attitudes towards organic fruits and vegetables in ghana · fruits and vegetables are more likely...
TRANSCRIPT
Attitudes towards organic fruits and
vegetables in Ghana
Number of words: 17218
Kimberly Kaki Caesar
Stamnummer: 01501099
Promotor: Prof. dr. ir. Wim Verbeke
Tutor: Dr. ir. Ellen Van Loo
Master’s Dissertation submitted to Ghent University in partial fulfilment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Science in Nutrition and Rural Development - main subject
Rural Economics and Management
Academiejaar: 2016 - 2017
i
COPYRIGHT
I, Kimberly Kaki Caesar declare that this Master Dissertation is a genuine original work and has not
been submitted anywhere for any reward. Due acknowledgement is given to works of authors used
throughout. “All rights reserved. The author and the promoters permit the use of this Master’s
Dissertation for consulting purposes and copying of parts for personal use. However, any other use
fall under the limitations of copyright regulations, particularly the stringent obligation to explicitly
mention the source when citing parts out of this Master’s dissertation.”
Promotor Tutor
Prof. dr. ir. Wim Verbeke Dr. ir. Ellen Van Loo
E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]
……………………...................... …………………………………...
The Author
Kimberly Kaki Caesar
E-mail: [email protected]
………………….....................
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I will like to use this opportunity to thank the Almighty God for wisdom, strength and sustenance
throughout my two year stay in Ghent University and without whom nothing would have been
possible. My heartfelt gratitude goes to my promotor, Prof. dr. ir. Wim Verbeke and tutor Dr. ir. Ellen
Van Loo for your valuable contribution and assistance in completing my thesis. I will also like to say a
big thank you to Prof. dr. ir. Marijke D’Haese for her assistance and useful suggestions.
My profound gratitude also goes to the course co-ordinators Ir. Anne-Marie Remaut-De Winter and
Marian Mareen for their support and encouragement during my entire stay at Ghent University. I will
like to specially extend my sincerest and heartfelt appreciation particularly to Mie for her immense
support and wise counsel. You made my stay in Ghent University memorable for which I will forever
remain grateful.
My sincere appreciation also goes to the Administrative committee, Master Grants of Ghent
University for granting me a master grant scholarship. My study at this prestigious University would
not have been possible without the financial assistance.
Finally, I would like to say thank you to my family and friends and to Kwame for your undying
support and encouragement.
iii
ABSTRACT
Objectives of the study: There is a rapid increase in organic production worldwide as well as a
rapidly growing potential of organic markets in developing countries such as Ghana. This study sought
to determine the factors that influence the students’ attitudes and how those attitudes influence the
purchase intention of organic fruits and vegetables. Additionally, the students’ willingness-to-pay
(WTP) and their expectations with regards to organic fruits and vegetables were investigated.
Methodology: A cross-sectional study comprising 200 students from the University of Cape Coast,
Ghana between the ages of 18 and 45 were surveyed for the study. Data was collected by means of
pre-tested self-administered questionnaires using convenient sampling. Statistical analysis included
descriptive analysis, regression analysis, independent sample T-tests and one-way ANOVA F-tests.
Results: Findings from the study revealed that health consciousness and consumer knowledge are
factors that positively influence students’ attitudes towards organic fruits and vegetables. On the
contrary, there was a significant but negative effect of environmental concern on attitude. There was a
positive effect of attitude on purchase intention thus students with positive attitudes towards organic
fruits and vegetables are more likely to purchase them. Further findings revealed that students on
average were willing to pay more for organic fruits and vegetables compared to conventional ones
particularly those in employment and from a well-off family background.
Conclusion: Students in Ghana have a predominantly positive attitude towards organic fruits and
vegetables. These attitudes are influenced by health and knowledge and associate with intention to buy
organic fruits and vegetables. Thus the study recommends increased dissemination of organic
knowledge at all levels of education. Insights presented with regards to students’ attitudes can also
inform policy by producers, marketers and consumers of organic fruits and vegetables in Ghana.
