Journal of Marketing Management

Vol. 28, Nos. 1112, October 2012, 14381463

The usefulness of Schwartzs Values Theory

in understanding consumer behaviour towards
differentiated products
Athanasios Krystallis, Aarhus University, Denmark
Marco Vassallo, National Research Institute for Food and Nutrition
(INRAN), Italy
George Chryssohoidis, University of East Anglia, UK
Abstract The Values Theory adopts a generic framework whereby a set of
values is employed across consumer decision-making contexts in a manner
that makes no distinction among various product categories. The present study
advances this theory by exhibiting the adaptation capability of the generic
values instrument (the Portrait Value Questionnaire, PVQ), demonstrating that
tailor-made PVQ versions can reflect consumers motives towards differentiated
products (i.e. organic foods). A questionnaire was completed by approximately
1000 households in each of eight EU countries (N = 8171). The organic
food-relevant PVQ was developed through a preliminary qualitative phase (i.e.
a means-end chain analysis), and its factorial design was validated through CFA,
showing high statistical performance. PVQ-based European clusters with strong
self-transcendence values comprised large numbers of organic purchasers.
Moreover, results point to the fact that when a circumplex taxonomy, such
as the PVQ, is applied in a real context (i.e. organic food purchases), the
situation-relevant value domains merge into new hierarchical dimensions in
absolute respect of the original taxonomy. This conclusion points to PVQs
robustness in adaptability to different situations of human value perspective.
Keywords values; PVQ; value segmentation; differentiated products; behaviour

Introduction
Human values are enduring beliefs that one specific state of existence or mode
of conduct for an individuals life is preferable over an alternative end-state or
mode of conduct (Kahle, 1983; Rokeach, 1968, 1973). Early on, the values concept
was drawn on to shed light on the attitudes and behaviour of individuals and
the functioning of organisations, institutions, and societies (Rokeach, 1973; ter
Hofstede, 1980). Rokeach (1968, 1973, 1979) is credited for operationally defining
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2012 Westburn Publishers Ltd.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2012.715091
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Krystallis et al. Consumer values and behaviour towards differentiated products

and investigating values as . . . an organised set of preferential standards that are

used in making selections of objects and actions, resolving conflicts, invoking social
sanctions, and coping with needs or claims for social and psychological defences of
choice made or proposed . . . (Rokeach, 1979, p. 20). Values represent the most
abstract cognitions or extreme global attitudes and serve as standards or models for
evaluating attitudes, beliefs, and behaviour. Values are stable constructs that do not
change easily, even when investing considerable effort. As a result, values can serve
as predictors of behaviour over extended periods of time, and they are of particular
importance for marketing decisions.
Schwartz (1992, 1994, 1996), Schwartz and Sagiv (1995), and P.B. Smith and
Schwartz (1997) propose a systematic theory of the content and organisation
of individuals value systems called the Values Theory. This theory identifies
a comprehensive set of 10 different types of cross-cultural values (value
domains), namely benevolence, universalism, self-direction, stimulation, hedonism,
achievement, power, security, conformity, and tradition. Analyses of more than
200 samples from more than 60 nations support the distinctiveness of the 10 values
and the structure of their relations (Schwartz, 2004a, 2004b; Schwartz et al.,
2001; Schwartz & Sagiv, 1995). A concrete 40-item typology called the Portrait
Value Questionnaire (PVQ) has recently been designed to operationalise those
constructs.
In line with much research in the area, the Values Theory adopts a
generic framework whereby the set of values is unquestionably employed in
an undifferentiated manner across various consumer decision-making contexts,
involving different types of products. This stance is very helpful when aiming
to capture the behavioural components that can systematically be examined to
identify common ground across populations with parsimony and reasoning, as in
the endeavours by ter Hofstede (1980), House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, and
Gupta (2004), Schwartz (1992, 1994, 1996), and Trompenaars (1994). Yet, the
issue of fundamental importance here is whether values-based paradigms can be
employed in specific context-related consumer behaviour, an issue already addressed
in organisational research (e.g. Earley, 2006). The present work shows the usefulness
of contextualising theoretical justifications initially developed for the systematic
assessment of general consumer behaviour phenomena. The work advances theory
by exhibiting the adaptation capability of existing taxonomies, such as the PVQ,
and demonstrates that tailor-making of the core-values generic instrument can
purposefully reflect consumers motives in specific decision-making contexts. This
theory proves to be especially powerful in its explanatory ability, statistically robust,
and flexible to fit into specifically contextualised decision making in this case
decision-making that involves differentiated products.
First discussed in the marketing literature in the 1950s (W. Smith, 1956),
the issue of product differentiation was delineated more than 20 years ago by
Dickson and Ginter (1987). In their seminal work, Dickson and Ginter defined
differentiated products as product offerings that consumers perceive to differ from
their competition on any physical or non-physical characteristic, including price.
The perceptual differences between differentiated and undifferentiated products
are created by usage experience, word of mouth, and communication, whereas
actual differences are a matter of product characteristics (Dickson & Ginter, 1987).
Based on the above-described operationalisations, organic foods are exemplary
differentiated products, since they differ from their competition (conventional food

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products) in both actual (i.e. environmental friendliness, price) and perceived (i.e.
healthiness, tastiness) characteristics of their marketing mix.
Organic foods as differentiated products may appeal to different types of value
motives, as also postulated by past research (e.g. Bruns, Scholderer, & Grunert,
2004; Dreezens, Martijn, Tenbult, Kok, & de Vries, 2005; Kihlberg & Risvik,
2007; Krystallis, Vassallo, Chryssohoidis, & Perrea, 2008; Worsley & Lea, 2008)
and thus constitute a fertile ground for testing the tailoring the PVQ instrument.
This work tests a PVQ-based inventory of values pertaining explicitly to organic
foods, using nationally representative samples of more than 1000 consumers from
eight EU countries (8171 respondents in total). The work builds on the assumption
that consumers who place more emphasis on values relevant to organic food
(e.g. universalism and benevolence) also demonstrate a relevant set of beliefs and
purchasing behaviour towards organic products. Therefore, the primary hypothesis
is that a subset of PVQ values relevant to organic food choice explains consumer
behaviour in the specific context. Accepting this hypothesis has substantial marketing
implications, namely that subsets of values specific to contexts at hand can
provide a sound basis for consumer behaviour understanding, market segmentation,
and strategy development, both at national and cross-national levels.
The paper is organised as follows. The next two sections offer inclusive
descriptions of the Values Theory, the PVQ typology, and the theoretical
substantiation, objectives, and contribution of the study. The methodology section
introduces the process of developing a 16-item PVQ-based inventory of values
relevant to organic food, the sample, and the questionnaire. In the analysis section,
invariance tests and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) to validate the PVQ-based
inventory are described, followed by hierarchical and k-means cluster analyses testing
the ability of the 16-item PVQ-based inventory to explain the behaviour towards
differentiated food products of pan-European value segments. The paper continues
with the discussion section in relation to the objectives of the survey, while the
conclusion section summarises the key findings.

