The Impact of Message Framing on Organic Food Purchase Likelihood

A consumer survey and Tobit analysis were used to determine the effect of message framing and other factors on selfreported organic food purchase likelihood. Negative framing, which emphasizes the possible negative consequences of conventional agricultural techniques, led to a “boomerang effect” that resulted in lowered purchase likelihood of organic food by consumers with high trust in food safety. Consumers with significantly higher purchase likelihood had high perceived risk from pesticides and high prior knowledge about organic methods. African-Americans and those with less than a high school education had lower purchase likelihood.