Scale of consumer loyalty for organic food

Abstract

Purpose

The alternative food markets are growing and despite the evidences of heterogeneity and of organic food consumers’ special features, little has been done to develop a scale to measure loyalty to this market. The purpose of this paper is to propose and validate a scale based on consumers’ loyalty literature and on the particular features of the organic market.

Design/methodology/approach

Data from 604 consumers were obtained through a web-based survey, which was used to analyze the structural equation in the AMOS software, in order to validate the proposed scale model.

Findings

A one-dimensional validated scale consisting of eight questions and showing high composite reliability level (0.95) was used to measure consumer loyalty to organic food. The herein used sample presented mean True Organic Loyal (4.36) and standard deviation (0.62); these values depict Brazilians high loyalty to this food type.

Research limitations/implications

The research was conducted and validated in Brazil and it can be replicated within the country as well as be transculturally validated.

Originality/value

The main contribution of the current study is the development and validation of a scale named scale of consumer loyalty for organic food. The suggested interpretation ranges from non-loyal to true organic loyal consumers and it helps understanding organic food consumers’ behavior. This research took under consideration consumers of any sort of organic food as well as consumers of regular food markets (farmer’s markets, supermarkets, collective groups, shops and internet).

Citation

Dias, V.d.V., Schuster, M.d.S., Talamini, E. and Révillion, J.P. (2016), "Scale of consumer loyalty for organic food", British Food Journal, Vol. 118 No. 3, pp. 697-713. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-09-2015-0332