Schwartzs Values Theory in context-specific decision making

Five main features of values that are considered the common background for social
science research on values (Schwartz & Bilsky, 1987) can be outlined as follows:
values are (1) concepts or beliefs; (2) about desirable end-states or behaviours;
(3) transcending specific situations; (4) guiding the evaluation of persons, behaviour,
and events; and (5) ordered by relative importance. The Values Theory (Schwartz,
1992, 1994, 1996) enables researchers to treat peoples value systems as coherent
structures. The critical idea builds on 10 universal values that form a circular structure
of motivationally opposed but compatible elements (Figure 1).
Two orthogonal dimensions summarise the integrated structure (Schwartz et al.,
2001; Schwartz, Sagiv, & Boehnke, 2000): the vertical dimension of selfenhancementself-transcendence contrasts the values of power and achievement
(which emphasise the pursuit of self-interests) with the values of universalism
and benevolence (which involve concern for the welfare and interests of others).
Moreover, the horizontal dimension of openness to changeconservation contrasts
the values of self-direction and stimulation (which emphasise independent thought
and readiness for new experience) with the values of security, conformity, and

Krystallis et al. Consumer values and behaviour towards differentiated products

Figure 1 Schwartzs taxonomy of motivational value domains.

Self-trancendence

Universalism

Benevolence

Self-direction

Tradition
Conformity
Concervation

Openness
to change
Security

Stimulation

Hedonism

Power
Achievement
Self- enhancement

tradition (which involve self-restriction, order, and resistance to change). Hedonism

conceptually shares elements of both openness-to-change and self-enhancement.
The circumplex character (i.e. an equally spaced, circular, dimensional factor
structure) lies in the assumption that if a specific behaviour correlates positively with
one value, the expected pattern of associations with all other values follows from this
circular value structure, meaning that this behaviour will also be positively correlated
with the neighbouring values (or negatively correlated with values that lie at the
opposite poles of the circumplex).
Recently, the PVQ was suggested as an instrument to test the Values Theory
empirically. The PVQ is a 40-item typology that includes short portraits of 40 different
hypothetical people (Schwartz, 2004a, 2004b; Schwartz, Lehman, & Roccas,
1999; Schwartz et al., 2001). Each portrait points implicitly to the importance of
a value; for example: He/she really wants to enjoy life. Having a good time is
important to him/her describes a person to whom hedonic values are important.
The prompt Think about how much each person is or is not like you accompanies
each portrait. Responses are: very much like me, like me, somewhat like me,
a little like me, not like me, and not like me at all. Respondents thus compare
the portrait with themselves rather than themselves with the portrait. In this way,
respondents pay attention only to personality aspects relating to the portrait, so the
similarity test is likely to focus only on these aspects. The number of portraits
for each value reflects the breadth of a values conceptual definition: six for
universalism; five for security; four for tradition, conformity, benevolence, selfdirection, and achievement; and three for stimulation, hedonism, and power. The
order of the portraits in the PVQ should be such that portraits of the same conceptual
meaning are separated by at least three portraits with a different meaning.
Numerous international samples show that consensus regarding the hierarchical
order of the values is surprisingly high (Schwartz, 2004a, 2004b; Schwartz & Bardi,
2001; Schwartz et al., 2000): benevolence, self-direction, and universalism are the

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Journal of Marketing Management, Volume 28

most important ones; power, tradition, and stimulation are the least important ones.
Since its development, numerous scientific applications have validated the Values
Theory (e.g. Bilsky & Koch, 2000; Bubeck & Bilsky, 2004; Fontaine, Richardson, &
Foog, 2002; Saroglou, Delpierre, & Dernelle, 2004), and especially in decisionmaking contexts involving a wide range of human behaviours, such as various
social contexts (e.g. Alkire, 2005; Goodwin, Kozlova, Nizharadze, & Polyakova,
2004; Kurman & Ronen-Ellon, 2004; Reallo, Koido, Ceulemans, & Allikl, 2002),
family context (e.g. Knafo, 2003a, 2003b; Knafo & Schwartz, 2001, 2003), political
context (e.g. Caprara, Schwartz, Capanna, Vecchione, & Barbaranelli, 2006), sexual
context (e.g. Goodwin, Kozlova, et al., 2004; Goodwin, Realo, Kwiatkowska,
Kozlova, Nguyen, & Nizharadze, 2002), religious context (e.g. Paryente & Orr,
2004; Saroglou et al., 2004), work context (e.g. Arciniega & Gonzalez, 2002, 2005;
Knafo & Sagiv, 2004; Koivula & Verkasalo, 2006; Poling, Woehr, Arciniega, &
Gorman, 2004), service contexts (e.g. Chan, Bond, Spencer-Oatey, & Rojo, 2004;
Fegg, Wasner, Neudert, & Botasio, 2005; Lee, Soutar, Daly, Kelley, & Louviere,
2007), and various types of risk management-related contexts (e.g. Cohrs, Kielman,
Maes, & Moschner, 2005; Cohrs, Moschner, Maes, & Kielman, 2005; Floriano,
Mora, & MacLean, 2007; Goodwin et al., 2004; Konty, Duell, & Joireman, 2004).
The Values Theory is also validated in numerous consumer behaviour applications
in food-related contexts, since strong empirical support has been found for the
link between values and food choice (e.g. Allen & Baines, 2002; Allen, Wilson,
Ng, & Dunne, 2000; Feather, Norman, & Worsley, 1998). There is also evidence
that particular value orientations are associated with the habitual consumption of
particular differentiated food products, such as vegetarian foods (e.g. Lea, 2001,
in Worsley & Lea, 2008), environmentally friendly foods (e.g. Bamberg, 2002, in
Schwartz, 2004b), genetically modified foods (e.g. Dreezens et al., 2005), and organic
foods (e.g. Kihlberg & Risvik, 2007; Krystallis et al., 2008). Recently, the PVQ
has been used in value-based segmentation studies (e.g. Kihlberg & Risvik, 2007;
Krystallis et al., 2008; Lee et al., 2007). In this respect, it is worth highlighting that
values are a useful basis for segmenting consumers because they can be closely related
to motives and behaviour, and because they are limited in number and central to the
consumers self-concept (Kamakura & Mazzon, 1991; Kamakura & Novak, 1992;
Wedel, ter Hofstede, & Steenkamp, 1998).