Keywords: Consumer Attitude, Fruits, Ghana, Organic, Survey, Vegetables
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS COPYRIGHT ............................................................................................................................ i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ....................................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................. iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................ iv
LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................. vi
LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................... vii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................... viii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 9
1.1 General introduction ......................................................................................................... 9
1.2 Problem Statement ......................................................................................................... 10
1.3 Objectives of the study ................................................................................................... 11
1.3.1 General objective .................................................................................................... 11
1.3.2 Specific objectives ................................................................................................... 11
1.4 Research questions ......................................................................................................... 12
1.5 Hypothesis ...................................................................................................................... 12
1.6 Organization of the study ............................................................................................... 12
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................... 13
2.1 Consumer attitude .......................................................................................................... 13
2.1.1 Consumer attitudes towards organic fruits and vegetables ..................................... 13
2.2 Factors that influence consumer attitude towards organic fruits and
vegetables ............................................................................................................................. 14
2.2.1 Consumer awareness and knowledge ...................................................................... 14
2.2.2 Health consciousness ............................................................................................... 16
2.2.3 Environmental concern ........................................................................................... 17
2.3 Willingness to pay .......................................................................................................... 18
2.4 Expectations towards organic fruits and vegetables....................................................... 18
2.5 Attitude influences on purchase intention of organic fruits and
vegetables ............................................................................................................................. 19
2.6 Conceptual framework ................................................................................................... 19
CHAPTER THREE: MATERIALS AND METHODS ...................................................... 21
3.1 Description of the study area .......................................................................................... 21
3.2 Data sources ................................................................................................................... 22
3.3 Data collection ................................................................................................................ 22
3.4 Questionnaire design ...................................................................................................... 23
3.4.1 Socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents .......................................... 23
3.4.2 Awareness and knowledge (objective & subjective) of organic fruits and
vegetables ......................................................................................................................... 24
v
3.4.3 Consumer buying behavior ..................................................................................... 24
3.4.4 Consumer attitudes towards organic fruits and vegetables .................................... 25
3.4.5 Willingness to pay ................................................................................................... 26
3.4.6 Expectations towards organic fruits and vegetables ............................................... 26
3.5 Data analysis .................................................................................................................. 26
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS ............................................................................................. 28
4.1 Socio-demographic characteristics of the sample .......................................................... 28
4.2 Awareness and knowledge of organic fruits and vegetables .......................................... 30
4.2.1 Consumption and consumer buying behavior ......................................................... 32
4.3 Belief about importance of organic fruits and vegetables in comparison
to conventional ones ............................................................................................................. 34
4.4 Willingness to pay .......................................................................................................... 35
4.4.1 Willingness to pay across different socio-demographic characteristics .................. 36
4.5 Expectations with regards to organic fruits and vegetables ........................................... 38
4.6 Correlation ...................................................................................................................... 38
4.7 Reliability ....................................................................................................................... 39
4.8 Regression analysis ........................................................................................................ 39
4.8.1 Simple and multiple linear regression results ......................................................... 39
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION ......................................................................................... 42
5.1 Attitude ........................................................................................................................... 42
5.2 Consumer knowledge ..................................................................................................... 42
5.3 Health Consciousness ..................................................................................................... 42
5.4 Environmental concern .................................................................................................. 43
5.5 Purchase intention .......................................................................................................... 43
5.6 Contributions .................................................................................................................. 43
5.7 Limitations of the study .................................................................................................. 44
5.8 Multidisciplinary approach ............................................................................................ 44
CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION ...................................... 46
6.1 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 46
6.2 Recommendations and further research ......................................................................... 47
REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................... 48
APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................ 54
vi
LIST OF TABLES
Table 4-1 Socio-demographic characteristics of the sample (n=200) ................................................... 29
Table 4-2 Awareness of organic fruits and vegetables (n=200) ............................................................ 30
Table 4-3 Respondents’ objective knowledge (n=200) ......................................................................... 31
Table 4-4 Objective knowledge measured as number of correct answers (n=200) ............................... 32
Table 4-5 Consumption and buying behavior (n=200) ......................................................................... 33
Table 4-6 WTP across socio-demographic characteristics (n=200) ...................................................... 37
Table 4-7 Correlation matrix (n=200) ................................................................................................... 38
Table 4-8 Reliability analysis (n=200) .................................................................................................. 39
Table 4-9 Results from multiple linear regression (n=200) .................................................................. 41
Table 4-10 Results from simple linear regression (n=200) .................................................................. 41
Table 6-1 Hypothesis and results summary ........................................................................................... 46
vii
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2-1 Conceptual framework......................................................................................................... 20
Figure 3-1 Map of Ghana with the study area (Cape Coast) highlighted .............................................. 22
Figure 4-1 Source of organic knowledge (n=200)...…………………………………………………...31
Figure 4-2 Belief about importance of organic in comparison to conventional fruits & vegetables ..... 34
Figure 4-3 Willingness to pay (WTP) more for organic fruits and vegetables (n=200) ........................ 35
Figure 4-4 Willingness to pay extra for an organic pawpaw (n=200) ................................................... 36
viii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
BSE Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GLSS Ghana Living Standards Survey
GSS Ghana Statistical Service
SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences
TPB Theory of Planned Behaviour
TRA Theory of Reasoned Action
VIF Variance Inflation Factor
WTP Willingness to pay
9
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 General introduction
Rapid growth in development as well as increasing population rates is putting a strain on agriculture
and increasing the pressure for methods that improve yields. This has therefore led to increase in the
use of chemical fertilizers to increase food production (Basha et al., 2015).
