Symposium ID: 282

Analyzing the Factors Affecting Consumer Awareness on Organic Foods in India

Sushil Kumar 1 Professor Centre for Food and Agribusiness Management Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Prabandh Nagar, Off Sitapur Road, Lucknow - 226013, Uttar Pradesh (India) Phone 91-522-2736987 (O) Fax 91-522-2734027/25 Email: sushil@iiml.ac.in and Jabir Ali Assistant Professor Centre for Food and Agribusiness Management Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Prabandh Nagar, Off Sitapur Road, Lucknow - 226013, Uttar Pradesh (India) Phone 91-522-2736978 (O) 2736508 (R) Fax 91-522-2734027/25 Email: jabirali@iiml.ac.in

Corresponding author: Email: sushil@iiml.ac.in Tel. +91 522 2736987; Fax: +91 522 2734027

Acknowledgement: This paper is a part of Seed Money Research Project on Consumers Awareness, Attitude and Behaviours towards Organic Food Products & Media Coverage funded by Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow (India) Prepared for presentation at 21st Annual IFAMA World Forum and Symposium on the Road to 2050: Sustainability as a Business Opportunity, Frankfurt, Germany during June 20-23, 2011

Analyzing the Factors Affecting Consumer Awareness on Organic Foods in India

Abstract
The present study aims at analysing the factors affecting awareness level of consumers on organic food products, using a structured survey of 200 respondents covering the national capital, New Delhi and a state capital Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Growing consumers concerns on food safety, health and environment in the recent decade has resulted increased demand for organic food across the world, including emerging economies such as India. The organic food industry in India is export oriented, with rapid production growth. As the state of consumer knowledge on various attributes of organic foods is fundamental for inducing the demand of organic food products, a study to understand the level of consumer awareness becomes important. Based on awareness on food label, potential consumers of organic food can be grouped into five categories - Humanists, Food Phobics, Healthy Eaters, Environmentalists and Hedonists by using factor analysis. A logit regression model has been estimated to indentify the most likely socio-demographic and other important factors affecting the consumers awareness of organic food. Keywords: organic food, consumer awareness, influencing factors, regression analysis, India Target Audience: Management scholars and management practitioners

Analyzing the Factors Affecting Consumer Awareness on Organic Foods in India

Executive Summary
Awareness and knowledge has become a crucial factor in changing the attitude and behaviour of consumers towards organic foods, which in turn drives the growth in the organic food markets. The present study aims at analysing the factors affecting consumer awareness on organic food products, using a structured survey of 200 respondents in two major cities in India. Of the total 200 respondents surveyed, 177 respondents have reported awareness on organic foods i.e. 58.8% of total respondents. Based on awareness on food label, potential consumers of organic food have been grouped into five categories - Humanists, Food Phobics, Healthy Eaters, Environmentalists and Hedonists by using factor analysis. Further, a logit regression model has been estimated to indentify the most likely factors affecting the consumers awareness on organic food. The results of logistics analysis indicate that potential Indian consumers' awareness of organic food is strongly and significantly affected by factors such as education, stream of education and use of ICTs. The awareness is only slightly affected by factors such as gender and income level. Results of the study have great implication for promoting organic food markets, domestically as well as globally.

