Results (
Thai) 2:
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From a theoretical perspective, the results are consistent with
the motivation-ability-opportunity framework, which implies that
the availability of sustainability labels leads to their use only if
accompanied by consumer motivation and understanding. How-
ever, our results also show that motivation and understanding
alone are not sufficient to result in behaviour. Consistent with ex-
tant research on the attitude–behaviour relationship, we find that
a general concern for sustainability issues does not necessarily
translate into behaviour, even when the information is under-
standable and available. This has partly to do with the trade-off
that consumers make when buying food, as the results of the con-
joint analysis show. But it has also to do with the fact that weak
attitudes affect behaviour only when primed in the behavioural sit-
uation, a phenomenon addressed in the context of other forms of
environmentally friendly behaviour (e.g.,
Cornelissen et al., 2008
).
The relatively low amounts of explained variance in our regres-
sions suggests that there may be additional factors that have an
impact on the use of sustainability labels. There may be other mo-
tives than concern for sustainability – for example, some people
may think there is prestige in buying fair trade products (
Kimura
et al., 2012
). Use may be inhibited by a lack of credibility of the la-
bels or by uncertainty about which body is responsible for the cer-
tification (
Borin et al., 2011; Horne, 2009
). Finally, use may be
simply impeded by a lack of availability of products carrying the la-
bel (
Vermeir and Verbeke, 2006
).
Our results do not imply that sustainability labels do not have a
future. They only show that, at present, their use by consumers in
Europe is limited. In this context it is also interesting to look at the
considerable country differences we found, even after controlling
for differences in understanding and motivation. This shows that
a high level of concern in some countries is more apt to translate
into behaviour than in others. To find reasons for this is an interest-
ing aim for future research. One perspective that could be adopted
there is to look into differences in the prominence of sustainability
issues on the public agenda, which could relate to salience of the
concept in the mind of consumers.
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