Emotional or logical: reason for consumers to buy organic food products

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand, among the emotional, practical and logical factors, which factor is more critical while consumers buy organic food products, mostly fruits and vegetables.Design/methodology/approachA self-administered questionnaire survey approach was used to provide a deeper insight into the reasons for consumers to buy organic fruits and vegetables (OF&V). A total of 632 valid questionnaires were obtained, yielding a response rate of 79%.FindingsHealth is a functional/practical factor which consumer expect as a result of consuming organic food products; however, fear towards conventional food products (emotional) is the triggering factor which motivates consumers to buy OF&V. The logical factor such as environmental motive was found insignificant in the current study, Thereby supporting the value theory which posited emotion greater than practical and which in turn greater than logical. However, barriers for consumers to buy OF&V are perceived price and willingness to take effort. Thus by focusing upon fear reducing strategy such as, implementing certification and labelling on OF&V would be a promising strategy.Originality/valueTo the authors' knowledge, no previous studies exist in the organic consumer behaviour research which used the value theory proposed by Mattson (1991) and the study was able to propose that beyond the practical and logical factors, emotional factor has important role while consumer think of buying OF&V.

Organic food and obesity: factors influencing actual purchase of organic food in COVID-19 pandemic with moderating role of organic food availability

“…The researchers recognized that willingness to take the effort is a less researched area in determining to purchase organic food (Jose and Kuriakose, 2021). This study measures food effort using a scale from these studies (Jose and Kuriakose, 2021;Lichtenstein and Burton, 1989). Following is the proposed hypothesis.…”

“…The effort, also known as non-monetary costs, significantly influences the intention to buy organic food (Hoffmann and Schlicht, 2013). Usually, the customers are not ready to use extra time and effort to buy organic food (Jose and Kuriakose, 2021). The researchers recognized that willingness to take the effort is a less researched area in determining to purchase organic food (Jose and Kuriakose, 2021).…”

“…Usually, the customers are not ready to use extra time and effort to buy organic food (Jose and Kuriakose, 2021). The researchers recognized that willingness to take the effort is a less researched area in determining to purchase organic food (Jose and Kuriakose, 2021). This study measures food effort using a scale from these studies (Jose and Kuriakose, 2021;Lichtenstein and Burton, 1989).…”

“…Prior researchers ignored to see the influence of customers perceived value, food neophobia, effort, natural content and COVID-19 fear to measure intention to purchase organic food leading to the actual purchase of organic food (Jose and Kuriakose, 2021;Nosi et al, 2020;Tewari et al, 2021). Besides, researchers recommended that organic food availability be used as a moderator between the intention to purchase organic food and the actual purchase of organic food (Mohammed, 2020).…”

Community enterprise consumers’ intention to purchase organic rice in Thailand: the moderating role of product traceability knowledge

“…However, Dorce et al (2021) found that the relationship between the cost of purchasing organic foods and consumers' intentions is not well defined in prior research. Some studies found that the relatively higher price of organic products is not a barrier (Ahangarkolaee and Gorton, 2020;Jose and Kuriakose, 2021;Massey et al, 2018), while others report opposite findings. For instance, Liang (2016) showed that some consumers prefer to purchase lower-priced food products rather than the higher-priced organic ones.…”