Skepticism, price premiums, and organic choice

Abstract Organic food markets are characterized by information asymmetry, making consumer choice highly dependent on market cues. This study examines how producer messages and price premiums are interpreted in organic choice by distinguishing two trust inference targets: claim credibility and producer integrity. Using a web-based between-subjects study of 6,500 Japanese consumers, it tests how these trust-related judgments are associated with choice under explicit price trade-offs. Conditional logit results show that both claim credibility and producer integrity were positively associated with organic choice, whereas premiums reduced choice. Objective knowledge was positively associated with organic choice and with lower premium sensitivity, while subjective confidence was associated with higher premium sensitivity without directly increasing organic choice. Mixed logit models confirmed the robustness of these findings. The results suggest that skepticism in organic markets is better understood as differentiated trust inference, that price premiums operate as both economic sacrifices and interpretive cues, and that objective knowledge and subjective confidence shape premium acceptance through different pathways. Highlights Organic skepticism is better represented by claim credibility and producer integrity than by a single global construct. Both claim credibility and producer integrity are positively associated with organic choice. Price premiums shape organic choice not only as economic costs but also as interpretive cues. Objective knowledge and subjective confidence play different roles in premium sensitivity.