Analyzing the Factors Affecting Consumer Awareness on Organic Foods in India

Introduction
The demand for environmentally friendly products such as organic foods has significantly increased due to increasing awareness on health, food safety and environmental concerns (Loureiro et al., 2001, Nair, 2005; Briz and Ward, 2009). Awareness and knowledge has become critical factor in changing the attitude and behaviour of consumers towards organic foods, which in turn is expected to drive the growth in the organic food markets (Soler et al., 2008; Freeland-Graves and Nitzke, 2002). Several studies have investigated the knowledge, awareness, attitude and behaviour of consumers towards organic food in both developed and developing countries (Chakrabarti, 2007; Compagnoni et al., 2000; Cunningham, 2002). It has been argued that the consumer awareness & knowledge as well as consumption of organic foods are significantly higher in developed countries as compared to developing countries. In countries like India, where organic food markets are still in the early phase of its growth, comparatively have low level of awareness (Squires, 2001). In general, consumers have positive attitudes towards organic products and perceived as healthier than conventional alternatives (Chinnici et al., 2002; Harper and Makatouni, 2002; ODonovan and McCarthy, 2002; Radman, 2005). However, market size for organic foods remained low due to both supply and demand side constrains (ODonovan and McCarthy, 2002; Hill and Lynchehaun, 2002; Magnusson et al., 2001; Stefanic et al., 2001; Gil et al., 2000) The market for organically-produced food has expanded considerably in recent years. India has experienced phenomenal growth in production of organic foods in the recent decade and primarily focusing on the export markets. Organic agricultural export market is one of the major drivers of organic agriculture in India. The country is best known as an exporter of organic tea, organic fruits, organic spices and organic rice. Over the past several years, the organic food industry in India has been experiencing an annual growth between 20-22 percent. The nation has the potential to be largest organic food producer. In India, the area under organic agriculture has reached about 1.03 million hectares in the year 2007, of which 0.456 million hectares (about 44%) are fully converted and the rest is under conversion (Menon, 2009). In India, there are over 15,000 certified organic farms and the number is growing fast over the year. Apart from this, there are many small farmers growing organic food by using the organic practices. Over 70% of the 120,000 tons of organic products grown in the country are exported to the many countries worldwide each year. However, Indian domestic markets for organic products particularly metro cities such as Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore are witnessing significantly growth in the recent years. There are several factors which affects the awareness level on organic foods among the consumers. It has been empirically investigated that socio-demographic profiles, food buying behaviour and nutritional knowledge of the consumers are most likely to affect the awareness level and purchase decisions of organic foods (Gracia and Magistris, 2007; Tsakiridou et al., 2006; Lockie et al., 2004; Millock et al., 2004; Briz and Ward, 2009). Consumers with high income often buy organic food to reflect on their awareness and status (Gracia and Magistris, 2007; Santucci, 1999). The age factor does not seem to play an important role however, few studies have resulted that younger are more aware of organic 4

food and seeming slightly more willing to pay for purchase the same (Stevens-Garmon, 2007). Education is described by various researches as an important factor of awareness and purchase motive of organic food (Idda et al., 2008; Gracia and Magistris, 2007; Santucci, 1999). Consumers with higher education are more likely to buy organic food products (Gracia and Magistris, 2007). Gender and size of family are also critical to awareness and purchase of organic food. It is women who buy organic food in larger quantity and more frequently than men (Arvanitoyannis and Krystallis, 2004). Households with smaller family size are found to more aware of organic food and showing attitude of willingness to pay for organic purchase (Idda et al., 2008). Presence of children in family positively influences the organic food purchase (Solar and Sanchez, 2002; Thompson and Kidwell, 1998). Further, majority of such researches were carried out in developed countries, and hence the consumer awareness and preferences for organic food in developing world is mostly unknown. Therefore, there is an urgent need to investigate the demand status of organic food particularly in developing countries such as India. As consumer knowledge and awareness is an important drive to growth in the organic food market, therefore an investigation of consumers attitude and behaviours towards organic food may help both consumers of organic interest and marketers of organic food. It may also help government to design strategies for consumer education on the benefits of going organic. The present study aims at analysing the factors affecting awareness level of consumers on organic food products, using a structured survey of 200 respondents in two major cities in India. As awareness and knowledge on various attributes of organic foods is fundamental for creating market demand for organically grown products, this study explores the level of understand among the consumers on different aspects of organic foods. Further, the study also indentify the most likely socio-demographic, food safety and consumer information factors affecting awareness level using a logit regression model.

