Increase consumers' willingness to pay a premium for organic food in restaurants: Explore the role of comparative advertising

Offering organic food is a new trend in the hospitality industry seeking sustainable competitiveness. Premiums and information barriers impede continued growth in organic consumption. This study aims to explore the role of comparative advertising (CA) in organic food communication. Three empirical studies were used to verify the effect of CA vs. non-comparative advertising (NCA) on consumers' willingness to pay a premium (WTPP) for organic food, examining how benefit appeals (health vs. environmental) and consumers' organic skepticism affects CA. The results indicate that matching CA and health appeals increase consumers' WTPP, while environmental appeals have no significant differences between the CA and NCA groups (Study 1). Information persuasiveness mediates the interaction between CA and benefit appeal on WTPP (Study 2). CA increases WTPP among consumers with high organic skepticism, while the interaction between CA and health appeal is only effective for low skepticism consumers (Study 3). The findings unravel and explain the mechanics of how CA works in organic products, which can help restaurants, retailers and tourist destinations advertise organic food to increase consumers' WTPP.

Automated summary

This study examines the role of comparative advertising in organic food communication and finds that matching comparative advertising with health appeals can increase consumers' willingness to pay a premium. There is no significant difference between comparative advertising and non-comparative advertising when it comes to environmental appeals. Additionally, information persuasiveness mediates the interaction between comparative advertising and benefit appeals on consumers' willingness to pay a premium. Comparative advertising increases willingness to pay a premium among consumers with high organic skepticism, but the interaction between comparative advertising and health appeals is only effective for consumers with low skepticism.