Origin branding of organic food: Insights from France, Germany, …€¦ · COO PREFERENCES (In-Store) Austria Austria Austria Austria Italy Italy Netherlands Italy Italy Netherlands

4 DECEMBER 2018PROFESSORJOHN THØGERSEN

Origin branding of organic food: Insights from France, Germany, China and Thailand

John Thøgersen

The SOMDwIT-project John Thøgersen, Susanne Pedersen & Jessica Aschemann-Witzel

4 DECEMBER 2018DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENTAARHUS UNIVERSITY

MAPP CENTRE – RESEARCH ON VALUE CREATION IN THE FOOD SECTOR

PROFESSOR

JOHN THØGERSEN

ORIGIN BRANDING

How a country’s image affects attitudes towards itsproducts and services

Promoting the country's image and products by means of strategic marketing management



PROFESSOR

JOHN THØGERSEN

INTERNATIONAL TRADE WITH ORGANIC FOODS

• The demand for organic food is growing faster than domestic production in many countries, which has led to increasing import (Willer & Schaack, 2017) – and export opportunities for Danish companies

• In order to expand organic food production in Denmark faster than the growth in domestic demand allows, many companies in the sector are increasingly export oriented

• Very limited research on the effect of COO for consumer attitudes towards organic food (Thøgersen et al., 2017)

Thøgersen, J. et al. (2017). How important is country-of-origin for organic foodconsumers? A review of the literature and suggestions for future research. British Food Journal, 119(3), 542-557.



PROFESSOR

JOHN THØGERSEN

SOMDwIT OBJECTIVE

Investigate consumer evaluation and choices of imported organic foods... and examine the combined effect of organiclabeling and country of origin (COO) in four exportmarkets How is Denmark perceived as an organic

producer in export markets? Does Denmark’s image in export markets

create competitive advantages for organicfoods?



PROFESSOR

JOHN THØGERSEN

THREE METHODS

1

2

3



PROFESSOR

JOHN THØGERSEN

MARKETS



PROFESSOR

JOHN THØGERSEN

Country image

“beliefs that consumers hold regarding particular countries” (Josiassen et al., 2013, p. 253)

Inferred from consumer choices

Response scales

Open questions



PROFESSOR

JOHN THØGERSEN

Denmark



PROFESSOR

JOHN THØGERSEN

Food products from Denmark



PROFESSOR

JOHN THØGERSEN

SAMPLE DESCRIPTION – Hamburg, Munich, Münster

In-Store Interviews

• 255 interviews with regular organic shoppers

• Spilt evenly across cities• Representative sample with regard

to demographic characteristics

Focus Group Discussions

• 2 focus groups per city• 6-7 participants• Heterogeneous group

composition with regard to demographic characteristics

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH GERMANY

Hamburg

Münster

Munich Austria

Pedersen, S., Aschemann-Witzel, J., & Thøgersen, J. (2018). Consumers' evaluation of imported organic food products: The role of geographicaldistance. Appetite, 130, 134-145.



PROFESSOR

JOHN THØGERSEN

COO PREFERENCES (In-Store)

Aust

ria

Aust

ria

Aust

ria

Aust

ria

Italy

Italy

Italy

Italy

Net

herla

nds N

ethe

rland

s

Net

herla

nds

Net

herla

nds

Fran

ce

Fran

ce

Fran

ce

Fran

ce

Switz

erla

nd

Switz

erla

nd

Switz

erla

nd

Switz

erla

ndSpai

n

Spai

n

Spai

n

Spai

n

Den

mar

k

Den

mar

k

Den

mar

k Den

mar

k

Pola

nd Pola

nd

Pola

nd

Pola

nd

Oth

er

Oth

er

Oth

er

Oth

er

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

O V E R A L L H A M B U R G M U N I C H M Ü N S T E R



PROFESSOR

JOHN THØGERSEN

PREFERENCES FOR FOREIGN CsOO*

* Each respondent could mention more than one country

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

% Thailand 2016

China 2016

China 2017

Nuttavuthisit, K., & Thøgersen, J. (2018). Developing-economypreferences for imported organic food products. Journal of International Consumer Marketing (In press).



PROFESSOR

JOHN THØGERSEN

ATTITUDES TOWARDS BUYING ORGANIC MILK/PORK CHOPS FROM DENMARK

5.65

3.98

3.36

5.44 5.345.43

4.08

3.49

5.114.78

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00

Denmark Germany France China Thailand

Milk Pork chops



PROFESSOR

JOHN THØGERSEN

CHOICE EXPERIMENT

• Milk or Pork chops• 12 choice sets w. three options + ”none of these”• Same quantity and picture (adapted to the country)• Price (conventional price, + 50 %, + 100%)• Organic label: None, local, EU• COO: Home country, nearby, far away

Thøgersen, J., Pedersen, S., & Aschemann-Witzel, J. (2019). The impact of organic certification and country of origin on consumer food choice in developed and emerging economies. Food Quality and Preference, 72, 10-30.