Theoretical substantiation, objectives, and contribution

As postulated by the Values Theory, the above-described PVQs circumplex structure
essentially means that consumer segments with different value structures are likely
to demonstrate different purchasing behaviour towards products with differentiated
physical and non-physical attributes. For instance, Bruns et al. (2004) postulate
that when environmentally friendly production is a consumers central motive in
food selection, universalism values are important enough to explain organic food
purchases. However, Magnusson, Arvola, Koivisto Hursti, berg, and Sjoden (2003)
state that egoistic motives are better predictors of food purchase than altruistic ones.
Moreover, Worsley and Lea (2008) claim that people who hold strong egalitarian
values may be more concerned about poverty and animal welfare, since these are
implicitly linked to concepts of equality (e.g. among humans, and between humans
and animals).

Krystallis et al. Consumer values and behaviour towards differentiated products

It is thus meaningful to hypothesise that preference for differentiated products is

often the outcome of more than one pertinent motive. By doing so, we introduce
the idea of more versus less pertinent motives and the importance of tailoring
extant instruments for their assessment. For instance, Schwartz (2004b) argues that
if respondents perceive environmentally friendly purchasing as self-protective (e.g.
avoiding pesticides in food), this could mitigate the otherwise negative influence of
conservation values such as security. Consequently, organic food consumers might
be guided by self-transcendence values, although the importance assigned to other
values may still play a role. Following this line of thought, similar hypotheses can
be developed for other expressions of consumer behaviour towards differentiated
products: when someone prioritises the hedonic component of consumption, or
s/he demonstrates exploratory buying behaviour, or s/he emphasises the adoption
of socially acceptable norms in consumption behaviour, hedonism, stimulation,
and/or conformity values respectively are likely reasons for preferring products that
possess unique physical and non-physical attributes that appeal to relevant value
components.
Building on the above discussion, this paper aims at promoting the tailoring of
the instruments assessing consumer behaviour towards differentiated products and
exhibiting the explanatory power of subsets of personal values for that purpose.
The paper examines whether using a shorter PVQ inventory relevant to consumer
behaviour towards specific differentiated products (i.e. organic foods) is conceptually
meaningful and empirically robust. Consequently, the paper (a) tests the statistical
robustness of a shorter PVQ version tailored to values relevant to organic foods;
(b) confirms the organisation of these PVQ values into latent constructs and
examines whether Schwartzs organisation of values into domains and dimensions
replicates itself; and (c) uses the shorter PVQ version developed above in a valuebased segmentation task to explain consumer behaviour towards organic foods by
identifying per value-based consumer segment the (combination of) value motives
that are more important for organic food purchasing.
From a practitioners point of view, this paper further aims at offering the
European industry substantial marketing insights into the usefulness of tailoring
consumers personal values instruments to understand consumer behaviour towards
differentiated goods; highlighting the explanatory ability of simple and flexible
marketing data collection tools, such as the PVQ; and providing evidence for
the strategic marketing value derived from value-based segmentation endeavours.
Kihlberg and Risvik (2007) postulate that, for marketers, it is of great importance
to understand the value structure underlying consumption patterns. When segments
change or mature, it is necessary for strategic market communication to be in line
with these changes. Thus the values communicated should be recognised as important
to the targeted segment, and a good marketing strategy requires an understanding of
the value basis of each strategically important segment.

Methodology
Development of the 16-item PVQ inventory for organic products
In order to identify organic food-relevant values from the overall PVQ typology,
professional research agencies conducted qualitative means-end chain (MEC)

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analyses with 100 consumers in each of the countries Germany, Great Britain,
Denmark, and Spain. The Food-Related Lifestyle (FRL) segmentation approach
contributed to the identification of different consumer segments in each country.1
The aim of the MEC studies was to explore consumer knowledge structures
regarding organic foods across different consumer segments in each country, focusing
on organic food-related consumer values. MEC contributed to the elicitation of
11 organic food-related value codes (Table 1). Based on the outcome of the
MEC study, the questionnaire developed for subsequent data collection included
16 PVQ items corresponding to seven value domains that covered the Values
Theory self-transcendence and openness to change dimensions, and partially the selfenhancement and conservation dimensions (Bredahl, Thgersen, Dean, Pemartin, &
Stiebel, 2004).
The sample and the questionnaire
The survey used samples of approximately 1000 consumers from each of eight EU
countries with proven variance in terms of consumer attitudes towards organic food
and diverse organic market conditions (8171 respondents in total). Professional
research agencies collected the data in each country. Persons aged 18 and above,
sharing or in charge of grocery shopping, completed the questionnaire. Mean age
of participants was 45.9 years (SD = 15.67). Overall, the country samples were
nationally representative in each of the eight countries in terms of education, income,
and geographic distribution (Table 2).
The questionnaire comprised 39 variables divided into five sections.
Section 1 concerned actual perceived knowledge about organic foods. Three
items from the Flynn and Goldsmith (1999) scale measured consumers actual
perceived knowledge on a seven-point Likert-type agreement scale, with endpoints
1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree. The three items were: I do not feel
very knowledgeable about organic food, Compared to most other people, I know
less about organic foods, and When it comes to organic food, I really dont know
a lot. Section 2 was about organic food-related consumer beliefs (nine items). Fifty
telephone interviews with people of different ages and professions in each of the
eight countries (mean age = 41.06, SD = 10.37) contributed to the elicitation of
nine organic-relevant belief items. The prompt about beliefs during these telephone
interviews was Please indicate how likely it is that organic foods are . . . . The nine
belief items included five positive beliefs (organic foods are free from chemicals, are
more tasty, are better for the environment, are healthier, and are more natural) and
four negative beliefs (organic foods are more expensive, do not keep fresh for as
long, are less attractive, and are not really organic). Replies to the corresponding
nine belief questions were given on a seven-point Likert-type likelihood scale with
endpoints 1 = extremely unlikely to 7 = extremely likely. Section 3 included
organic food-relevant PVQ values (16 items). Section 4 examined organic food

1 The

FRL concept builds on MEC theory to explain how consumers mentally relate food acquisition and
consumption to the attainment of basic life values. Five interrelated domains constitute the link between
attributes and values: ways of shopping, cooking methods, quality aspects, consumption situations, and
purchasing motives (Bruns & Grunert, 1995; Bruns, Grunert, & Bredahl, 1996; Grunert, Bruns, &
Bisp, 1997; Grunert, Bruns, Bredahl, & Bech, 2001).

Krystallis et al. Consumer values and behaviour towards differentiated products

Table 1 Values elicited though means-end chain, value codes, and correspondence
with Schwartzs PVQ taxonomy.
Values items elicited
through MEC
Healthiness, preserve a
good health, live
longer, quality of life

Corresponding PVQ domains and

items
Security
31a : He tries hard to avoid getting sick.
Staying healthy is very important to
him.

2. Pleasure and
enjoyment

Happiness, pleasure,
satisfaction,
contentment

Hedonism
10: He seeks every chance he can to
have fun. It is important to him to do
things that give him pleasure.
37: He really wants to enjoy life. Having
a good time is very important to him.

