“‘Organics’ are good, but we don’t know exactly what the term means!”: Trust and knowledge in organic consumption

Martin Hvarregaard Thorsøe, Tove Christensen, Karen Klitgaard Povlsen

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This article explores consumer trust in organics and investigates the relationship between credibility, trust, and knowledge in a mixed-method study incorporating a survey, a focus group, and individual interviews. Danish consumers show a high level of systemic trust in the organic label, which can be trumped by personal trust. Consumers wanting to know more about organics are mainly those who already know a lot, while others show a deliberate lack of knowledge. Furthermore, it is argued that knowledge does not lead to trust—trust replaces knowledge, and consumers largely seek confirmation of their views when they have already made up their minds about organics.
Original languageEnglish
JournalFood, Culture and Society
Volume19
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)681-704
Number of pages24
ISSN1528-9796
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016

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