Introduction
Production of organic food is one of the attempts to produce enough food for an ever increasing human population. This technology of food production does not use inputs such as pesticides and fertilizers. It has been alleged that organic food may be better than conventional food because of the avoidance of using pesticides in growing organic food.
Claims that organic food is sweeter than conventional food have not been proved scientifically. So far organic food has been shown to be safe for human consumption. As is the case for any other product entering a market, consumer acceptance is of great significance. This report examines consumer attitude that has been formed towards organic food.
Consumer attitude towards organic Food
Researches carried out to find out the attitude that consumers have towards organic food have recorded positive results in favor of the food. It has been shown that consumers generally view organic food positively.
Griffith and Nesheim (2008, p. 1) found that consumers prefer organic food for three reasons: quality of the food was the main reason followed by health concerns and lastly environmental concerns. This study shows that consumers are very keen on the quality of food they buy and that they have a belief that organic food is of the right quality.
One aspect which might have propagated this belief is the fact that organic food is not grown with the help of pesticides and fertilizers. It is also worth noting that organic food is only grown by few companies which are closely monitored by the government. This aspect of close monitoring may create some comfort in consumers and lead them to believe that the food is grown in the best manner and most hygienic conditions possible.
The second reason given above by consumers is health concerns. If organic food is perceived to be of the right quality, as already explained above, then it follows that it will further be perceived that it is the right food for human consumption. The last reason is that of environmental concerns and this so because organic food avoids the use of pesticides and fertilizers. Pesticides are known to pollute the air and depending on the type of fertilizers used the soil may as well be polluted.
In an attempt to look into the future market for organic food, Stobbelaar et al. (2006, p. 1) carried out a research to find out the attitude of adolescents towards organic food.
The research showed that the adolescents have a positive attitude towards organic food but their knowledge about organic food is limited. It was found that the knowledge that one has about organic determines the attitude formed towards organic food. This is because the knowledge one has concerning a product forms the basis upon which an opinion about that product is developed.
It was shown that adolescents have various reasons for viewing organic food positively. Taste is the most important factor that influences them to favorably view organic foods. The second factor in order of priority is appearance followed by price and lastly storage life.
Despite the fact that the adolescents seem to have a positive attitude towards organic food, the reasons they give for their attitude may raise some questions. For instance, the top reason was taste. The taste of organic food is known to be the same as that of conventional food and therefore why the adolescents choose taste as a top reason is a bit unclear.
The research further showed that the young people view the food to be fit for human consumption. Girls are more positive about organic food compared to boys. It was also shown that adolescents in higher grades are more positive about organic food than those in lower grades. It was further shown that the adolescents are likely to buy organic food when they grow up (Stobbelaar et al. 2006).
There are various lessons which can be drawn from the research carried out by Stobbelaar et al. (2006). It should be noted that acquiring more knowledge about organic food enables a person to have a more positive attitude toward the food. Therefore, it is expected that as people learn more about organic food, its general acceptance level will raise.
It was also noted that children whose parents were environmental conscious were likely to positively view organic food. Along this finding, it will be logical to argue that the views of people who have some influence on adolescents are likely to be adopted by the adolescents. Parents, teachers and older siblings have a huge influence on how adolescents view many things around them. Though the adolescents positively view organic food, their motivation differs from that of adults.
Pearson, Henryks and Jones (2010, p. 1) have shown that organic food is generally positively rated in the society. They arrived at this conclusion by reviewing studies carried out over the past 20 years to determine the acceptability of organic food in the society. This review is of great significance because it helps to show a trend in the attitude of the society towards organic food over a considerable period of time.
Their finding was that over the past 20 years, studies have been consistent in proving that organic food is positively rated by consumers. However, something that raises questions is that the positive rating has been shown not to be proportional to the overall purchase of organic food.
It seems that consumers positively rate organic food but do not go a step further to buy this food. To me this is more of a contradiction. It is a proof that consumers might be having reservations on organic food though they seem to rate it positively. In such a case, can it be really said that consumers prefer organic food? Organic food has failed to attract consumer preference despite the fact that it has obtained high positive rates among the consumers.
Conclusion
Consumer preference for organic food is still at its infancy. Though consumers generally seem to positively rate organic food, concerns have come up about their preference for the same. It is therefore logical to conclude that organic food is not widely accepted by the society though it is positively rated.
Annotated Bibliography
Pearson, D., Henryks, J & Jones, H 2010, Organic food: What we know (and do not know) about consumers, <www.canberra.edu.au/researchrepository/…/fulltext_published.pdf>.
This article offers a critical review of studies carried out on consumer attitude towards organic food in the past 20 years. The findings are that consumers positively rate organic food but buy less of it. This is contradictory and it can only mean that consumers have not fully accepted to incorporate organic food into their diets.
Griffith, R & Nesheim, L 2008, Household willingness to pay for organic products, <www.cemmap.ac.uk/wps/cwp1808.pdf>.
This article shows that households are willing to spend on organic foods. Hedonic prices and purchase quantities were used to arrive at this conclusion. The study was based in the UK.
Stobbelaar, D.J., Casimir, G., Borghuis, J., Marks, I., Meijer, L & Zebeda, S 2006, ‘Adolescents’ attitudes towards organic food: a survey of 15- to 16-year old school children’, International Journal of Consumer Studies, vol. 1 no 1, pp.1-8.
This article examines the attitude that adolescents have towards organic food. It also shows how they are influenced by their parents and people who have influence in their lives.
References
Griffith, R & Nesheim, L 2008, Household willingness to pay for organic products, <www.cemmap.ac.uk/wps/cwp1808.pdf>.
Pearson, D., Henryks, J & Jones, H 2010, Organic food: What we know (and do not know) about consumers, <www.canberra.edu.au/researchrepository/…/fulltext_published.pdf>.
Stobbelaar, D.J., Casimir, G., Borghuis, J., Marks, I., Meijer, L & Zebeda, S 2006, ‘Adolescents’ attitudes towards organic food: a survey of 15- to 16-year old school children’, International Journal of Consumer Studies, vol. 1 no 1, pp.1-8.