3. Family welfare

Responsibility for the

Benevolence
health and future of
12: Its very important to him to help
children/family/partner
people around him. He
Benevolent to others,
wants to care for their well-being.
make others feel good, 27: It is important to him to respond to
altruistic, do
the needs of others. He tries to
something good for
support those he knows.
the children/partner;
Responsibility for future
generations, evolution,
social justice, avoid
inequality

Value codes
1. Healthiness and
a long life

4. Benevolence

5. Responsibility
for nature

Responsibility for nature

and environment,
treating animals
decently, unity with
nature, protecting the
environment

Universalism
19: He strongly believes that people
should care for nature. Looking after
the environment is important to him.
40: It is important to him to adapt to
nature and to fit into it. He believes
that people should not change
nature.

6. Excitement

Excitement, an exciting
life, an eventful life, a
varied life

Stimulation
6: He thinks it is important to do lots of
different things in life. He always
looks for new things to try.
15: He likes to take risks. He is always
looking for adventures.

7. Independence
and achievement

Independence, freedom,
self-reliance,
individuality, in control
Self-confidence,
self-respect,
self-efficacy
Achievement, wisdom,
learning things,
ambition

Self-direction
11: It is important to him to make his
own decisions about what he does.
He likes to be free to plan and to
choose his activities for
himself.
34: It is important to him to be
independent. He likes to rely on
himself.
(Continued)

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Table 1 (Continued).

Value codes

Values items elicited

through MEC

Corresponding PVQ domains and

items
Achievement
13: Being successful is important to
him. He likes to impress other
people.
24: He thinks it is important to be
ambitious. He wants to show how
capable he is.

8. Hedonism

Hedonism, food as
sensory experience

Hedonism
26: Enjoying lifes pleasures is
important to him. He likes to spoil
himself.

9. Security

Security, feeling of
safety, certainty

Security
5: It is important to him to live in
secure surroundings. He avoids
anything that might endanger his
safety.

10. Social
togetherness

Social togetherness, not

lonely, a good social
life, family
togetherness
Socialisation of children,
transfer good values
to children

Benevolence
18: It is important to him to be loyal to
his friends. He wants to devote
himself to people close to him.

11. Socialisation of
children
a Numbers

indicate the order of appearance in the original 40-item Schwartzs PVQ.

purchasing behaviour (two items). Section 5 concerned the sociodemographic profile

of the respondents (nine items). The fact that the belief and the value items
have been measured with reversed scales does not cause problems due to the
fact that only the PVQ value items will be used for analytical purposes (see
below).

Analysis and results

Descriptive results
Almost two-thirds of the pan-European sample constituted organic food buyers
of a certain type: 30.9% was regular purchasers, buying organic products on a
monthly (18.6%) or weekly (12.3%) basis, with an additional 34.5% being occasional
purchasers, buying organic foods a few times a year (28.4%) or always when
possible (6.1%).
The three perceived knowledge variables showed high reliability (Cronbachs
ranging from .73 for Spain to .85 for Germany). The average self-perceived
knowledge score of the sample was 3.8 on the 17 scale. The large standard deviation
(SD = 1.86) indicated that the sample included a great variety of consumers in terms
of their self-perceived knowledge of organic foods.

2
4.8
2
4.1

Number of children aged 1318 years

0
1
62.7
12.3

3
18.5

Number of children aged 612 years

0
1
62.6
11.7

2
33.8

Household size
1
16.8

4150
21.2

2
2.8

3140
21.6

Age
<30
19.4

N/A
.7

United Kingdom
(UK)
11.8

Number of children under the age of 5

0
1
66.0
9.9

Female
67.3

Denmark
(DK)
13.5

Gender
Male
32.0

12.3

Country participation
Italy (IT)

Table 2 Sociodemographic profile of the sample, %, N = 8171.

3
.5

3
.4

3
.2

4
20.1

5160
18.1

Finland
(FIN)
12.8

>3
.0

>3
.1

>3
.0

>4
8.3

>61
19.1

Greece
(GR)
11.6

N/A
20.3

N/A
20.5

N/A
21.1

N/A
2.5

N/A
.6

Spain
(ESP)
11.7

Germany
(GE)
12.2

(Continued)

Sweden
(SWE)
14.3

Krystallis et al. Consumer values and behaviour towards differentiated products

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16.0

Primary
education
completed
Secondary
education (high
school or
technical
education)
49.2

5099
13.1

a Income

12.1

25.5

20.9

4:average

23.4

Tertiary
education
(university)

100249
12.8

categories are adapted in each country to represent existing income increments.

23.1

Monthly household income (categories low-high)a

1: very low
2: low
3: lowaverage

7.4

Educational level
No formal or less
than primary educ.

Place of residence (1000 inhabitants)

<10
1049
20.9
23.3

Table 2 (Continued).

5:high
average
10.8

3.4

Postgraduate
degree

250499
7.2

1.2

6:high

.6

N/A

>500
21.7

.8

7:very high

5.6

Noanswer:

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Krystallis et al. Consumer values and behaviour towards differentiated products

The nine organics-related belief variables showed satisfactory reliability for most
of the countries (Cronbach ranging from .54 for Finland to .75 for Spain).
The highest mean likelihood appeared for the high price of organic foods (6.1),
followed by their environmental friendliness (5.5), healthiness (5.4), naturalness
(5.2), chemical-freeness (5.0), and tastiness (4.9). Then, the likelihood of negative
beliefs followed, such as: organics do not keep fresh so long (4.6), are not
really organic (4), and are less appealing (3.9). Overall, the beliefs about the
positive characteristics of organic foods were stronger than those about negative
characteristics (mean scores 5.2 and 4.6 respectively, p < .01).
Considering the scores of the 16 PVQ items, the most significant endorsement
appeared in relation to benevolence, universalism, self-direction, and security. Itemto-total correlations were usually strong. Reliabilities of all value domains fluctuated
from satisfactory to very high (Table 3).
Measurement invariance and confirmatory factor analyses
Before proceeding with the analysis, the multi-normal distribution of the variables
was checked. The observed variables were slightly non-normal, with some kurtosis
and skewness indices higher than |1| to around |2|. Maximum Likelihood (LISREL
v8.72) with its robust correction for non-normality (RML; Satorra & Bentler, 1994)
was thus used as a method of model estimation.
The first step of the analysis was to establish measurement invariance of the
PVQ factorial design among the eight countries, using the procedure proposed by
Steenkamp and Baumgartner (1998) at the levels of configural, metric, and scalar
invariance. Invariance analysis results have shown that both configural invariance
(normal theory weighted least squares 2 [664] = 4638.43, p < .001, RMSEA
= .066, CFI = .97, TLI-NNFI = .96) and full metric invariance (normal theory
weighted least squares 2 [727] = 5036.79, p < .001, RMSEA = .066, CFI = .97,
TLI-NNFI = .95) can be assumed acceptable on comparative grounds (difference
between normal theory weighted least squares 2 : 398.36, p < .001, 2 [70] =
112.31). Nonetheless, full scalar invariance measurement indicated a lesser good set
of absolute fit indices (normal theory weighted least squares 2 [790] = 7981.01;
p < .001, RMSEA = .095, CFI = .93; TLI-NNFI = .91) marginally acceptable on
comparative grounds (difference with metric invariance regarding Normal Theory
Weighted Least Squares Chi-Square 2944.22, p < 0.001, Chi-Square [70] = 112.31).
However, when partial scalar invariance was considered, an improvement of the
fit indices appeared, albeit marginal (normal theory weighted least squares 2 [762]
= 7185.72; p < .001, RMSEA = .091, CFI = .93; TLI-NNFI = .92). The issue
of partial scalar invariance indicates that there are some culture-specific response
biases caused by cultural influences other than variations in the underlying factors.
Strictly speaking, the existence of response bias would prohibit the direct comparison
of observed item means or scale means across different countries. However, as the
purpose in this case is not to compare countries but to identify the underlying factor
structures in the pooled data, it is reasonable to consider some minor, rather expected
deviations caused by external, not directly identifiable cultural causes as marginal.
The second step was the implementation of a subsequent CFA to confirm the setup of the 16-item PVQ taxonomy. The fit of the CFA model was reasonably good,
as expected as regards the configural and metric invariance achieved before, even
after clear rejection of the independence model (normal theory 2 [83] = 3453.88,

