Ocaña

By external agents we refer to the positive or negative influence of experts whether exerted by word-of- mouth, through mass media or other sources, and to the role of media coverage more generally, insofar as the influence of such persons is revealed in consumer narratives with regard to organic foods. We had envisaged that ‘experts’ of this kind might include persons ranging from an animal rights activist or health professional to a local farmer or shopkeeper. In exploring the role of external events, we had envisaged

real world events beyond the sphere of the household and its circle of friends, referring to changes in local

communities that may have exerted influence on the shopping habits of informants with particular reference to organic products.

Experts and media

Information disseminated through mass media appears to have influenced Danish consumers in what might by called an indirect fashion. While most users of organic products report some influence from mass media, none report a specific source of this influence. That is to say, specific books, programmes, magazines or talk shows do not feature in these narratives. Nor for the most part is any specific influence accorded to particular experts, whether exerted by word of mouth or through the media. In this respect, there does not appear to be a “smoking gun” that has exerted a particular influence during the recent decades of coverage. Nevertheless, users of organic products do report that they have obtained

information about organic production and products through the media and that this information has also influenced their purchasing decisions. A typical response to a question on this issue was as follows:

Oh, it’s just been the media in general. I wouldn’t say that it had been any particular thing as such. It’s just been in general. (Regular user D)

One regular user went so far as to claim that, apart from an interest in healthy food that stemmed from childhood, the media had been her primary or only source of information:

Well, it must be from the media… If you’re thinking about the circle I move in, I would say: no. I wouldn’t say that I have got my ideas from there. No, certainly I haven’t. (Regular user C)

These accounts of “the media” as a general source of influence is credible in the light of a recent analysis of the coverage of organic production and products in Danish newspapers and magazines, indicting a high level of coverage of these topics in Danish national newspapers since the early 1990s. Positively oriented stories have regarded environmental sustainability, animal welfare, health benefits and other topics (Larsen 2006). These topics are the same as those identified among regular users in the present study as constituting value-based rewards associated with the consumption of organic foods (see Section 3.2). It seems highly likely therefore that Danish media have indeed exerted a strong and

enduring, if somewhat indirect, influence on Danish consumers.

Two exceptions to the pattern we have termed that of ‘indirect’ influence should be noted. The first of these concerns the topic of egg production, as covered on Danish television and by other visual media. As we have seen in earlier parts of this analysis, several consumers express strong feelings on the issue of boycotting eggs from battery production systems, a pattern that in all likelihood has been directly influenced by media coverage. The exception is only partial, however, since no informants recall a specific programme or other source. Only the image of mistreated animals –“those poor hens” – remains firmly imprinted on memory.

The other exception refers, not to the role of media coverage in recent decades, but to that of experts in the life stories of relatively older regular users of organic foods. As we have seen in earlier parts of this analysis, representatives of “alternative” ideas that pre-date the more recent focus on environmental and health issues in popular media, feature in the life stories of some consumers. The work of Rudolf Steiner as recounted by an older dedicated regular user is a case in point:

It must be about 30 or 32 years since I came across the work of Rudolf Steiner, his pedagogical theory in particular… Back then we tried to live up to some of the things we thought were right and important in theory, and that included eating biodynamic food, which wasn’t the easiest thing in the world to get hold of…Yes, it sounds kind of banal to say this, but the idea was to find something or other to believe in, something or other that made one’s life worthwhile… (Regular user F)

Others, as we have seen, also mentioned an earlier interest in alternative ideas with particular reference to dietary theories, sometimes encountered in the context of pursuing a course of education.

Negative media coverage

Among the many food scandals reported in Danish media have been stories concerning fraudulent practices on the part of organic producers and fraudulent schemes or mistakes with reference to the certification, labelling or packaging of organic products. It would seem that stories of this kind could undoubtedly exert a negative influence on consumers regarding the purchase and consumption of organic products. On this point, a clear difference between regular users and others emerges from our analysis.

Some regular users mentioned stories of this kind, but tended in each case to view these events as isolated incidents that were not representative of the organic movement or of the food industry in Denmark. Non-users and some occasional users in contrast tended to refer to such stories as constituting one reason why they refused to purchase organic products or did not do so more often. In this sense, stories of this kind reinforced resistances to the idea of buying organic foods. It was also clear, as we have seen in earlier parts of this analysis however, that these views tended to be based on the informants’ expectations regarding the likelihood that people do cheat, given the chance to do so. These narratives did not include reference to specific scandals or to specific stories reported in the media.

External events

The most frequently cited reason why regular users had increased their consumption of organic products referred to the increasing availability and range of these products in the shopping outlets they ordinarily frequented (see Chapter 3). Dedicated regular users selected their shopping venues in the light of their knowledge about supermarket chains that stocked most organic variants, while the more thrifty regular

users selected venues in the light of their knowledge about which chains offer organic products at the relatively lowest price level (see Chapter 4). There can be little doubt that real world events in the form of structural changes in the organic sector of the Danish market with regard to supply and distribution

underlies these findings. The influence exerted by external events on the preferences of Danish consumers of organic food products, supported by media coverage, appears to have been very extensive indeed.

While mass distribution has been the policy pursued by the Danish organic sector during the last fifteen years, some events recounted by regular users supplement this picture with regard to the influence of direct sales channels. One regular user was a member of a vegetable box scheme; another reported that a colleague at work acted as an intermediary regarding the sale of organic eggs, while a third reported a similar channel with regard to the sale of organic vegetables from a local farm.

5.3

The first encounter with organic foods and the character of changes of