IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/polpwa/317100.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Consumers’ Awareness on Organic Food: Case of Urban Sri Lanka

Author

Listed:
  • Malkanthi, S.H. Pushpa
  • Rathnachandra, S.D. Dilini
  • Weerasinghe, W.A. Ruwani N.

Abstract

The organic food market is rapidly expanding all over the world with the recent rise of concern in food safety and environmental protection. Thus, examining information about consumers’ awareness on organic food is one of the inspiring areas for producers and marketers to capture a greater market share successfully. Therefore, this study aimed at analyzing the consumer awareness towards organic food products while addressing socio-demographic factors affecting consumer awareness on organic food, knowledge of consumers about organic food, and their purchasing pattern. A sample of 600 consumers was selected from the main cities of six urban districts in Sri Lanka for the study. Data were collected via a consumer survey using a pre-tested questionnaire, from November 2018 to May 2019. The data analysis was carried out using frequencies, percentages, and multiple linear regression analysis. According to the results, the majority of the respondents were married females. The results revealed that Sri Lankan consumers have a better awareness on organic food. The results of the regression analysis highlighted that the consumers’ awareness is significantly affected by factors such as gender, marital status, education, and monthly income. Although most respondents have a good level of awareness on organic food, their buying trend is at a lower level. The findings of the study play an important role in promoting the organic food market and are essential for food marketing planners, researchers, and policymakers to enhance the organic food industry in the country in the future.

