A STUDY ON THE CONSUMERS' BUYING BEHAVIOR TOWARDS ORGANIC FOOD PRODUCTS IN THANJAVUR DISTRICT J.PADMATHY 1 R.SARASWATHY 2 1 Assistant Professor, AnnaiVailankanni Arts and Science College, Thanjavur. 2 Assistant Professor, AnnaiVailankanni Arts and Science College, Thanjavur. ABSTRACT The demand for organic products in Indian has been growing significantly for the past five years.. Consumers are willing to pay more for organic goods.. The increasing numbers of consumers who prefer and are willing to buy these products are subjected to the buying process. Consumers have different buying behaviours and these behaviours are constantly changing as a result of the availability of best alternatives to choose from. Products are chosen for numerous reasons. Overall, the buying process is extremely fast-paced today. Hence, the present study is conducted to explore the extent of the impact of consumers buying behaviour towards the marketing of organic products in Thanjavur District. The study investigates the relationship between variables that affect consumers buying behaviour for organic products and identifies the price levels consumers prefer to pay for organic products in the district. An attempt has also been made to examine the factors that affect the organic products buying behaviours of the consumers. Convenience sampling method was used to select 200 respondents living in the district and who make purchases for the products. The primary data was collected from the respondents with the help of pre-tested structured opened and closedended questionnaires. In pursuance of the study s stated objectives, the formulated hypotheses were subjected to regression and chi-square analyzes. The findings of the study reveal that there is significant relationship between the variables which affects consumers buying behaviour for organic products. Similarly, the factors affecting the consumers buying behaviour have major implications on purchasing decisions.green marketers can therefore understand, identify and design marketing mix strategies to appeal to the preferences of the market segments for green products. INTRODUCTION Due to the increased importance of marketing to market success, firms continue to launch various forms of green packaging prgrams through the introduction of recyclable and useful packages. Green marketing is considered as one of the major trends in modern businesses (Kassaye, 2001). Today, environmental or green marketing, a strategic marketing approach, is a recent focus in business endeavours (Ottman, 1998). Consumers are therefore, becoming more sensitive in their environmental attitudes, preferences, and purchases (Sarigöllü, 2009). The desire of consumers to purchase ecofriendly products and services is rising. Many are more aware of environmental issues and consequently choose products that do not damage the environment over less environmentally friendly products, even if they cost more. Firms today are faced with consumers who are environmentally conscious when making a purchase. Environmentally preferable products are sometimes more expensive to purchase than other alternative products. Green consumers have been shown to be willing to pay a higher price for environmentally friendly products (Larocheet al, 2001; Peattie, 2001), which is a huge opportunity for companies as well as governments looking to make eco-friendly policy changes. Thus, the increasing www.icmrr.org 42 icmrrjournal@gmail.com
number of consumers who prefer and are willing to buy eco-friendly products are creating opportunity for businesses that are using eco-friendly or environmentally friendly as a component of their value proposition. Businesses that offer products which are manufactured and designed with an environmental marketing mix have a long term competitive advantage. A better understanding of consumers buying behavior will allow businesses to acquire more market-applicable approach to sustain in the competitive market. Behavior has a strong influence in terms of consumer purchases. They are the main triggers in the consumer purchasing process and alsoinfluence the perception of a product. This complicated process enables businesses to attract new consumers and adapt their products or services according to their needs and wants or change consumers behavior towards their products or services. Consumers tend to reduce their impact on the environment by their purchasing decisions. There are various factors that affect the buying-decision process of consumers. A number of Researchers have identified many factors as influencing this process including; environmental knowledge (Mostafa, 2006), perceived product price and quality (D Souza et al., 2007), company s environmental reputation (Schwepker and Cornwell, 1991), environmental concerns (Phau and Ong, 2007) and credibility of environmental advertising (Thøgersen J, 2000) It has become very essential to know the factors that create the desire of consumers to purchase a product. Hence, the present study contributes