Evaluating italian attitude and behaviour toward Fair Trade products

Abstract

In the context of food consumption, several issues have been widely discussed in reference to a large array of attributes and product types used as evidence of growing consumer feeling toward ethical issues linked to moral and social consciousness. Animal welfare, fair prices for farmers, social aspects of production, and preservation of cultural features, are some of the product attributes for which consumer behaviour has been analyzed in the context of ethical consumerism. This paper aims at providing insights into consumer motivational systems and their relations with fair trade product purchasing behaviour. In order to pursue this goal, the effectiveness of two alternative approaches, proposed in the literature and tested in Belgium and Germany, were formally assessed in Italy. The two sets of scales were tested for predicting purchasing behaviour by using a sample of Italian consumers.