ABSTRACT
This chapter builds upon consumers’ words, thoughts, and behaviors recorded over the ethnographic study performed in a number of selected households in six European countries with different economic, social, and cultural backgrounds (as described in Chapter 2). The reader will embark on several claims and behavioral schemes generated from personal interviews, diaries, photos, and videos collected from participating families, pointing to the importance of price in food purchasing. Low price sensitivity, i.e., paying more for better food quality, was found in statements such as ‘I never focus on the price’ and ‘I really try to buy high-quality food.’ In contrast, the notions such as ‘because of the price you wouldn’t get it’ and ‘organic is an unnecessary increase of the price for average food quality’ suggested that there were also price-sensitive food consumers, regardless the level of overall economic and market development of the countries they come from. Against such a backdrop, the aim of this chapter is to point out the importance of shaping the price of food in the light of food quality schemes (FQS) and sustainable food consumption.
