The relationship between personal values
and product attitudes has been problematic
although significant relationships have been
found (e.g. Homer and Kahle, 1988; Vaske and
Donnelly, 1999). Many of the studies have,
however, shown disappointingly low relations
between values and attitudes (Kristiansen and
Hotte, 1996). This may be due to the abstract
nature of global values. Personal values are
widely shared by people within a culture, and
may not explain much of the variance in
product attitudes or intended behaviour.
Dreezenset al. (2005) found that beliefs about
organic food mediate the relation between
values and attitudes. We suggest that studying
ethical beliefs at the food level may help
explain the foundation of attitudes towards
and intention to consume organic food.