to the field by investigating and exploring the extent of the impact of consumers buying behavior towards organic food products in Thanjavur districts. LITERATURE REVIEW According to Mostafa (2007), green purchase behavior refers to the consumption of products that are benevolent or beneficial to the environment, recyclable or conservable and sensitive or responsive to ecological concerns. Clem (2008) reveals that going green reflects a social consciousness around saving and advancing the Earth s natural resources, preserving and protecting them for the sake of civilization. Consumers are becoming more and more aware of environmental issues and this has increased the demand for ecological products.if consumers have a favourable attitude toward greening environment, they are more inclined to purchase green products. The continuous awareness of environmental problems may in turn change consumers attitudes and purchase intentions as well. Consumer purchase intention has been an important concept in marketing literature. Previous studies have exposed that consumer with intention to buy products exhibit higher actual buying rates than those customers who demonstrate that they have no intention of buying (Brown, 2003). Blackwell et al. (2001) also support this by indicating that purchase intentions represent what consumers think they will buy. Furthermore, behavior towards a particular object is approximated by an intention to perform that behavior (Malhotra and Mccort 2001). Thus, purchase intention positively affects the probability of a customer decision that he will buy green products. Environmental concerns play an important role on consumers intention to purchase green products. Thus, environmental concerns are not the only factor for the consumers to purchase environmentally friendly products. There are other factors that lead to the purchases. Green consumers have been shown to be willing to pay a higher price for environmentally friendly products (Larocheet al, 2001; Peattie, 2001). A high price of green product is an indicator of www.icmrr.org 43 icmrrjournal@gmail.com
environmental performance, because less polluting products are more costly to produce (Mahenc, 2008). A study conducted by D Souza et al., (2006) contrary reported that generally,perception of green products is negatively associated with customer s intention to purchase them if they are of higher prices and low quality in comparison to traditional products. Green product s quality is also a concerned factor for most consumers. Green consumers generally trust on these brand and are not ready to compromise on quality. As there is an expectation on the part of customers that all products offered should be environmentally safe without a need to sacrifice quality, businesses must enhance green product quality as well as focus on environmental benefits of a product, and share these aspects with customers in order to achieve the recognition in the market (D Souza et al, 2006). Hence, these reveal that traditionalproduct characteristics such as brand name, its price and quality are still the most important ones that consumers considered when making purchasing decision (Ganet al, 2008). Other studies have indicated that many consumers are unwilling to forgo essential product benefits during their purchase decision. So therefore, green products must also perform competitively not only according to environmental aspects, but also on the basis of other important product characteristics for instance convenience or durability (Diamantopoulos et al, 2003). Consumers choice for green products can be heavily influenced by the packaging too. Packaging attributes can persuade consumers to purchase the product. According to Dantasetal., (2004), packages and labels have only a fewseconds to make an impact on the consumer s mind; during that time, it must catch the consumer s eye, and convince the shopper that it is the optimum option on the shelf (Rowan, 2000). Based on the review of literature, the following factors have been chosen for this study as factors that affect consumers buyingbehaviors for green products Price Environmental concerns Quality Brandname Convenience Durability Packaging OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The research objectives are To find the relationship between the variables that affect consumers buying behaviors for organic food products.. To examine the factors that affect consumers buying behaviors for organic food products. To offwe valid sugggestion.valid suggestion to understand customer behaviour towards organic food products. HYPOTHESIS Null Hypothesis:Consumers buying behavior has no relationship with purchase decisions of organic food products. Alternate Hypothesis:Consumers buying behavior has a relationship with purchase decisions of organic food products. www.icmrr.org 44 icmrrjournal@gmail.com
