Understanding consumer purchase and selection of organic foods : case: K-citymarket Oy Lahti Paavola
Nguyen Tran Bich, Ngoc (2014)
Lahden ammattikorkeakoulu
2014
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 1.0 Finland
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201402152339
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201402152339
Tiivistelmä
Consumers’ growing concern over food safety has intensified the demand for healthy foods worldwide. Personal benefits are merging with society sustainability, as conscientious consumers are increasingly choosing ethical food products. Within that context, organic foods fully meet the diverse demand. Consumers, however, are selecting organic foods based on a complex set of factors that are not easily interpreted.
This study aims to assist the case company in discovering consumer purchase criteria for organic foods. The results are expected to not only support the case company in establishing proper marketing strategies but also provide other concerned parties with insights into consumer selection of organic foods.
The research undertakes the combination of qualitative and quantitative method, of which the latter is prevailing. Qualitative method is conducted by face-to-face interviews with the K-citymarket representative, in combination with open-ended questions in the survey. Quantitative method employs web-based and paper questionnaires. The issues raised in the questions are compiled based on the findings from previous studies. The survey, occurring for 2 weeks in K-citymarket delivered 613 responses.
By using statistical analysis, a specific segment of organic consumer is identified; including consumers aged above 51, and are either female or retirees. When considering buying organic foods, the health benefit is the utmost importance, followed by, in order, ethical concerns, trust, price and sensory attributes. From 15 initial criteria, four underlying factors are fortunately detected and statistically confirmed to contribute to the prediction of organic food purchase frequency.
The findings are reliable and valuable for formulating marketing strategies. Marketing managers may be confident to highlight the personal and society benefits in combination with promoting domestic organic products in order to directly affect consumer decisions on organic food purchases. More detailed information on the premium quality of organic foods should be widely available to appeal to new consumers and retain existing ones.
This study aims to assist the case company in discovering consumer purchase criteria for organic foods. The results are expected to not only support the case company in establishing proper marketing strategies but also provide other concerned parties with insights into consumer selection of organic foods.
The research undertakes the combination of qualitative and quantitative method, of which the latter is prevailing. Qualitative method is conducted by face-to-face interviews with the K-citymarket representative, in combination with open-ended questions in the survey. Quantitative method employs web-based and paper questionnaires. The issues raised in the questions are compiled based on the findings from previous studies. The survey, occurring for 2 weeks in K-citymarket delivered 613 responses.
By using statistical analysis, a specific segment of organic consumer is identified; including consumers aged above 51, and are either female or retirees. When considering buying organic foods, the health benefit is the utmost importance, followed by, in order, ethical concerns, trust, price and sensory attributes. From 15 initial criteria, four underlying factors are fortunately detected and statistically confirmed to contribute to the prediction of organic food purchase frequency.
The findings are reliable and valuable for formulating marketing strategies. Marketing managers may be confident to highlight the personal and society benefits in combination with promoting domestic organic products in order to directly affect consumer decisions on organic food purchases. More detailed information on the premium quality of organic foods should be widely available to appeal to new consumers and retain existing ones.