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Table 3 Descriptive statistics and reliabilities of the 16-item value inventory, N = 8171.
Var.no

5
8
12

16

14

2
7

13
15

Value item
Schwartz Values (16 items)
A. Benevolence
Its very important to him to help the people around
him. He wants to care for their well-being.
It is important to him to be loyal to his friends. He
wants to devote himself to people close to him.
It is important to him to respond to the needs of
others. He tries to support those he knows.
Mean and SD benevolence
Cronbachs
B. Universalism

Mean/SDa

Item/total
correlation

2.1/.99

.60

2/.98

.59

2.2/.96

.63

He strongly believes that people should care for

nature. Looking after the environment is
important to him.
It is important to him to adapt to nature and to fit
into it. He believes that people should not change
nature.
Mean and SD universalism
Cronbach
C. Self-direction

2.1/1.07

.62

2.3/1.13

.60

It is important to him to make his own decisions

about what he does. He likes to be free to plan
and to choose his activities for himself.
It is important to him to be independent. He likes to
rely on himself.
Mean and SD self-direction
Cronbach
D. Stimulation

2.1/1.08

.56

2.2/1.13

.56

He thinks it is important to do lots of different things

in life. He always looks for new things to try.
He likes to take risks. He is always looking for
adventures.
Mean and SD stimulation
Cronbach
E. Hedonism

2.8/1.28

.51

3 9/1.43

.51

He seeks every chance he can to have fun. It is

important to him to do things that give him
pleasure.
Enjoying lifes pleasures is important to him. He
likes to spoil himself.
He really wants to enjoy life. Having a good time is
very important to him.
Mean and SD hedonism
Cronbach

2.7/1.26

.61

2.9/1.35

.64

2.6/1.28

.69

2.1/.97
.77

2.1/1.08
.71

2.2/1.10
.72

3.3/1.35
.67

2.7/1.29
.80
(Continued)

Krystallis et al. Consumer values and behaviour towards differentiated products

Table 3 (Continued).
Mean/SDa

Item/total
correlation

Being successful is important to him. He likes to

impress other people.
He thinks it is important to be ambitious. He wants
to show how capable he is.
Mean and SD achievement
Cronbach
G. Security

3.3/1.44

.59

3.3/1.40

.59

It is important to him to live in secure surroundings.

He avoids anything that might endanger his
safety.
He tries hard to avoid getting sick. Staying healthy is
very important to him.
Mean and SD security
Cronbach
All-item Cronbach

2.3/1.20

.37

2.1/1.11

.37

Var.no

Value item
F. Achievement

6
10

13

a1

3.3/1.41
.74

2.2/1.15
.54
.86

= very much like me; 2 = like me; 3 = somewhat like me; 4 = a little like me; 5 = not like me;
6 = not like me at all.

p < .001; SatorraBentler scaled 2 [83] = 2706.84, p < .001, CFI = .97, TLINNFI = .96, RMSEA = .062). The standardised factor loadings also assessed
convergent validity, ranging from .69 to .82 (Kline, 2005). The estimated correlations
were under .85, also satisfying discriminant validity (Kline, 2005). The most
substantial correlations appeared in the benevolence, universalism, and security
values and in the stimulation, hedonism, and achievement values, whereas selfdirection presented a moderate correlation with security (Table 4).
The presence of both substantial correlations (Fabrigar, Wegener, MacCallum, &
Strahan, 1999) and discriminant validity between the factors suggested that higherorder factors might exist (Bagozzi, Lee, & van Loo, 2001). Subsequently, a secondorder model of the 16 PVQ items was specified as follows: universalism (var. 10,
17), benevolence (var. 6, 9 and 13), and security (var. 2 and 14) as indicators
of a collectivistic second-order value factor 1; and hedonism (var. 4, 12, 16),
Table 4 Correlations among first-order factors, N = 8171.

Benev.
Univer.
Secur.
Stim.
Hedon.
Self-dir.
Achiev.

Benev.
1
.61
.66
.28
.40
.46
.22

Univer.
1
.72
.29
.29
.45
.20

First-order factors
Secur. Stim. Hedon.

1
.21
.46
.54
.31

1
.75
.53
.77

1
.60
.59

Self-dir.

Achiev.

1
.44

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Table 5 Correlations among first- and second-order factors, N = 8171.

First-order factors
Benev. Univer. Secur. Stim. Hedon. Self-d. Achiev.
Benev.
1
Univer.
.61
1
Secur.
.68
.70
1
Stim.
.36
.37
.41
1
Hedon.
.34
.35
.39
.76
1
Self-dir.
.27
.28
.32
.62
.58
1
Achiev.
.29
.30
.34
.66
.62
.50
1
Fact. 1
Fact. 2

