In Poland, a growing consumer interest in organic food is observed, contributing to the development of this market. The aim of this article is to determine the influence of the level of consumer awareness of organic products on the purchasing decisions. The study shows that the state of knowledge about organic food is still too low. The level of knowledge determines appropriate defining the characteristics of organic food. The research shows that consumers characterized by higher level of knowledge on organic products, state that the most important product criterion is a natural way of production, without chemical additives. They pay more attention to health characteristics such as nutritional value and freshness of the products. The efforts to raise the consumers’ awareness and increase their interest in organic food products is also important.
The changes in consumer attitudes and behaviors are reflected in the dynamic development of specific product categories, among which traditional products play an important role, being perceived by buyers as healthy, tasty, as well as referring to local culinary tradition. A wide range of such products is available in the Podkarpackie province, which holds the first position in Poland in terms of the number of registered products. The study, based on the results of a survey conducted in 2018 on the n = 221 sample, showed that the rich offer of traditional products of the Podkarpacie region is very popular among consumers. Based on the results of the Chi-square Pearson test, it can be stated that regardless of gender, the interest of traditional products increases with the age of consumers, which is reflected not only in the preference for traditional products from the region, but also in readiness to pay a higher price in exchange for higher taste qualities and health values of these products.
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