Factors Influencing Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Organic Fruits and Vegetables: Empirical Evidence from a Consumer Survey in India

Influence of Socio-Psychological Factors on Consumer Willingness to Pay (WTP) for Organic Food Products

“…This is probably because women are more "family-oriented" and are concern about food nutrition, its safety and health benefits. This finding is consistent with those of Nandi et al, (2017); Omar et al, (2016); Gracia and de Magistris (2008); Liu et al, (2009); Onyango et al, (2007); Stobbelaar et al, (2006) and Krystallis and Chryssohoidis (2005), among others. The probability of a consumer choosing a No premium option and a Yes-No option decreases by 4.0 percent and 3.6 percent respectively with a year increase in education, while the probability of willingness to pay 20 per cent premium increases by 7.6 percent.…”

“…Explanatory Variables Included in the Empirical Model: The theory of planned behavior was measured by psychological factors such as attitude (taste, environmental and health consciousness, trust of organic food claims by retailers, organic food product knowledge, presence of chemical residues in conventional vegetables and fruits); subjective norms (spouse and children approval of organic food) and behavioral control (availability and affordability) (See Padel and Foster 2005;Michaelidou and Hassan 2008;Nandi et al, 2017). In addition, empirical evidence from past studies has shown that consumers' WTP is also influenced by socio-demographic variables such as gender, age, marital status, education, number of children below age 18, household income and the race of the consumer.…”

“…According to Michaelidou and Hassan (2008), consumers are expected to develop positive attitudes towards the health-improving qualities of organic food products since they are mostly seen as more nutritious and safer than conventionally produced food. Furthermore, Nandi et al, (2017); Sarma and Raha (2016); Batte et al, (2007) and Padel and Foster (2005) have shown that health concern was a key factor for WTP for a product with a high percentage of organic content. Consumers' perception of conventional vegetables and fruits containing chemical residues has a statistically significant influence on WTP for organic food products.…”

“…Consumer perception of organic food's quality and safety as better than the conventional foods has driven the increase in demand for organic food products all over the world (Vindigni et al, 2002). This has resulted in an upsurge in the number of farmers, distribution networks/retail outlets and consumers' willing to buy and pay a premium price for nutritive and healthy organic foods (Sharfie and Rennie 2012; Sarma and Raha 2016;Nandi et al, 2017). For many consumers, food safety, quality and it's nutrition/health benefits have become a priority (Sarma and Raha, 2016).…”

Behavior-Based Pricing of Organic and Conventional Agricultural Products Based on Green Subsidies

“…Various factors can affect consumer preference for organic agricultural products. Such factors as price [13][14][15], consumers' environmental awareness [16][17][18], social and moral values [19], subjective norms [20,21], perceived behavioral control [20,22] and consumers' trust in organic food [14,23] are considered to be important factors leading to consumers' preference for organic products. Although organic products represent higher quality and better nutrition [24] compared to conventional products, products labeled "organic" are more likely to result in purchase intention [16,25].…”