IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i13p7800-d848703.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Comparison of Consuming Habits on Organic Food—Is It the Same? Hungary Versus China

Author

Listed:
  • Yue Wu

    (Doctoral School on Safety and Security Sciences, Óbuda University, H-1081 Budapest, Hungary)

  • Katalin Takács-György

    (Keleti Faculty of Business and Management, Department of Business Development and Infocommunications, Óbuda University, H-1084 Budapest, Hungary)

Abstract

Organic food, a name for healthy food and sustainable or green food consumption, has become popular worldwide. Especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for healthy food is increasing worldwide. In order to better understand consumer behavior toward organic food between different countries in different adoption stages of organic food and provide valuable information for industrial practitioners and researchers. We conducted a comparative study between Hungary and China. The organic food market is well developed in Hungary, while the market is starting to be popular in China. What factors can affect consumers buying organic food in Hungary and China? And what can be an efficient marketing tool for consumers to buy organic food in Hungary and China? The English and Chinese version surveys were conducted from 374 Chinese respondents and 207 Hungarian respondents by convenient sampling methods from March 2021 to April 2021, and the data were analyzed by SPSS software for correlation analysis. The statistical analysis results concluded that personal characteristics influence consumer behavior in Hungary and China, such as age, education level, occupation, living area scale, income, and gender. The dominant reason for Hungarian and Chinese respondents to buy organic food is food safety and health and environmentally friendly. And the reason for them to refuse organic food purchases is the high price, which is different from the previous study in Hungary. The most welcomed organic food product is organic fruits and organic vegetables in Hungary and China. The most efficient marketing tool for them to buy organic food is social media. And different marketing tools combination varies in Hungary and China. Hungarian respondents are more willing to buy organic food, while Chinese respondents are happier to recommend organic food to other consumers.

