The complexity of food purchase motivations: Impacts of key priorities, knowledge, and information sources on active purchase of food labels

•A discernible structure of consumer values exists across multiple specialty labels.•5 consumer types: Never Buyer, Safety-First, Biotech Avoider, H&W Seeker, Ag Idealist.•Hurdle models show hierarchical structure of values underlying active label purchase.•Food safety is foundational for most specialty label purchase.•Only the most complex frameworks include values like environment and animal welfare. Studies of consumer preferences of specialty food labels have characterized the collection of values underlying active purchase decisions of individual labels. We explore whether a discernible structure of values and decision-making frameworks exists among consumers and across a variety of specialty food labels: USDA organic, Non-GMO Project Verified, and Certified Humane®. We segment consumers based on their motivations for purchasing the three labels simultaneously using cluster analysis, and then analyze the decision-making complexity for each cluster using hurdle models. Five clusters are identified and characterized: Never Buyers, Safety-First buyers, Biotechnology Avoiders, Health and Wellness Seekers, and Agricultural Idealists. Results indicate that the complexity of consumer motivations for buying specialty food labels is based on a hierarchical ordering of food values with the foundational value of food safety being the most important for a majority of consumers, and values related to environmental and animal welfare considerations present in only the most complex motivation structures. We also find that consumer interest in an animal welfare label may be constrained by limited consumer association of the label with food safety or other direct consumer benefits. Our results have significant implications for the development of specialty food labeling schemes and optimal communication strategies over specialty labeled food products.