The Jungle of Food Labels

Transkript

1 The Jungle of Food Labels A study of the Danish consumers' perceptions and attitudes towards food labels in an individual and sociocultural context Writers Camilla Schytte Andersen, Johanne Nini Eriksen, Supervisor Heidi Boye, Department of Marketing Copenhagen Business School Cand.Merc. MCM The 20 th of August 2012 No. of pages/stu: 119,6/

2 Executive summary Background: During the last 20 years, the number of consumer labels has exploded resulting in 50 labels in the Danish market place. These labels are intended to make it easier for the Danish consumers to choose the right products, whereby a paradox seems to have arisen between the purpose and the amount of labels. The objective: The increasing amount of labels impact must be understood in the light of the consumers relationship to these labels. Thus, the objective of this thesis is to achieve an understanding of the Danish consumers perceptions and attitudes towards food labels in an individual and sociocultural context. The term food label underlines the thesis focus on consumer labels on foods. Philosophical- and theoretical foundation: Social constructivism serves as the scientific foundation of the thesis, whereby hermeneutics and dialectics play a central role. Thus, theories belonging to the interpretive turn of research of consumer behaviour are used to understand the results of our studies. Methods: The thesis is built around a partnership model as we have conducted our studies in corporation with Omnicom Media Group. Through this corporation, we have gained access to the data from a quantitative e-survey and we have participated in the carrying out of 15 qualitative in-depth interviews. Thus, the thesis takes a multi-methodical approach. Findings: The interpretation of the results from the two studies generated four themes. Food labels as a jungle deals with the consumers confusion about the amount of labels. Food labels as the bleeding obvious refers to the perception of nutritional food labels as paternalism. Food labels as dogmatism deals with the perception of the red Ø-logo as fake, whereas Food labels as symbols of the conscious consumer refers to the perception of this label as the right thing to buy and as an expression of personal attitudes and convictions. Conclusions and managerial implications: The four themes indicate the multifarious perceptions and attitudes towards food labels. For some consumers, nutritional food labels are perceived as restrictions, whereas the organic food label is perceived as fraud by others. Others perceive the red Ø-logo as a part of their lifestyles and identities. Additionally, most of the consumers are confused about the amount of labels. Thus, our findings have resulted in five recommendations to the Danish authorities and producers of foods: Reduce the amount of food labels Different target audiences different communication Lay down guidelines for consistent communication Different food labels different communication Narrate the good story

3 Acknowledgement First of all, we would like to thank Heidi Boye for her time and engagement and especially for being such a big inspiration to us. Then we would like to thank Omnicon Media Group for letting us be part of their retail study.

4 Table of contents PART Chapter 1: Introduction Problem clarification Research Question Elaboration of research question Partnership model Delimitation Structure of thesis... 7 PART Chapter 2: Philosophy of science Social constructivism Methodology Research design Our prejudices...14 PART Chapter 3: Theoretical framework...17 Chapter 4: Society and Consumer Contours of the Danish society Food labels raison d être Governmental discipline Who is expert in the expert systems? The producers input to the health discourse Creation and transfer of meaning in the late modern society Summary of society and consumer...29 Chapter 5: Trust and complexity Increased complexity Perceived complexity Consumer choice under different forms of perceived complexity Gaining trust in the late modern society Summary of trust and complexity...35 Chapter 6: Identity construction among consumers The reflexive consumption Food labels as symbols You are what you consume Summary of identity construction among consumers...41 PART Chapter 7: Quantitative e-survey The purpose of the e-survey The questionnaire Data collection The quality of the e-survey Analysis of data and results...47 Chapter 8: Qualitative in-depth interviews The purpose of the in-depth interviews The interview guide The in-depth interviews The quality of the interviews Analysis of data and results...54 PART Chapter 9: Food labels as a jungle Consumer knowledge of food labels...57

5 9.2 The extreme amount of food labels Dilution of the value of food labels Summary of food labels as a jungle...65 Chapter 10: Food labels as The Bleeding Obvious Why is there only one way to do it right? Nutritional food labels as paternalism Consumers as sheep Summary of food labels as the bleeding obvious...74 Chapter 11: Food labels as dogmatism Ignorance of the red Ø-logo The fake red Ø-logo The organic freaks Summary of food labels as dogmatism...81 Chapter 12: Food labels as symbols of the conscious consumer The Smiley metaphor Organic products = The ideal choice The red Ø-logo as an expression of your political and ethical position The status symbol of red Ø-logo Summary of food labels as symbols of the conscious consumer...92 PART Chapter 13: Managerial implications Challenges and opportunities The challenge of the amount of food labels The challenge of the multifarious attitudes towards the food labels The challenge of the dissimilar nature of the different food labels The opportunity of the narrative of the eggs...99 Chapter 14: Critical reflections The Partnership Model The quantitative e-survey Qualitative in-depth interviews Theoretical reflections Chapter 15: Conclusion Chapter 16: Putting into perspective and future research Putting into perspective Suggestions for future research Bibliography Appendices Appendix 1: Presentation of OMG Appendix 2: Flowchart of Retail Study Appendix 3: Quantitative questionnaire Appendix 4: Quantitative results Appendix 5: Qualitative interview guide Appendix 6: Transcription of interview with Andreas Appendix 7: Transcription of interview with Anna Appendix 8: Transcription of interview with Børge Appendix 9: Transcription of interview with Carina Appendix 10: Transcription of interview with Carla Appendix 11: Transcription of interview with Ebbe Appendix 12: Transcription of interview with Flemming & Christine Appendix 13: Transcription of interview with Gurli Appendix 14: Transcription of interview with Jakob Appendix 15: Transcription of interview with Jens-Peter Appendix 16: Transcription of interview with Jette

6 Appendix 17: Transcription of interview with Lene Appendix 18: Transcription of interview with Liselotte Appendix 19: Transcription of interview with Morten Appendix 20: Transcription of interview with Sune List of figures: Figure 1: Structure of thesis Figure 2: Overview of Research Design Figure 3: Movement of Meaning Figure 4: Consumer choice under different forms of perceived complexity Figure 5: Four metaphors for consuming Figure 6: Knowledge of food labels Figure 7: Usage of food labels Figure 8: Understandings of the red Ø-logo Figure 9: Understandings of the Keyhole symbol Figure 10: Understandings of the Whole-Grain logo

7 Part 1: Introduction, Chapter 1 m PART 1 Introduction Chapter 1 Part one serves as the introductory part, in which we introduce and clarify the problem of the thesis. The research question and the elaboration of it is presented. Furthermore, we introduce our partnership model with OMG and our delimitation. Finally, the structure of the thesis is presented. 1

8 Part 1: Introduction, Chapter 1 Chapter 1: Introduction There exist consumer labels 1 for ecology, for animal welfare, for the environment, for fair trade and for health (Konkurrence- og Forbrugerstyrelsen 2011). This is just to name a few. Almost everything can get and is getting a consumer label today. During the last 20 years, the number of consumer labels has exploded resulting in no less than 50 labels in the Danish market place (Ibid.). These consumer labels are intended to make it easier for the Danish consumers to choose the right products by appearing as informative symbols of the products content and origin (Rantorp 2011). In this way, the consumer labels serve as guides towards a desired behaviour. For instance, the Danish population is increasingly becoming obese due to poor nutrition, dietary habits and sedentary lifestyles, resulting in nearly 34 % of those aged minimum 15 years old being considered overweight in 2010 (Euromonitor International 2011). In order to oppose this negative development, the Danish authorities have introduced consumer labels, such as the Keyhole symbol and the Whole-Grain logo, to point out healthy foods (Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries 2006). However, a paradox seems to have arisen between the purpose of the consumer labels and the amount of labels. Do the Danish consumers have enough knowledge about all 50 consumer labels in order to use them as informative guides in the search for the right products? Experts seem to agree about the increasing amount of labels have resulted in confusion among consumers (Ritzau 2011). However, the experts solutions to this problem do not have the same similar sound. Some experts believe that the consumer labels should be exterminated in order to excite consumers common sense. Others believe that the solution is to reduce the amount of consumer labels. Additionally, the Danish Consumer Council recommends that consumers thoroughly study the content of the consumer labels (Rantorp 2011).Whether the solution is to exterminate consumer labels, decrease the amount of labels, to get consumers to actively familiarize themselves with all the labels or perhaps a fourth alternative remain unanswered. However, answering this question is not the most important aspect of the problem. The crucial question to be answered lies within the understanding of the Danish consumers perception and attitude towards these consumer labels. This relationship needs to be fully understood in order to assess which impact the increasing amount of consumer labels have on consumers choice. 1.1 Problem clarification The paradox between the purpose of consumer labels and the amount of labels is related to consumer s choice of products and thus, it is located in the context of consumer behaviour. According to Solomon et al. 1 Consumer labels cover all the different types of labels and are referring to the Danish terms forbrugermærker, mærkningsordninger and mærkninger. There is no consistent use of the term in Danish 2

9 Part 1: Introduction, Chapter 1 (2010), the field of consumer behaviour covers a lot of ground: it is the study of the processes involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use or dispose of products, services, ideas or experiences to satisfy needs and desires (Solomon 2010:6). In this light, it is important to narrow down the field of consumer behaviour directed by the primary problem related to the area of interest. In relation to consumer labels, the primary problem is related to the amount of labels resulting in increasing options for the consumers. These increasing options represent increasing number of attributes that the consumers must evaluate in order to make a choice. As the number of attributes increases, the perceived complexity in relation to product choice increases correspondingly (Hansen 2005). Perceived complexity is related to the consumer s knowledge structures constituted by the concepts and categories, which the consumer uses for interpretation and evaluation of the world (Hansen 2005, McCracken 1988a). These knowledge structures are influenced by the cultural values and social norms that constitute the culture that the consumer is a part of (Thomsen, Hansen 2006). This means that the consumer s established knowledge structures will have an impact on how the complexity, caused by the increasing amount of consumer labels, will be perceived. Thus, it is necessary to get an understanding of the culture that the consumer is a part of and how the premises of that culture influence the consumer, in order to get a grasp of this consumers relationship to consumer labels. Furthermore, the Danish consumers relationship to consumer labels must be understood in the light of how these labels encourage to the creation of a certain lifestyle. This is due to the fact that the consumers daily routines, including choice of consumer labelled products, are reflections of the consumers lifestyles. Thus, consumer labels come to serve as a material form to a particular narrative of the consumers identities (Giddens 1991b). Therefore, the Danish consumers relationship to consumer labels must be understood in the light of how these labels contribute to the creation of a certain lifestyle and in light of the premises of the culture that the consumers are a part of. Therefore, the thesis has an understanding aim (Andersen 1998). This understanding deals with consumer labels as a concept and not with the consumers relationship to one particular label. This is due to the fact that we have encountered several studies of consumer labels in isolation, whereby the problem that spring from the amount of labels is not taken into account. As the primary problem seems to revolve around the amount of labels, we find it relevant to make a study of the consumers relationship to these labels as a whole. 3

10 Part 1: Introduction, Chapter Research Question In the light of the problem clarification, the thesis research question is: The objective of the thesis is to achieve an understanding of the Danish consumers perceptions and attitudes towards food labels in an individual and sociocultural context The research question will be addressed by answering the following five sub-questions: 1. What entitles food labels to be present on the Danish market? 2. How does the amount of food labels influence the consumers relationship to food labels? 3. How does the culture, which the consumers are a part of, influence the consumers relationship to food labels? 4. How do food labels contribute to the consumers lifestyle? 5. Which challenges and opportunities stem from the consumers relationship to food labels? 1.3 Elaboration of research question In order to clarify the research question, it is necessary to decompose the different parts of this question and define the concepts. In the context of consumer behaviour, perception is related to the process in which marketing stimulus is absorbed by the consumer and used to interpret the surrounding world. Therefore, perception is closely related to the concept of interpretation, which allows food labels to be assigned meaning. Consumers make sense of their world through interpretation and this interpretation is often shared by others; thus forming cultures (Solomon 2010). Attitude is a term that can take many forms ranging from a person s opinion to a person s behaviour. In the thesis, the concept is related to the evaluation of an object as attitudes are determined by the consumer s motives (Ibid.). Furthermore, we need to elaborate on the concept of food labels. We have chosen this term, instead of consumer labels, in order to emphasize the thesis focus on labels on foods, cf. 1.5 Delimitation. As mentioned in footnote 1, there is no consistent term for these labels. Thus, it is necessary to emphasize that food labels refer to those labels that as a symbol is designed to inform consumers about the content and origin of a product. In this way, the concept is closely related to American Marketing Association s definition of a brand, which is defined as a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition (Keller 2008:2). Furthermore, food labels are not limited to a particular brand, but can be placed on multiple brands. 4