Suggested Citation

  • Yue Wu & Katalin Takács-György, 2022. "Comparison of Consuming Habits on Organic Food—Is It the Same? Hungary Versus China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-19, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:13:p:7800-:d:848703
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/13/7800/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/13/7800/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mary Loxton & Robert Truskett & Brigitte Scarf & Laura Sindone & George Baldry & Yinong Zhao, 2020. "Consumer Behaviour during Crises: Preliminary Research on How Coronavirus Has Manifested Consumer Panic Buying, Herd Mentality, Changing Discretionary Spending and the Role of the Media in Influencing," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-21, July.
    2. Grzelak, Paweł & Maciejczak, Mariusz, 2013. "Comparison of consumers' perceptions of organic products between the United States and Poland," Studies in Agricultural Economics, Research Institute for Agricultural Economics, vol. 115(1), pages 1-10, February.
    3. Magdalena Śmiglak-Krajewska & Julia Wojciechowska-Solis, 2021. "Consumer versus Organic Products in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Opportunities and Barriers to Market Development," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-22, September.
    4. Prentice, Catherine & Chen, Jue & Wang, Xuequn, 2019. "The influence of product and personal attributes on organic food marketing," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 70-78.
    5. Jessica Aschemann-Witzel & Stephan Zielke, 2017. "Can't Buy Me Green? A Review of Consumer Perceptions of and Behavior Toward the Price of Organic Food," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 211-251, March.
    6. Aleksandra Kowalska & Monika Ratajczyk & Louise Manning & Milena Bieniek & Radosław Mącik, 2021. "“Young and Green” a Study of Consumers’ Perceptions and Reported Purchasing Behaviour towards Organic Food in Poland and the United Kingdom," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-23, November.
    7. Steenkamp, Jan-Benedict E M & Baumgartner, Hans, 1998. "Assessing Measurement Invariance in Cross-National Consumer Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 25(1), pages 78-90, June.
    8. Julia Wojciechowska-Solis & Anetta Barska, 2021. "Exploring the Preferences of Consumers’ Organic Products in Aspects of Sustainable Consumption: The Case of the Polish Consumer," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-17, February.
    9. Lauren Chenarides & Carola Grebitus & Jayson L. Lusk & Iryna Printezis, 2021. "Food consumption behavior during the COVID‐19 pandemic," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(1), pages 44-81, January.
    10. Zsófia Benedek & Bálint Balázs, 2016. "Current status and future prospect of local food production in Hungary: a spatial analysis," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 607-624, March.
    11. V. Aslihan Nasir & Fahri Karakaya, 2014. "Underlying Motivations of Organic Food Purchase Intentions," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(3), pages 290-308, June.
    12. Kinga Nagy-Pércsi & Csaba Fogarassy, 2019. "Important Influencing and Decision Factors in Organic Food Purchasing in Hungary," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-21, November.
    13. Hugo Valin & Ronald D. Sands & Dominique van der Mensbrugghe & Gerald C. Nelson & Helal Ahammad & Elodie Blanc & Benjamin Bodirsky & Shinichiro Fujimori & Tomoko Hasegawa & Petr Havlik & Edwina Heyhoe, 2014. "The future of food demand: understanding differences in global economic models," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 45(1), pages 51-67, January.
    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. Shahnaj Akter & Shahjahan Ali & Mária Fekete-Farkas & Csaba Fogarassy & Zoltán Lakner, 2023. "Why Organic Food? Factors Influence the Organic Food Purchase Intension in an Emerging Country (Study from Northern Part of Bangladesh)," Resources, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-19, January.
    2. Sławomir Kalinowski & Aleksandra Łuczak & Adam Koziolek, 2022. "The Social Dimension of Security: The Dichotomy of Respondents’ Perceptions during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-20, January.
    3. Chun-Wei Chen, 2023. "A Feasibility Discussion: Is ML Suitable for Predicting Sustainable Patterns in Consumer Product Preferences?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-21, February.
    4. BAGLIONE, Stephen L. & TUCCI, Louis A. & STANTON, John L., 2019. "Organic Food: Identifying Actionable Segments," Holistic Marketing Management Journal, Holistic Marketing Management, vol. 9(1), pages 10-27, March.
    5. Joanna Smoluk-Sikorska & Mariusz Malinowski, 2021. "An Attempt to Apply Canonical Analysis to Investigate the Dependencies between the Level of Organic Farming Development in Poland and the Chosen Environmental Determinants," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-26, December.
    6. Yang, Xisi & Thøgersen, John, 2022. "When people are green and greedy: A new perspective of recycling rewards and crowding-out in Germany, the USA and China," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 217-235.
    7. Bahar Aydın Can, 2023. "Turkish Consumers’ Perceptions of Organic Milk and the Factors Affecting Consumption: The Case of Kocaeli, Türkiye," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-15, June.
    8. Karolina Woś & Lisa Marie Borghoff & Andrijana Horvat & Flavio Paoletti & Eleonora Saggia Civitelli & Ewa Rembiałkowska, 2022. "Preliminary Analysis of Voluntary Information on Organic Milk Labels in Four European Union Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-18, December.
    9. Dan-Cristian Dabija & Brandusa Mariana Bejan, 2018. "Green DIY store choice among socially responsible consumer generations," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 1-12, December.
    10. Valentina Maria Merlino & Alessandro Sciullo & Giacomo Pettenati & Francesco Sottile & Cristiana Peano & Stefano Massaglia, 2022. "“Local Production”: What Do Consumers Think?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-15, March.
    11. Julia Wojciechowska-Solis & Anetta Barska, 2021. "Exploring the Preferences of Consumers’ Organic Products in Aspects of Sustainable Consumption: The Case of the Polish Consumer," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-17, February.
    12. Molinillo, Sebastian & Vidal-Branco, Murilo & Japutra, Arnold, 2020. "Understanding the drivers of organic foods purchasing of millennials: Evidence from Brazil and Spain," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    13. Agnieszka Dudziak & Anna Kocira, 2022. "Preference-Based Determinants of Consumer Choice on the Polish Organic Food Market," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-18, September.
    14. Magdalena Śmiglak-Krajewska & Julia Wojciechowska-Solis, 2021. "Consumer versus Organic Products in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Opportunities and Barriers to Market Development," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-22, September.
    15. Jimin Xiong & Zhanfeng Tang & Yufeng Zhu & Kefeng Xu & Yanhong Yin & Yang Xi, 2021. "Change of Consumption Behaviours in the Pandemic of COVID-19: Examining Residents’ Consumption Expenditure and Driving Determinants," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-15, August.
    16. Tsukasa Kato, 2021. "Measurement Invariance in the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) Scale among English-Speaking Whites and Asians," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-10, May.
    17. Hao Xu & Niu Niu & Dongmei Li & Chengjie Wang, 2024. "A Dynamic Evolutionary Analysis of the Vulnerability of Global Food Trade Networks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-17, May.
    18. Morais, Ana Catarina & Ishida, Akira & Matsuda, Ruriko, 2024. "Ethical food consumption drivers in Japan. A S–O-R framework application using PLS-SEM with a MGA assessment based on clustering," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    19. Giovanna Piracci & Emilia Lamonaca & Fabio Gaetano Santeramo & Fabio Boncinelli & Leonardo Casini, 2024. "On the willingness to pay for food sustainability labelling: A meta‐analysis," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 55(2), pages 329-345, March.
    20. Knoppen, Desirée & Sáenz, María Jesús, 2017. "Interorganizational teams in low-versus high-dependence contexts," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 15-25.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:13:p:7800-:d:848703. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.