.77
.40

.79
.41

.88
.46

.47
.90

.44
.85

.36
.69

.38
.73

Second-order
factors
Fact. 1 Fact. 2

1
.52

achievement (var. 7, 11), stimulation (var. 8, 3), and self-direction (var. 5 and 15) as
indicators of an individualistic second-order value factor 2. The second-order CFA
again showed good statistical properties even after rejection of the independence
model (normal theory 2 [83] = 4881.51, p < .001; SatorraBentler scaled 2
[83] = 3830.91; p < .001, CFI = .96, TLI-NNFI = .95, RMSEA = .069), also in
terms convergent validity, with the second-order standardised factor loadings ranging
from .69 to .90; and discrimant validity, with the correlations between the two
second-order factors and among the first-order factors under .85.
Furthermore, in order to validate this second-order model, the data set
of 8171 respondents was randomly split (SPSS v12.0) into two samples of
approximately 4000 respondents each. The good statistical properties of the secondorder model remained stable (first sample: normal theory 2 [96] = 2482.78, p <
.001; SatorraBentler scaled 2 [96] = 1898.51; p < .001, CFI = .96, TLI-NNFI =
.95, RMSEA = .068; second sample: normal theory 2 [96] = 2636.52, p < .001;
SatorraBentler scaled 2 [96] = 2119.31; p < .001, CFI = .96, TLI-NNFI = .95,
RMSEA = .072; Table 5 and Figure 2).
Value-based segmentation task
The final phase of the analysis was the implementation of a two-stage valuebased segmentation task (SPSS v12.0), grouping criteria being the two secondorder collectivistic and individualistic value factors resulting from CFA. The initial
implementation of the hierarchical cluster analysis (stage I) was followed by the
k-means procedure on hierarchical cluster centroids with the option of identifying
three to seven clusters (stage II). The five-cluster solution was finally selected (Pearson
correlation between the hierarchical and the k-means cluster membership variables =
.82, p < .01). Differences between clusters were substantiated by discriminant
analysis, with the between-cluster variances being larger than those within clusters
(Wilks lambdas .317 and .226, p < .000). When a linear discriminant function was
used to re-substitute respondents in clusters, 97.6% was correctly classified. The
graphical representation of the correlations between the discriminant functions
with the second-order factorial dimensions as vectors indicated that the two

Krystallis et al. Consumer values and behaviour towards differentiated products

Figure 2 Confirmatory factor analysis model of the 16-item value inventory

(standardised solution).

Bene

0.73
0.70
0.76

Uni

0.78
0.81

Sec

0.55
0.67

0.77
0.79

Ben_1

0.47

Ben_2

0.51

Ben_3

0.43

Uni_2

0.39

Uni_3

0.34

Sec_1

0.70

Sec_2

0.55

Sti_1

0.47

Sti_2

0.51

Hed_1

0.44

Hed_2

0.45

Hed_3

0.38

Self_1

0.46

Self_2

0.43

Ach_1

0.40

Ach_2

0.41

0.88
1.00

Fact1
0.73

0.52

Stimu

0.70

0.90
1.00

Fact2
0.85

Hedo

0.79

0.69
0.73

0.75
0.74

Self

0.74
0.76

Achive

0.77
0.77

ChiSquare=4884.51, df=96, pvalue=0.00000, RMSEA=0.069

second-order factor correlation vectors were located in the direction predicted in

the outcome of the second-order CFA model (Figures 3 and 4). Chi-square and
Duncan and Scheffe post-hoc ANOVA tests established the statistically significant
differences (p < .05) across the five clusters. In order to develop the profiles of
each cluster, a cross-tabulation between the cluster membership variable and the
statistically significant variables was made (Table 6).
The samples mean similarity with the individualistic value factor lay at the
somewhat like me increment (3.0 in the 17 scale), while mean similarity with the
collectivistic value factor was stronger, at the like me increment (2.4). The same
pattern of closer similarity with the collectivistic factor emerged across clusters 1, 2,
3, and 4 that together represent 90% of the sample. Clusters 1 (20.6% of the sample)
and 3 (32.0% of the sample) showed the strongest similarity with collectivistic values,
followed by cluster 2 (28.8% of the sample). Clusters 1 and 2 also showed the
strongest similarity with individualistic values. The remaining two smaller clusters
4 (8.4% of the sample) and 5 (10.1% of the sample) showed weaker similarity than
the other clusters as regards both collectivistic mainly and individualistic values
(together with cluster 3).

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Figure 3 Discriminant analysis: all-group scatter plot.

Canonical Discriminant Functions
Cluster Number
of case
1
2
3
4
5
Group Centroid

5,0

2,5
Function 2

1454

0,0

2,5

5,0

10

10

15

Function 1

Figure 4 Graphical representation of the correlations between the discriminant

functions with the second-order factorial dimensions as vectors.
Self - trascendence
Universalism

Benevolence

Self-direction
Fact1

Fact2

Concer
vation

Openness
to change
Stimulation

Security

Hedonism
Achievement
Self-enhancement

At the individual cluster level, chi-square tests revealed the following profiles.
Cluster 1 included the largest percentage of regular organic buyers on both a
monthly and weekly basis, and the lowest percentage of non-buyers. Its members
were consumers mainly from Scandinavia and Italy. Cluster 2 included the largest
percentage of occasional organic buyers, the second largest percentage of regular
organic buyers, and the lowest percentage of non-buyers, together with cluster 1.
Its members come from mature organic markets such as Scandinavia and Germany.
Cluster 3 included the lowest percentage of regular buyers of both types but the
largest percentage of people who buy always when possible and of non-buyers

Krystallis et al. Consumer values and behaviour towards differentiated products

Table 6 Cluster profiles, statistically significant differences, %, N = 8171.

Variable description
Clustering factorsa
Factor 1: Collectivistic
Factor 2: Individualistic
Mean factor score/cluster
Organic food shopping behaviour
Never bought nor considered buying
Not yet bought but have considered it
Have bought but will not anymore
Total non-buyers
Buy few times a year
Buy always when possible
Total occasional buyers
Buy once or a couple of times a month
Buy weekly
Total regular buyers
Intensity of beliefs held about organicsb
Organics are free from chemicals
Organics taste better
Organics are healthier
Organics are not really organic
Socio-demographic variables
Gender: Female
Education: Secondary school
Education: Tertiary and post-graduate
Children 612 years old in the
household:
0
1
2
>2
Country:
IT
DK
UK
FN
GR
SP
GE
SE

Cluster Cluster Cluster Cluster Cluster

1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
Sig. 20.6% 28.8% 32.0%
8.4%
10.1%

1.43
1.87
1.65

2.23
2.43
2.33

1.96
3.56
2.76

3.40
4.24
3.82

3.23
3.02
3.13

15.8
15.0
1.9
32.7
27.5
5.7
33.2
20.4
13.7
34.0

4.99
4.88
5.40
3.93

16.3
13.8
2.6
32.7
30.3
5.8
36.1
19.1
12.1
31.2
4.90
4.87
5.36
3.99

17.9
17.2
1.9
37.0
28.0
7.0
35.0
16.8
11.1
27.9
5.03
5.07
5.55
4.08

19.1
15.0
2.2
36.3
28.5
4.6
33.1
17.4
13.2
30.6
5.03
4.98
5.38
3.94

20.2
15.1
2.2
37.5
25.9
5.7
31.6
19.7
11.1
30.8
4.84
4.91
5.40
4.10

65.7
50.3
28.2

67.0
48.4
27.9

70.2
48.4
25.8

69.2
45.6
28.2

66.3
49.4
26.9

81.5
12.2
5.5
.8

78.5
14.9
6.3
.4

76.9
16.3
6.1
.7

78.0
13.8
7.9
.3

82.1
13.7
3.7
.4

14.1
16.7
12.9
12.4
7.2
7.7
12.4
16.5

11.1
12.9
9.5
11.8
10.5
10.3
14.7
19.2

12.4
12.5
12.0
13.4
15.1
15.1
9.9
9.5

9.7
12.0
15.4
14.7
15.5
14.0
9.4
9.3

10.1
11.1
12.5
13.4
14.0
12.3
11.9
14.6

= very much like me; 2 = like me; 3 = somewhat like me; 4 = a little like me; 5 = not like me;
6 = not like me at all.
b 1 = extremely unlikely; 2 = unlikely; 3 = rather unlikely; 4 = neither unlikely nor likely; 5 =
rather likely; 6 = likely; 7 = extremely likely.
Duncan and Scheffe post-hoc paired ANOVA tests, p < .05; Chi-square tests, p < .05.
a1