11 Part 1: Introduction, Chapter 1 The term individual is related to the creation of consumers identities by the means of the products that they surround themselves with. In this way, the type of foods being bought and consumed contributes to consumers identities (Solomon 2010). Furthermore, this consumption is evaluated by other consumers, which leads to the necessity of defining the term sociocultural. Grant Mccracken (McCracken 1988a) defines culture as: First, culture is the lens through which the individual views phenomena; as such, it determines how the phenomena will be apprehended and assimilated. Second, culture is the blueprint of human activity, determining the co-ordinates of social action and productive activity, and specifying the behaviours and objects that issue from both (McCracken 1986:72). In this way, the culture is setting the norms that govern behaviour in a society. Additionally, the term socio is related to social influence and thus how behaviour is being influenced in social settings (Solomon 2010). Therefore, consumption is a social act and a cultural event implying that people not only consume products for their technical functions, but also because of their symbolic meaning (Østergaard, Jantzen 2000). 1.4 Partnership model The thesis is built around a partnership model as we have conducted our studies in corporation with the media agency, Omnicom Media Group 2 (OMG) 3. OMG initiated in January 2012 a larger study of the Danish retail trade with the objective of creating insights about the Danish consumers attitudes, convictions, lifestyle, behaviour, consumption patterns and media habits 4. Food labels were naturally a part of this study and we became responsible for this part. The partnership model worked in the way that we gained access to all of the data from the entire study, and we were active participants in the collection and the analysis of some of the data. In this way, we worked as collaborators in the retail study on equal terms with the other OMG employees on the team. One of the advantages with this corporation was that we collected the data as professionals and not as students and writers of a thesis, whereby we gained access to a broad section of the Danish population, which is more representative than if we have had to find the respondents ourselves. 1.5 Delimitation Every academic research will leave several themes and notions untouched, whereby delimitation is necessary in order to address the research question as focused as possible. We have made delimitation in relation to the amount of consumer labels in order to define a specific lens of investigation. As mentioned, we have limited the focus to consumer labels on foods and thus using the term food labels. Additionally, we have made delimitation in the direction of governmental food labels at the expense of private food labels. The difference between these two types of labels lies within the issuer of the 2 View appendix 1 (Presentation of OMG) for more information 3 We will refer to Omnicom Media Group as OMG in the rest of the thesis 4 View appendix 2 (Flowchart of Retail Study) for more information 5

12 Part 1: Introduction, Chapter 1 labels. Private food labels, such as Fair Trade, are initiated by private organisations whereas governmental food labels, such as the red Ø-logo, are initiated by the Danish authorities (Konkurrence- og Forbrugerstyrelsen 2011). This delimitation is made in order to focus the study on those food labels working as guides for the consumers and are not related to profit (Fødevarestyrelsen 2012a). Furthermore, we have chosen three governmental food labels; the red Ø-logo, the Whole-Grain logo and the Keyhole symbol. It is important to emphasize that these labels are being used as a lens of investigation in order to address the research question, rather than being the object of the thesis in itself. Therefore, we do not provide a thorough presentation and analysis of the individual labels as well as we do not address their current strengths and challenges. Thus, the thesis will not take the form of a traditional marketing planning assignment. However, we will reflect on how the Danish authorities and the producers of foods can use the insights that we have created through our studies about the Danish consumers relationship to food labels, in chapter 13. We have made delimitations in relation to our partnership model with OMG. Through this corporation, we have gained access to a lot of information and knowledge about the Danish consumers behaviour in a lot of different areas besides food labels. However, we have omitted all knowledge not dealing directly with food labels in order to ensure focus. Among others, this means that we have carried out studies that we will not include the results of, in the thesis. Finally, we find it relevant to emphasize that as our studies focus on the Danish consumers relationship to food labels and as we acknowledge that these labels might be perceived differently in countries other than Denmark, the results of this thesis will be delimited to apply only in a Danish context. 6

13 Part 1: Introduction, Chapter Structure of thesis In the following figure, the overall structure of the thesis will be illustrated and shortly presented. Figure 1: Structure of thesis (Own illustration) Part 1 (chapter 1) serves as the introductory part, in which we introduce and clarify the problem of the thesis. The research question and the elaboration of it is presented. Furthermore, we introduce our partnership model with OMG and our delimitation. Finally, the structure of the thesis is presented. Part 2 (chapter 2) deals with the thesis philosophy of science. The main focus is on methodology, whereby the thesis research design is argued for and shortly presented in outline. Finally, our prejudices about food labels are presented. Part 3 (chapter 3-6) serves as the theoretical foundation of the thesis. Firstly, the theoretical framework is determined within different perspectives on consumer research. Subsequently, the field of food labels is explained by the means of different theories belonging to this theoretical framework. Part 4 (chapter 7-8) deals with the chosen methods in details. The carrying out and the quality assurance of the e-survey and the in-depth interviews are stated. Finally, the analysis of the data is explained and the results are shortly presented. 7

14 Part 1: Introduction, Chapter 1 Part 5 (chapter 9-12) presents the empirical findings by analysing and discussing the results of our studies in a theoretical perspective. We identified four different themes, which we will go through individually. Part 6 (chapter 13-16) serves as the concluding part of the thesis, in which we will discuss our findings and turn them into concrete recommendations. Additionally, we will critically reflect upon the choices made in thesis before presenting the conclusions. Finally, we will put our thesis into perspective and present suggestions for future research. 8

15 Part 1: Introduction, Chapter 1 PART 2 Philosophy of Science Chapter 2 Part two deals with the thesis philosophy of science. The main focus is on methodology, whereby the thesis research design is argued for and shortly presented in outline. Finally, our prejudices about food labels are presented 9

16 Part 2: Philosophy of Science, Chapter 2 Chapter 2: Philosophy of science This chapter provides the overall frame, whence the entire foundation of the thesis is build up. This means that the scientific foundation is presented, which clears the way for a discussion of the thesis methodical choices and a presentation of the thesis research design. 2.1 Social constructivism Philosophy of science consists of ontological, epistemological and methodological considerations, which constitute the three main elements in a paradigm (Guba 1990). The thesis scientific foundation is determined on the basis of the aim of the research question, which as previously mentioned has an understanding aim (Andersen 1998). This type of research question is characterized by keywords such as understanding, holism and social construction through motives (Heldbjerg 1997). In this light, we find social constructivism appropriate as the scientific foundation of the thesis due to the fact that this paradigm seeks to create an understanding of how the world is constructed. Social constructivism is related to the interpretivist research paradigm due to similar philosophical world views (Nygaard 2005). On an ontological level, the chosen scientific paradigm is based on the assumption that no truth can be found about reality, since the reality is a construction made by human beings (Ibid.). Therefore, we cannot trace exact knowledge of this reality, but we can seek to create an understanding of how reality is constructed and in their endeavour after this, the reality is constructed continually. In this light, reality is understood as an interpretation and people are constantly making interpretations in order to understand the world (Ibid). Since many interpretations can be made about the same object, this paradigm takes the ontological position of relativism (Guba 1990). Ontology refers to the nature of reality, whereas epistemology is related to the kind of knowledge that can be achieved in a research about the studied phenomenon (Ibid.). As reality only exists in people s minds, subjective interaction is the only way to access them (Ibid.). This interaction between the inquirer and the inquired in a research results in a subjective epistemology, as the inquirer cannot carry out an investigation without interacting with, influence and be affected by the inquired (Nygaard 2005). This means that we as researchers are co-creative and thus we are aware of our own influence in the research, cf. 2.4 Our prejudices. 2.2 Methodology Methodology is related to how the inquirer should go about finding out knowledge about the studied phenomenon (Guba 1990). The fact that the findings are created in the interaction between the inquirer and the inquired requires a complex methodology (Nygaard 2005). This complex methodology finds expression in the methodological process having two aspects; hermeneutics and dialectics. This means that individual 10

17 Part 2: Philosophy of Science, Chapter 2 constructions are elicited and refined hermeneutically, and compared and contrasted dialectically, with the aim of generating one or few constructions on which there is a substantial consensus (Guba 1990). The hermeneutical part of the process is related to the concept of interpretation, which is characterized by the inability to remain objective (Fuglsang, Bitsch Olsen 2004). Hermeneutics will work as a guidance to conceptualize the interpretations derived from the analysis of the empirical data and we as researchers will operate as active participants, rather than trying to overcome the subjective dilemma. In addition to this, gained knowledge may change along the way and therefore a reflexive standpoint is taken. Thus, the final conclusions and results will be based on continually obtained knowledge (Ibid.). We will go into more details with the thoughts of hermeneutics and the hermeneutical circle when we deal with the analysis of our empirical data, in part 4. This methodology is related to actor-based thinking, in which the knowledge that can be obtained through interpretation of the actors subjective and qualitative statements are regarded as the key to cognition of the motives that direct human action (Heldbjerg 1997). The language is seen as the primary mediator with reference to obtaining insight in the actors motives and intentions. Thus, the most important technic is the dialogue (Ibid.). In this light, qualitative research methods will serve as the primary approach of data collection in this thesis (Bush, Ortinau & Hair 2009). Multi-methodical approach Although, qualitative research is the main contributor of empirical data in this thesis, we will draw on data from quantitative research as well. Through our partnership model with OMG, we have gained access to the data from a quantitative e-survey and we will use these in the thesis. We find it relevant to discuss how we will relate to the data from the e-survey as this type of research technique is not in its original form in line with the scientific foundation of the thesis. Quantitative methods are often related to post-/positivistic philosophy of science, whereby quantitative methods are searching for causalities and universal validity within a specific phenomenon. Thus, the thought of individuals are eliminated (Bjerg, Villadsen 2006, Riis 2005). This implies a realistic view of reality as opposed to the social constructivist s relativistic view of reality (Guba 1990). In sum, quantitative methods are looking for explanations of the researched, whereas qualitative research is seeking an understanding of the researched. Within the social sciences, it is being debated to what extent social relations must be explained or understood. Generally, this debate is taken place on two levels consisting of an epistemological level and a technical level (Bryman 2004). As mentioned in the discussion above, on an epistemological level the two research methods seem incompatible due to their conflicting view of reality. On the other hand, on a pure technical level the debate deals with technical differences, whereby the method s appropriateness is being assessed in relation to the field of investigation and the theoretical starting point (Riis 2001). 11

18 Part 2: Philosophy of Science, Chapter 2 In relation to this debate, we assess that the thesis s research question and field of investigation must direct the choice of research method. As both numbers and words can create an understanding of the world, we assess that both qualitative and quantitative methods will contribute to the solution of our research question (McCracken 1988b). Furthermore, since both qualitative and quantitative methods have strengths and weaknesses, a combination of different types of methods can contribute to a reduction in their respective weaknesses (Bjerg, Villadsen 2006). However, we will not relate to the data from the quantitative research in a pure scientific sense, where the goal is to ensure objectivity. Therefore, we will, inspired by one of the main contributors to the thesis s theoretical foundation, the British sociologist Anthony Giddens, remain reflexive in the use of the quantitative method. This implies that the method is used on hermeneutical premises meaning that we will interpret how the data has appeared, in the light of how the posterior questions can create various thoughts with the individuals (Boye 2010). 2.3 Research design We find it relevant to shortly describe the thesis research design as the objective of this chapter is to provide the foundation for the entire thesis. Generally, it applies that the relation between research and theory in this thesis research is of inductive character meaning that the thesis starting point is observations and findings in the empirical work, whereas theory will serve as the lens through which these findings are interpreted and understood. Our research design is a mixture of the data that we have gained access to through our partnership model and the data that we have collected ourselves. Through this corporation with OMG we have obtained wide knowledge of the Danish consumers behaviour and as we mentioned in 1.5 Delimitation, we have excluded the empirical data that does not directly touch upon food labels. However, we choose to illustrate all the different methods in our research design as we as reflexive and subjective researchers acknowledge that all the collected data has shaped and influenced our knowledge and understanding in some way. The combination of research methods and the sequence, in which the methods have taken place, appear from figure 2. The crossed, dotted lines indicate the excluded methods from the thesis. Literature review E-survey Diary study Participant observation In-depth interviews Figure 2: Overview of Research Design (Own illustration) 12

19 Part 2: Philosophy of Science, Chapter 2 The objective of the literature review was to create the empirical and theoretical frame of understanding by analysing earlier research results within areas related to food labels. Additionally, this review gave us an overview of the leading theorists within the area of consumer behaviour and food consumption. Thus, the literature review served as the creation of a theoretical foundation based on theoretical and empirical research results, which will serve as the lens through which the data from our studies are seen through (McCracken 1988b). In relation to secondary empirical research results, we have used a variety of different studies dealing with the Danish consumers behaviour and attitudes in general in order to obtain a broad understanding of food labels on the Danish market. These studies are carried out by professional research institutes, for whom we must assume that the quality of research is respected and thus the quality of the data is trustworthy. Additionally, we have read a variety of newspaper articles in order to get a grasp of the subject s topicality and the overall attitude towards food labels. These articles are used as indicators as we are aware that such data sources to a great extent are influenced by political interest and the personal attitude of the journalists. Thus, we take a critical view of the used newspaper articles. The findings from the literature review will appear in the thesis theoretical chapters; chapter 3-6. We gained access to the data of OMG s e-survey that was designed to create consumer segments in the light of the Danish consumers attitudes, preferences, lifestyle, purchase considerations and behaviour, media usage and demographic characteristics. OMG created five segments on the basis of this study. In relation to our thesis, this method served as a preliminary study, as the results from this provided the basis for the indepth interviews (Madsen, Grønbæk 2009). We will go into further details with the e-survey in chapter 7. In continuation of the statistical results from the e-survey, we conducted a diary study in corporation with OMG, in which 10 consumers from each of the five identified segments registered, commented on and took pictures of their purchases for two weeks. The objective of this study was to enrich the results from the quantitative research in terms of how often consumers go shopping, in which supermarkets they shop and what kind of foods they purchase. Thus, this study dealt with consumers general purchase behaviour and did not contribute with further knowledge of consumers relationship to food labels. The results from this study are not included in the thesis. Subsequently, we conducted a mini ethnographic study in corporation with OMG, in which we went shopping with three consumers from each of the five segments and we interviewed them in relation to their habits, attitudes, purchases and preferences. In this light, the ethnographic study consisted of two parts; participant observation and ethnographic interview. The former took place in the consumer s local supermarket, in which we participated in the consumers purchase of foods by direct observations, small talk and informal interviews in the supermarket (Warming 2009). The purpose of the participant observation was 13

