Tunisian consumers perception and behavior towards organic food products

Abstract

Organic agriculture production in Tunisia is relatively recent and was mainly oriented to the export market. However, local market demand is growing for such products. The objective of the current study is to assess consumers’ awareness and consumption of organic food products. A survey was implemented and included 250 respondents from the capital city Tunis. We used descriptive statistics, factor and cluster analysis to analyze the data. The results indicated that respondents’ perceptions towards organic food are positive. Four groups of consumers were identified with respondents from the main three groups have good understanding about organic food products characteristics. However, the proportion of consumers who purchase organic food on a regular basis is quite low (16%). Improving availability and access to organic products through the integration in mainstream sales channels and lower price premiums will help narrowing the gap between the intention to purchase organic products and the actual purchase. Nadhem Mtimet, Asma Souissi, Neama Mhamdi

Understanding the Purchasing Behavior of Consumers in Response to Sustainable Marketing Practices: An Empirical Analysis in the Food Domain

“…The reason behind this consideration can be recognized in the need, expressed by consumer interest in sustainability issues, to receive additional information about the social, environmental and economic aspects related to the purchase of the product or the support of the brand. In fact, by revealing certain needs-such as the comprehension of the purchase impact or the uptake of the sustainable actions linked to the production, consumption and disposal of the product-and in the absence of desired indications, buyers may find themself in a position of indecision, ultimately opting to occasionally choose different products [27,54,60,67,68]. Furthermore, Model 2 also provides statistical support for Hypothesis 2.…”

“…In reality, this could be understood considering that consumers interested in sustainable issues may need an adequate level of information to distinguish the characteristics of different products in relation with their environmental and social impact. When this information is lacking or not consistent with the consumers' needs, as in the case of firms not leveraging sustainable marketing practices, uncertainty may affect consumers that, in turn, may be less confident regarding the products to be acquired [27,54,60,67,68]. This entails consumers avoiding their buying being focused on a specific brand and trying different alternatives, hence reducing their brand loyalty.…”

“…The relationship between sustainable purchase and information was examined by several scholars, who agree that the lack of information and/or its complexity and its contradictory nature (e.g., about the need-satisfying capacity of the product, the benefits or the difference with respect to conventional production process) negatively influences green purchase behavior, because consumers feel less confident regarding which products to choose [27,54,60,67,68]. It should be noted that very often even though buyers perceive sustainable food products as healthy, safe, and of high quality, they are reluctant to buy them due to a lack of information on these products [19].…”

Prevalence and Antibiogram of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus spp. Isolated from Cattle Milk Products Sold in Juja Sub-County, Kenya

“…Since farmers rarely observe the antibiotic withdrawal periods, the milk could also have bacteria resistant to various antibiotics used to treat mastitis and other animal diseases. Apart from Nairobi county, raw milk is the most consumed milk type by both rural and urban consumers in Kenya [ 27 ]. One main reason for this preference is the low price of raw milk, which is 60–70% cheaper compared to pasteurized milk [ 28 ].…”

Determinants of Tunisian consumer preferences for forest honey: a market segmentation analysis

“…With more than 265,000 hives, the average production per year is about 2,000 tons of honey (AVFA, 2016). Mtimet et al (2020) identified honey among the main organic products in Tunisia that need further attention to enhance its availability and access through the integration in mainstream sales channels which can reduce the gap between the purchase intention and actual purchase. However, Rached et al (2012) highlighted the availability of organic food products in Tunisian markets is very limited and the share of organic products in the Tunisian food budget remains low representing less than 1%.…”