¶ … Purchase of Organic Food in Germany and Italy
Descriptive Statistics
Answering the Research
Understanding the Term Organic
The Impact of Understanding on Purchase Decisions
Education and the Purchase Decision
Education and Attitudes
Culture and the Purchase of Organic Food
Culture and the Attitude to Organic Food
Evaluation
The research was conducted with a sample of 50 respondents; 20 in Germany and 30 in Italy. Only questionnaires which were fully completed included in the findings analysis. All respondents were either solely or jointly responsible for the purchase of groceries was in their household. This binding section starts with a presentation of the descriptive statistics for the samples in both countries, before moving on to an examination of the various questions which guided the research, and a testing of the hypotheses assessing the impact of education on attitudes towards organic food and intention to purchase, and cultural differences between those residing in Germany and Italy
Descriptive Statistics
The research is made up of two samples which will facilitate a comparison between Germany and Italy. The German sample consists of 20 respondents, 60% (N = 12) were female, with 40% (N = 8) male. The mean age of 29.25 years, with a standard deviation of 8.95, and a skewer 2.18. Within this sample 5% (N = 1) had a high school level education, 35% (N = 7) had a Bachelor's degree, and 60% (N = 12) had a Master's degree. The Italian sample was made up of 30 respondents, of which 60% (N = 18) were female and 40% (N = 12) were male. In this sample group the mean age was 49.13 years, the standard deviation of 14.58 years, and a few of -0.31. Within this group 23.3% (N = 7) had a high school education, 26.6% (N = 8) has a Bachelor's degree, 43.3% (N = 13) had a Master's degree, and 6.6% (N = 2) had doctorates.
Answering the Research Questions
Each of the research questions identified to guide methodology is considered in turn, before the results are correlated in order to present an overall finding.
Understanding the Term Organic
Both sample group indicated they believe they had a good understanding of the term organic. The results for the 2 sample groups are shown in table 1 below.
Table 1; Consumers self-perceived understanding of the term organic
Do you understand the term organic
Germany
Italy
Yes
90% (18)
70% (21)
Not sure
10% (2)
26.6% (8)
No
0% (0)
3.3% (1)
When consumers were asked to define the term using a range of discerption, it is notable that while both samples overwhelming stated that organic food was not genetically modified; 80% (N=16) in the German sample and 96.6% (N = 29) in the Italian sample. Almost all both samples identified factors such as the lack of man-made fertilizer and use of pesticides. 45% (N = 9) of the German sample and 53.3% (N = 16) of the Italian sample referred to national certification. However, there were also answers indicating the understanding was not complete, as sown in table two below, where different attributes were also identified.
Table 2; Attributes associated with organic food
Attribute
Germany
Italy
Organic food is more expensive than non-organic produce
60% (12)
73.3% (22)
Organic food not grown on a large scale
10% (2)
33.3% (10)
Organic food tastes better
40% (8)
13.3% (4)
There appear to be some differences in beliefs about organic food in Italy and Germany; more people in Italy believe it is more expensive, and fewer that it tastes better. In Germany there was an insufficient spread of educational levels to fully assess understanding against education, however, in Italy, there did appear to be a greater level of comprehension of the term for those with degrees compared to those with only a high school educational level; those with degrees identified more of the accurate answers.
The Impact of Understanding on Purchase Decisions
The understanding of the term organic appears to be quite high, with almost all the sample having a basic grasp of the concept. The data collected indicates insufficient data from those who display a poor understanding to assess the answer to this question in a meaningful manner. However, due to the small size of the data, and all but 10% (N=3) of the Italian sample, and 5% (n= 1) of the German sample buying at least some organic food, it may be argued this is a potential effect of the bias in the sample towards higher education, or some other type of bias present in the sample that is impacting on results. However, when assessing those who have stated they do not make organic purchases, these are spread though the different educational levels. Overall, there is no evidence which appear to indicate that understanding, or lac k of understanding, of organic produce is impacted by understanding.
However, when looking at some of the misconceptions, such as the assertion that organic food tastes better (discussed later in the paper), there may be some influence to support...
Organic Foods The idea behind organic food is a good one, in that it implies there is food that is free from pesticides and other chemicals that would be found on more "standard" food. Going organic can also imply the way a type of food was raised, and how it was cared for during the process. People who buy organic produce want items that are free of residue, and people who
217+). It is not only the consumer, then, who might be affected by cost; producers also might be reluctant to grown or process organic foods unless they believed that consumers would continue to be willing to pay the price of the organic foods. Their study focuses "on the benefits associated with segregation and labelling strategies that are commonly gauged by the size of premiums consumers are willing to pay
and, for what it is worth, there are no studies that conclusively prove thus far that eating organic leads to better human health, and even if there may be some anecdotal evidence that eating organic makes people 'feel better,' such organic consumer's better health is likely rooted in their greater education about the environment, affluence, access to better quality of food, and overall wealth, a kind of correlation but
Organic Food Today's world is becoming increasingly more complex and fast-paced, which has caused many people to adopt a catch-as-catch-can attitude towards their food. We have become accustomed to receiving things instantly, hence the popularity of fast food restaurants, and we have also become accustomed to receiving larger portions of food. Food today is more processed, refined, pre-packaged, and instantly available than it ever has been at any time in
Organic Food Purchases by German and Italian Consumers The organic food market in Europe is increasing, over the last decade growth in demand has increased in double digits, rising to €26.2 billion in 2014 (IFOAM, 2015). This growth is expected to continue, with consumers appearing to association many positive character tics and benefits. In research undertaken by MINTEL it was found that organic food was perceived as healthier and safer;
tested with subsequent primary research. Yiridoe et al.[footnoteRef:1], have found that consumers may choose organic food if they believe it to be safer, an issue associated with knowledge, or lack of knowledge, and stereotyping. Therefore, if assessing attitudes and intention to purchase organic food, these outcomes will be the dependent variables and influences that impact on those will be the independent variables. These may be used to frame the
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