20 Part 2: Philosophy of Science, Chapter 2 to observe the consumers behaviour in natural settings and to be able to ask simple questions en route, in order to enrich the results from the e-survey and the diary study. This part of the ethnographic study had its main focus on observing the consumers behaviour in the retail trade in general, whereby it did not provide us with any knowledge of consumers relationship to food labels. Thus, the results from this study are excluded from the thesis. On the other hand, the ethnographic interview with the consumers in their homes provided rich opportunities to get insights about their relationship to food labels. As this type of interview is based on many of the same principles and techniques as in-depth interviews (Spradley 1979), we choose this term for the interview due to the participant observation s exclusion, whereby we analyse and interpret the interviews in isolation. These qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted in continuation of the knowledge from the literature review and the statistical results. The object of these interviews was to obtain greater insight into the consumer s relationship to food labels (Kristensen 2009). The reason for this research method being the primary contributor to the thesis is due to the fact that in-depth interviews make it possible to the ask the question why, which is crucial in relation to obtaining deep and nuanced understanding (Riis 2005). We will go more into details with the in-depth interviews in chapter Our prejudices The chosen scientific foundation implies that the hermeneutic circle is at play organising the methodology in a pre-understanding, an understanding and a post-understanding (Heldbjerg 1997, Kristensen 2009). In this chapter, we will focus on the first part of the circle consisting of pre-understanding, also referred to as prejudices. It is important that we as researchers actively relate to our prejudices in relation to food labels and put them on line in the thesis (Kristensen 2009). Thus, the knowledge obtained through our studies will be analysed in relation to our personal interpretations and prejudices that cannot be left behind. In this light, the results would consequently be presented different if done by other researchers and hence, the findings can and will only represent our reality (Guba 1990). By elaborating on and being explicit about our prejudices, the quality of our studies will increase (Ibid.). Prejudice is what constitutes our baggage formed by the culture, tradition and history that we are part of (Fuglsang, Bitsch Olsen 2004). In this way, one of our prejudices that are relevant to outline is related to the fact that we are a part of the same culture as the consumers we are interviewing (McCracken 1988b). This means that we as consumers in the Danish market place have an attitude towards the different food labels. Generally, the increasing amount of food labels does not have an impact on us because we have chosen a few labels that influence our purchases and thus, we do not look at the rest. Both of us prefer to buy organic 14

21 Part 2: Philosophy of Science, Chapter 2 products and thus, the red Ø-logo is guiding our purchases. This prejudice implies that we are not able to neutrally study the field. Another relevant prejudice is our pre-understanding of who the consumers of food labels are. Both of us had a clear prejudice about the food labelled consumer and might actually be one of them ourselves. We had a supposition that some consumers buy food labels in order to construct themselves as human beings whereas others buy them to send a signal to other people. We also had a presupposition that a lot of consumers do not understand what the different labels mean and that they buy the labels without knowing their point of difference. Furthermore, we had a prejudice concerning consumers that do not buy food labels being of lower social class. The mentioned prejudices are going to be addressed constructively throughout the thesis. We will critically discuss and reflect on how these prejudices have impacted our findings in chapter

22 Part 2: Philosophy of Science, Chapter 2 PART 3 Theoretical Foundation Chapter 3-6 Part three serves as the theoretical foundation of the thesis. Firstly, the theoretical framework is determined within different perspectives on consumer research. Subsequently, the field of food labels is explained by the means of different theories belonging to this theoretical framework. 16

23 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 3 Chapter 3: Theoretical framework In this chapter, we seek to explain the overall theoretical framework of the thesis. As the thesis is located within the interpretive paradigm, it is crucial that the chosen theories have the same relativistic view of reality (Fuglsang, Bitsch Olsen 2004). Østergaard and Jantzen (2000) have studied the development in the researches of consumers in the last 40 years. In this period of time, there have been four different perspectives on how the consuming individual can be understood (Ibid.). These perspectives consist of Buyer Behaviour, Consumer Behaviour 5, Consumer Research and Consumption Studies. These perspectives have different understandings and approaches to the study of the behaviour of consumers ranging from behaviouristic physiology and cognitive psychology to a more experience oriented and emotionally aspect of consumer behaviour (Ibid.). The two last-mentioned perspectives, Consumer Research and Consumption Studies, are seen as equivalent to the interpretive turn in the study of the consuming individual (Sherry 1991). This interpretive turn is characterised by relativism meaning that the consuming individual is no longer seen as a rational consumer, but instead as a consumer seeking to create its self-image and relationship to other consumers through consumption (Østergaard, Jantzen 2000). These perspectives have a more holistic perspective than the remaining two and thereby we position the theoretical framework in the light of these two perspectives (Ibid.). The Consumer Research perspective deals with studies of consumers everyday lives and views consumption as a pivotal point for how the individual understands itself and through products and symbols creates a desired image in relation to the surroundings. In this way, the individual consumer seeks to create a coherent and meaningful life through consumption (Ibid.). On the other hand, Consumption Studies have culture as a starting point in relation to an understanding of consumer behaviour. This perspective has its roots in sociology and anthropology and focuses on a wider context for the consumption, in which personal motives are determined by sociocultural frames of reference. The consuming individual is a member of a tribe where the product symbolism creates a universe for the tribe. In this light, consumption creates a metaphysical universe for the tribe members and they are searching for the right symbols in order for them to be recognized by the other members of the same tribe (Ibid.). Within the frames of these two perspectives, different theories relevant to consumer behaviour and food labels are selected. Common to these theories is the understanding of the individual and the society/culture as 5 In order to keep the record straight, it is necessary to stress that whenever the thesis is using the term consumer behaviour, it is not a reference to the perspective with the equivalent name 17

24 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 3 two interacting and inseparable elements. It is necessary to relate to the settings and conditions that the behaviour takes place in, in order to understand certain behaviour. These settings and conditions are established in the culture. In the following three chapters (4-6), we will go into depths with the chosen theories where we critically argue for their relevance in the thesis by drawing on previous studies of food labels in Denmark and information about food labels in general. Thereby, the theoretical foundation is built around the selected theories, whose legitimacy is grounded in a comparison with the empirical evidence that is already present. In this way, the justification of the theoretical foundation is created along with an understanding of food labels and the context that they are part of. 18

25 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 4 Chapter 4: Society and Consumer Food labels, health and consumer behaviour are closely related to each other and it is difficult to discuss one without mentioning the others. Therefore, in order to understand consumers relationship to food labels, it is crucial to get an understanding of the conditions that influence the society that the consumers are part of. Our philosophy of science involves a specific understanding of society and we find Giddens relevant in order to expand and concretize this understanding. Giddens is relevant as we are able to identify many of the tendencies that Giddens refer to in the Danish society, which means that Giddens description of the late modern society will form our understanding of society (Giddens 1996). Furthermore, Giddens is found relevant as his theories are characterized by a social-psychological angle in which he describes what is at play in the relationship between the individual and society. 4.1 Contours of the Danish society There are different theoretical terms for today s society consisting of post modernism, post industrialism, post capitalism and late modernism, among others (Giddens 1990). We devote to Anthony Giddens description of the late modernity 6 and will therefore actively apply his notions in our analysis. Giddens argues that we find ourselves in late modernity and rejects that we have moved into a postmodern era. He is the author of the late modernity that represents the paradigm shift characterizing the time period permeating many western countries, leading to displacements and new conditions for the day-to-day decisions for consumers (Giddens 1990, Giddens 1991a). His main argument is that late modernity equally combines, separates and fragment society. The radical implications of late modernity have transformed society away from the traditions, but not away from modernity (Giddens 1991a). He maintains continued modernity, but at the same time argues for far-reaching changes, which he constitutes as the dynamics of modernity (Ibid.). He outlines three elements that influence these dynamics; 1. Separation of time and space 2. Institutional reflexivity, and 3. Disembedding of social institutions In the past, time and space was associated with a physical setting of social activity situated in a specific geographically location (Giddens 1990). This is no longer the case, especially with the emergence of the internet that makes it possible to travel through time and space. Local is replaced by global standardized time 6 Giddens is not consistent with the description of contemporary society. He alternaly uses the terms late-modern, high-modern and post-traditional society. We will in contrast to Giddens be consistent, and therefore represent society as late-modern 19

26 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 4 zones and internet, which means that social relations has been disembedded by local connections and are no longer bounded in specific time and space (Giddens 1991a). Separation of time and space has resulted in the fact that the consumer is constantly being flooded with different information and knowledge regarding healthy lifestyles and new food labels, among others. As a practical response to this, Giddens argues that the individual has built a different image of their past, present and future than they did in past, which makes them capable of being reflexive about ourselves (Kaspersen 2001). Thereby, the individual is able to make reflexive decisions in relation to their belief towards food labels depending on their usage of them. This reflexivity has had several implications, for instance how knowledge is approached and thereby what is true or false, which has resulted in an increasing scepticism as the individual no longer take anything for granted (Giddens 1996). What is said to be healthy or environmental saving today might be unhealthy or environmental damaging tomorrow, which is why a personal and individual reflexivity is crucial in the late modernism. The third element that influences the late modernity is the disembedding of social institutions. Giddens distinguish between two disembedding systems; symbolic tokens and expert systems and taken together referred to as abstract systems (Giddens 1991b). These abstract systems are dependent on trust 7, which is a key-element in Giddens late modernity (Giddens 1991a). Giddens refers to symbolic tokens as media of exchange which have a standard value, for instance money, and are not limited by time and space. Expert systems are not limited in time and space either, but refer to technical or professional expertise that organises part of the material and social environment (Giddens 1994). Those systems in which the professional s expertise is integrated have continuous influence on many of the individual s daily routines, such as food purchase. In relation to this thesis, the food labels can be seen as an expert system seeking to create certainty in a marketplace characterized by uncertainty. Experts or professionals, like the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration (DVFA 8 ), are trying to educate the Danish consumer in how to eat right as these labels function as guarantees of what the consumer can expect from their purchase (Ibid.). DVFA is the highest governmental institution defining rules, regulations and guidelines in relation to foods and vets. In the same manner, this institution defines guidelines in relation to how to consume in the most environmental friendly way and how to devote to a healthy lifestyle. 7 The notion of trust will be elaborated on in chapter 5 8 We will refer to The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration as DVFA in the rest of the thesis 20

27 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 4 A devotion to a lifestyle Due to the multiple choices and high risk, Giddens argues that the individual has to devote to a certain lifestyle, which he defines as a more or less integrated set of practices which an individual embraces, not only because such practices fulfil utilitarian needs, but because they give material form to a particular narrative of self-identity (Giddens 1991b:81). The term lifestyle is broader than just consumer style as Giddens understands lifestyle as all the daily routines, for example choice of food, specific brands or labels. Every decision that a consumer makes, whether or not to buy food labelled products, is a part of their daily routines and thereby lifestyle. As lifestyle is part of the reflexive project, it is also a part of the individual s self-presentation (Kaspersen 2001). Although lifestyle might seem as an individualized process, it is not the case. Individuals are influenced by different external factors such as advertisement in different media, nutritional experts, manufacturers, public institutions and the social environments that they are part of. Through experts like DVFA, the consumer is exposed to a range of different lifestyles which the consumer consciously or unconsciously bears in mind when subscribing to a certain lifestyle (Giddens 1991b). According to Giddens, one of the advantages of following a specific lifestyle is that it limits the amount of choices that an individual has to make. This could be to dedicate oneself to organic food or on the other pole to dissociate from all organic products. Either choice connects the individual to a certain lifestyle (Giddens 1991a). Therefore, lifestyle will be a decision of joining a specific social setting of which the individual can identify with and wants to be part of at the expense of other alternatives. 4.2 Food labels raison d être In today s society health, wellness, organic food and local purchasing have become a hot topic for Danes. This is partly a result of the authorities national campaigns against public smoking, binge drinking and in particular obesity, as mentioned in chapter 1 (Euromonitor International 2011). As a consequence, one of the missions for DVFA is to create the right scope of healthy dietary habits for the Danish consumers, but also to encourage consumers to become more environmentally considerate (Ministeriet for Fødevarer, Landbrug og Fiskeri 2011, Fødevarestyrelsen 2012b). This mission can be seen as an expression of the Danish authorities advocating a certain discourse in relation to health and environmental protection and thereby making it easier for the consumer to navigate in the complex marketplace. In this regard, food labels could be seen as mental markers making it easier for consumers to justify their choices (Thomsen, Hansen 2006). We will elaborate on this concept in chapter 5. We find it relevant to elaborate on the term health discourse and how discursive directions develop in society with the use of Michel Foucault, since we do not find that Giddens is applicable in unfolding this notion. 21