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Journal of Marketing Management, Volume 28

who have considered buying organics. Its members come mainly from South Europe
(i.e. Spain and Greece), as well as Finland. Cluster 4 included the second highest
percentage of participants who had neither bought nor considered buying organic
food, but also the second highest percentages of occasional few times a year and
of regular weekly buyers. Finally, cluster 5 included the highest percentage of nonbuyers, the lowest percentage of occasional buyers, but the second highest percentage
of monthly buyers.

Discussion and conclusion

Using nationally representative samples of more than 1000 consumers from eight
EU countries, the present survey tested a PVQ-based inventory of values developed
to fit consumer behaviour towards differentiated products (i.e. organic food).
The purpose of the survey was to advance theory by contextualising existing
instruments. Its theoretical contribution lies in its explicit effort to exhibit the
usefulness of tailoring, as well as the adaptation capability of existing taxonomies,
such as the PVQ, for understanding consumer behaviour in differentiated product
contexts.
The 16-item PVQ-based inventory that included organic food-relevant consumer
values exhibited good statistical performance. Cronbachs alpha levels per value
domain did not show significant differences from the relevant reliabilities of
the original PVQ dimensions (Schwartz et al., 2001), being either slightly
lower (security, stimulation, and hedonism) or slightly higher (benevolence, selfdirection, universalism, and achievement). However, the classification of consumers
value similarity was somewhat different: benevolence was less important, while
universalism and security were more important. The second-order factorial design
of the 16 PVQ values (collectivistic and individualistic factors) also showed good
statistical properties in terms of acceptable goodness-of-fit indices and validity.
Benevolence and universalism were found to form a joint factor reflecting the selftranscendence dimension of the Values Theory, which is also shown in certain cases
in the literature. For instance, Schwartz (2004a, 2004b) reports that benevolence
and universalism formed a joint area in one-third of 14 samples of adults, university
students, and adolescents from Chile, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Peru, Poland,
and Ukraine. Moreover, the high correlation of security with both benevolence
and universalism (.68 and .70 respectively see Table 5), together with the high
standardised factor loading (.88) of security in the collectivistic second-order factor,
made benevolence, universalism, and conservation merge. This indicates that as
regards differentiated products, where tradition and conformity values do not play a
role, peoples quest for security is embodied in their wider collectivistic value system.
On the other hand, the individualistic second-order factor incorporated the
openness-to-change dimension as well as the largest part of the self-enhancement
dimension. The high correlation between stimulation and hedonism (.76 see
Table 5), as well as the high standardised factor loadings of stimulation and hedonism
with the individualistic factor (.90 and .85 respectively), are clearly the reasons for
this finding. In other words, for differentiated products where power values do not
play a role, peoples need for stimulation and hedonism almost merge, resulting in
openness-to-change and self-direction forming a joint motivational area relevant to
the individual.

Krystallis et al. Consumer values and behaviour towards differentiated products

Customisation of PVQ inventories

A key question then is whether it is conceptually meaningful to develop different
PVQ-based inventories of values by means of confirmatory factor analysis when a
certain type of differentiated products is involved. The development of the 16-item
PVQ inventorys factorial construct of values that pertain to the specific differentiated
products under study is our major contribution in this respect and gives a positive
answer to the above question. CFA was suggested as an analytical technique in many
PVQ applications (see Perrinjaquet, Furrer, Usunier, Cestre, & Vallette-Florence,
2007, for a recent example). Moreover, Schwartz in his work adopts CFA to
evaluate the structure of values and to confirm the 10-domain value structure of the
Values Theory (Schwartz & Boehnke, 2004). The reason why confirmatory factor
analyses are necessary when dealing with PVQ is clearly explained by Schwartz, who
essentially tested the circumplex structure theory using CFA.
A relevant issue lies in the potential existence of high-order factors in the PVQ
taxonomy: . . . Schwartz treats the high-order types merely as a way to describe
the value structure more simply (Schwartz & Boehnke, 2004, p. 237). Additionally:
. . . Higher-order types can be formed, and alternative combinations of adjacent
values into higher-order types are as legitimate as the previously designated higherorder types (Schwartz & Boehnke, 2004, p. 251). This latter statement implies
that a researcher can meaningfully hypothesise that high-order dimensions exist in
the PVQ taxonomy. The researcher can also examine the existence of other highorder dimensions that do not strictly belong to the initially postulated taxonomy.
Consequently, different kinds of dimensions can be hypothesised and tested in
tailoring the taxonomy to specific contexts. For instance, using simple principal
component analysis and the full 56-item SVS, Kihlberg and Risvik (2007) concluded
that there are two higher-order value constructs named individual and collective,
incorporating almost the same elements of the Values Theory as in the present
study. Moreover, Kihlberg and Risvik (2007) found that the values that explain
organic product consumption are related to the predominance of individual and
collective values over other types of values such as those excluded from the present
survey. Their findings validate the use of short value typologies to examine consumer
behaviour towards differentiated products, as in our case.
In the present work, the pattern of the correlations at the first-order level had
satisfactory discriminant validity, and the subsequent substantial correlations gave
grounds for hypothesising the existence of higher-order factors. This latter point is
in line with Schwartz and Boehnke (2004): . . . The continuum idea implies that
the array of value items can be partitioned into as many or as few categories as is
optimal for a researchers purposes (p. 251). In sum, the support for a motivational
continuum of values gives researchers the freedom and flexibility to choose higherorder combinations of adjacent values particularly suited to the topics they study.