METHODOLOGY: The Thanjavur District has Eight Sub Districts namely Thanjavur, Thiruvaiyaru, Kumbakonam, papanasm, Thiruvidaimaruthur, Orathanadu, Pattukkottai and Peravurani.We treat as clusters. Then we selected respondents randomly from each cluster on the basis of convenience. Quantitative research was used in this research. In our study quantitative method refers to the survey we implemented in the form of questionnaires, which are directed to ultimate consumers. DATA COLLECTION Data for our study is primarily collected through secondary researches, preliminary interviews with the customers and a survey in a form of structured questionnaires. We have obtained 138 complete survey responses from individual customers. The questionnaires were distributed among ultimate customers in eight sub district of Thanjavur District.175 surveys were distributed to organic food products customers during the period of June 2016-September 2016. However; several questionnaires were incomplete as many questions had been left unanswered. It happened mostly in self-administered surveys. We used 138 questionnaires for analysis purpose. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION: It is observed that maximum number of respondents falls in the 30-40 categories. The highest number of respondents fall in the 21-30 categories. Thus around 70% of the respondents are below 40 years of age and are relatively young.. Gender No. of Respondents Percentage Male 90 65.22 Female 48 34.78 Marital status No. of Respondents Percentage Single 38 28 Married 75 54 Separated 7 5 Widowed 18 13 Qualification No. of Respondents Percentage SSLC 6 4 HSC 17 12 Graduation 68 49 Post-Graduation 32 23 Others 15 11 Income No. of Respondents Percentage Less than 10000 30 20 10000-15000 31 22 15000-20000 30 23 20000-25000 13 9 Above 25000 34 25 www.icmrr.org 45 icmrrjournal@gmail.com
Occupation No. of Respondents Percentage Self-employed 20 14 Government employee 30 22 Quasi Government employee 19 14 Private employee 13 9 Professionals 38 28 Others 18 13 The above table reveals that, 65.22% of the respondents are Male and 34.78% of the respondents are Female. 28% of the respondents are single, 54% of the respondents are Married,5% are separated and 13% of the respondents are Widowed. 4% of the respondents belong to SSLC level, 12% of the respondents belong to HSC level, 49% of the respondents belong to Graduation Level, 23% of the respondents belong to the PG Level, and 11% of the respondents belong to the Other Qualification. 20% of the respondents belong to the Income level of less than10000, 22% of the respondents belong to the Income level of 10000-15000, 23% of the respondents belong to the Income level of 15000-20000, 9% of the respondents belong to the income level of 20000-25000 and 25% of the respondents the Income level is above 25000. 28% of the respondents are professionals 22% of the respondents are working in Government sector and Quasi Government employee and self-employed employees occupy 14% and other employees and Private employee occupy 13% and 9% respectively. TABLE SHOWING CHI-SQUARE OVERALL SUMMARY OF DEMOCRAPHIC VARIABLES VS FACTORS AFFECTING BUYING BEHAVIOUR OF OGRANIC FOOD PRODUCTS S.NO Dimension Ho D.f P Level of Remarks value significance 1. Gender Vs Factors There is no significant 4 0.154 0.05 Ho accepted variables Gender vs Factors determining Consumer Buying Behaviour 2. Income Vs Factors There is no significant 4 0.013 0.05 Ho rejected variables Incomevs Factors determining Consumer Buying Behaviour 3. Occupation Vs Factors There is no significant variables Occupation vs Factors determining Consumer Buying Behaviour 4. Age Vs Factors There is no significant variableage vs Factors determining Consumer Buying Behaviour 4 0.252 0.05 Ho accepted 4 0.868 0.05 Ho accepted www.icmrr.org 46 icmrrjournal@gmail.com
Hypothesis: there is no relationship between demographic factors and the various factors determining consumer buying behaviour. It is clear that the p-value is more than 0.05 for 3 factor so (p<0.05), the null hypothesis is accepted at 5 percent level of significance. But, there is relationship between income and consumer behaviour. TABLE SHOWING ONE WAY ANOVA OVERALL SUMMARY OF DEMOCRAPHIC VARIABLES VS FACTORS AFFECTING BUYING BEHAVIOUR OF OGRANIC FOOD PRODUCTS S.n o Dimensions Ho: Hypothesis Category Sum of square df Mean square F sig. Result 1 Educational There is no significant Between 5.124 4 1.281 0.55 0.699 Ho qualification Vs groups 0 Accepted Factors variables Gender vs Factors With in 267.676 134 2.328 determining Consumer groups Buying Behaviour Total 272.800 138 2 Marital status Vs Factors There is no significant variables Marital statusvs Factors determining Consumer Buying Behaviour Between groups With in groups 3.449 4 0.862 0.36 8 269.351 134 2.342 Total 272.800 138 With in 257.511 134 2.239 groups Total 272.800 138 0.831 Ho Accepted Hypothesis: there is no relationship between Educational qualifications and marital statusvs the factors determining consumer buying behaviour. It is clear that the p-value is more than 0.05 for the above factor so (p<0.05), the null hypothesis is accepted at 5 percent level of significance. FINDINGS: 65.22% of the respondents are Male and 34.78% of the respondents are Female. 