Socioeconomic Characteristics, Purchasing Preferences and Willingness to Consume Organic Food: A Cross-Location Comparison of Nine Cities in Central Ecuador

Abstract

Agriculture worldwide faces the need to reduce chemical pesticides and produce healthier food. In Latin America, research on the organic food sector primarily focuses on supply. Consumption analysis is crucial for providing information about customers’ needs. This paper aims to analyze the Ecuadorian organic food sector, which is an interesting case for investigating the relationship between willingness to consume organic food and socioeconomic factors. To this end, 382 consumers were surveyed. The study applied a logit regression analysis to assess the role of socioeconomic factors in the willingness to consume organic food. Radar diagrams depict the percentage of respondents who checked a particular reason for choosing or refusing organic food. A cross-location comparison analysis was applied to identify differences between locations within the Central Ecuador region. Results reveal that Ecuadorian consumers’ awareness rate of organic food is only 53.5%. Regarding organic food’s price, 24% of consumers perceive it to be overly expensive. Based on strengthening the supervision of organic food production, various channels should be used to promote organic food consumption and facilitate the recognition of available organic food.

Sustainable Foods: Consumer Opinions and Behaviour towards Organic Fruits in Poland

“…The price difference between organic and conventional fruit is one of the main obstacles to the spread of this type of product worldwide, as confirmed in this study and those by other researchers [61,62]. The results of the study presented here clearly indicate the growing reluctance of consumers to accept increasing price differences.…”

Unveiling Millennials’ Perceptions of Organic Products: A Grounded Theory Analysis in Ecuador and Peru

“…Furthermore, reviews of the literature draw attention to the dearth of research on green product consumption in regions like Ecuador and Peru. The studies from these countries have similarly leaned on quantitative methods, predominantly relying on self-administered questionnaires for gathering data [7,12,17,[37][38][39][40][41]. This trend is corroborated by various review articles that note the reliance on self-reported measures within the field of green consumption research [25,32].…”