Consumer Perceptions Towards Organic Food
This article is a review of all published journal articles addressing organic food consumers between 2000 to 2008. The article focuses on motivations for and barriers to purchasing organic foods and willingness to pay. The review found that while there are correlations between willingness to pay for organics and certain demographic characteristics such as age, income, and education, that these relationships were not strong. The main deterrent to purchasing organic food was price. The authors suggest that localizing organic food production may help reduce cost and increase consumption.
Article Abstract:
“Food safety, human health and environmental concern along with sensory attributes such as nutritive value, taste, freshness and appearance influence organic food consumer preferences. Demographic variables may define organic consumers but the correlation is not very significant. Consumers also associate organic food with natural process, care for the environment and animal welfare and the non-use of pesticides and fertilisers. Premium price continues to suppress organic food consumption. Understanding the grounds of increasing level of organic food consumption such as motivation are most critical in understanding the potential of the organic food to become a genuinely mainstream market.”
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.07.034