Consumers’ attitudes towards food underwent large changes in Germany. This has resulted in an increase of demand for organic food. However, some analysts claim that the organic food market in Germany might be maturing. Within this context, this paper has two main objectives: first, to explore the attitude of German consumers towards organic food and bio-labels; and second to identify potential areas for improvement to help organic food companies to become more competitive. This study used a quantitative research approach. 627 German consumers completed the survey. The results of this study indicate that there is potential for the organic food market to carry on growing. Findings have also revealed that a large percentage of participants do not trust some bio-labels. Trust and brand recognition are the most important factors that have helped Bioland and Demeter to develop a competitive advantage against other labels.
AMI. (2014). Organic market in Germany 2014. Retrieved October 3rd, 2017, from: http://orgprints.org/28229/7/schaack-2015-02-12-OrganicMarketGermany.pdf
Armstrong, G. & Kotler, P. (2007). Marketing: an introduction. Pearson Prentice Hall, New Jersey.
BMEL. (2015) . Bio-Siegel. Retrieved December 14th, 2017, from: http://www.bmel.de/DE/Landwirtschaft/Nachhaltige-Landnutzung/Oekolandbau/_Texte/Bio-Siegel.html
Bortz, J. & Döring, N. (2006). Forschungsmethoden und Evaluation für Human- und Sozialwissenschaftler. Heidelberg: Springe
Bund ökologischer Lebensmittelwirtschaft. (2015). BÖLW-, BNN-, AMI-, FIBL- und IFOAM- Bilanzpressekonferenz. Retrieved January 9th, 2018, from: https://www.boelw.de/fileadmin/media/pdf/Themen/Branchenentwicklung/ZDF_2016/BOELW_ZDF_2016_web.pdf
Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung. (2013). Auf einen Blick: Informationen zum Bio-Siegel (vom Bundesministerium für Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Verbraucherschutz). Retrieved September 14th, 2017, from: http://www.bio-siegel.de/infos-fuer-verbraucher/das-staatliche-bio-siegel/
Council Regulation. (2007). Verordnung (EG) Nr. 834/2007 des Rates. Retrieved February 1st, 2017 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/DE/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32007R0834
Cronin, J. J., Smith, J. S., Gleim, M. R., Ramirez, E. & Martinez, J. D. (2011). Green marketing strategies: an examination of stakeholders and the opportunity they present. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 39 (1), 158-174.
Davies, A., Titterington, A. J., & Cochrane, C. (1995). Who buys organic food? A profile of the purchasers of organic food in Northern Ireland. British Food Journal, 97 (10), 17-23.
Demeter. (2014). Markenzeichen für biodynamische Qualität. Retrieved November 3rd, 2017, from: http://www.demeter.de/verbraucher/ueber-uns/demeter-markenzeichen
Diercks, R. (1983): Alternativen im Landbau. Eine kritische Gesamtbilanz. Stuttart: Ulmer.
Eames, J. (2016). Agricultural Bacteriology. Wentworth Press: UK.
Fotopoulos, C. & Krystallis, A. (2002). Purchasing motives and profile of the Green organic consumer: a countrywide survey, British Food Journal, 104 (9), 730-765.
Gracia, A. & De Magistris, T. (2008). The demand for organic foods in the South of Italy: A discrete choice model. Food Policy, 33 (5), 387-397.
Grant, R. (2010). Contemporary strategy analysis. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.
Hahn, T. & Scheermesser, M. (2006). Approaches to corporate sustainability among German companies. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 13(3), 150-165.
Kuester, S. (2012). MKT 301: Strategic Marketing & Marketing in Specific Industry. Contexts, University of Mannheim.
Lohr, L. (2005). Economic, Social and Environmental Benefits Associated with US Organic Agriculture, Researching Sustainable Systems: First Scientific Conference of the International Society of Organic Agriculture Research, Adelaide: Australia.
Oekolandbau. (2015). Geschichte und Richtungen des ökologischen Landbaus. Retrieved January 20th, 2017, from: https://www.oekolandbau.de/erzeuger/grundlagen/zahlen-daten-fakten/hintergruend/geschichte-des-oekolandbaus/
Oekolandbau. (2016). Bio-Siegel. Retrieved February 2nd, 2017, from: https://www.oekolandbau.de/bio-siegel/
Organicstyle. (2010). Ist ein Unterschied zwischen bio und öko. Retrieved January 4th, 2017, from: http://www.organicstyle.de/bio-oeko.
Statista. (2015). Umsatz mit Bio-Lebensmitteln in Deutschland in den Jahren 2000 bis 2015. Retrieved November 24th, 2017, from: http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/4109/umfrage/bio-lebensmittel-umsatz-zeitreihe/
Padel, S. & Foster, C. (2005). Exploring the gap between attitudes and behavior. British Food Journal, 107 (8), 606-625.
Robles, R., Vannini, L., De La Puente, T. & Fernandez-Revuelta, J.J. (2005) Consumer attitudes behind organic foods perception: An illustration in a Spanish área. Retrieved January 13th, 2017, from: http://www.caae2005.dk/POSTER_PAPERS/SS22_808_DelaPuente
In-Text Citation: (Federico, Franz-Georg, & Magdalena, 2018)
To Cite this Article: Federico, G. T. B., Franz-Georg, W., & Magdalena, M. G. T. (2018). Can Bio-labels help Companies to Gain Competitive Advantage in the Organic Food Market in Germany? International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(8), 264–278.
Copyright: © 2018 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