Data and Procedures

The study is based on primary survey of 200 respondents belonging to New Delhi, the national capital and Lucknow, the capital city of one of largest & populated state of the country i.e. Uttar Pradesh, using a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed to record the responses on food safety concerns, awareness, attitude and behaviours towards organic food and effectiveness of sources for organic information. The socio-demographic profiles of the respondents were also recorded on the parameters such as gender, age, education level, occupation and household income. Simple data analysis techniques were adopted such as descriptive statistics; cross tabulation and chi-square test using SPSS 15.0. The Logistics Regression Model has been used to analyze the factors influencing the awareness level of consumers on organic food.

Results and Discussion

Socio-Demographic Profile of Samples Table 1 provides awareness of organic food across socio-demographics of sample respondents. Of the total 200 respondents surveyed, 177 respondents have reported awareness on organic foods i.e. 58.8% of total respondents. Males are comparatively more aware than females. This could certainly be interpreted by higher male literacy as compared to female literacy in the studied areas as well as country of concern. The majority (60.7%) of the respondents were in the age below 35 years with an average age of 36.7 years. The young 5

generation are more aware of and concerned about food safely and environmental issues including environmental friendly food products such as organic foods. This is also supported by findings that respondents with age below 35 years are significantly more aware of organic foods than the elder counterpart ( 2 =20.10, p<0.01). Table 1. Consumer awareness of organic food across demographics
Socio-demographics Gender Male Female Age category <25 25-35 36-45 46-55 >55 Average age (yrs.) Education of respondents Below secondary Secondary/higher secondary Graduate Post Graduate Professional qualification Educational Stream Arts/Social/Economics Management/Commerce/Finance Science/Medical Engineering Occupation of respondents Service Business/Trade Retired HW (house wife) Student Monthly income (Rs.) <Rs. 250000 250000-500000 500001-750000 750001-1000000 >Rs. 1000000 Location Delhi Lucknow
,

Aware N % 61 56 34 37 29 12 5 33.5 0 7 33 47 25 24 32 31 14 80 9 1 7 20 22 39 31 16 7 65 52 52.1 47.9 29.1 31.6 24.8 10.3 4.3

Unaware N % 60 23 14 15 21 17 16 41.3 2 20 40 16 2 44 6 7 4 37 20 9 7 10 25 35 20 3 0 35 48 72.3 27.7 16.9 18.1 25.3 20.5 19.3

Total N 121 79 48 52 50 29 21 36.7 2 27 73 63 27 68 38 38 18 117 29 10 14 30 47 74 51 19 7 100 100

% 60.5 39.5 24.0 26.0 25.0 14.5 10.5

ChiSquare 8.252***

Sig.

0.004

20.353***

0.000

0.0 6.3 29.5 42.0 22.3 23.8 31.7 30.7 13.9 68.4 7.7 0.9 6.0 17.1 19.1 33.9 27.0 13.9 6.1 55.6 44.4

2.5 25.0 50.0 20.0 2.5 72.1 9.8 11.5 6.6 44.6 24.1 10.8 8.4 12.0 30.1 42.2 24.1 3.6 0.0 42.2 57.8

1.0 14.1 38.0 32.8 14.1 42.0 23.5 23.5 11.1 58.5 14.5 5.0 7.0 15.0 23.7 37.4 25.8 9.6 3.5 50.0 50.0

39.542***

0.000

36.749***

0.000

24.641***

0.000

13.865***

0.008

3.481**

0.042

** ***: Statistically different at 5% and 1% significant level

Education plays important role to enhance awareness among people. The results of chi-square tests revealed significant difference in education levels between those aware of organic foods and non-aware ( 2 =39.542, p<0.10), which implies that educated people are comparatively more aware of organic foods. It is also evident that about 64 percent respondents, with awareness on organic foods, have attained graduate level education as 6