28 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 4 Derek Layder (1985), among others, argues that Giddens puts too much emphasis on the individual and its possibilities and limitations of action. Giddens does not specify in which areas the societal structures create possibilities and/or limitations (Layder 1985). Therefore, we find Foucault relevant as he deals with societal structures and how these influence the individual. According to Foucault, societal structures are made of norms and discursive directions, which can be used to govern the individuals (Foucault 2006). According to Foucault, a discourse is a set or group of statements all assigned to specific regulations of which constitutes what is accepted as meaningful and true in a given context (Ibid.). However, as the definitive truth does not exist but instead is constructed by several discourses and thereby relative truths, it is up to the individual to setup their own beliefs constructed by multiple relative discourses. Although there are several discourses in the Danish society regarding health, wellness and environmental consideration, the superior discourse will create the norms. The intention of DVFA is to establish the settings of which the consumer can make the most appropriate choice of lifestyle regarding food, and the discourse that DVFA is advocating for is based on the eight official diet-advices and environmental concerns (Fødevarestyrelsen 2010a). In this context, DVFA has initiated different food labels such as the red Ø-logo, the Keyhole symbol and the Whole-Grain logo. Therefore, food labels are seen as physical representations of the overall discourse and as ways of disciplining the consumer. The introduction of food labels can be seen as symbols of what is constituted as being the right thing to do in the Danish society. In this way, the authorities are clear about what health- and environmental direction they advocate for. In the following, a short presentation of the three food labels is done in order to clarify their existence on the Danish market. The Keyhole symbol The Keyhole symbol is a Nordic voluntary food label that producers can put on their products if the products live up to certain requirements. Initially, it was a Swedish initiative, but Norway and Denmark launched the label in June 2009 (Fødevarestyrelsen 2009). It is initiated and governed by the DVFA and is a combination of the diet-pyramid and diet-circle that was formerly used as an educational tool. The message of the Keyhole symbol is to have a varied diet. The green colour expresses the term go as in a green traffic light and the label is a positive food label (Fødevarestyrelsen 2011c). It identifies healthier food products within a product group. When choosing foods labelled with the Keyhole symbol on, it should be easier and less time consuming to identify healthier products. The Keyhole symbol makes demands on the composition of fibres, fat, salt and sugar within 25 food categories. Furthermore, the products labelled with the Keyhole symbol live up to a minimum content of wholegrain, vegetables, fruit and berries within some of the food categories (Fødevarestyrelsen 2012a). 22

29 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 4 The Whole-Grain logo The Whole-Grain logo is an initiative to get the Danish consumers to consume more wholegrain since only 6% of the Danish population consumes enough (Fuldkorn.dk 2012). The label is initiated by DVFA in collaboration with several producers from the food retail industry and health organizations. The label was launched in January 2009 with the objective of getting the Danes to consumer more fibres and whole-grains (Ibid.). The logo identifies products with a high content of wholegrain and the label should make it easier and less time consuming to find products with this content (Fødevarestyrelsen 2010b). The red Ø-logo The red Ø-logo was introduced in 1989 and is a governmentally regulated label identifying organic produced food and non-food. Organic production takes animal welfare and environmental protection into consideration. One of the principles of organic production is that the farmer is not, or only in a very limited amount, allowed to use fertilizer. Furthermore, organic animals have the right to have natural living meaning outdoor facilities and exercise (Fødevarestyrelsen 2010d). It is voluntary for the producers to add the label to their products as long as they live up to the standards of organic production (Fødevarestyrelsen 2011b). This food label is different from the others mentioned as it is actively being regulated by the authorities and it does not deal with the nutritional content of the products. The objective of DVFA is to foster opportunities for a good health and safe environment in terms of food labelled purchases, which is done through marketing campaigns, regulations, regulated and recommended health claims, legislation on product- and marketing material and health promoting projects. Common to all three initiatives is that they all have the same objective of disciplining the consumer into a more suitable behaviour that serves society in the best possible way. 4.3 Governmental discipline Promoting health and environmental issues through food labels are about changing consumer attitude or disciplining the consumer into do what is desired. The authorities make use of power when disciplining the consumer. When Foucault is referring to power it is not anything that can be possessed by the institutions of society. Power lies within all social relations, however this does not mean that power is equally distributed among relations (Foucault 2006). Power is not a structure or force, which is distributed by any specific group, but more like something that arises in the given societal situation (Ibid.). Power is exercised on free individuals that within certain limits have the opportunity to act as they want to. Furthermore, the individuals are able to make resistance which is a prerequisite for Foucault (Vallgårda 2003). It is not the actual display of power that Foucault is interested in it is what reaction the individual shows when exposed to this power (Ibid.). As he states: it is not power, but the subject, which is the general theme of my research (Foucault 1982:209). When the authorities are trying to influence the consumers actions and thereby guide their 23

30 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 4 behaviour and attitude, they are using power to obtain this. This could be seen as the experts, constituted as the DVFA s, attempt to educate or guide the consumer about how to consume more healthy or organic foods. Disciplining the consumer Power and discipline of individuals are two key notions in what Foucault is referring to as governmentality (Vallgårda 2003, Foucault 1991). Governmentality refers to the active role that the authorities are possessing when shaping the consumers and their behaviour, values and moral awareness (Burchel, Gordon & Miller 1991) This is done by repressing certain actions or by making certain actions more desirable, for instance by rewarding the consumer with a good conscience when purchasing organic products. Through governmentality, the authorities are defining what is morally right and wrong in terms of living a healthy life, which is done through connecting specific lifestyles ti specific choices in life (Vallgårda 2003, Foucault 1991). Governmentality is concerned with disciplining the population, but also to educate the consumers in order for them to control themselves. They should actively choose to control themselves (Vallgårda 2003). This education can be done through food labels or campaigns, by adopting a certain lifestyle and thereby eat nutritional healthy products or by consuming organic products, among others. The authorities enlighten the population about a healthy lifestyle and within this enlightening lies an objective of guiding the population into being more self-disciplining and thereby minimizing the role of the authorities. Therefore, it is only the responsible individual that is able to act freely. Aspects of governance In order to operationalize governmentality, Nikolas Rose has introduced three forms of governance which we are going to employ in the analysis. Rose is referring to these techniques as 9 : 4. Governance through discipline 5. Governance through solidarity 6. Governance through autonomy Common to all three types of governance is the fact that the individual is seen as a free and responsible individual taking part of the society, which means that governance can be understood differently according to the individual s personal convictions. The governance that Rose is referring to stems from the aspect of freedom or governance through freedom. Rose argues that individuals must come to recognize and act upon themselves as both free and responsible, both beings of liberty and members of society, if liberal government is to be possible (Rose 1999:68). This means that to govern individuals implies not to crush their capacity 9 Actually, Rose describes the various forms of governance in the light of freedom, but from our perspective, freedom can be seen as governance as well, which is why we use these notions 24

31 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 4 to act, but to acknowledge it and utilize it for one s own objectives (Rose 1999:4). In the following, we will shortly present the different forms of governance. Governance through discipline means that the authorities are trying to make the population governed by the societal norms that is constituted in society. The key notion of this governance technique is to make the individual aware of the societal norms and thereby considering themselves in terms of these norms by making them look at themselves through the eyes of others (Ibid.). Rose argues that the most important element to create is responsibility, which gives the experts an essential role in guiding or lecturing the population in what is right or wrong (Vallgårda 2003). This governance technique is comparable to what (Østergaard, Jantzen 2000) is referring to as Consumer Research where the consumer is looked upon as an individual looking at itself in the eyes of others. In Governance through solidarity the objective is to make the individual interpret that he or she is not only responsible for oneself, but also for the larger community. The individual is expected to contribute to society in order to receive the services that are offered. The governance lies within the fact of motivating the individual by mutual obligation. This type of governance presupposes that the population is judicious and responsible acting in the favour of society s best (Rose 1999). In this type of governance the role of the experts are also central due to their definition of societal norms of how to behave and act in society. This governance technique can also be related to one of Østergaard and Jantzen s four perspectives; consumption studies. In this regard, the individual is seen as a tribe member looking for vindication in other tribemembers through their behaviour (Østergaard, Jantzen 2000). Governance through autonomy is concerned with the authorities governing the population by treating every individual autonomous. The individual is seen as self-governing where relations to others are less important. As Rose states: modern individuals are not merely free to choose, but obliged to be free, to understand and enact their lives in terms of choice (Rose 1999:87). The individual is expected to take the full responsibility of own actions by making use of their resources in order to reach personal goals and an expression of their personality (Ibid.). Although these governance forms are applicable in many ways, it is vital to consider their limitations. Vallgårda (Vallgårda 2003) criticises Rose s governance forms to assume that all individuals are responsible and that self-control is a prerequisite to all of them. Also, considering the three forms of governance, the roles of the experts as norm/trendsetters do not seem to differ that much in between the three forms (Ibid.). Although these critics are significant, we find it possible to apply the governance forms of Rose because he identifies what objectives and qualifications that the authorities are appealing to and are trying to shape, which means how the authorities are trying to shape the subjects. 25

32 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 4 In the following, we will look into how experts in the Danish society are co-creators in the prevailing healthand environmental discourses. 4.4 Who is expert in the expert systems? As discussed earlier, food labels represent one expert system, but this system is not the only expert advice that the consumers face in their everyday life. The individual is constantly being exposed to health claims by experts revealing their knowledge and professional experience through the media, offering the individual a range of opportunities that might seem difficult to cope. The increasing use of experts in order to convince the consumer regarding the right choice is a consequence of the late modern society and the category is wide, ranging from highly educated nutritional experts over dieticians and psychologists to self-taught diet experts. We find the experts everywhere; many self-taught diet experts have blogs where they share their opinion on health and food, an example are David, Elsa and Luisa s healthy vegetarian recipes, where they blog about why it is important to stay healthy through a vegetarian lifestyle (Luisa, David & Elsa 2012). We also find nutritional experts such as Umahro Cadogan, who has set up ten-diet advices. He believes that if you follow these advices, you eat so-called real food and thereby are in better shape of living a healthy life (Cadogan 2012). Besides the overwhelmingly amount of health information that is possible to find on the internet, health experts in television and magazines also occur, for instance Christian Bitz, who is a nutritional expert that provides diet advice to the Danish population several times a week in the TV-show Go Morgen Danmark. He even reflects on food labels and guide the Danish consumer into figuring out the meaning of them (TV2 Go' Morgen Danmark 2009). These experts are to a certain extent defining the extremes of what is accepted in terms of health as it is the experts that portraits the ideal, which also has created diverge ideals. The remarkable of this situation and worth elaborating on is the heterogeneous amount of experts belonging to somewhat very diverse groups of health convictions, all guiding the consumer in relation to what they believe to be the best option of having a healthy lifestyle, for instance following the Keyhole symbol or the red Ø-logo. Common to all of them is that they advocate a certain lifestyle that the consumer is obliged to confess to in the effort of gaining a healthy life. 4.5 The producers input to the health discourse Along with the nutritional experts, the food industry and producers also play a central role in consumers everyday lives and are important figures in the production and reproduction of the discursive directions and characteristics of late modernism. Along with the increased focus on health, wellness and environmental protection arises a demand for health oriented products, such as light, fat-reduced, sugar free and organic. The producers are aware of this discourse and a lot of the producers have also introduced their own private labels, such as Dansk Supermarked s private label Levevis, which is s brand promoting products that 26

33 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 4 contains the Keyhole symbol and at least one other symbol (Dansk Supermarked 2012b). A television commercial for Levevis goes like Just look at all the food labels we are just the thing for you 10 (Dansk Supermarked 2012a). This indicates that some producers try to instruct the consumers in that food labelled products are the right thing to buy. Another example is the supermarkets increased focus on food Labels. In 2010, Netto changed its slogan to Everybody must be able to afford ecology 11 (Berlingske Media 2010). This illustrates the increased focus on organic products and the red Ø-logo, which is also clear in the advertising circulars that is abounding with products promoting different food labels such as the red Ø-logo and Keyhole symbol (Netto 2012).This illustrates that an increasing amount of producers are aiming at a more health-oriented image by posting health claims on their products. In the following, we will look into how consumers establish meaning through their consumption and the factors that they are influenced by. 4.6 Creation and transfer of meaning in the late modern society In order to understand how consumers establish meaning in their consumption of food labels, we find Grant McCracken s (1986) theoretical understanding of creation of cultural meaning useful. According to McCracken, meaning is constituted in a cultural setting and thereby not only within an individual sphere. Thus, culture determinates how phenomena are interpreted and integrated and social actions, individual and collective behaviour is dictated by culture (McCracken 1986). With this in mind, McCracken (1986) views culture as managing individuals and collective thoughts, creation of meanings and understandings. In an analytical perspective this implies that consumers are provided with identical ways of thinking and interpreting in relation to how they constitute meaning in their consumption of food labels and thereby the theory is not relevant in relation to explore the individual s experience and interpret their consumption of food labels. However, we find the theory relevant in order to get an understanding of how meaning is created and transferred within a certain group of consumers. The meanings and understandings that individuals attach to objects, actions, events and phenomena are a result of the interplay between society and individual and it is not possible to reduce this interplay to a mental or social process. Although meanings might seem subjective, they are a result of social articulations and constructed by society (Guba 1990). Cultural meanings and understandings are constructed in society, which will lead to a meaningful understanding of food labels. 10 Translated from Se bare på alle mærkerne, vi er lige noget for dig 11 Translated from Alle skal have råd til økologi 27

