THE EFFECTS OF CONSUMER ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE PURCHASE OF ORGANIC FOOD PRODUCTS IN SIKKIM
P.Madhan Kumar, Assistant Professor, Sikkim Manipal University.
Abstract:
The intention of customers to purchase organic foods has been an interesting study area and number of researchers has conducted numerous studies in understanding what influences people to purchase organic food products. However, results of these study were contradictory.Hence this research study was conducted to overcome this research gap. The primary objective of this study was to identify the variables which affecting the consumer attitude to buy organic food which in turnaffects the purchasing intention.Thisresearchhasadapteddescriptiveresearchintheformof crosssectionaldesign.A
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Personal Norms:
Schwartz (1973) defined personal norms as an individual’s beliefs that acting or behaving in a certain way is right or wrong. Studies suggest that personal norms have a strong impact on consumer choice between organic and non-organic food, also influence on their attitude. In other words, consumer attitude towards an object is deemed to be influenced by consumer self-beliefs (Thøgersen, 2002). Based on these arguments, the third hypothesis is proposed below:
H3: Personal norms of consumers has a positive effect on consumer attitude towards organic food purchase.
Subjective Norms:
Subjective norms are defined as the social pressure for an individual to engage orcomply with a group behavior such as family and friends. These norms are normative beliefs and expectation that the groups or important referents have on this person (Ajzen, 1991). In relation to attitude, Tarkianien and Sundqvist (2005) concluded that subjective norms have a positive influence on consumer attitude towards organic food. It is aligned with the study by Bamberg et al. (2007), who claimed an indirect effect ofsocial norms on consumer attitude. The influence caused by groups of people in society or people who close to consumers. Which may amplify the factors that influence on the people around them or people who’re belief that he should doing behaviors. This factor will be a result in a consumer feeling wanted to do as much. Which is stimulated more if people in society believe in the same thing (Bearden, Netemeyer, & Teel, 1989). Considering the elaboration above, the fourth hypothesis is proposed
Despite the increase in organic buyers, the majority of people do not know how to merely interpret what the word organic even entails. The United States Department of Agriculture enforces and regulates the labeling of organic products, namely food products (cornucopia.org). In addition to the elusiveness of organic foods, organics are apt to be more expensive than conventional food; this is because instead of a huge manufacturing plant, one would be receiving their food products from a small farm (where a small amount of food is being grown and harvested). People choose to argue that organic food is far better for you than conventional or natural food; however, there are only minute differences between the two. Stephanie Watson, an executive editor of Harvard’s Women Health Watch, states:“The researchers discovered very little difference in nutritional content, aside from slightly higher phosphorous levels in many organic foods, and a higher omega-3 fatty acid content in organic milk and chicken” (Harvard.edu).
I originally thought about the word organic as fruits and vegetables picked freshly from the branches of a tree and packaged into stores and chickens wandering large fields, I realize that it is not that simple. Michael Pollan traced some of his organic purchases back to their sources and discovers that there are organic feedlots, organic dairy cows whose lives are not any nicer than the conventional, and organic “free-range” chickens whose only access to the outside world is a small door in their shed, which is only open for about two weeks. “The organic movement, as it was once called, has come a remarkably long way in the last thirty years, to the point where it now looks considerably less like a movement than a big business” (Pollan 138). My thoughts now on organic foods at supermarkets such as Wegmans and Walmart is that the animals aren’t treated as great as conventional foods. I’ve realized that the extra cost of organic that I pay is largely because of the transportation.
Shoppers might object, claiming they do not have the means to pay for organic, ecological or culturally available food. They might point out some organic food is more expensive like milk, a staple to our diet. If a shopper bought one gallon of organic milk for $5.99 at Trader Joe’s, a popular Whole Foods chain store, each week for a year instead of a gallon of regular milk for $1.98 at Kwik Trip, a local gas station, they would be spending $208.52 more a year on milk alone. Although I understand that it can be a little more expensive, I still maintain that there are ways to make shopping in a more healthy way, cheaper. To starting with, we could purchase in-season produce because out-of-season is more expensive, due to shipping and storage costs.
