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The Mediated Influence of a Traceability Label on Consumer’s Willingness to Buy the Labelled Product

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Abstract

This paper investigates the effectiveness of a new traceability label on consumer willingness to buy the labelled product and whether the effect is mediated by moral affective evaluations of the product. A between-subjects factorial design was used to test (a) the effect of a new traceability label on willingness to buy a chocolate bar, while controlling for different product features (health disclaimer, product quality) and (b) whether this effect was mediated through the consumer’s moral affective evaluations of the product. A broad sample of 1,064 ordinary Danish consumers was recruited for the study from the panel of an online sample provider (667 women, 397 men), age range 18–80 (M = 46.39, SD = 13.17). We found that the traceability label has a significant impact on consumer willingness to buy a chocolate bar. This impact is mediated by moral affective evaluations of the chocolate bar. Based on the dual process models of persuasion (HSM and ELM), we conclude that consumers mainly process the traceability label in a heuristic way, through a peripheral route, making a fast and frugal, affect-based judgment, rather than one based on elaborate reasoning. Being one of the first empirical studies on the impact of a traceability label on consumer willingness to buy a product, it provides valuable insights for businesses on the effects of a traceability label on consumer behaviour. In addition, it provides new insights on the process through which an ethical label influences consumer evaluations and purchase behaviour. This study is, to the best of our knowledge, the first to show that an ethical label influences consumer decision-making through activating a holistic moral affective evaluation of the offering, rather than through strengthening the consumer’s knowledge base for a more qualified reasoning process.

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Notes

  1. http://www.theconsumergoodsforum.com/safety.aspx, accessed 12 March 2013.

  2. QR barcodes have become very popular as a medium for giving consumers access to additional information about products, using a scanner app on their smartphone. In the context of the study, QR barcodes are so well known that their ‘news value’ is rapidly declining (Larsen 2013). A nationally representative survey (n = 1,101) a few months after the data collection for this study found that more than 90 % of smartphone users knew what a QR barcode is and 80 % had scanned at least one QR barcode with their smartphone (Larsen 2013).

  3. http://davidakenny.net/cm/mediate.htm#IE, accessed 12 March 2013.

  4. This result can also, at least partly, be attributed to measurement issues (e.g., the dependent variable being measured with a single item, omitted variables), though.

  5. We found a significant effect of the health warning on anticipated guilt (F(1, 926) = 15.75, p < 0.01), with the no health warning group anticipating less guilt (M = 2.26, SD = 1.71) than the health warning group (M = 2.76, SD = 2.00). The health warning also had a significant effect on anticipated conscience (F(1, 926) = 4.83, p < 0.05), with the no health warning group anticipating a better conscience (M = 4.07, SD = 2.09) than the health warning group (M = 3.77, SD = 1.98). There was no effect of the health warning on willingness to buy, though. The analysis also revealed a significant effect of product quality on conscience (F(1, 926) = 17.43, p < 0.01), with the group evaluating the premium quality brand anticipating a better conscience (M = 4.19, SD = 2.07) than the standard quality group (M = 3.65, SD = 1.98).

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the Toms Group A/S for financing the data collection. The research design was developed by second author and approved by the Toms Group A/S. The authors are alone responsible for analyses, views, judgments and opinions reported in the article and views, judgments and opinions are not necessarily shared by the Toms Group A/S.

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  1. Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Doctoral School of Economics and Business Administration, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Carol I Street, 22, 700505, Iasi, Romania

    Cosmina Bradu

  2. Department of Business Administration, School of Business and Social Sciences, Aarhus University, Bartholins Alle 10, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark

    Jacob L. Orquin & John Thøgersen

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Bradu, C., Orquin, J.L. & Thøgersen, J. The Mediated Influence of a Traceability Label on Consumer’s Willingness to Buy the Labelled Product. J Bus Ethics 124, 283–295 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1872-2

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