34 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 4 Meanings are constantly flowing to and from several locations in the social world aided by the collective and individual efforts of language, behaviour and products (McCracken 1988a, McCracken 1986). It is the culture that determines how the world is seen and how the individual creates meaning (McCracken 1988a). Thereby, the world is constituted by the individuals convictions, which is illustrated in McCracken s model below (McCracken 1986). Figure 3: Movement of Meaning (McCracken 1986:72), additions in red (Own illustration) Through the advertising- and fashion system meanings are transferred by linking the consumers frame of reference to information and advertising of products. In relation to the thesis, it is the authorities (DVFA), expert systems and producers that through various media transfer visual and verbal meanings in relation to foods and lifestyle, among others. The consumer is then decoding and repeating the meanings and reproducing them into their own goods, which are happening through consumer trends, the individuals convictions, feelings and personal assumptions (Ibid.). In relation to this, we find it relevant to extend McCracken s model as we argue than more than just fashion and advertising have influence on the creation of meaning. Also reference groups and disciplining constitutes the meanings that are created and transferred to products, such as health-experts and the prevailing health discourse. Individuals include different products that have different meanings possessed to them, through various rituals or mental markers, where cultural meanings and symbols are adopted and manipulated by the individual in order to fit into their specific lifestyle. The consumers are simultaneously influencing the health discourse which is illustrated by the arrow pointing back to cultural constituted world. 28

35 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 4 The market for food labels in today s society is full of personal attitudes and convictions, where fragmented information from authorities, producers and expert systems easily appears and disappears in the crowd. The consumer is constantly being forced to come to a personal decision about how a purchase of a given product will contribute to their lifestyle. The consumer will constantly seek to minimize risks by adopting the meanings of products to fit into their own lifestyle. 4.7 Summary of society and consumer In this chapter, we looked into the mechanisms at play in the Danish society in order to get an understanding of the consumers relationship to food labels. According to Anthony Giddens (1991b) we find ourselves in the late modern society that is equally combined, separated and fragmented. Modernity is maintained, but are influenced by several dynamics being outlined in the three elements; separation of time and space, institutional reflexivity and disembedding of social institutions. Especially the disembedding of social institutions is important to look into, as experts and expert systems have an impact on consumers behaviour. Food labels are seen as expert systems, which might influence the consumers daily choices. Michel Foucault (2006) is introduced in order to outline how food labels can be seen as physical representations of the superior health discourse, but also to discuss the reason for the Keyhole symbol, Whole-grain logo and the red Ø-logo to exist on the Danish market. In order to discuss how different discourses are met and interpreted by individuals, Nikolas Rose (1999) and his three techniques of governance was discussed consisting of governance through discipline, governance through solidarity and governance through autonomy. Finally, Grant McCracken (1988a) and his transfer of meaning model is discussed and extended by us, in order to outline how meaning in relation to food labels is transferred from the culturally constituted world to the consumer, through consumption of consumer goods. The following chapter will look into how trust and complexity influence consumer choice in the modern food marketplace. 29

36 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 5 Chapter 5: Trust and complexity As mentioned, today s society is characterized by a vast number of offers and opportunities which results in uncertainty for the consumer. In relation to this uncertainty, Giddens (1990) argues that trust and risk have become of central importance in the everyday life of the individual. Trust serves as a blocking that ensures a balanced everyday life (Giddens 1990). In this way, trust helps reduce complexity and uncertainty for the consumer (Grayson, Johnson & Chen 2008). In this chapter, we deal with the issues of trust and complexity that the Danish consumers experience in the modern food marketplace and in relation to food labels, in particular. 5.1 Increased complexity The world in which we live today is a fraught and dangerous one (Giddens 1990:10). According to Giddens (1990), modern social life is a complex affair and people feel a lack of control of their lives. Ordinary people s widespread knowledge of late modern risk environments leads to awareness of the limits of expertise which is a result of technical expertise continuously being re-appropriated as part of ordinary people s routine dealing with abstract systems (Giddens 1990). Therefore, the consumer is forced to reflect a lot, which gives rise to uncertainty and doubt. According to Hansen and Thomsen (Thomsen, Hansen 2006), especially the food marketplace is characterized by uncertainty due to challenges such as increased market complexity, consumers relatively scarce resources in terms of time, knowledge and lifestyle changes. These challenges leave consumers in a stressful state since the choices made in relation to food can have serious consequences, due to their impact on the human body (Ibid.). As mentioned in the previous chapter, the system of food labels can be viewed as an expert system seeking to create certainty in a food marketplace characterized by uncertainty. However, food labels do not seem to have created this certainty in the food marketplace since a lot of consumers are confused about the different labels (Ritzau 2011). On the other hand, it seems as if the amount of food labels has made the food marketplace even more complex, at least for some consumers. Hansen and Thomsen (Thomsen, Hansen 2006) introduce the concept of perceived complexity which is relevant in this regard. The concept is attached to the subjectivity of choice complexity, since no two consumers have exactly the same knowledge structure (Ibid.). 5.2 Perceived complexity Perceived complexity is related to learning (Thomsen, Hansen 2006). Hansen and Thomsen (2006) have, inspired by Denzau and North (1994), defined learning as the development of cognitive knowledge structure consisting of concepts and categories, which can be used for interpretation and evaluation of the world. We choose to redefine cognitive knowledge structures to cultural models in order to emphasize the view on the 30

37 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 5 Danish consumers in a sociocultural context. The concept of cognitive knowledge structures is in its original form related to cognitive psychology, which Østergaard and Jantzen (2000) have inscribed to the perspective of Consumer Behaviour. In this thesis, we do not view consumers as rational individuals making decisions as computers (Ibid.), whereby the term cognitive knowledge structures could be misleading. Cultural models serve as schemas that organise consumers comprehension (Ringberg, Odekerken-Schröder & Christensen 2007). The models are embedded in the flow of discourses and become internalized through experiential and conceptual processes (Dimaggio 1997). Since no two consumers have exactly the same cultural model, choice complexity is subjective and the perceived complexity of food labels varies among consumers. Generally, perceived complexity can be conceptualized as the perceived difficulty of transforming information into knowledge (Thomsen, Hansen 2006). This means that the more sophisticated and developed cultural model that a consumer is in possession of, the less complicated the consumer will experience choices in relation to food labels. 5.3 Consumer choice under different forms of perceived complexity Hansen and Thomsen (2006) have in the paper Supra-complex decision making introduced a figure illustrating the relationship between perceived complexity and the proportion of available product attributes evaluated. This relationship appears from the figure below. Figure 4: Consumer choice under different forms of perceived complexity (Thomsen, Hansen 2006:5) Hansen and Thomsen (2006) have illustrated the consumer choice under different forms of perceived complexity using the attribute price. In relation to food labels, we choose to explain the model by using rye bread as an illustrative example. At point A 0, a consumer perceives rye bread as being a homogeneous product indicating that the consumer sees no difference between the different types of rye bread. In this case, the consumer perceives the 31

38 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 5 complexity in relation to product choice as low and the consumer will evaluate a low proportion of the available product attributes. Therefore, the consumer is likely to make its choice based on price only meaning that the rye bread with the lowest price will be chosen (Ibid.). Another consumer may not find all types of rye bread to be homogeneous and will evaluate more attributes in relation to the choice of rye bread. The consumer might be interested in attributes such as the content of fibres, the content of whole grains and fat. In this case, the consumer will make its decision based on an evaluation of which rye bread that best live up to the consumer s criteria. This is illustrated by the movement from point A 0 to point B 0 in the figure, indicating that the consumer evaluates more attributes in relation to product choice and thus perceived complexity has increased. The switch from the letter A to B in the figure illustrates that the consumer is now burdened with restrictions on its mental capacity in relation to evaluating attributes (Ibid.). A third consumer might also be interested in the country in which the rye bread has been made besides the other mentioned criteria. In this case, the consumer may not be capable of taking all the desired attributes into account, resulting in the consumer shifting towards a simplified choice heuristic in relation to decision making. Heuristics are used to reduce complex decision tasks to simple operations working as inferential rules of thumb (Ibid.). In the figure, this is illustrated by the movement from point B 0 to point B 1 indicating that even though the perceived complexity has increased, the consumer is not able to take more attributes into account in relation to making a decision of which rye bread to choose. As the perceived complexity continues to increase a state of supra-complex decision making occurs illustrated by point C in the figure (Ibid.). In this case, the perceived complexity has reached a level whereby the consumer does not distinguish or make evaluations between different types of attributes in relation to the choice of rye bread. Instead Hansen and Thomsen (2006) have introduced the concept mental marker as a way of mentally justifying a choice. A mental marker is defined as any mental construct the consumer uses for the purpose of gaining mental justification of overall choices. (Thomsen, Hansen 2006:12). Hansen and Thomsen (2006) argue that under uncertainty consumers seek reasons to justify their choices. 32

39 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 5 Food labels as mental justification One of the notions that Hansen and Thomsen refer to are mental justification. We find it necessary to reflect upon this mental justification as the concept in its original form stems from Leon Festinger s (1957) theory of cognitive dissonance. This theory deals with how a person can be described as being in a dissonant state if two elements in the person s cognition are in imbalance; for instance a person s attitude towards a product and the person s behaviour in relation to the product. In order to avoid this state of cognitive dissonance, consumers want to mentally justify their choices (Festinger 1957). The theory of cognitive dissonance is in its original form related to cognitive psychology and thus belongs to Østergaard and Jantzen s (2000) Consumer Behaviour perspective. Therefore, the concept of mental justification is not in its original form in line with the scientific foundation of thesis, whereby we have found inspiration in Boye et al. s (2007) peer review Engender mental accounting: How cultural and social spheres affect the justification of hedonic food consumption. This review emphasizes how consumers cultural and social environment contributes to and influences consumers justification of indulgence as unhealthy food products (Ibid.). In a similar manner, we do not solely treat mental justification from a cognitive perspective, but instead we relate to the concept in the light of the consumers cultural and social environment in line with our scientific foundation. In this light, we find this theory relevant in relation to the thesis. Hansen and Thomsen (2006) argue that price could be used as a mental marker. In the case of rye bread, a consumer could be in a situation of so high a perceived complexity that the consumer makes its decision about rye bread solely based on price. In this way, the consumer is able to mentally justify its choice of rye bread by referring to the low price (Thomsen, Hansen 2006). Mental markers can take many forms and food labels are one of them. A consumer that has reached a state of supra-complex decision making in relation to rye bread could, for instance, use The Keyhole Symbol as a mental marker in order to justify its choice of rye bread. This is exactly the idea behind and the cause for food labels. Food labels are introduced to the food marketplace to work as mental markers. This appears from the DVFA s formulation about The Keyhole Symbol as mentioned earlier: Choosing foods with the Keyhole symbol make it easier and less time consuming to find healthier products in food stores (Fødevarestyrelsen 2010c). Primarily, the formulation of make it easier and less time consuming underlines the acknowledgement of high complexity in the Danish food marketplace. In addition to that, the formulation indicates that the consumer are not encouraged to evaluate all the different attributes in a product category when making decisions, but instead are encouraged to look after The Keyhole Symbol. In this way, the consumer will be able to justify its choice by referring to the aspect of healthier food that the symbol contains. 33

40 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 5 We find it relevant to reflect upon how the increasing amount of food labels might have changed the food labels intended function as mental markers into ordinary attributes. For instance, if a consumer wants to buy rye bread, the consumer can experience a package of rye bread containing both the Keyhole Symbol, the Wholegrain Symbol and the Red Ø-logo. Which food label will then serve as the mental marker? The properties of food labels In continuation of the discussion above, we find it relevant to define what type of attribute food labels is. Hansen and Thomsen (2006) distinguish between search, experience and credence attributes. The former refers to product properties that can be determined by the consumer before actually purchasing the product, whereas experience attributes refer to properties that can be perceived and evaluated by consumer usage (Thomsen, Hansen 2006). The properties of food labels can neither be evaluated before nor during usage as food labels deal with more long-term effects, such as health issues or environmental issues. Therefore, these two types of attributes are not adequate for food labels. On the other hand, credence attributes seem to constitute a precise definition of the properties of food labels as these attributes can only be evaluated through expert assistance (Ibid.). As previously mentioned, consumers have different cultural models and thereby might not be able to evaluate the long-term effects of their consumption. Therefore, their attitude towards food labels might lead to information asymmetry between the issuer of the food labels and the consumers. Information asymmetry leads to uncertainty and thus, credence is a matter of trust (Ibid.). 5.4 Gaining trust in the late modern society Giddens (1990) argues that trust may be defined as confidence in the reliability of a person or system, regarding a given set of outcomes or events, where that confidence expresses a faith in the probity or love of another, or in the correctness of abstract principles (technical knowledge) (Giddens 1990:34). Furthermore, Giddens argues that trust is connected with one of the late modernity s conditions consisting of absence of time and space (Giddens 1994). There would be no need for trust in a system whose functions were completely known and understood. In this way, the most essential condition of trust is absence of full information due to the fact that trust is only necessary in situations, in which ignorance exists (Ibid.). In this light, trust in food labels may be dependent of the consumers knowledge of health and environmental issues in general and of the knowledge of the system of food labels. Furthermore, complete trust is in a certain sense blind trust (Giddens 1990). According to Giddens (1994), all abstract systems depend on trust and thus trust is an essential part of the institutions of the late modernity. Ordinary peoples trust in expert systems depend neither upon a full initiation into these processes nor upon mastery of the knowledge that the systems contain. Trust is an unavoidable part of faith, which has a pragmatic element relying on the experience that systems, such as the food label system, normally work as intended (Giddens 1994). In this way, trust is not the same as faith, 34