compared to 22 percent graduate in case of unaware consumers. As an important finding, educational stream of the consumers is of great importance. Respondents with science and medical backgrounds are comparatively more aware about organic food products than other streams. As for as occupations & income level of the consumers are concerned, majority of the respondents belong to service class and higher income levels and have higher level of aware of organic food products than respective counterparts. Likewise, respondents belonging to national capital Delhi regions are more aware of organic foods as compared to the state capital Lucknow of Uttar Pradesh. Consumers awareness on organic food Many research argued that consumers describe organic produce as natural, unprocessed and free from growth hormones (Harper and Makatouni, 2002; Lyons et al., 2000, Hutchins and Greenhalgh, 1997). The common understanding of consumers on organic produces is that these have no pesticides, no artificial fertilizer, and residue-free safe products (Huang, 1996; Jolly et al., 1989). Moreover, consumers often perceive organic produce as healthier with higher vitamin and mineral contents than conventional products and are environment friendly (Lea and Worsley, 2005; Padel and Foster, 2005; Radman, 2005; Chinnici et al., 2002; Hill and Lynchehaun, 2002; Magnusson et al., 2001; Zakowska-Biemans, 2008; Hutchins and Greenhalgh, 1997; Davies et al, 1995). Perception plays an important role in knowing the potential consumers attitude and behaviours towards organic food. To do so, consumers were asked to state their agreement and disagreement on five-point Likert scale (strongly disagree-1, disagree-2, neutral-3, agree-4, strongly agree-5) on a set of statements related to various aspects of organic food. Mean score analysis indicate that out of 13 statements, 4 statements have received mean value as 4 and above, which indicate agreement and strong agreement respectively. These statements are as follows: Organic products do not carry pesticide residues Organic products are produced without using chemical fertilizers Consumption of organic food decreases the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases Organic foods are safer than conventional products

Further, factor analysis of consumers responses on these statements, using principal component extraction method with Varimax rotation, has produced 5 factors, which explained 78.4 percent of the variance (Table 2). Using the factor loadings, the statements were grouped into their respective factors and were renamed according to their collective representation. All of the statements loading highly on factor 1 are related to welfare associated with organic production and can be termed as Humanists. The statements concerned about chemical residues in food are top rated (mean value above 4 for first three statements) and highly loaded on factor 2, can be called as Food Phobics. The Food Phobics are conscious consumers who dont like unsafe foods and try to choose healthy options. They avoid eating unsafe foods as they come to know from sources like doctor or media and past incidents that it has negative impact on health. The common statements showing health benefits of going organic with highest loading on factor 3 can be termed as Healthy Eaters. Healthy Eaters are food smart who take balance diet with recommended quantity of nutrients & vitamins and calorie intake. Environmentalists named to the fourth factor with concerned statements about environment and wildlife. The last factor, Hedonists related to belief that price premium on foods signals a better product.

All the above five factors representing five different groups of potential organic consumers are same as indicated in the study by Devies et al. (1995). The findings indicate that consumers interest in organic food is influenced by their belief that organically produced food is safe and better for health, environment and welfare of particularly marginal and small farmers including poor. This may provide a basis for education on the benefits of going organic and for the growing market of organic retail sales.
Table 2: Factor analysis results for potential organic consumers Factors F1: Humanists Organic farming leads towards hunger & poverty alleviation Organic farming offers more employment opportunities Market demand for organic food has positive impacts on rural economy Organic farming leads towards food security F2: Food Phobics Organic products do not carry pesticide residues Consumption of organic food decreases the risk of chronic diseases Organic products are produced without using chemical fertilizers Organic food products never contain GMOs F3: Healthy Eaters Organic food richer in vitamins Organic food contains more nutrients F4: Environmentalists Buying organic helps to increase wildlife Organic farming is good for the environment F5: Hedonists High prices of organic food signals better products
*strongly disagree-1,, strongly agree-5

Mean*

Factor Loading

Variance Explained (%) 39.14

2.63 2.73 3.14 2.69 4.24 4.11 4.07 3.49 3.38 3.25 3.22 4.20 3.24

0.851 0.839 0.778 0.719 14.78 0.841 0.823 0.812 0.669 10.78 0.903 0.884 7.14 0.813 0.670 6.59 0.966

