The Survey

In the present section, the survey used after the experiment will be described (Appendix 3). First of all, the aim and the structure will be explained. Secondly, validity and reliability will be discussed.

7.3.1 The aim

The aim of the survey is to collect data which will integrate and complement the data collected with the neuromarketing experiment. The final purpose is to provide further explanations about the TTFF, the duration of fixation and the evaluations of participants in terms of design, quality and price. To achieve this objective, the survey will test the relevance of variables identified in the previous literature.

7.3.2 The Structure

The survey was divided into three main sections: the first focused on organic wine, the second focused on organic food and the third explored participants’ personal dietary and demographic information.

The paragraphs below will provide additional information about these three sections. Besides, the questions of the survey will clearly be linked to the framework.

“Organic wine” section

The first four questions and the question n. 10 of this section were included to reflect the variable previous experience of the framework. First of all, it was necessary to understand if participants had

62 previously tasted the wines displayed during the experiment, as previous experience may influence their evaluations. Secondly, participants were asked how frequently they drink alcoholic beverages and specifically wine. Successively, respondents were asked about the frequency of consumption of organic wine.

To investigate the relevance of the variable knowledge included in the framework, participants were asked if they knew the meaning of organic. Successively, they were provided with the correct definition and they were asked whether this definition was the same they had in mind. However, may have created a bias, since people tend to lie in order not to contradict themselves. Asking respondent to write the definition of organic without providing any previous hint, could have been a more fruitful strategy. Nevertheless, it would have provided data in a text format and thus, it would have been more difficult to examine them and establish which answers could have been considered correct. To further investigate the role of the variable knowledge, a question about the sources of knowledge about the organic matter was also included.

Questions n. 8 and 9 were included to further investigate the relevance of health concerns and environmental concerns, which have been identified as the main drivers explaining organic wine and food consumption. These two questions reflect the willingness to study the influence of ideals through this survey. The influence of ideals was further studied through a question listing the possible reasons behind the consumption of organic wine (question n. 11). Two of the possible alternatives were

“environmental reasons” and “I perceive it as an healthier alternative”, which are connected to participants’ ideals. The other alternatives were linked to the other drivers in the framework. In particular, the first alternative, “I can easily find it during my usual grocery shopping” was related to availability; the second alternative, “I trust the benefits reported on the label” reflected the variable trust in the label; “I like the concept of organic” is meant to reflect that organic wine consumption can be influenced by consumption trends. Specifically, this possible answer mirrors the fact that positive attitudes towards organic wine can be caused by trends diffused on a social level, and therefore to the social modelling phenomenon. Likewise, the alternative “My/parents/friends/flatmates are used to consume it” is meant to investigate whether the social influence phenomenon shapes consumers’

preferences. Lastly, question n.19 and the following one (included in the Demographic section) are meant to further investigate the influence of ideals specifically in relation to health concerns.

Participants are indeed asked about their dietary habits as well as about the reasons behind their choices.

63 While the previous questions were meant to understand what encourages people to consume organic wine, the question n.12 is meant to identify the main obstacles to the consumption of organic wine.

The last two questions of the organic wine’s section, namely question n. 13 and question n. 14, investigate what is the price that participants would be willing to pay for bottles of organic and non-organic wine. The relevance of this question is due to the possibility of obtaining interesting results comparing their willingness to pay in two different contexts. The first context is the neuromarketing experiment, whose setup is more similar to an actual purchase situation, while the second one is the moment in which participants are filling in the survey.

“Organic food” section

A second section of the survey is meant to investigate drivers and obstacles influencing the consumption organic food. The aim is to understand whether there are differences between the drivers explaining the consumption of organic wine and those explaining the consumption of organic food.

One limitation is that the investigation of this issue is not supported by an empirical experiment. This comparison is not crucial for this research, focused on organic wine. However, gaining some insights by comparing the two phenomena can provide more details on the drivers behind the attitudes towards organic wine consumption.

This section is structured exactly in the same way as the previous one, with only two exceptions. First, when asking participants about the reasons why they consume organic products, concerns about animals’ welfare were incorporated. Second, the willingness to pay for organic food products is not investigated.

Demographics

Questions about the demographic background of participants were also included. In particular, they were asked to provide information on their age, gender, monthly income, their occupation, the highest level of education they completed, their nationality and the period they spent living in Denmark. As already mentioned in the previous sections, variables such as income, occupation and highest level of education completed are not expected to lead to substantial differences in evaluations. As a matter of fact, the target groups are probably extremely homogeneous in these terms. However, since this assumption cannot be confirmed before analysing the data (i.e. there might be differences in evaluations depending on these factors) these variables have been included. Lastly, participants were asked to provide information about their dietary habits.

64 Validity and Reliability

The survey was given to participants immediately after the neuromarketing experiment. They all received the same version of the survey and filled it in in a separate room. Researchers escorted respondents in that room in order to make sure they would not interact with other participants waiting to enter the room of the neuromarketing experiment. Once again, the environment where the Survey was completed was quiet and the interactions with the researcher were restricted to asking for clarifications about some questions. However, most of the experiments were very silent. Lastly, to obtain high-quality data, Qualtrics was used as a tool to distribute the survey. Being Qualtrics a software meant to collect and elaborate data, the validity is further guaranteed. These conditions guarantee that the collected data are valid and reliable. Further, the points discussed in relation to the neuromarketing experiment can also be applied to the Qualtrics survey.