af mit speciale. Dette sprgeskema bestr af 7 sider. Besvar venligst alle sprgsmlene p hver side. Mange tak. Angiv dine synspunkter til nedenstende udsagn:

1)

Meget enig

Meget uenig

(1.1) Jeg ved hvad fair trade er (1.2) Jeg ved hvilke fair trade produkter mit lokale supermarked slger (1.3) Jeg ved hvordan Max Havelaar mrket ser ud (1.4) Jeg har fornyligt set reklamer for fair trade ved busstoppestederne i rhus

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2)

Altid

Aldrig

(2.1) Jeg kber fair trade madvarer: (2.2) Jeg kber kologiske madvarer (2.3) Reklamer pvirker mine indkbsvaner (2.4) Prisen p madvarer pvirker mine indkbsvaner (2.5) Jeg kber ofte de samme produkter nr jeg handler ind

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

17

3) Meget sandsynligt (3.1) Hvor sandsynligt er det, at du kber fair trade madvarer nste gang du handler ind? meget usandsynligt

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

(3.2) Jeg ville kbe fair trade produkter, hvis det var p mode.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

4) Kb af et fair trade produkt:

Meget sandsynligt

Meget usandsynligt

(4.1) resultere i en fair pris for fair trade producenterne (4.2) sttte fair trade producenterne (4.3) resultere i at fair trade producenterne ikke udnyttes (4.4) giver mig ro i sindet (4.5) opfordrer detailhandlere til at have fair trade produkter p lager (4.6) fjerner sttte til ikke-etiske virksomheder (4.7) indebrer at kbe et produkt, som ikke er til rdighed i alle butikker (4.8) indebrer at kbe et produkt, som er dyrere (4.9) indebrer at kbe et kvalitetsprodukt (4.10) indebrer at kbe et smart produkt

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

18

Meget vigtigt 5) Jeg mener at mit kb af et fair trade produkt er

Ligegyldigt

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

6) Meget positiv Meget negativ

(6.1) Generelt er min holdning til etiske sprgsml (6.2) Generelt er min holdning til fair trade (6.3) Min holdning til at skabe mere opmrksomhed omkring fair trade er (6.4) Generelt er min holdning til kb af fair trade produkter

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

7) Meget sandsynligt Meget usandsynligt

(7.1) Hvis vigtige mennesker i Danmark sttter fair trade, vil jeg ogs gre det (7.2) Mine nrmeste mener, at jeg br kbe fair trade madvarer (7.3) Hvis en fair trade madvare er tilgngelig i butikkerne, vil mine nrmeste venner sikkert kbe dem

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

19

8) Angiv sandsynligheden for at flgende grupper mener, at du skal kbe fair trade kbmandsvarer: Meget sandsynligt (8.1) venner 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (8.2) familie (8.3) fair trade producenterne (8.4) organisationer som fx velgrenhedsog miljgrupper osv. (8.5) multinationale virksomheder 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Meget usandsynligt

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

(8.6) detailhandlere som har fair trade produkter p lager 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (8.7) vigtige danske forretningsmnd som fx Asger Aamund (8.8) danske politikere (8.9) Andre:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

9) Angiv i hvor hj grad du handler efter hvad nedenstende grupper mener: I hj grad (9.1) venner (9.2) familie (9.3) fair trade producenterne (9.4) organisationer som fx velgrenhedsog miljgrupper osv. (9.5) multinationale virksomheder (9.6) detailhandlere som har fair trade produkter p lager (9.7) vigtige danske forretningsmnd som fx Asger Aamund (9.8) Danske politikere (9.9) Andre: 20 Overhovedet ikke

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

10) Meget let meget svrt Ved ikke

(10.1) Kb af fair trade madvarer er (10.2) Kb af fair trade madvarer til rimelige priser er (10.3) At planlgge at kbe fair trade madvarer er

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

0 0 0

11)Angiv om du ser nedenstende punkter som problemer, der pvirker det antal af fair trade madvarer, som du kber:

Aldrig et problem (11.1) tilgngelighed (11.2) begrnset udvalg (11.3) butikkernes beliggenhed (11.4) prisen (11.5) informationer om hvilke produkter, der er fair trade produkter (11.6) tilgngelighed i supermarkederne

Altid et problem 8 9 10 8 9 10 8 9 10 8 9 10

ved ikke 0 0 0 0

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

0 0

12) Jeg mener, at jeg har en etisk forpligtelse til Meget enig (12.1) at tage stilling til s mange etiske sprgsml som muligt (12.2) at kbe fair trade kbmandsvarer (12.3) at kbe fair trade kbmandsvarer, men gr det ikke mdrendigvis (12.4) Jeg fler ikke at jeg har en etisk forpligtelse meget uenig

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

21

13) Jeg ser mig selv som en person... Meget enig Meget uenig

(13.1) der bekymrer sig om etiske sprgsml. (13.2) der tager stilling til mange etiske sprgsml (13.3) der ikke har tid til at bekymre sig om etiske sprgsml

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

14) Hvor vigtige er nedenstende etiske overvejelser generelt for dig, nr du handler ind?

Meget vigtig (14.1) Mit eget helbred (14.2) Helbredet hos dem der spiser min mad (14.3) Skadelige virkninger p miljet (14.4) Den energi der forbruges i produktionen af mine madvarer (14.5) Mngden af affald der stammer fra produktionen af mine madvarer (14.6) Mine madvarers oprindelsessted (14.7) Dyremisbrug (14.8) Tredje verdens sprgsml

Ligegyldigt

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

22

15) Svar venligst p nedenstende sprgsml ved at angive det tal, der beskriver dig bedst:

(15.1) Er du fra Danmark?

(1) Ja (2) Nej (1) Mand (2) Kvinde

(15.2) Dit kn

(15.3) Din alder (r)

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

20-26 27-33 34-40 41-47 48-54 55-61

(15.4) Antal brn i hustanden

(1) Ingen (2) 1-2 (3) 3-4 (4) 5 - mere end 5

(15.5) Hvor er du fra? (1) rhus centrum (2) Forstaeder til Aarhus (3) Buyer med mere end 30.000 indbyggere (4) Buyer med mindre end 30.000 indbyggere (5) Landdistrekter

(15.6) Hvor handler du normalt ind?

(1) Fakta (2) Netto (3) Bilka

(4) Super Brugsen (5) Fotex (6) Kvickly

(15.7) Hvilket parti stemte du pa ved sidste folketingsvalg? (1) Enhedslisten (2) SF (3) Socialdemokratiet (4) Radikale Venstre (5) Venstre (6) Konservative (7) Dansk Folkeparti (8) nsker ikke at svare/Stemte ikke (15.8) Er du medlem af en organisation, der sttter fair trade?

(1) Ja (2) Nej

Mange tak for din hjlp!

23

24

APPENDIX 8: LIST OF THE DIFFERENT FAIR TRADE FOOD PRODUCTS AVAILABLE IN THE VARIOUS SUPERMARKETS IN DENMARK