Suggested Citation

  • Malkanthi, S.H. Pushpa & Rathnachandra, S.D. Dilini & Weerasinghe, W.A. Ruwani N., 2021. "Consumers’ Awareness on Organic Food: Case of Urban Sri Lanka," Problems of World Agriculture / Problemy Rolnictwa Światowego, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, vol. 21(4), December.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:polpwa:317100
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.317100
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/317100/files/1_art._547.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.317100?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Govindasamy, Ramu & Italia, John, 1999. "Predicting Willingness-To-Pay A Premium For Organically Grown Fresh Produce," Journal of Food Distribution Research, Food Distribution Research Society, vol. 30(2), pages 1-10, July.
    2. Meixner, Oliver & Haas, Rainer & Perevoshchikova, Yana & Canavari, Maurizio, 2014. "Consumer Attitudes, Knowledge, and Behavior in the Russian Market for Organic Food," International Journal on Food System Dynamics, International Center for Management, Communication, and Research, vol. 5(2), pages 1-11, October.
    3. Leora Klapper & Raphael Amit & Mauro F. Guillén, 2010. "Entrepreneurship and Firm Formation across Countries," NBER Chapters, in: International Differences in Entrepreneurship, pages 129-158, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Hansen, Torben & Sørensen, Maria Ingerslev & Eriksen, Marie-Louise Riewerts, 2018. "How the interplay between consumer motivations and values influences organic food identity and behavior," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 39-52.
    5. Krishnakumare, B. & Niranjan, S., 2017. "Consumers’ Buying Behaviour towards Organic Food Products in Tamil Nadu," Agricultural Economics Research Review, Agricultural Economics Research Association (India), vol. 30(01), June.
    6. Dettmann, Rachael L. & Dimitri, Carolyn, 2007. "Organic Consumers: A Demographic Portrayal of Organic Vegetable Consumption within the United States," 105th Seminar, March 8-10, 2007, Bologna, Italy 7899, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    7. Gracia, Azucena & de Magistris, Tiziana, 2008. "The demand for organic foods in the South of Italy: A discrete choice model," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 386-396, October.
    8. Meixner, Oliver & Haas, Rainer & Perevoshchikova, Yana & Canavari, Maurizio, 2014. "Consumer Attitudes, Knowledge and Behavior in the Russian Market of Food," 2014 International European Forum, February 17-21, 2014, Innsbruck-Igls, Austria 199363, International European Forum on System Dynamics and Innovation in Food Networks.
    9. Safdar Muhammad & Eihab Fathelrahman & Rafi Ullah Tasbih Ullah, 2016. "The Significance of Consumer’s Awareness about Organic Food Products in the United Arab Emirates," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-12, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Safdar Muhammad & Eihab Fathelrahman & Rafi Ullah Tasbih Ullah, 2016. "The Significance of Consumer’s Awareness about Organic Food Products in the United Arab Emirates," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-12, August.
    2. Camelia F. Oroian & Calin O. Safirescu & Rezhen Harun & Gabriela O. Chiciudean & Felix H. Arion & Iulia C. Muresan & Bianca M. Bordeanu, 2017. "Consumers’ Attitudes towards Organic Products and Sustainable Development: A Case Study of Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-14, September.
    3. Alvino, Letizia & Dangelico, Rosa Maria, 2022. "Investigating the antecedents of consumer behavioral intention for sustainable fashion products: Evidence from a large survey of Italian consumers," Other publications TiSEM ed6b6a75-2a9f-4b6e-8076-9, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    4. Bryła Paweł, 2017. "Creating and Delivering Value for Consumers of Healthy Food – a Case Study of Organic Farma Zdrowia S.A," Journal of Management and Business Administration. Central Europe, Sciendo, vol. 25(4), pages 55-74, December.
    5. Dangelico, Rosa Maria & Alvino, Letizia & Fraccascia, Luca, 2022. "Investigating the antecedents of consumer behavioral intention for sustainable fashion products: Evidence from a large survey of Italian consumers," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    6. Teresa Madureira & Fernando Nunes & José Veiga & Pablo Saralegui-Diez, 2021. "Choices in Sustainable Food Consumption: How Spanish Low Intake Organic Consumers Behave," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-18, November.
    7. Hamed Rafiee & Omid Karami & Hamid Reza Saeidi Goraghani & Hossein Azarnivand & Hossein Arzani, 2023. "Feasibility of Forming Markets for Indigenous Peoples’ Organic Products," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-11, July.
    8. Giovanna Sacchi & Vincenzina Caputo & Rodolfo M. Nayga, 2015. "Alternative Labeling Programs and Purchasing Behavior toward Organic Foods: The Case of the Participatory Guarantee Systems in Brazil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-20, June.
    9. Chang, Jae Bong & Lusk, Jayson L., 2009. "Fairness and food choice," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 483-491, December.
    10. Qiuqin Zheng & Xiaoting Wen & Xintian Xiu & Qiuhua Chen, 2023. "Income Quality and Organic Food Purchase Intention: The Chain Mediating Role of Environmental Value, Perceived Consumer Effectiveness," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    11. Rambabu Lavuri & Abhinav Jindal & Umair Akram & Bhukya Koteswara Rao Naik & Alrence Santiago Halibas, 2023. "Exploring the antecedents of sustainable consumers' purchase intentions: Evidence from emerging countries," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 280-291, February.
    12. Jean–Luc Arregle & Bat Batjargal & Michael A. Hitt & Justin W. Webb & Toyah Miller & Anne S. Tsui, 2015. "Family Ties in Entrepreneurs’ Social Networks and New Venture Growth," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(2), pages 313-344, March.
    13. Rodríguez, Elsa Mirta M. & Lacaze, María Victoria & Lupín, Beatriz, 2007. "Willingness to pay for organic food in Argentina: evidence from a consumer survey," Nülan. Deposited Documents 1300, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales, Centro de Documentación.
    14. Zoltán J. Ács & Pontus Braunerhjelm & David B. Audretsch & Bo Carlsson, 2015. "The knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 7, pages 129-144, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. Magnus Henrekson & Tino Sanandaji, 2020. "Measuring Entrepreneurship: Do Established Metrics Capture Schumpeterian Entrepreneurship?," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(4), pages 733-760, July.
    16. Colin C Williams & Abbi M. Kedir, 2016. "Business Registration And Firm Performance: Some Lessons From India," Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 21(03), pages 1-19, September.
    17. Samia Ayyub & Xuhui Wang & Muhammad Asif & Rana Muhammad Ayyub, 2018. "Antecedents of Trust in Organic Foods: The Mediating Role of Food Related Personality Traits," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-17, October.
    18. Andrews, RJ & Fazio, Catherine & Guzman, Jorge & Liu, Yupeng & Stern, Scott, 2022. "The Startup Cartography Project: Measuring and mapping entrepreneurial ecosystems," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(2).
    19. Rodríguez, Elsa Mirta M. & Lupín, Beatriz & Lacaze, María Victoria, 2006. "Incidencia de los atributos de calidad en las percepciones y elecciones de los consumidores de alimentos orgánicos," Nülan. Deposited Documents 1066, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales, Centro de Documentación.
    20. Barlagne, Carla & Bazoche, Pascale & Thomas, Alban & Ozier-Lafontaine, Harry & Causeret, François & Blazy, Jean-Marc, 2015. "Promoting local foods in small island states: The role of information policies," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 62-72.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:polpwa:317100. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/wesggpl.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.