Conflicting Consumer Beliefs Influencing Eco-Innovation Adoption: Motives and Barriers for Accepting the Laser Marking of Organic Products

In response to regulatory requirements and consumer demand for sustainable products, producers of organic products are beginning to use laser marking to reduce packaging and, thereby, packaging waste. However, the consumer responses to this "high-tech" eco-innovation remain unexplored. Using a mixed-method approach, we collected qualitative and quantitative data on responses to the laser marking of organic products from 328 French participants. Guided by the theory of consumption values and innovation resistance theory, we conducted a thematic analysis of answers to an open-ended question which probed consumers' motives for and barriers to adopting laser marking. The most frequently stated motive was ecological benefits, and the most reported barriers were risks and tradition. Structural equation modeling revealed that attitudes toward laser-marked organic products are positively impacted by social, emotional, and functional values and are negatively impacted by barriers related to images and emotions. Consumers' attitudes toward laser-marked organic products strongly affect their willingness to buy such products. To increase the acceptance of laser marking, managers and policymakers should mitigate false-negative consumer perceptions, including doubts about its eco-friendliness and safety, thereby facilitating greater acceptance of this eco-innovation.