Motive Attributions in Organic Food Communication: Message Framing, Premium Presentation, Scepticism and Purchase Intention

ABSTRACT

Organic food is evaluated under information asymmetry, yet prior research has focussed primarily on claim credibility and trust, leaving less clear how consumers infer the motives underlying producer communication and whether such inferences vary with message framing and premium presentation. Drawing on persuasion knowledge, attribution theory and consumer scepticism research, this study examines motive attributions in organic food communication and their associations with scepticism, attitude and purchase intention. Data were obtained from two separately quota‐aligned web samples of adult consumers in Japan ( N  = 6500), representing values‐oriented and business‐oriented producer‐message conditions. Within each message‐specific sample, premium presentation was randomised, yielding four analytical cells rather than a fully randomised 2 × 2 factorial experiment. Message framing was associated with the clearest differences in egoistic, values‐driven and strategic‐driven motive attributions and in scepticism, whereas premium presentation showed more selective differences. The predicted message × premium interaction was not supported. Four‐group structural equation modelling (SEM) indicated heterogeneous associations between the four motive dimensions and scepticism, while a supplementary value‐based versus self‐serving summary showed a more consistent directional pattern. These findings extend attribution‐based reasoning to organic food communication while qualifying the empirical distinctiveness of the four‐motive framework. Practically, producer communication should support motive‐relevant claims with verifiable evidence rather than rely on premium presentation alone to reinforce message meaning.