Explanatory power of customised PVQ inventories

An additional question that remains to be answered is whether the different PVQbased value inventories developed to fit specific differentiated product contexts have
any real ability to explain consumer behaviour. Taking organic foods as a case, the
trend of stronger endorsement of the collectivistic values (benevolence, universalism,
and security) emerges for clusters 1 to 4, which together represent 90% of the sample.
Furthermore, above-average similarity with this factor appears in clusters 1 to 3,

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Journal of Marketing Management, Volume 28

which together represent more than 80% of the sample. The successive decrease in
mean similarity with both factors when moving from cluster 1 to cluster 5 leads to
the following conclusions.
(a) Agreement with individualistic and collectivistic values usually decreases
progressively and jointly for both value factors, a trend that leads to the
identification of distinctive consumer segments. Consequently, in the wider
European population, consumers can belong to various segments holding
collectivistic and individualistic values very strongly (i.e. very much like me,
cluster 1), strongly (like me, clusters 2 and 3), moderately (somewhat like me,
cluster 5), and weakly (a little like me, cluster 4), with corresponding organic
food purchasing behaviours.
(b) Clusters with higher percentages of regular organic buyers (clusters 1 and 2) or
occasional organic buyers (clusters 2 and 3) hold collectivistic values more
strongly. On the other hand, clusters with higher percentages of non-buyers
(clusters 4 and 5) hold both collectivistic and individualistic values less strongly.
(c) However, the importance assigned to individualistic values also plays a role in
organic food purchasing: as shown in the regular organic buyer clusters 1 and
2, the individualistic values complement the collectivistic values as motivators
of organic purchasing. In this respect, organic food purchasing is the combined
outcome of mainly universalism, benevolence, stimulation, and hedonism.

From a practitioners point of view, the present findings offer substantial marketing
insights in relation to the usefulness of personal values for monitoring consumer
markets for differentiated products, highlighting the predictive ability of simple and
flexible marketing data collection tools, such as the PVQ, and providing evidence for
the marketing value derived from value-based consumer segmentation. For instance,
the Values Theory can successfully explain consumer behaviour in an organic food
purchasing context for 81.5% of the European sample (i.e. clusters 1, 2, and 3 hold
collectivistic values more strongly than the average sample member).
However, it is worth noting that not one value cluster contains regular organic
purchasers as the majority of its members, while the difference between the highest
(clusters 1 and 2) and the lowest (cluster 5) percentage of organic buyers is only
4.8%. Additionally, perceived knowledge and belief likelihood levels do not differ
essentially across clusters (Duncan and Scheffe post-hoc ANOVA tests, p < .05
see Table 6). Moreover, the weak similarity with both the collectivistic and the
individualistic values can hardly explain the substantial percentages of regular organic
buyers in cluster 5 and especially in cluster 4 (18.5% of the sample). Finally,
strong similarity with collectivistic values appears in cluster 3, despite the fact that this
cluster includes the lowest percentage of regular buyers and an average percentage of
yearly buyers.
Despite the fact that values are able to guide behaviour, their inability to explain
behaviour directly was also described in past research. For instance, Bruns et al.
(2004) supported the view that some kind of attitudinal construct should be invoked
as a mediator between values and behaviour proposing the FRL. In the context of
consumer behaviour towards differentiated products, however, it might be possible to
identify other causes of the irregularities between organic food purchasing frequency
and segments value profile, as described above. For instance, it is possible that the
two small clusters 4 and 5 behave like outliers whose organic food purchases are

Krystallis et al. Consumer values and behaviour towards differentiated products

more random, thus also being more difficult to predict within the Values Theory
frame. Regarding cluster 3, the organic market conditions of limited availability
that prevail in Greece and Spain (41.2% of the Spanish and 40.3% of the Greeks
belong to that cluster) may to a certain extent explain the contradiction described
above. Moreover, cluster 3 represents a group of European consumers with a great
potential to become organic buyers, as indicated by the highest percentage of people
in all the clusters that have considered buying organic produce. It is thus possible
that restricting market conditions in relation to the differentiated products under
consideration can lead to consumer behaviour for which the Values Theory has
limited explanatory power.
In summary, this paper carries the following message: when some of its value
domains are empirically missing (i.e. when they are not practically important for
purchasing behaviour towards specific product categories or types), the adaptation
capacity of the Values Theory is high. Conceptualisation of the PVQ in order to reflect
a real context situation makes the value domains that are relevant to the context
merge into new hierarchical dimensions in absolute respect of the underlying original
theory. This conclusion points towards robustness of the taxonomy in being able to
adapt itself to different human behaviour contexts (i.e. purchasing behaviour).
The results of the present research pertain to organic foods; in this respect,
they might not safeguard the drawing of global conclusions. Further research
should exploit the ability of tailor-made PVQ-based inventories to explain consumer
behaviour towards other differentiated products. Recent evidence (e.g. Bruns et al.,
2004; Dreezens et al., 2005; Kihlberg & Risvik, 2007; Krystallis et al., 2008;
Magnusson et al., 2003; Worsley & Lea, 2008) suggests that this is possible, although
this body of research all pertains to the food sector. Finally, further research should
consider applicability of this approach in cases of limited consumer knowledge about
the product, low consumer involvement and loyalty, or restricted market conditions
(e.g. fragmented distribution channels and low availability) that might mitigate the
behaviour-related explanatory power of the PVQ.

Acknowledgements
The research reported here was funded by the European Commission and based on results
from the FP5 Integrated Project QLRT-200202446: Consumer Decision-making on Organic
Products, CONDOR.

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About the authors

Athanasios Krystallis is Professor of marketing at the Department of Business Administration,
School of Business and Social Sciences, Aarhus University, and co-responsible for consumer
research at the MAPP Centre. He holds an MSc degree in food marketing and a PhD in
consumer behaviour (both from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK). His scientific
interests focus on food consumer behaviour with emphasis on perceived extrinsic sustainability
attributes and marketing strategy.
Corresponding author: Athanasios Krystallis, Aarhus School of Business and Social Sciences
(ASBSS), Aarhus University, Haslegaardsvej 10, DK-8210, Aarhus V, Denmark.
T +45 8948 6374
E atkr@asb.dk
Marco Vassallo is a newly appointed associate statistical researcher at the National Research
Institute on Food and Nutrition in Rome, Italy. He holds an MSc Degree in Statistics and
Economics (from the University La Sapienza of Rome, Italy) and is currently a second-year
PhD candidate in Agri-Food Economics and Statistics at the University Alma Mater Studiorum
of Bologna. His main research area is focused on food consumer behaviour with emphasis on
the application of socio-cognition models, and other factorial frameworks issued from the
health and cognitive psychology, to cross-national consumers choices.
E vassallo@inran.it
George Chryssochoidis is senior lecturer in marketing at Norwich Business School, University
of East Anglia, UK. His current research is on consumer-led new product innovation and
the use of information on new products. He is a member of the work group that defines
the strategic research agenda for the European Technology Platform F4F, has been an ITC
(World Trade Organisation/UNCTAD) Expert in Marketing, has published more than 40 peer
reviewed articles, and has been principal investigator in more than 20 research funded projects
from national, EU, and UKERC sources.
E

G.Chryssochoidis@uea.ac.uk

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