The effects of perceived regulatory efficacy, ethnocentrism and food safety concern on the demand for organic food

Certified organic products hold a niche but growing share of global food markets with considerable interest in the factors affecting consumers' Willingness To Pay (WTP) for organic food. The objective of this paper is to investigate the effects of perceived regulatory efficiency, food safety concern and ethnocentrism on demand for organic food. In total, 450 Iranian food shoppers took part in a choice experiment for organic rice, with the attributes: price, retail outlet, product type and country of origin. Mixed logit model results suggest that perceived regulatory efficacy and food safety concerns enhance WTP for organic food, while ethnocentrism enhances consumers' WTP for domestically produced food but not organic food per se. In emerging economies, the growth of the organic market will depend on the perceived robustness of regulatory systems while ethnocentrism will curtail the potential for export-based models of development.

Automated summary

This study examined the effects of perceived regulatory efficiency, food safety concerns, and ethnocentrism on the demand for organic food. The results showed that perceived regulatory efficacy and food safety concerns increase consumers' willingness to pay for organic food, while ethnocentrism increases willingness to pay for domestically produced food rather than organic food itself. In emerging economies, the growth of the organic market will rely on strong regulatory systems, while ethnocentrism may limit export-based models of development.