Australians' organic food beliefs, demographics and values

Purpose – To examine consumers' beliefs about organic foods and their relationship with socio-demographics and self-transcendence (universal, benevolence) personal values.

Design/methodology/approach – A random questionnaire-based mail survey of 500 Australian (Victorian) adults (58 per cent response) was used. The questionnaire included items on organic food beliefs, the importance of self-transcendence values as guiding principles in life, and socio-demographics. Statistical analyses included cross-tabulations of organic food beliefs by socio-demographics and multiple regression analyses of positive organic food beliefs with personal value and socio-demographic items as the independent variables.

Findings – The majority of participants believed organic food to be healthier, tastier and better for the environment than conventional food. However, expense and lack of availability were strong barriers to the purchasing of organic foods. Generally, women were more positive about organic food than men (e.g. women were more likely to agree that organic food has more vitamins/minerals than conventional food). The personal value factor related to nature, environment and equality was the dominant predictor of positive organic food beliefs, followed by sex. These predictors accounted for 11 per cent of the variance.

Research limitations/implications – A survey response bias needs to be taken into account. However, the response rate was adequate for reporting and differences in age and education between participants and the Victorian population were taken into account in data presentation. Future understanding of consumers' use of organic foods will require the inclusion of a fairly extensive set of potential influences.

Practical implications – Communication appeals based on psychographics may be a more effective way to alter consumers' beliefs about organic foods than those based on demographic segmentation.

Originality/value – To the best of one's knowledge, this is the first study to examine the relationship between personal values, socio-demographics and organic food beliefs in a random population sample. This study is relevant to producers, processors and retailers of organic food and those involved with food and agricultural policy.

Lay people's views of school food policy options: associations with confidence, personal values and demographics

A random population survey administered by mail to examine lay people's views of children's food policies and their associations with demographics, personal values and confidence in authorities was conducted among adults in Victoria, Australia. Three hundred and seventy-seven people responded (response rate 57.6%). The questionnaire contained 35 items about children's healthy eating policy options plus details like personal values, confidence and demographic items. There was widespread support for healthy school food policies. The strongest support was for life skills education and school-based nutrition and physical education programmes. Many age-related associations indicated that people >48 years were more in favour of healthy eating policies than younger people. There were fewer statistically significant associations with parent status and sex. In contrast, many associations showed that respondents with strong equity–harmony values and those with least confidence in the authorities were most in favour of healthy eating policies for schoolchildren. It is concluded that there is widespread support for school-based health and nutrition education and for active school food policies. However, differences between demographic and values groups suggest the need for caution in the promotion of public health nutrition initiatives among schoolchildren.

Green decisions : demographics and consumer understanding of environmental labels

This research examined the demographic profiles of Australian green consumers in relation to their satisfaction of environmental labelling. It examined consumers’ understanding of labelling and empirically investigated the association of demographic profile of consumers with their attitudes towards such labels. The results indicated that some of the demographic variables were significant, which is largely consistent with earlier findings by other researchers in this area. Label dissatisfaction was higher in the older and middle age respondents. However, some respondents disagreed that labels were accurate while commenting that labels were easy to understand. The key issue arising from the findings is that in order to provide perception of accuracy in labels, it is an option to use Type I or Type III labelling on products. These labels are, arguably, more credible because they are endorsed by third party labelling experts. This would come at a cost and for green products that use third party labelling, they will also have to bear in mind to keep the prices competitive.

Online students : relationships between participation, demographics and academic performance

Using information technology to support teaching and learning is becoming ubiquitous in tertiary education. However, how students participate and perform when a major component of the learning experience is conducted via an online learning environment is still an open question. The objective of this study was to investigate whether any relationships existed between the participation, demographics and academic performance of students in an information technology course that was taught wholly online. Tracking data generated by the online learning environment was collected throughout the semester. Through a detailed analysis of this tracking data it was found that a relationship existed between students' participation in the online learning environment and their performance, as measured by final results in the course. Relationships also existed between gender, nationality, participation and performance. However, there was no relationship between age and performance and participation. These findings suggest that when designing online learning for a diverse population, student demographics should be taken into account to maximise the benefits of the learning experience. The results also suggest that the tracking data can be used as an early indicator of students who are likely to fail the course since lack of participation early in the semester is indicative of lower outcomes in the course. Being able to identify such students allows staff to take remedial action proactively rather than reactively in the latter part of the semester.

Linking attitudes and demographics in a tourist segmentation model : a two-stage approach

Segmentation has been widely studied in tourism research e.g. Dolnicar (2004). Dawley (2006) points that commonly used segmentation variables such as demographics lead to identifiable segments which are not actionable while other useful approaches e.g. psychographics, are actionable but not identifiable. The objective of this paper is to develop a two-stage linkage approach to segmentation whereby cluster analysis using psychographic variables is conducted within demographic group. Demographic groups are selected based on propensity to travel. This research utilizes data generated from a cross-sectional self-completed survey of 49,105 Australian respondents on travel and tourism. The managerial usefulness of this segmentation is assessed. Clearly segments can be directly linked both demographically and psychographically.

