Mind the Gap : Understanding the Gap between Consumers' Willingness to Pay and Purchasing Behavior

The purpose of this study is to examine what drives willingness to pay (WTP), stated buying behavior (SBB), and the gap between intention and behavior when consuming organic meat in Norway. A survey with 1021 respondents was used for this purpose. Over 45% of respondents were willing to pay a positive price premium, while just 7.2% said they actually purchased in the past week of the survey. The results showed that the WTP was influenced by socio-demographic variables (education, gender, and ruralness index), price sensitivity, and attitudes that organic is healthy and beneficial to the environment. But only price sensitivity, product availability, and attitude that organic is healthy influenced SBB. Intention-behavior gap was bridged by product availability and health concern but impeded by price sensitivity. Environmental concern and animal welfare attitude did not help in translating intentions into purchase behavior. This study provides a better understanding of intention and actual purchasing behavior towards organic meat. Such insights provide market regulatory agencies, producers, and retailers with guidelines and suggestions for expanding the organic food market. Additionally, knowing how intentions are misaligned/aligned with buying behavior makes intention-based studies more useful