PROFESSOR

JOHN THØGERSEN

GERMANY

-2.5

-2

-1.5

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

Milk Pork-2.5

-2

-1.5

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

2



PROFESSOR

JOHN THØGERSEN

FRANCE

Milk Pork-2

-1.5

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

-2

-1.5

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

2



PROFESSOR

JOHN THØGERSEN

Basic country image

Product country image

Category country image

Country image

Attitude towards buying product X from Country Y

Intention to buy product X from Country Y

Buying product X from Country Y

Adapted from Josiassen et al., (2013)



PROFESSOR

JOHN THØGERSEN

DENMARK’S IMAGE IN GERMANY AND FRANCE –> ORGANIC MILK

Category Country Image

Product Country Image

Basic Country Image

Attitude to buyingDanish organic

milk

GE/FR

*** p < .001

ns/ns Adj. R2 = .23/.20

Thøgersen, J., Aschemann-Witzel, J., & Pedersen, S. (2019). Country image and consumer evaluation of imported products. European Journal of Marketing (Under review).



PROFESSOR

JOHN THØGERSEN

Basic country image

Product country image

Category country image

Country image

Attitude towards buying product X from Country Y

Intention to buy product X from Country Y

Buying product X from Country Y



PROFESSOR

JOHN THØGERSEN

ENVIRONMENTAL COUNTRY IMAGE –DANISH ORGANIC MILK

Category Country Image

Product Country Image

Basic Country Image

Attitude to buyingDanish organic

milk

GE/FR

** p < .01, *** p < .001

ns/nsAdj. R2 = .22/.20

EnvironmentalCountry Image

ns/ns.58***/.76***

Indirect effect of ECI on the Attitude: .37/.33

Thøgersen, J., Aschemann-Witzel, J., & Pedersen, S. (2019). How Important is a Consistent Country Image for Consumer Responses to an Imported Environmentally-Friendly Product? (Manuscript in preparation).



PROFESSOR

JOHN THØGERSEN

SUMMING UP

Denmark’s country equity as origin for organic food products is especially lacking in terms of familiarity, but it is generally favourable in terms of trustworthiness and a “green” imageIn European markets, distance is a major liability, which needs to be compensatedIn Asian markets, export from Denmark is challenged by low familiarity, but a favourable country image creates opportunitiesExporters need to be concerned about Denmark’s image with regard to the specific product category, but also Denmark’s general image, and not least Denmark’s environmental image



PROFESSOR

JOHN THØGERSEN

" To be effective, the desired image must be close to reality, believable, simple, appealing and distinctive

(Kotler & Gertner, 2002)



PROFESSOR

JOHN THØGERSEN

IMPLICATIONS

Build on and strengthen Denmark’s “green nation” image

High ”workmanship” in farming and food production

First state-controlled organic labelHighest organic market share

Denmark’s realities: Strong institutions (standards, authorisation, control)Low corruptionEqualityWind energyBicycling

Tell the story about Denmark’s leading role in the organic market

Increase the environmental ambitions in Denmark’s agricultural policy (climate, ground water protection, animal welfare)



PROFESSOR

JOHN THØGERSEN

FURTHER READING

Published Thøgersen, J., Pedersen, S., Paternoga, M., Schwendel, E., & Aschemann-Witzel, J. (2017). How important is

country-of-origin for organic food consumers? A review of the literature and suggestions for future research. British Food Journal, 119(3), 542-557.

Pedersen, S., Aschemann-Witzel, J., & Thøgersen, J. (2018). Consumers' evaluation of imported organic foodproducts: The role of geographical distance. Appetite, 130, 134-145.

Thøgersen, J., Pedersen, S., & Aschemann-Witzel, J. (2019). The impact of organic certification and country of origin on consumer food choice in developed and emerging economies. Food Quality and Preference, 72, 10-30.

In press Nuttavuthisit, K., & Thøgersen, J. (2018). Developing-economy preferences for imported organic food products.

Journal of International Consumer Marketing (In press). In preparation Thøgersen, J., Aschemann-Witzel, J., & Pedersen, S. (2019). Country image and consumer evaluation of imported

products. European Journal of Marketing (Under review). Pedersen, S., Zhang, T., Zhou, Y., Aschemann-Witzel, J., & Thøgersen, J. (2018). Pride and prejudice? A

comparison of consumer preferences for country-of-origins of imported organic foods in Germany and China. (Manuscript in preparation).

Thøgersen, J., Aschemann-Witzel, J., & Pedersen, S. (2019). How Important is a Consistent Country Image for Consumer Responses to an Imported Environmentally-Friendly Product? (Manuscript in preparation).

Origin branding of organic food: Insights from France, Germany, …€¦ · COO PREFERENCES (In-Store) Austria Austria Austria Austria Italy Italy Netherlands Italy Italy Netherlands

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