Factors Affecting Consumers Awareness of Organic Foods The Logistics Regression Model has been used to analyse the factors affecting consumers awareness on organic food products. The empirical model estimates the relationship between socio-demographic profiles of the consumers and their food safety concerns in influencing the awareness level. Findings of regression analysis indicate that gender, education level, stream of education, income level are likely important socio-demographic factors affecting the awareness level of the consumers on organic food. Result indicates that male members in a family are two-times more likely be aware on organic food than female counterpart. Education and stream of education of the consumers have significant role to play on awareness level. Consumer with annual income of more than Rs. 5 lakhs are two-times more likely to have awareness on organic food. Similarly, consumers having food safety concerns and access ICT based information for food purchase decisions are more likely to have better awareness on organic foods. The findings of this study have critical implications for all stakeholders involved in organic food certification, production, processing and marketing. 8

Table 3: Factors affecting consumer awareness of organic food Variables S.E. Gender (1-if male, 0-female) Age (1-if less than 25 years, 0-otherwise) Education (1-if PG/professional, 0-otherwise) Educational Stream(1-if science/medical, 0othwerwise) Occupation (1-if service, 0-otherwise) Income (1-if annual income higher than Rs.5 lakhs , 0-otherwise) Food Safety (1-if food safety concern, 0otherwise) ICT (1-if use of ICTs, 0-otherwise) Constant Sample size Nagelkerke R Value of log-likelihood function Correct prediction (%) Chi-squired (df=8)
,

Wald 2.732 1.379 10.728 7.750 1.607 2.984 3.289 28.194 23.857

Exp () 2.010 1.786 4.043 5.158 1.677 2.040 2.849 10.369 0.045

Sig. 0.098 0.240 0.001 0.005 0.205 0.084 0.070 0.000 0.000

0.698* 0.580 1.397*** 1.640*** 0.517 0.713* 1.047* 2.339*** -3.092 200 0.524 172.760 81 98.6*

0.422 0.494 0.426 0.589 0.408 0.413 0.577 0.440 0.633

*,** ***: Statistically different at 10%, 5% and 1% significant level

Conclusion and Implications

The consumers concerns on food safety, quality and nutrition are increasingly becoming important across the world, which has provided growing opportunities for organic foods in the recent years. The demand for organic food is steadily increasing in the developed countries, while developing countries still need to go a long way. The untapped potential markets for organic foods in the countries like India need to be realised with organised interventions various fronts, which require a better understanding of the consumers preference on food. Therefore, an analysis of consumers awareness of various aspects of organic products may be considered as important ground to build the markets for organic food in the initial phase of market development. On the supply side, India has huge potential to enhance the production of different types of organic food across the country. The Government of India has implemented the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) to launch the accreditation programme for certification, norms for organic production and promotion of organic farming. At present, most of the organic productions are primarily made for export earnings in the country. However, growing domestic market for organic foods necessitate analysing the consumers awareness and knowledge level on organic foods to better target the potential segments. The survey results revealed that only 58.8% of total respondents were aware of organic food in which only 12.8 percent irregularly/regularly consumed organic food. It indicates that for majority of the even aware people organic food is still away from their food basket. Further, in response to willingness to pay for organic food, a majority (60.6%) of people were willing 9

to pay premium prices to purchase organic food and 35.2 percent reported as cant say. It clearly indicates that there is great market potential for organic food in the country. The factor analysis has extracted five important factors indicating five groups of new generation potential organic consumers: Humanists, Food Phobics, Healthy Eaters, Environmentalists and Hedonists. This indicate that consumers interest in organic food is influenced by their belief that organically produced food is safe and better for health, environment and welfare of farmers and poor. The results of logistics analysis indicate that potential Indian consumers' awareness of organic food is strongly and significantly affected by factors such as education, stream of education and use of ICTs. The awareness is only slightly affected by factors such as gender and income level. Males who belong to higher income groups of more than Rs.5 lakhs are more likely to be aware as compare to counterpart. Results of the study have great implication to understand the consumers awareness and knowledge on organic food. To tap the market potential in organic food, the organic industry needs to educate consumers.

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