In The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Pollan encourages us to change the way we eat but he never instructs us on what consumers should be eating. He educates us on what we are eating and informs us of all the events that go on behind closed doors. By building and building on our knowledge, he can reel us in instead of driving us away with offensive remarks. He never attacks the fact that most of us eat without thinking about it. In doing this, he can calmly approach his audience with the facts.
People must conform to the societal standards in order to be accepted in the community. Society constantly strives to justify its ideology's worth and truth. As a result, many theorists and philosophers rely on widely accepted doctrines, such as religion, as their validation by finding specific instances in the doctrines that recommend the adoption of their beliefs (Ostrom). Likewise, the sheer magnitude of supporting arguments can also validate a certain idea. With the increase of believers in a particular opinion, no matter how unfounded it is, the validity also increases (Twain).
Catherine tells the reader that organic food could produce plenty of food for the whole world. She says “when the same products are grown, organic yields are 8% to 19% lower on average than conventional farming yields... We currently grow far more food than is necessary.” (COFFtW).
Many people choose to eat only organic because it’s said to be healthier but when compared to non-organic food the difference is slim. Regardless people continue to buy organic products. People get emotionally connected to
These days with social media, and other rising technological advances, one might find it impossible to resist the urge to want to protest and debate with all the issues going on in the world today. It sounds easy enough to post your side of an argument on anything someone shares but going about it affectively to really get the opposing side to agree with you is something else entirely. By using the Social Judgment Theory, and understanding one’s ego involvement with an issue, people might just be able to figure out the “Art of Persuasion”. Social Judgement Theory is a “Self-persuasion theory proposed by Carolyn Sherif, Muzafer Sherif, and Carl Hovland” (Daniel O’ Keefe, 2016). It is defined as “The perception and evaluation of an idea by comparing
Some people feel very strongly about what they eat and put in their bodies as well as how farming methods affect our environment and therefore buy organic products. Others do not feel that this is relevant and are not influenced by this research and continue to buy inorganic products,
Organic Food In the society where people are getting more concerned about one 's health organic food has become a widely spread and followed by many people tendency. Organic food is believed to have better impact on person 's well-being and not to cause harm to people and the surrounding world due to its ecological nature. The debate that has been recently developed around this topic cannot be solved easily since both supporters and their counterparts provide reasonable arguments supporting their positions. However, to get into the problem and find the answer to a question that concerns many people it is necessary to identify organic food at first.
Many people wonder what the actual difference between organic and conventional food is, if there is a difference between them at all. Organically grown and raised food are foods that have not been fertilized or have not had antibiotics put into the animal producing the food. Although many people assume organic food is healthier because of the over raised price, studies have shown that organic food has, in most cases, little to no differences with the conventional food in supermarkets. In passage 1, the author, Rachel Cernansky discusses both sides of the dispute and gives contrasting details from both sides.
Organic Food. It is the thing we’ve been drinking eating for decades but when does it stop. It might. If we don’t take our asses and eat some organic food we could be looking at a foodless future. And i understand that it’s not cheap.
Everyday food Abstract The article discusses the role of food as an instrument of identity and a channel of contact through cultures. This is discussed drawing from three cases of Italian food culture hybridization spanning from the early 20th century to the first decade of the 2000s: the role of Italian food in Italian-American identity as depicted in Leonardo Coviello’s work; the meeting of Southern and Northern food cultures following the Italian internal migrations in the ‘50s and ‘60s; the food practices of international migrants in the context of the global flows of people and commodities in present day Italy. In this regard, food plays an essential role in the rebuilding of a familiar context in which migrants can feel temporarily
Increase in new gyms, increase in health-related products such as Fitbit, Lululemon, and Under Armour, etc. Having said that not all people prefer organics. This is evident in most of the food at the grocery stores being non-organic, which people are buying. Fast-food is still a cultural phenomenon, indicating that many people still value convenience over health. Along with good health comes disadvantages of buying organics.
American consumers have become accustomed to this notion of uniformity, without realizing that what is purchased now is a “notion of a tomato, picked green, and ripened with ethylene gas,” as Robert Kenner expresses in the documentary, Food Inc. There is a common denial forged between what is known and what one chooses not to know about what is being consumed. In order to make an informed decision society must first be given the option by being provided with the right