41 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 5 but it is what derives from that faith (Giddens 1990). This means that in order for consumers to trust food labels, they need to have faith in the issuer and the system behind these labels. The more faith a consumer has in the system of food labels, the more likely it is that the consumer will trust food labels as a mental marker in decision making. Since trust is related to lack of knowledge, trust is also related to risk. In general, trust serves to reduce or minimise risks in relation to certain types of activities (Ibid.). In the case of food labels, trust in nutritional labels and acting accordingly could minimise the risk of consuming unhealthy food. In this situation, trust creates some kind of security for the consumers behaviour. In general, the experience of security relies upon a balance between trust and acceptable risk (Giddens 1994). The combination of the risks and the opportunities related to food labels are in many circumstances so complex that it is extremely difficult for the consumer to decide on how much trust one can have in abstract systems and to which degree one should reject them (Ibid.). As Giddens (1990) argues, How can one manage to eat healthily, for example, when all kinds of food are said to have toxic qualities of one sort or another and when what is held to be good for you by nutritional experts varies with the shifting state of scientific knowledge? (Giddens 1990:148). Ignorance always provides grounds for scepticism or at least caution (Giddens 1990). To be sceptical about, or have an actively negative attitude towards, the claims to expertise that the system incorporates is an expression of mistrust (Giddens 1994). A consumer s attitude of trust or mistrust in relation to food labels will often be influenced by the knowledge that the consumer is able to obtain through means of communication, such as the internet. Ordinary people are continuously re-appropriating technical expertise as a part of their routine dealings with abstract systems (Giddens 1990). In this way, consumers are continuously being exposed to and are obtaining experience with health and environmental issues. A consumer might gain so much knowledge of these issues that the consumer believes that the technical expertise required, to behave as the food labels are encouraging to, is on a relatively low level, whereby the consumer believes to be able to live without the guidance from these labels. In some situations, mistrust can lead to a kind of resigned cynicism or a complete release from the system (Giddens 1994). 5.5 Summary of trust and complexity This chapter dealt with the issues of trust and complexity that Danish consumers experience in the modern food marketplace, and in particular in relation to food labels. According to Anthony Giddens (1990), modern life is complex and people feel lack of control of their lives. Everything is developing rapidly and the consumer is being bombarded with ever changing nutritional or environmental statements from experts. This has resulted in the fact that knowledge is only temporary and it is up to the consumer to be reflexive and decide on what is right or wrong. This reflection gives rise to uncertainty and doubt, which gives rise to 35

42 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 5 perceived complexity. This is a notion that Torben Hansen and Thyra Thomsen (2006) have introduced in the supra-complex decision making model. This model illustrates the relationship between a consumer s perceived complexity and the proportion of available product attributes evaluated. Hansen and Thomsen (2006) argue that he more attributes that the product possesses, the less attributes the consumer will be able to evaluate. Hansen and Thomsen (2006) are also found relevant in order to discuss how and why food labels can be seen as mental markers and as credence attributes. The problem with food labels is that some consumers might not be able to see the long term effects of them, which may lead to information asymmetry between the issuer and consumer. This asymmetry is related to trust, since there would be no need for trust in a world with completely known and understood functions (Giddens 1994). When trust is related to lack of knowledge, trust is also related to risk. Therefore, food labels are seen as a help in order to minimize risks. However, this information asymmetry might also result in scepticism and ignorance, which is an expression of mistrust. In the following chapter, we will discuss how consumption of food labels can be seen as a part of a consumer s identity construction and how food labels serve as symbols representing a certain lifestyle. 36

43 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 6 Chapter 6: Identity construction among consumers The reflexivity of consumption is substantiated by the individuals continuous quest for products which can support a certain lifestyle (Giddens 1994). As previously mentioned, the underlying meaning of food labels can be transferred to the consumer through acquisition (McCracken 1988a). In this way, consumers define themselves through the objects that surround them and thus, the consumers self and the object become integrated (Belk 1988). In this light, we seek through this chapter to describe how the conditions of today s society affect the Danish consumers perception of self. Furthermore, we seek to explain how food labels serve as symbols representing a certain lifestyle and to what extent food labels can become a part of the consumers identity construction. 6.1 The reflexive consumption Reflexivity permeates the behaviour and the consumption of the individual and Giddens (1990) argues that the discovery of oneself becomes a project directly involved with the reflexivity of modernity (Giddens 1990:122). In this way, the construction of the self as a reflexive project becomes a central part of the reflexivity of modernity. The individual must find its identity among the opportunities provided by abstract systems, such as the food label system (Giddens 1990). The self is not characterized by passivity, but instead the new self-identity mechanisms of the late modernity opens the way for a continuous interaction between creation of identity and the institutions of modernity (Giddens 1991a). The construction of self-identity is based upon a connection between personal and social change, in which the identity is created and shaped by social processes (Ibid.). In this way, the consumers creation of identity can be seen as a social construction. We are not, what we are, but what we make of ourselves (Giddens 1991a:75). For the individual, this implies the creation of a coherent identity which is reflected through consumption, among other things. In this way, the individual creates an interim coherence in its self-image through choice of lifestyle, way of life and planning of life (Giddens 1991a). Therefore, choice of lifestyle becomes still more important in the construction of identity. The Danish futurologist, Birthe Linddal Jeppesen, supports the importance of the concept of lifestyle in the late modernity and expresses that food is no longer just related to hunger. Jeppesen argues that food has become a part of the Danes lifestyle, which takes part in consumers self-presentation and contributes to defining consumers as human beings (Sommer 2012). 37

44 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 6 Jeppesen states that Food has become a lifestyle phenomenon, and there are many codes in food. If you are cool today, then you eat so-called proper foods 12 (Sommer 2012:2). According to Jeppesen, proper foods are associated with healthy food and consumers that consume such foods will be able to add characteristics such as being in and being healthy to their self-concept, through their consumption. In this way, the foods that the consumers consume are a reflection of their self-concept and their identity. In a similar way, we argue that food labels are containers of meaning as these labels tell something about the food that has the label on. Jeppesen talks about codes in food and these codes are comparable with symbols. 6.2 Food labels as symbols Sidney Levy argues in his article Symbols for sale from 1959 that the things people buy seem to have personal and social meanings in addition to their functions (Levy 1959). Levy claims that People buy things not only for what they can do, but also for what they mean (Levy 1959:118). According to Levy, people show a variety of logics in relation to the things, they buy and why they buy them. It could be convenience, family pressure, other social pressures or complex economic reasoning, among other things (Levy 1959). Levy defines a symbol as a general term for all instances where experience is mediated rather than direct; where an object, action, word, picture, or complex behaviour is understood to mean not only itself but also some other ideas or feelings (Levy 1959:119). In relation to goods in particular, Levy recognizes all goods as having symbolic meanings consisting of personal attributes and goals, and of social patterns and strivings (Levy 1959). Therefore, the decision of buying foods also involves an assessment of the symbolic meaning of the food. The consumer must decide, either implicit or explicit, whether or not the symbolism related to the good fits the consumer (Ibid.). According to Levy, people also use symbols to distinguish (Ibid.). This distinction is both related to the consumer as an individual and as a part of a social group. The latter is referring to symbols of social participation indicating that goods say something about the social world of the people consuming the goods (Ibid.). This is based upon the fact that social class groupings are formed by the ways people live, the attitudes they have, and the acceptance and exclusiveness of their associations (Ibid.). This distinction between social groups also appears in relation to food labels as health means more to some sections of the population than others. Especially, families with children seem to have a greater interest in health and environmental protection (Sommer 2012). This distinction between social groups as a result of the symbolic meaning of the product also appears from Douglas B. Holt s typologies of consumption practices (Holt 1995). Holt (1995) has identified four types of typologies consisting of four metaphors for consuming as illustrated in the figure below: 12 Translated from Mad er blevet et livsstilsfænomen, og der er masser af koder i mad. Er du cool i dag, så spiser du såkaldte ordentlige fødevarer 38

45 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 6 Figure 5: Four metaphors for consuming (Holt 1995:3) The figure illustrates how two basic concepts help to organize how different aspects of consuming take place; structure- and purpose of consumption (Holt 1995). In relation to structure, consuming consists of actions in which there is a direct engagement by the consumer (object actions) and interactions with other people where consuming serves as focal resources (interpersonal actions). In relation to purpose of action, consumers actions can end in themselves (autotelic actions) and/or means to further ends (instrumental actions). If crossing the two dimensions, a 2x2 matrix appears, and it is possible to locate the four metaphors used to describe consumption: consuming as experience, consuming as integration, consuming as classification and consuming as play (Ibid.). In relation to the distinction between social groups through consumption, the metaphor of consuming as classification is relevant as it views consuming as a process in which products act to classify their consumers (Ibid.). In this way, consumers use consumption objects, viewed as containers of cultural and personal meanings, to classify themselves in relation to relevant others (Ibid.). Similar statements are presented by Michael R. Solomon (1983) arguing that consumers often rely upon the social meanings inherent in products as a guide to the performance of social roles, especially when role demands are novel (Solomon 1983). According to Solomon, the symbolism embedded in products is the primary reason for consumers to purchase and use them (Ibid.). Solomon draws upon concepts from symbolic interactionism and stresses the importance of product symbolism as a mediator of self-definition and role performance (Ibid.). He argues that individuals are evaluated and placed in a social nexus to a significant degree by the products that surround them. Furthermore, the reflexive evaluation construct implies that the product symbolism, which is instrumental in assigning meaning to others, is also used by 39

46 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 6 individuals to assign social identities to themselves. The outcome of this self-definition process guides behaviour via the script that is evoked (Ibid.). Solomon s argument for the self-definition process is related to Levy s argument of people using symbols to distinguish between products, on an individual level. Levy (1959) argues that a symbol is appropriate (and the product will be used and enjoyed) when it joins with, meshes with, adds to, or reinforces the way the consumer thinks about himself (Levy 1959:119). Furthermore, the consumer aims to enhance his sense of self and behaves in ways that are consistent with the consumers image (Levy 1959). This symbolic nature of products results in the consumer being able to choose products with less conflict than would otherwise be the case. In this way, the symbolism of the labels is related to a decrease in complexity as discussed in chapter 5. Levy (1959) argues that choices are made easier because one type of food is symbolically more harmonious with the consumer s goals, feelings and self-definitions than another (Levy 1959). In this light, symbols become a part of the identities of consumers (Ibid.). 6.3 You are what you consume Russell W. Belk argues in his article Possessions and the extended self, how possessions become a part of peoples identities (Belk 1988). Thus, his arguments are relevant in relation to describing how products such as food labelled products can become a part of the individual identity of the consumer. Belk argues that our possessions are a major contributor to and reflection of our identities (Belk 1988:139). Belk (1988) has found a lot of evidences that possessions are an important component of the sense of self and argues that some possessions are more central to self than others. The possessions central to self may be visualized in concentric layers around the core self and will differ over individuals, over time and over cultures that create shared symbolic meanings for different goods (Belk 1988). These central possessions are incorporated in the extended self and serve valuable functions, such as acting as an objective manifestation of the self (Ibid.). In this way, possessions help consumers manipulate their possibilities and present the self in a way that generates feedback from others (Ibid.). According to Belk, It seems an inescapable fact of modern life that we learn, define, and remind ourselves of who we are by our possessions (Belk 1988:160). Objects in consumers possession can literally extend self when enabling consumes to do things of which they would otherwise be incapable of. In addition to that, possessions can also symbolically extend the self. Therefore, having possessions function to create and to maintain a sense of self-definition. Thus, consumers having, doing and being are integrally related (Belk 1988). Further evidence, of possessions being important components of sense of self, is found within studies of loss of possessions. Belk argues that unintentionally loss of possessions is a loss or lessening of self, due to possessions being a part of self. These losses of possessions could be a result of theft or casualty, or it could 40

