Consumers' willingness to buy and willingness to pay for fair trade food: The influence of consciousness for fair consumption, environmental concern, trust and innovativeness

Abstract

The emerging trend of fair trade (FT) production has gained increasing attention in the food industry due to the growing amount of socially sensitive consumers. In this respect, the purpose of this study is to comprehend how consciousness for fair consumption (CFC), environmental concern (EC), trust in FT label and consumer innovativeness (CI) impact consumers' willingness to buy (WTB) and willingness to pay (WTP) for FT food. For this reason, data were obtained through written survey instrument from consumers. The influence of factors on consumers' behavioral intentions was analyzed with maximum likelihood estimation. The results revealed that CFC, EC, trust in FT Label, CI are positively correlated to WTB and WTP for FT food. In addition, among the antecedents, CFC was found to have the greatest impact on consumers' behavioral intentions. Some contributions were also drawn based on the research findings.