Farmers' perceived values in conventional and organic farming: A comparison between French, Irish and Swedish farmers using the Means-end chain approach
通过78次深度访谈，运用手段-目的链方法比较法国、爱尔兰和瑞典农民选择有机或传统生产系统背后的价值观，发现财务与非财务价值观共同驱动决策，为政策制定者和农业顾问推广有机农业提供依据。
Values act as driving forces for individuals to behave in a certain way or to choose certain actions. They may explain current differences of converted organic land among EU countries. In this paper, we identified and compared the types of values, economic and other, that motivate farmers to choose certified organic or conventional production systems in France, Ireland and Sweden. To identify these values, we analysed and compared attribute-consequence-value representations of the choice of production systems among farmers, using a Means-end chain approach. Seventy-eight in-depth laddering interviews were conducted to explore how farmers characterised their choice, the consequences they perceived from these characteristics and the values they associated with these consequences. The uncovered values were classified along Rokeach's typology to distinguish between instrumental and terminal values. Results indicate that both farmers with a conventional farm and farmers with a certified organic farm are driven by complex sets of financial, business, or productivity values and by non-financial, non-business, or non-productivity values. Findings are useful to policy makers and farm advisors, who can use these results to develop more efficient communication schemes to promote organic farming. The findings can also be communicated to consumers and the public in order to encourage consumption.