Consumer concerns about food and health : examination of general and specific relationships with personal values and demographics

Purpose – Aims to investigate the relationships between consumers' food concerns and their personal values and demographic characteristics.

Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire was administered in a cross sectional random population survey conducted among a sample of 1,000 adults in South Australia. The questionnaire elicited information about respondents' concerns about 20 food and health issues, the perceived importance of 23 values items derived from the Schwartz values inventory, and their demographic characteristics.

Findings – Principal components analyses derived four food concerns factors and six personal values factors. Respondents' safety concerns scores were positively associated with devout-tradition, order-discipline, and moderate-independent values. Their disease concerns score was positively linked to beauty-nature, devout-tradition, and order-discipline. Multiple regression and chi-square automatic interaction detection (CHAID) analyses showed that individual values items were strong predictors of consumers; specific concerns such as food and heart disease, and, genetic modification of foods.

Research limitations/implications – The research was based on a cross sectional study. More refined indices of food concerns and personal values should be used in replications of this preliminary study.

Practical implications – The findings support the use of psychographic market segmentation approaches in communication programs about food and health issues.

Originality/value – The findings suggest that personal values, may be stronger predictors of consumers' concerns about food and health issues than demographics. They also show that measurement level of values and concerns influence the observed strength of their relationships.

Baby boomers' food shopping habits. Relationships with demographics and personal values

The purpose of this study was to examine baby boomers’ food shopping behaviours and to investigate their relationships with demographics and personal values. A questionnaire concerning food shopping behaviours, personal values and demographics was mailed to a random sample of 2975 people aged 40–70 years in Victoria, Australia. Usable questionnaires of 1031 were obtained. Structural equation modelling was employed for data analyses. The analyses revealed that demographics and personal values influenced shopping behaviours via different pathways among male and female baby boomers. For example, self-direction positively impacted on shopping planning for men but negatively influenced price minimization for women. Among women only, age was positively related to shopping planning and negatively to price minimization. Thus, both personal values and demographics influenced baby boomers’ shopping behaviours. Since values are more likely to be amenable to change than demographics, segmentation of the population via value orientations would facilitate targeted interventions to promote healthy food shopping.

Entry-level college mathematics success predictors : developmental performance, 'stopping-out' and demographics

Institutionally collected data identifying student demographics, course performance in both the precollege mathematics course and the college-level mathematics course, and 'stopping-out' time between the pre-college course and the college-level course were used to create a predictive model of academic success for 'high risk' college-level mathematics students. The two most significant factors were the pre-college mathematics course grade and the student's over-all college GPA.

Effects of message framing on breast-cancer-related beliefs and behaviours: the role of mediating factors

The effects of gain-loss message framing on breast-cancer-related cognitions and behaviors were assessed among 539 women aged 30 to 70 years. The design involved a prebrochure telephone interview, followed by a brochure mailout, and a postbrochure telephone interview. The brochures contained information about breast cancer and the risk of family history. Recommended behaviors were framed to emphasize gains, losses, or were neutral; and statistical risk information was presented either positively or negatively. Measures included demographics, family history, breast self-examination (BSE) performance, BSE intention, self-efficacy in performing BSE, perceived early detection risk of breast cancer, perceived susceptibility to breast cancer, and anxiety about breast cancer. A loss-framed message led to greater positive change in BSE behavior. Interactions between framing effects and variables of issue involvement, perceived early detection risk, and self-efficacy indicated effects on behavior, but not beliefs.

Behavioral versus demographic predictors of early adoption : a critical analysis and comparative test

Predicting which consumers will be amongst the first to adopt an innovative product is a difficult task but is valuable in allowing effective and efficient use of marketing resources. This paper examines the accuracy of predictions made about likely first adopters based on the most widely accepted theory and compares them to predictions made by examining the relevant past behavior of consumers. A survey of over 1000 consumers examined adoption of an innovative technology: compact fluorescent lightglobes. The results show that variables which were derived from a utility and awareness perspective were a more accurate and managerially useful predictor than the demographic variables derived from the widely accepted theory based on the work of Rogers. It is suggested that these alternative variables could be utilized more readily by marketing managers in many circumstances.

Cultural issues in online learning - is blended learning a possible solution?

The emergence of cross-cultural classrooms has been steadily increasing in Australian tertiary institutions, due to the growing population of international students enrolling to complete their degrees. This increase in international students has signified a change in the student demographics, thus recognizing the differences in students’ learning styles, and indicating that a more flexible approach is needed for learner content delivery. Research has suggested that students from different cultures have varying compatibility with different learning environments. With tertiary institutions now expanding towards the online forum for delivery of units, these compatibilities of students are even more evident. Hence, in order to ensure that all students are able to participate in this domain, preparations are needed to accommodate all cultural types. Therefore with the emphasis on creating flexible learning environments for all students the blended learning approach has been suggested as a solution.