Message framing and consumer responses to organic seafood labeling

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of different label-message formats (positively vs negatively framed messages) on consumers’ purchase intentions in an organic seafood shopping setting, along with the moderating effects of two individual characteristics (purchase-decision involvement and perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE)) on the message-framing performance.

Data were gathered from 1,698 consumers of a supermarket chain in the northeast region of the USA using a web-based experiment.

Results of this study support the superiority of a positively framed message over a negatively framed message in persuading consumers to buy organic food. In addition, this effect of framing on persuasion is contingent upon different levels of consumer purchase-decision involvement as well as PCE concerning organic products.

This study offers managerial implications for marketers and retailers, messages appealing the environmental and health benefits of organic seafood consumption (positively framed arguments) would be more persuasive to increase consumer purchase intention than negatively framed ones. In addition, individual characteristics of their target market should be taken into account in communication design and implementation.

This survey research offers insights into the organic food consumption literature by validating the applicability of message framing in the organic seafood labelling setting and identifying consumers’ individual characteristics (purchase-decision involvement regarding organic seafood and PCE) moderating the message framing effectiveness.