47 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 6 be a result of functions and property of individuals being taken over by institutions such as authorities (Ibid.). The loss or lessening of self is not related to voluntary disposition of possessions as consumers gladly neglect or dispose of possessions, which are recognised as inconsistent with their images of self (Ibid.). On the contrary, when the disposition is forced, as by economic circumstances, the separation likely brings sorrow (Ibid.). Belk s arguments about possessions as part of consumers extended self can be related to one of Holt s (1995) metaphors for consuming; consuming-as-integration. In this metaphor, Holt argues how consumers are able to integrate self and object and thereby allowing themselves access to the object s symbolic properties (Holt 1995). The processes in which consumption objects are integrated into the consumer s identity are termed self-extension processes (Ibid.). According to Belk (1988), the three primary ways, of incorporating possessions into the extended self, consist of control of an object, creation of an object and knowledge of an object (Belk 1988). In relation to food labelled products, all these ways are active and intentional ways of self-extension as the consumer actively decides what kind of foods to purchase and consume (Ibid.). One way to incorporate possessions into the extended self is through controlling of an object, because consumers are able to exercise power or control over it (Ibid.). The greater the control the consumer exercises, the more closely allied with self the object is (Ibid.). In relation to food labelled products, consumers are in possession of great control as no consumers in Denmark are forced to consume certain types of foods. A second way of self-extension is through creation of an object. Belk (1988) argues that buying an object is merely another form of creating an object and that even the latent buying power of money contributes to sense of self (Belk 1988). Money provides consumers with the power to selectively acquire or reject purchasable objects, such as foods. Thus, consumers have the opportunity to selectively shaping their extended selves by the means of money (Ibid.). The third way, in which objects become a part of self, is by knowing them. However, only when the object is known passionately does it become subject rather than object (Ibid.). This means that consumers need to have a thorough knowledge of the food labels in order to incorporate them into their extended selves. This thorough knowledge of food labels is only obtained if the consumer invests time and energy into getting familiar with the idea behind the different food labels. This calls for a certain level of involvement. In general, identity issues only occur in high involvement consumption (Ibid.). 6.4 Summary of identity construction among consumers This chapter discussed how the conditions of today s society affect the Danish consumers perception of self, but also how food labels can serve as symbols representing a certain lifestyle and to what extent food labels is able to become part of a person s self-identity. Anthony Giddens (1990) argues that the construction of self, as a reflexive project, plays a central role of the reflexivity of the late modernism. Therefore, it is up to the individual to construct its identity among the opportunities provided by abstract systems, such as food 41

48 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 6 labels. In this way, your choice of food is related to who you are which means that food labels can be seen as containers of meaning or symbols. Symbols are a notion that Sidney Levy (1959) elaborates on. He argues that everything an individual purchases have personal and social meanings attached to it in addition to their functions. Symbols are also used as a means to distinguish between individuals or social groups, which are elaborated on by Douglas B. Holt (1995). He describes four typologies of consumption practices and argues that consumers use consumption objects, such as food labels to classify themselves in relation to others. Similar statements are presented by Michael R. Solomon (1983) who argues that consumers often rely upon social meanings inherent in products as guides to the performance of social roles and that the symbolism embedded in products is the primary reason for purchase. Finally, Russell W. Belk (1988) is introduced in order to discuss how possessions are an important component of the sense of self. This means, that for some consumers, food labels might become part of their extended self. In the light of chapter 3-6, we assess that all relevant antecedent empirical information about food labels and the relevant theories are covered, and thus provide the perfect lens through which the results of our findings can be interpreted and understood. In part 4, we will go into details with how we have collected our data, the different methods strengths and weaknesses and the results that the data generated. 42

49 Part 3: Theoretical Foundation, Chapter 6 PART 4 Method and Analysis of Data Chapter 7-8 Part four deals with the chosen methods in details. The carrying out and the quality assurance of the e-survey and the in-depth interviews are stated. Finally, the analysis of the data is explained and the results are shortly presented. 43

50 Part 4: Method and Analysis of Data, Chapter 7 Chapter 7: Quantitative e-survey As mentioned, the e-survey was conducted by OMG and we gained access to the raw data. Therefore, this chapter will not contain considerations about the working out of the questionnaire as we were not a part of this process. However, the chapter will contain considerations about how we will and can use the raw data in the thesis. Furthermore, we will give a presentation of the questionnaire, the data collection and the study s reliability and validity. Finally, we will analyse and interpret the data and present the results. 7.1 The purpose of the e-survey The purpose of the e-survey in this thesis is to serve as a preliminary quantitative method in a quality study (Morgan 1998). This implies that the quantitative research took place before the qualitative research as a result of the two main purposes of the quantitative research. Partly, the e-survey was intended to create preliminary and broad insights into the Danish consumers attitude towards food labels, and partly the study was designed to prepare the ground for the qualitative research through the selection of consumers to be interviewed (Bryman 2004). The e-survey is of quantitative characteristic and is suitable for generating quantified knowledge. Generally, the main goal of quantitative e-surveys is to provide specific facts and estimates from a large, representative sample of respondents so that accurate inferences can be made about the target audience (Bush, Ortinau & Hair 2009, Madsen, Grønbæk 2009). In this case, the goal was to create a broad overview of the Danish consumers general behaviour and attitude towards food labels by asking a representative sample (Riis 2005). 7.2 The questionnaire An e-survey is a self-administered questionnaire placed on the internet for prospective respondents to read and complete (Bush, Ortinau & Hair 2009). This type of study requires that individuals answer the same predetermined set of questions and that responses selected from a set of possible answers be recorded in a structured, precise manner (Bush, Ortinau & Hair 2009:235). Therefore, the e-survey consisted of a standardised and fixedly structured questionnaire in which all respondents received the same questions, in the same order 13. Furthermore, the alternatives of answers were more or less determined beforehand meaning that the answers were either closed or half-open (Bush, Ortinau & Hair 2009, Riis 2005). The half-open answers gave the respondents the opportunity to add an answer, if the stated alternatives did not fit. This structure of the questionnaire was made to ensure control with the asked questions (Riis 2005). 13 View appendix 3 (Quantitative questionnaire) for more information 44

51 Part 4: Method and Analysis of Data, Chapter 7 The questions had an internal perspective as they dealt with the respondents attitude towards food labels (Ibid.). For instance, the respondents were asked How well do you know the following food labels? 14 while being introduced to a picture of the food label plus some graduated alternatives of answers. This graduation was related to the following scale: I do not know it I know it, but I do not know, what the food label means I know it and I know more or less, what the food label means I know it and I know what it means Don t know Furthermore, the alternative answers were randomised in order to remove the effect of questions order on responses (Bush, Ortinau & Hair 2009). Other questions in the questionnaire dealt with which food labels, the respondent typically shops after and whether or not the respondent misses information about food labels. 7.3 Data collection The data was collected by YouGov, which is an internet based market research institute. YouGov has a panel of members consisting of approximately Danes from the age of 15 years (YouGov 2011). The questionnaire was sent to 3000 members of the panel consisting of a sub-group of YouGov s pool that is representative of the total Danish population. This means that the sub-group was selected on the basis of broad variation on gender, age and geography. The selected panel members received an , in which they were invited to complete the survey by clicking on an Internet link. In order to complete the survey the panel members needed to log into their account with their password. The respondents received a small incentive consisting of YouGov-points, for completing the questionnaire respondents completed the questionnaire. One of the advantages of using a panel of members is that these people have agreed in advance to participate, due to their active and voluntary enrolment in the panel. Prior agreements usually produce high response rates, which also appeared from the 2700 respondents (Bush, Ortinau & Hair 2009). Another advantage with this type of research method is that there is no interview-respondent bias, based on the interviewer s body language, facial expression or tone of voice. On the other hand, the missing interviewer may result in the respondent making inaccurate answers due to misunderstanding of the questions resulting in response errors. Further advantages consist of respondent control, which creates a comfort zone for the respondent and the respondents anonymity that may make the respondents more comfortable in providing honest responses. 14 View appendix 3 (Quantitative questionnaire) for more information 45

52 Part 4: Method and Analysis of Data, Chapter 7 Additionally, the issue of missing data is eliminated in e-surveys as the respondents are prompted to answer each question before moving on to the next (Ibid.). 7.4 The quality of the e-survey In order to include the results of the e-survey in the thesis, it is crucial to reflect upon the quality of the research. In relation to an assessment of the quality of a quantitative research the two concepts, reliability and validity, are relevant. Reliability is the extent to which the research will replicate the same results if conducted elsewhere with the same research instruments, whereas validity concerns how the methods, approaches and techniques actually employ to study what was aimed for (Holloway, Daymon 2011). Additionally, Holloway and Daymon (2011) distinguishes between internal validity, which will define whether or not the findings of the research are accurately representing the referred phenomenon and external validity that concerns the generalizability of the research. In relation to an assessment of the e-survey s reliability, it is necessary to look upon the structure of and the frames of the questionnaire. Ole Riis (2005) argues that the reliability is improved by the selection of a large sample, whereby some of the random measurement errors are reduced. Hair et al. (2009) state that the sample should typically consists of 200 or more respondents of the defined target population, in order to make accurate inferences about the phenomena of investigation (Bush, Ortinau & Hair 2009). In this case, the 2700 respondents contribute to the reliability of the research. Another factor of the questionnaire contributing to a high reliability is the use of graduated alternatives of answers (Riis 2005). If the respondent is uncertain of how to answer a question and the only alternatives of answer are yes/no/don t know, it will lead to a low reliability. Therefore, a nuanced set of alternatives of answer provide the respondents with more options, resulting in a more accurate and thus more reliable answer (Ibid.). In this light, we assess that the e-survey is characterised by high reliability. Internal validity is related to the accuracy of the researched phenomena and is assessed by looking at the design of the questionnaire. In this regard, it is important to assess the probability of the questions being misunderstood by the respondents (Ibid.). For instance, the word food labels might not be understood in the same way by all respondents as this concept is a relatively new concept with ambiguous names, as mentioned in chapter 1. However, we assess that the internal validity is ensured in the survey as the respondents are introduced to pictures of each food label together with their respective names the first time they encounter them in the study. This reduces the probability of misunderstandings and increases the internal validity. The assessment of the external validity is done by reflecting upon the generalizability of the survey. Primarily, it is relevant to reflect upon what kind of people it is that sign up as panel members. Is it a certain type of people or is it all types of people? This question is difficult to answer as it would require a very 46

53 Part 4: Method and Analysis of Data, Chapter 7 specific definition of what a type actually is. A more tangible approach is to look at the people who actually have the opportunity to enrol as panel members. This can be done by looking at the internet penetration in the Danish homes. According to a report made by Statistic Denmark from 2011, 90 % of all families in Denmark have access to the internet from their homes (Wijas-Jensen 2012). This penetration is very high. However, if we break down this penetration into age groups it appears that 95 % of the people in the age of have access to the internet, whereas only 59 % of the year-olds has internet access (Ibid.). Judging from these numbers, the elder generation may be underrepresented in the panel. However, when a professional research institute like YouGov guarantees a representative sample of the Danish population and they ensure that the right respondents complete the survey by the respondents personal login, we must assume that the external validity is high. The 2700 respondents point in the same direction. 7.5 Analysis of data and results The analysis of the e-survey was bipartite. Firstly, quantitative coding was carried out by tying numerical values to the information of the raw material (Riis 2005). This resulted in percentage statements of the alternatives of answers, in each question 15. Subsequently, these percentages were interpreted in relation to hermeneutical premises, whereby we interpreted how the data has appeared in the light of how the posterior questions might have created various thoughts with the respondents, cf. chapter 2. First, the respondents were asked how well they know selected food labels. Among others, the respondents were introduced to pictures of the red Ø logo, the Keyhole symbol and the Whole-Grain logo. The results from this question appear in the following figure. The red Ø logo 1% 2% 5% The Keyhole symbol 2% 7% The Whole-Grain logo 3% 28% 39% 17% 26% 24% 64% 36% 31% 16% Figure 6: Knowledge of food labels (Own illustration) As it appears from the figure, 64 % of the respondents know the red Ø logo and know what it means. Whereas 39 % know what the Keyhole symbol means and only 26 % of the respondents know what the Whole-Grain logo means. Combining the answers in order to measure how many of the respondents that 15 View appendix 4 (Quantitative results) for more information 47

54 Part 4: Method and Analysis of Data, Chapter 7 have at least some knowledge of each of the three food labels, it appears that 97 % of the respondents know the red Ø logo, 92 % know the Keyhole symbol and 73 % know the Whole-Grain symbol. The latter has the greatest percentages of respondents that do not know the food label at all; 24 %. In a hermeneutical perspective, the question of how well the respondents know the food labels is based on the respondents subjective knowledge, which refers to their perception of their own knowledge (Pillai, Hofacker 2007). This means that there may be a great difference between how much knowledge two respondents actually have about a particular food label and how much knowledge, they believe that they have. For instance, one respondent may assess that he has complete knowledge of the Keyhole symbol because he knows that this symbol is related to healthy foods. Another respondent may have knowledge of the requirements behind the label, but choose the option I know it and I know more or less, what the food label means because she does not know the exact requirements. In this way, the question measures the respondents subjective knowledge of food labels and not their objective knowledge, which refer to the absolute knowledge possessed by the respondent (Ibid.). This objective knowledge could have been measured in the survey by including some factual questions about the food labels (Riis 2005). Furthermore, the respondents were asked if they miss more information about the individual food labels. In this regard, 26 % of the respondents answered yes, whereas 61 % answered no. This question may be interpreted differently by different respondents as the term more information could be understood as the respondent s desire for knowing more about the food labels or the feeling of lack of information about them, among others. In the light of this and the issues regarding subjective knowledge, we included a question in the qualitative interview related to obtaining a more nuanced understanding of the consumers knowledge of the food labels, cf. chapter 8. Another question in the survey dealt with Which food labels do you usually shop after? 16. In relation to this question, only 42 % of the respondents claimed that they do not shop after food labels in general, indicating that 58 % usually shop after the labels. However, the percentages of respondents shopping after the three food labels draw a somehow different picture. 16 View appendix 3 (Quantitative questionnaire) for more information 48

