Comparison of Consuming Habits on Organic Food—Is It the Same? Hungary Versus China

Abstract

Organic food, a name for healthy food and sustainable or green food consumption, has become popular worldwide. Especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for healthy food is increasing worldwide. In order to better understand consumer behavior toward organic food between different countries in different adoption stages of organic food and provide valuable information for industrial practitioners and researchers. We conducted a comparative study between Hungary and China. The organic food market is well developed in Hungary, while the market is starting to be popular in China. What factors can affect consumers buying organic food in Hungary and China? And what can be an efficient marketing tool for consumers to buy organic food in Hungary and China? The English and Chinese version surveys were conducted from 374 Chinese respondents and 207 Hungarian respondents by convenient sampling methods from March 2021 to April 2021, and the data were analyzed by SPSS software for correlation analysis. The statistical analysis results concluded that personal characteristics influence consumer behavior in Hungary and China, such as age, education level, occupation, living area scale, income, and gender. The dominant reason for Hungarian and Chinese respondents to buy organic food is food safety and health and environmentally friendly. And the reason for them to refuse organic food purchases is the high price, which is different from the previous study in Hungary. The most welcomed organic food product is organic fruits and organic vegetables in Hungary and China. The most efficient marketing tool for them to buy organic food is social media. And different marketing tools combination varies in Hungary and China. Hungarian respondents are more willing to buy organic food, while Chinese respondents are happier to recommend organic food to other consumers.

Food Consumption Habits of Hungarian Organic Food Consumers and Their Policy Implications

“…The leap in organic farmland happened between 2015 (0.129 million ha, 2.43%) and 2016 (0.186 million ha, 3.48%), and the growth kept increasing. By 2020, the organic farmland was 0.3101 million ha, and the percentage of total farmland was 6.03% [7]. Nonetheless, specialised data concerning the scale of Hungary's organic market remain largely uncollected [8], with per capita organic food expenditure in Hungary registering at EUR 3.04 in 2021 [9].…”

Factors affecting consumers’ organic food purchase behavior: A systematic literature review and future research agenda

“…Consumers with higher income levels are more likely to purchase organic products due to their higher disposable income and greater access to organic food. The study by Slamet et al [23] in Indonesia and Wu and Taká cs-György [33] proved this opinion.…”

Health-driven mechanism of organic food consumption: A structural equation modelling approach

“…This result is in line with the study conducted by Guanqi, Z.; Husnain, M. et al [ 50 ]. Similarly, consumers with a stronger health belief exhibit a higher sense of moral responsibility and are more likely to overcome barriers such as convenience in purchasing organic food [ 43 , 57 ]. These consumers also have a stronger intention to buy organic beef.…”