University of Vaasa - Vaasan yliopisto

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Organizations International) and 17 national fair trade organizations. By the agreed
label, logo or certificated mark, the product supplied to consumers is approved to be
produced in fair trade conditions. The most difficult part is that every mediator
within the system should be approved for fair trade (Tollens, 2003;
www.fairtrade.net). The presence of third parties (like FLO and others) in the
certificating role is not well appreciated by the big companies, which wanting to
enter this niche market, but not wanting to have this auditing system all the time.
Even some big companies claim to supply and produce 100% ethical and in fair trade
conditions without having the certification (Hira& Ferrie, 2006). In some cases more
complex certification systems are also added to fair trade certification like organic
production, that makes the process much more expensive, complex and long run for
the fair trade producers (Hira& Ferrie, 2006; Loureiro&Lotade, 2005; Moore, 2004;
Levi & Linton, 2003).
When it comes to the consumer point of the fair trade practice, countries tend to have
different implementations, standards and practices differing with the legal structure
as well as the consumer profile. The main indicator seems to be the willingness to
pay which is related to consumption power (Loureiro&Lotade, 2005) and the
availability of products at retail points (Nicholls, 2002; Low&Davenport, 2005). It is
obvious that consumers are more aware of ethical production and consumption then
before, but this does not always lead them to more ethical purchasing behavior
(Strong, 1997).
To be able to understand the consumer perspective of Austrian and Turkish fair trade
markets, market structures will be more closely examined. This study is aimed to see
the differences and understand the different levels of consumer and market
adaptation to fair trade.
Research Methodology
The objective of the study is to understand the consumer knowledge level and
perception about fair trade in two different markets: Austria and Turkey. The reason
of the selection of these countries is that they show very different stages of fair trade
adaptation and data accessibility. For this purpose a multi-step research was planned.
It is also aimed to clarify the market environment consumer profile and reasons of
consumers for buying fair trade products by this multi-step research.
First, by monitoring the market in both of the countries (in selected cities of Graz
(Austria) and Istanbul (Turkey)) it was aimed to understand the fair trade market
structure. To be able to understand the market conditions and structures of Austria
and Turkey, official websites of FLO and other fair trade organizations, consumer
networks and retail stores have been studied. Retail stores and special stores were
visited to see the range of the fair trade products, and features of these products like
price, product origin, quality and packaging.
In the second step, in order to understand the knowledge level, awareness or fair
trade practices and perception towards fair trade, 24 face-to-face interviews were
conducted in both of the countries (Graz (12) and Istanbul (12)) through April and