Motives and barriers of organic food demand among Polish consumers: A profile of the purchasers

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the intentions and behaviors of consumers of the Poland which recently puts emphasis on the promotion of organic food, healthy diet of its population and shows concern for the protection of natural environment. The conducted studies aim to identify types of products and determine motives that Polish adults take into consideration when buying organic food. The studies have been also conducted to indicate the most common barriers that appear when purchasing this type of products. The above-mentioned aims are carried out in the context of a level of education among consumers of organic food.

Design/methodology/approach

A diagnostic survey method with authors’ questionnaire was used in the studies to examine 3436 respondents from all over the Poland. The studies were conducted in 2015. After the use of construction and validation procedures, a five-point Likert scale was applied to measure the attitudes. An indicator of scale reliability was calculated where Cronbach’s α was 0.85. The education was a criterion that divided respondents into study groups.

Findings

The population was divided taking into account the place of residence: villages, towns up to 30 thousand inhabitants and towns over 30 thousand inhabitants. In the next stage of sample selection, respondents were proportionally divided according to their sex. Women constituted 51.3 percent, while men 48.7 percent. All respondents were of legal age. These methodological procedures allowed calculating a size of sample, where the level of confidence was set at 0.95, the estimated size fraction at 0.50 and the maximum error at 0.05.

Originality/value

There is a need for increased education on the importance of organic food and its influence on human health, especially among the young generation of Polish consumers. The conducted education should be aimed at encouraging producers and in particular sellers to promote sale of organic food in their stores, and thus to label it appropriately for easier identification by consumers. The barriers and motives presented in this paper which occur when buying organic food are identical to those that occur in developed and developing countries.

Citation

Wojciechowska-Solis, J. and Soroka, A. (2017), "Motives and barriers of organic food demand among Polish consumers: A profile of the purchasers", British Food Journal, Vol. 119 No. 9, pp. 2040-2048. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-09-2016-0439