Adolescents’ attitudes towards organic food: a survey of 15‐ to 16‐year old school children

Abstract

Adolescents are the consumers of tomorrow; therefore policies aimed at increasing organic food consumption should address the needs of this group. To discover their attitudes towards organic food and their knowledge of the subject, a survey among almost 700 school children aged 15–16 years was conducted. Four main groups of questions were used: adolescents’ knowledge of organic food, attitudes, whether they bought organic food and the perceived influences they exerted on the buying patterns of their parents. From the survey it can be concluded that adolescents’ attitudes towards organic food are positive, but their knowledge of and their willingness to buy it are low. Campaigns aimed at encouraging the purchasing of organic food targeted at adolescents should particularly emphasize those characteristics of organic foods that they can relate to their interests and ethical preferences, for example, animal welfare and environmental considerations.

Personal determinants of organic food consumption: a review

“…Several studies concluded that health, which is linked with the value security, is the strongest motive for purchasing organic food (Schifferstein and Oude Ophuis, 1998;Worner and Meier-Ploeger, 1999;von Alvensleben, 2001;Chinnici et al, 2002;Harper and Makatouni, 2002;Makatouni, 2002;Zanoli and Naspetti, 2003;Mintel, 2000;Millock et al, 2004;Chryssohoidis and Krystallis, 2005;Padel and Foster, 2005;Shepherd et al, 2005;Baltussen et al, 2006;Botonaki et al, 2006;Bonti-Ankomah and Yiridoe, 2006;Chen, 2009). Also other researchers have found a significant relation between consumer's health-related attitudes and their purchases of organic food: Torjusen et al (1999), Magnusson et al (2003), McEachern and Willock (2004), Organic Centre Wales (2004), Arbindra et al (2005), Durham and Andrade (2005), Lea and Worsley (2005), Midmore et al (2005), Gracia and de Magistris (2007) and Stobbelaar et al (2007).…”

Exploring the Consumption of Organic Foods in the United Arab Emirates

“…We believe that education and awareness are the main means that can be used to enhance the demand for organic foods. Other studies have shown that the regular consumption of organic foods has increased among females and individuals with high levels of education, income, and social class (McIntosh, Acuff, Christensen, & Hale, 1994;Padel & Foster, 2005;Stobelaar et al, 2006;Torjusen, Lieblein, Wandel, & Francis, 2001). In this study, we found that the majority of respondents had positive attitudes toward organic foods and agreed that organic farming is safer for the environment than conventional foods because it does not use pesticides, fertilizers, hormones, and antibiotics as stated by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (2014).…”

Assessing Knowledge and Religiosity on Consumer Behavior towards Halal Food and Cosmetic Products

“…According to [12], several researchers have reported that greater awareness and additional knowledge concerning organic food has a positive influence on attitudes towards organic food and levels of consumption [13]- [17]. Hence, it is hypothesized that knowledge has a positive influence on attitude towards Halal cosmetic products.…”