A Profile of Organic Food Consumers—Serbia Case-Study

Abstract

In this paper, the authors analyze products from the organic farming system from consumption and consumers. The research aimed to determine the characteristics of the Serbian organic market, discover attitudes, practices, and features of different organic food consumers and identify factors that influence organic products’ purchase. This was done following the theoretical framework of green marketing, which refers to the holistic management process responsible for identifying, anticipating, and satisfying customers and society’s needs for profitably and sustainability. The research for this study was conducted in Novi Sad and Belgrade in late 2015 and early 2016. The sample included 496 respondents over 18 years of age, varying levels of education, marital status, and other sociodemographic characteristics. The sample was divided into three internally homogeneous yet mutually heterogeneous clusters according to three criteria: factors that generally influence their food purchasing decisions, their opinions regarding characteristics of food products and their eating habits, and their sociodemographic characteristics. The analysis shows that organic consumers can be divided into three clusters with corresponding components related to aspects of products that are sold in the Serbian market. In Cluster 1, respondents who assign the least importance to whether they eat “healthy” products and to the number of calories in those products are presented. Cluster 2 respondents care most about what they consume, and in Cluster 3, respondents assign importance to eat “healthy” food. The findings of this study show that the decision whether to buy organic products or not is predominantly determined by the price and quality of products (which is also related to the socio-economic characteristics of consumers) so that eco-marketing should therefore be more directed towards those consumers who are already “more environmentally and health-conscious”, because in this way, the desired results of improving the domestic market of organic products will be achieved.

Consumer Confusion and Green Consumption Intentions from the Perspective of Food-Related Lifestyles on Organic Infant Milk Formulas

“…This result is supported by previous study on organic food in Vietnam conducted by Van and Hui (2019) [28] which mentioned that the percentage of type of people who value highly food quality named as conservative people was also the highest compared to the other clusters (trendsetter and unengaged to organic food). Differing from Radojevic' et al's [53] study in Serbia regarding organic food purchase, the consumer cluster which concern in organic food was not the highest in comparison to the others. The consumers mostly buy foods based on its aesthetic value, the ease of recognition of the product label and information, and the healthiness that has not to be organic food.…”

Customer Preferences for Organic Agriculture Produce in the Czech Republic: 2016 and 2019

“…In addition, the Slovak market is signalling the same shift, according to Kádeková et al [26], whose research paper suggested that the key factor for organic food purchase is its quality and the information that the food is pesticide-free; the price was found to be the next most important thing. In addition, Hidalgo-Baz, Martos-Partal and González-Benito [27] consider the product quality to be the key factor on the Spanish market, while, in Serbia [28], a choice oriented toward organic food is determined by its price and quality (also related to the socio-economic characteristics of consumers), concluding that the producers' marketing should predominantly target consumers who are already "more environmentally and health-conscious".…”

Export Competitiveness of Agri-Food Sector during the EU Integration Process: Evidence from the Western Balkans

“…Also, the growth of domestic demand for these products would significantly accelerate the development of organic production. According to Radojević et al [ 47 ], to boost demand, it is necessary to improve consumer knowledge about what organic production is and how products from this production system are appropriately labelled. This is crucial due to a positive impact of organic production on the environment and the sustainability of the food system [ 48 ].…”