55 Part 4: Method and Analysis of Data, Chapter 7 100% 80% 30% 26% 16% 60% 40% 20% 70% 74% 84% Yes No 0% The red Ø logo The Keyhole symbol The Whole- Grain logo Figure 7: Usage of food labels (Own illustration) As it appears from the figure, only 30 %, 26 % and 16 % of the respondents usually shop after the red Ø logo, the Keyhole symbol and the Whole-Grain logo, respectively. However, in a hermeneutical perspective these rather low percentages may not be incomprehensible as the term usually is a rather vague concept. Some respondents may interpret the term as every time they shop, whereas others may understand the term as the amount of foods with the label on that they shop. In this light, we included a question in the qualitative interview dealing with a specific situation, in which the respondent shops after food labels 17. This was done in order to get a nuanced understanding of the situation, in which respondents shop after food labels. To sum up, most of the respondents have qualified knowledge of the red Ø logo, whereas least of the respondents knew the Whole-Grain logo at all. A small third of the respondents would like to get more information about the food labels. Furthermore, more than half of the respondents have food labels as a part of their consideration set when they shop. In the following chapter, we will go into details with the in-depth interviews. 17 View appendix 5 (Qualitative interview guide) for more information 49

56 Part 4: Method and Analysis of Data, Chapter 8 Chapter 8: Qualitative in-depth interviews The in-depth interviews were conducted in corporation with OMG. This chapter will deal with the construction of the interview guide, the conduction of the interviews and the introduction of the respondents. Additionally, we will assess the quality of the interviews and we will analyse the data and shortly present the results. 8.1 The purpose of the in-depth interviews The in-depth interviews are of qualitative characteristic and are suitable for generating rich and deep data about the respondents point of view. Furthermore, the focus is on achieving an understanding of the respondents behaviour, values and beliefs in terms of the context, in which the study is conducted (Bryman 2004). In this light, the purpose of the in-depth interviews was to obtain a deeper understanding of the consumers perception and attitude towards food labels and to achieve a better understanding of the statistical results of the e-survey (Kristensen 2009). Furthermore, the purpose was to obtain knowledge about the consumers relationship to food labels in the broad population, whereby these interviews were carried out among a broad group of respondents and were not limited to a particular section of the population. 8.2 The interview guide Our partnership model with OMG implied that the interview guide contained several different themes consisting of the planning process, advertising circulars, online purchase, membership cards, frozen pizzas and food labels. As responsible for the area of food labels, we prepared the part of the interview guide dealing with these labels. According to Kvale and Brinkmann (2009), it is important to carefully prepare the interview guide in order to cover the most crucial themes of interest. Thus, the preparation of the interview guide began with considerations about the most important areas in relation to our research question. Furthermore, the considerations were based on the results from the e-survey and the results from the respondents diaries, in which we have got the opportunity to observe these respondents behaviour for two weeks, cf. 2.3 Research design. The interview guide took the shape of a semi-structured guide, in which the questions of interest were determined, but the questions still allowed the interviewers to glean the ways in which the respondents view their social world. Thus, there is flexibility in the conduct of the interviews (Bryman 2004). However, when there is more than one interviewer in a project, it is necessary with an interview guide in order to create a common ground for the analysis (Riis 2005). In this case, we were three interviewers consisting of us and one employee from OMG. 50

57 Part 4: Method and Analysis of Data, Chapter 8 The interview guide 18 was built around four overall themes in relation to food labels consisting of: 1. The respondent s general knowledge about food labels 2. The respondent s understanding of food labels as a cultural phenomenon 3. The respondent s personal relationship to food labels 4. The respondent s perception of food labels in the future In relation to the theme 1, the respondent was shown pictures of the red Ø-logo, the Keyhole symbol and the Whole-Grain logo and was asked about the reason for these labels existence in the Danish market place. These questions were intended as introductory and explorative questions seeking to break the ice and to get a grasp of the respondents immediate reaction to food labels (Ibid.). Theme 2 employed projective techniques, in which the respondent was asked to tell about a typical person buying food labels in order to get an understanding of how the respondent defines the culture around these labels (Bryman 2004, McCracken 1988b). In relation to theme 3, we had employed laddering techniques in order to explore the links that exist between the attributes of food labels and the meanings, feelings and associations they impart (Bystedt, Lynn & Potts 2003). In this way, we tried to get an understanding of the underlying values that the respondent connects to food labels (Bryman 2004, Bystedt, Lynn & Potts 2003). Theme 4 dealt with the respondent s perception of the future for food labels. Additionally, the respondent was introduced to three prompts consisting of three hypotheses that we wanted to test and the respondent was asked to explain its reaction to these (McCracken 1988b). 8.3 The in-depth interviews 15 in-depth interviews were carried out in total and we conducted six of these. These interviews took the form of an interview with a private individual with the objective of achieving a holistic description of the respondent s world of understanding and experience in relation to food labels (Bryman 2004, Weiss 1994). The interviews were carried out in the respondent s home in order to create a safe and comfort zone (Riis 2005). The interviews lasted from 1-3 hours depending on the respondent s willingness to tell. Furthermore, the interviews were recorded with a Dictaphone. We were inspired by hermeneutics in the interview situation, meaning that we asked interpretive questions (Kvale, Brinkmann 2009). This spontaneous interpretation provided us with the opportunity to verify certain interpretations up-front by asking follow-up questions along the way (Bryman 2004). We made an effort in 18 View appendix 5 (Qualitative interview guide) for more information 51

58 Part 4: Method and Analysis of Data, Chapter 8 relation to not asking leading questions in order for the respondents to tell their own stories. However, due to the fact that we constantly verified several notions in the conversation, there might have been some sort of leading questions involved. According to Kvale and Brinkmann (2009), leading questions does not necessarily weakens the quality of the interview as long as they do not lead the interview into a specific route, but only are used to verify certain phrases (Kvale, Brinkmann 2009) The respondents In the following, we will introduce the 15 respondents participating in the in-depth interviews by referring to certain demographic characteristics 19. Andreas: Anna: Børge: Carina: Carla: Ebbe: A 41-year-old male living in Skævinge. He has a medium higher education and is currently self-employed. He earns between DKR a year (Andreas 2012). A 30-year-old female living in the centre of Copenhagen. She is studying a higher education and earns between DKR a year (Anna 2012). A 35-year-old male living in Brønshøj. He has a high school educational background and is currently a student/trainee. He earns between DKR a year (Børge 2012). A 40-year-old female living in Vanløse, a suburb to Copenhagen. She has a medium higher education, but is at the moment unemployed. She earns between DKR a year (Carina 2012). A 31-year-old female living in Århus. She has a high-school educational background and currently works within marketing. She earns between DKR a year (Carla 2012). A 49-year-old male living at Vesterbro in Copenhagen. He has a medium higher education and works as an office worker. He earns between DKR a year (Ebbe 2012). Flemming 20 : A 32-year-old male living at Østerbro in Copenhagen. He has a scientist degree (phd) and currently works as an office worker He earns between DKR a year (Christine 2012, Flemming 2012). Gurli: Jakob: A 53-year-old female living in Odense. She has a higher educational background. She earns between DKR a year (Gurli 2012). A 37-year-old male living at Østerbro in Copenhagen. He has a high-school educational background and is currently working as an office worker. He earns between DKR a year (Jakob 2012). 19 All the respondents names have been changed in order to keep anonymity 20 In this interview, Flemming s wife, Christine also participated 52

59 Part 4: Method and Analysis of Data, Chapter 8 Jens-Peter: Jette: Lene: Liselotte: Morten: Sune: A 59-year-old male living in Kolding. He has a higher education, but is currently unemployed. He earns between DKR a year (Jens-Peter 2012). A 32-year-old female living in Lynge. She has a higher educational background and works within marketing. She ears DKR a year (Jette 2012). A 66-year-old female living at Frederiksberg in Copenhagen. She has a medium higher education and currently works as an office worker. She earns between DKR a year (Lene 2012). A 21-year-old female living in Albertslund. She has a high school educational background and is currently a student/trainee. She earns less than DKR a year (Liselotte 2012). A 29-year-old male living at Amager in Copenhagen. He is a student, studying a higher education. He earns between DKR a year (Morten 2012). A 28-year-old male living in Odense. He has a short higher education and currently works as an office worker. He earns between DKR a year (Sune 2012). As it appears from these descriptions of the respondents, they represent a broad section of the Danish population. 8.4 The quality of the interviews In the same way as it was necessary to reflect upon the quality of the e-survey, it is crucial to reflect upon the quality of the in-depth interviews. The concepts of reliability and validity are not in their original form usable in relation to qualitative research, for which reason we will adopt alternative criteria consisting of authenticity and trustworthiness (Guba, Lincoln 1985). The concept of authenticity deals with the fairness of the study, whereas trustworthiness is related to four relevant notions consisting of credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability (Holloway, Daymon 2011). In relation to achieving an authentic study, it is crucial that the study fairly represents different viewpoints among members of the social setting (Bryman 2004). We have tried to fulfil this criterion by carrying out interviews among a broad section of the Danish population, whereby we have ensured that different viewpoints could find expression. This broad section ensured that we reached different members of the population in order to obtain multifarious perspectives on food labels. Thus, we assess that the study has a high degree of authenticity. Credibility is related to the fact that there can be several possible accounts of an aspect of social reality (Ibid.). The establishment of the credibility of findings entails both ensuring that the study is carried out according to the canons of good practice and submitting the findings to the respondents for confirmation 53

60 Part 4: Method and Analysis of Data, Chapter 8 (Ibid.). In order to ensure credibility, we transcribed all interviews in order to secure the respondents own words in the analysis. Furthermore, we transcribed the interviews where we had not been the interviewer in order to get as many eyes on the individual interview as possible so that the interpretation was not based solely on one of the interviewers point of view (Holloway, Daymon 2011). We did not have the opportunity to conduct respondent validation, which we will elaborate on in chapter 14. However, we did made use of the technique of triangulation due to our multi-methodical approach, whereby we used more than one method in the study of food labels. This increases the study s credibility. Thus, we assess that the study is credible. Transferability is related to the researchers responsibility of helping the reader transfer the specific knowledge gained from the research findings to other settings (Ibid.). We have analysed the data from the interviews by putting them into a cultural context, which enables the reader to assess whether the findings also apply in another context (Bryman 2004). Thus, we assess that this study is characterised by transferability. The concept of dependability is related to the importance of keeping complete records of all phases of the research process, which enhances the chances of reproduction of the study (Bryman 2004, Holloway, Daymon 2011). We have ensured the study s dependability by describing in detail all our choices made in relation to the interviews throughout the thesis. Finally, confirmability is the ability to actually report findings and conclusions based on the achieved data from respondents with minimal influence by the researchers own prior prejudices (Holloway, Daymon 2011). We have ensured confirmability by explicitly presenting our prejudices in relation to food labels, cf. 2.4 Our prejudices. 8.5 Analysis of data and results We transcribed 21 all the interviews in relation to the analysis of the interviews. In this way, we have not taken our starting point in the five segments, defined by OMG, as these were based on more general parameters of behaviour than just food labels. As the purpose of this thesis is to obtain an understanding of food labels in the broad population, we have chosen to include all interviews in this thesis. We transcribed the interviews by being as true to the respondents statements as possible. This means that we included reactions, such as laughter, in the transcriptions. Furthermore, we used different signs as indicators of behaviour consisting of // for interruptions, ( ) for pauses, (xx) for actions and for falter. We find it relevant to emphasize that the interviews was conducted in Danish, but when we use quotations in this thesis, we have translated them into English in order to secure the flow of reading. Since the analysis is made 21 View appendix 6-20 (Transcription of interview with all the respondents) for more information 54

61 Part 4: Method and Analysis of Data, Chapter 8 on the basis of the original Danish statements, we assess that these translations have had no impact on our interpretation of the data. After the transcription, we started coding and thematizing the interviews. This process was carried out based on hermeneutically and dialectically premises, cf. 2.2 Methodology. The first part of the process consisted of coding the interviews in the light of hermeneutics. In this way, we interpreted all the statements from each respondent by interpreting the individual statement in relation to a whole, while the whole was interpreted on the basis of the individual statements. Thus, this process was a repeating process, in which parts of the data was interpreted and reinterpreted in relation to the whole (Thompson, Pollio & Locander 2004). In this way, each interview was interpreted in the interplay between those meanings handed down by cultural traditions and the personalized meanings that an individual constructs from them (Ibid.). The second part of the process was based on dialectically premises and had the objective of generating themes. The themes was identified by dialectically comparing and contrasting the individual statements from the respondents, with the aim of generating few themes in which there are substantial consensus (Ibid). By this process, we identified four themes, in which there are substantial consensuses among the respondents. These consist of: Food labels as a jungle Food labels as the bleeding obvious Food labels as dogmatism Food labels as symbols of the conscious consumer The first theme deals with a general confusion about the amount of food labels in the Danish market place. The second theme deals with some of the respondents expressing a negative attitude towards nutritional food labels, such as the Keyhole symbol and the Whole-Grain logo. The third theme deals with some of the respondents negative attitude towards the red Ø-logo. Finally, the last theme deals with those respondents who expressed trust in food labels, particularly the red Ø-logo. To sum up, through the analysis of the in-depth interviews we identified four different themes consisting of food labels as a jungle, food labels as the bleeding obvious, food labels as dogmatism and food labels as symbols of the conscious consumer. In the following part of this thesis, we will interpret and understand these results in the light of our theoretical foundation. 55

62 Part 4: Method and Analysis of Data, Chapter 8 PART 5 Findings Chapter 9-12 Part five presents the empirical findings by analysing and discussing the results of our studies in a theoretical perspective. We identified four different themes, which we will go through individually. 56