To reduce the intention-behaviour gap, many efforts have been made to ease the purchase of fair trade products. One widespread effort is the labelling strategy, with common labels like ‘Fair Trade’ or ‘Fair for Life’. The philosophy of this strategy is that with a single glance, consumers can easily recognise fair trade products. But practice shows that labels in itself are only moderately successful (Gruner et al. 2014). Why are fair trade labels not effective? The answer is complex, and many reasons exist, from individual differences (e.g., how important is fair wage for consumers?), or generational differences to social influence (e.g., what are the others doing?). This blog does not aim to list all the issues that consumers have with buying fair trade products. Instead, the focus is on recurring issues in the academic literature that seem to hold for everyday purchases for the ‘average’ consumer. 

First of all, consumers’ purchase decisions are based on more than just the fair trade label. For instance, products with ‘gentle’ attributes, such as baby shampoo, seem to pair well with ethical claims such as fair trade logos. In contrast, products with ‘hard’ attributes, such as car shampoo, do not (Luchs et al. 2010). Products that have been intentionally greened also thrive less on the consumer market than products that have accidentally been made more environmentally friendly (Newman et al. 2014). Simply put, some products pair better with fair trade labels than others. 

The price premium of fair trade products is another obstacle for consumers. Although some consumers with strong values about fair trade or the desire to signal status may be willing to buy fair trade products at a premium price (Griskevicisus et al. 2009), it is an obstacle for many others. Yes, consumers understand that fairer wages or improved working conditions come with additional costs. Yet, alongside every fair trade product is a cheaper product, which often seduces consumers to buy the less fair and cheaper option. 

Next to price concerns, consumers have expectations, beliefs, and stereotypes about products with fair trade logos. To name a few of these: consumers often assume that ethical products are of lower quality (Luchs et al., 2010), are less strong (Mai et al., 2019), contain less calories (Schuldt et al., 2012), or are more feminine (Brough et al., 2016). Admittedly, depending on the consumer, some of these may increase consumers’ willingness to buy fair trade products. For instance, a dieting consumer may become more likely to buy fair trade products believing they are choosing the low-calorie option. However, many of these also lead consumers astray from fair trade products as these lead consumers to reason that the fair trade product is inferior.

Trust, too, is a recurring problem with fair trade certificates. Greenwashing, lack of transparency about the fair trade claims,  the vast amount of fair trade claims that exist, and limited regulation lead to confusion, doubt, and, in the worst case, distrust in consumers. Ideally, consumers’ doubts or confusion are addressed before it leads to distrust, as the latter is probably harder to resolve.

Lastly, we need to consider the reality of many consumers. Being in a hurry, desiring to save money, or being tired from a day’s work are common feelings in the store. A hurried consumer is unlikely to be patient enough to understand the label. A consumer worried about paying off its mortgage will be unwilling to pay a premium price for fair trade products.  

To summarise, to encourage consumers to use their power to push firms towards fairer business models, it is worthwhile to understand what stops consumers from buying fair trade products and consider consumers’ reality. This way, consumers may become more eager to buy a fair trade product. And as research suggests, buying one fair trade product is likely to set consumers up for more fair trade purchases (Juhl et al., 2017). Hence, stimulating the occasional fair trade purchase may, over time, lead to big changes.