The Roles of Perceived Threat, Organic Trust, and Consumer Effectiveness in Organic Consumption Across Different Organic Products

Haesun Park-Poaps () and Tae-Im Han
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Haesun Park-Poaps: Department of Recreation, Sport Pedagogy, and Consumer Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA
Tae-Im Han: Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, California State University, Long Beach, CA 90840, USA

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 7, 1-15

Abstract: With the strong growth of the organic market and continuous expansion of organic product categories, it is essential to understand the organic consumption of different product categories. Founded on the protection motivation theory, this study examined the effects of threat appraisal of conventional agricultural practices and two enablers, organic certification/trust and perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE), on organic consumption (attitude and purchase frequency) beyond food. A total of 410 responses collected from adults residing in the US through an online survey were analyzed. The analysis showed that the influence patterns of threat appraisal, organic certification/trust, and PCE were similar in attitude formation, but they were different in purchasing behaviors across different types of organic products. PCE was found to be a powerful predictor of both attitude and behavior, and, particularly, it mediated the influence of organic certification/trust and threat appraisal on purchase behavior. The results also indicated that the impacts of threat appraisal and PCE differed across product types varying from plant- or non-plant-based, freshness, and product format alteration. The results highlight the importance of organic benefit messages that enable consumers to believe in their ability to fight environmental problems to promote consumers’ purchasing of diverse organic products. Our study contributes to the growing literature on organic consumption with unique findings related to the threat appraisal of conventional agriculture and diverse organic products beyond organic food or produce. The findings and discussions provide insights into organic product development and communication strategies to support an expanded array of organic products and future research.

Keywords: organic agriculture; organic consumption; threat appraisal; protection motivation; consumer effectiveness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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