28% of the respondents are single 54% of the respondents are Married 5% of the respondents are separated and 13% of the respondents are widowed. 4% of the respondents belong to SSLC level, 12% of the respondents belong to HSC level, 49% of the respondents belong to Graduation Level, 23% of the respondents belong to the PG Level, and 11% of the respondents belong to the Other Qualification. 14% of the respondents are self employed 22% of the respondents are working in the government organization, 14% of the respondents are working in Quasi Government, 9% of the respondents are working in private sectors,25% of the respondents are professionals and 13% of the respondents are working in other sectors. 20% of the respondents belong to the Income level of 10000, 22% of the respondents belong to the Income level of 10000-15000, 23% of the respondents belongs to the Income level of 15000-20000, 9% of the respondents belongs to the income level of 20000-25000 and 25% of the respondents the Income level is above 25001. There is no significant association between Gender and factors determining consumer behaviour. towards organic food products. www.icmrr.org 47 icmrrjournal@gmail.com
There is a significant association between Income and factors determining consumer behaviour. towards organic food products. There is no significant association between Occupation and factors determining consumer behaviour. towards organic food products. There is no significant association between Age and factors determining consumer behaviour. towards organic food products. There is no significant association between Educational qualification and factors determining consumer behaviour. towards organic food products. There is no significant association between Marital status and factors determining consumer behaviour. towards organic food products. CONCLUSIONS: This study was conducted to find out the relationship between the variables that affect consumers buying behaviors for organic food products,inthanjavurdistrict.the results suggest that a large number of consumers in the selected areas value the environment and have a typical buying behavior. The consumers prefer organic food products for their survival. This indicates green product awareness among consumers. As consumers are aware and concerned about the greenproducts, it creates an opportunity for developing green marketing focusing on more consumers. Overall, this study clearly identified a positive relationship between the variables or factors which affect consumers buying behavior for green products. Consumers buying behavior acts as a predictor and have a direct influence on the decision process when purchasing of organic food products. The results provide reasonable support to all the hypothesized relationships. It was also identified that while consumers have positive behavior towards purchasing organic food products, when it comes to actual purchase, price, environmental concerns and quality are still the key factors influencing their purchase decisions. REFERENCES 1. Blackwell R D, Miniard R D and Engel P W (2001), Consumer Behavior, New York, Harcourt College Publishers. 2. Brown M (2003), Buying or Browsing? An Exploration of Shopping Orientations and Online Purchase Intention, EuropeanJournal of Marketing, Vol. 37, Nos. 11/12,pp. 1666-1684. 3. Dantas M I, Minim V P, Deliza R and Puschman R (2004), The Effect of Packaging on the Perception of Minimally Processed Products, Journal ofinternational Food and Agribusiness Marketing, Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 71-83. 4. Diamantopoulos A, Schlegelmilch B B, Sinkovics R R and Bohlen G M (2003), Can Socio- Demographics Still Play a Role in Profiling Green Consumers? A Review of the Evidence and an Empirical Investigation, Journal of BusinessResearch, Vol. 56, No. 2, pp. 465-80. 5. Diamantopoulos A, Schlegelmilch B B, Sinkovics R R and Bohlen G M (2003), Can Socio- Demographics Still Play a Role in Profiling Green Consumers? A Review of the Evidence and an Empirical Investigation, Journal of BusinessResearch, Vol. 56, No. 2, pp. 465-80 www.icmrr.org 48 icmrrjournal@gmail.com
6. DonaldR.Copper,and Pamela s.schindler,(2006), Business Research Methods., Tata McGraw Hill Edition. 7. C R Kothari., Research Methodology ( 2008 ), New Age International Publishers 8. Donald R Cooper., and Pamela S Schindler.,(2006), Business Research Methods., Tata McGraw Hill Edition. 9. Mahenc P (2008), Signalling the Environmental Performance of Polluting Products to Green Consumers, International Journal of Industrial Organization, Vol. 26, pp. 59 68. 10. Malhotra N K and McCort J D (2001), A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Behavioral Intention Models: Theoretical Consideration and an Empirical Investigation, InternationalMarketing Review, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 235-269 www.icmrr.org 49 icmrrjournal@gmail.com