Consumers are becoming more aware of the harmful effects of these chemicals used in food
production. Research suggests that consumers have become more concerned about the nutrition, health
and quality of food they eat (Gil, Gracia, & Sanchez, 2000). This is driving changes in the marketplace
with the introduction of more environmentally safe ways of production as well increasing the demand
for organic food products. Organic agriculture is a production system that sustains the health of soils,
ecosystems and people. It relies on ecological processes, biodiversity and cycles adapted to local
conditions, rather than the use of external inputs with adverse effects. Organic agriculture combines
traditional knowledge, innovation and science to benefit the shared environment and promote fair
relationships and a good quality of life for all involved (IFOAM, 2004). Ghana, like many other West
African countries limit the term organic to production where synthetic pesticides and chemical
fertilizers are not used (Keraita & Drechsel, 2015).
There is growth in the demand for organic products due to consumer concerns of quality,
environmental concerns as well as safety issues of conventionally grown foods (Hoefkens et al., 2009;
Osei-Asare, 2009; Magkos et al., 2006). This issue of safety and environmental concerns has made
production and consumption of organic products a priority on the agenda of policy makers (Owusu &
Anifori, 2012). The demand is still expected to grow even though the situation varies from one country
to the other with respect to production (Vukasovič, 2016). The growth in the market for organic
products will largely depend on the demand by consumers and as such a marketing oriented approach
or concept with consumers as the focus is key, to be able to respond to the changes in the market.
Hence, a clear understanding of consumer attitudes, perceptions and the motivations that influence
behaviour towards organically grown products is important (Bonti-Ankomah & Yiridoe, 2006).
Organic agriculture is developing rapidly with the share of organic farmed agricultural land increasing
in many countries. The organic agricultural land area at the global level increased by 6 million
hectares, an increase of 6% compared with 2012, resulting from a major increase of organic land in
Australia (Organic Farming Statistics, 2015). This reflects the expanding global organic market.
According to Sheng et al. (2009), organic food industry is continually growing in most developed
agricultural economies around the world with the total area of 30.5 million hectares and the global
total revenue of organic market has achieved 23 billion USD in 2003 and rose to 60 billion USD in
10
2007 (Yang & Jie, 2008). This growth rate is expected to continue in the coming years an indication of
a potential development for this sector in the future (Sheng et al., 2009). The organic sector is also
growing in developing countries though not to the level of developed countries with the main focus of
activities on production of organic vegetables, fruits and fibre products (AdeOluwa, 2010).
In recent times, few studies have found that in developing countries, certified organic agriculture is
more beneficial than conventional agriculture, due to the higher price farmers receive for their produce
(Bolwig et al., 2009; Maertens & Swinnen, 2009). In Ghana, the land area under organic cultivation
had increased from an estimated 19,132 hectares in 2006 (IFOAM & FiBL, 2006) to 28,000 hectares
in 2013 accounting for 0.18% of the total agricultural land area (Keraita & Drechsel, 2015). Most of
the organic products in Ghana are for export with the main export commodities aside cocoa being
palm oil and fresh fruits (Keraita & Drechsel, 2015). Locally, urban and peri-urban production and
marketing of vegetables play important roles in the socio-economic development of Ghana because
they create employment, generate wealth and alleviate poverty through provision of raw materials for
local food industries in majority of the cities in the country (Nouhoheflin et al., 2004; Norman, 2007).
According to D’Monte (2011), there are major shifts worldwide in food patterns with changes toward
high value and more diversified products like fruits and vegetables, milk and meat. The change in
dietary preferences, increased awareness about health benefits of fruits and vegetables among other
factors have been driving the growth in fruits and vegetables market around the world. Evidence from
various researchers reveal that for many consumers, fruit and vegetables are their main entry point into
the organic market (Aertsens et al., 2009) and also organic fruit and vegetables make up a high
proportion of the total organic produce consumed. Norman (2007) reported a similar assertion and
suggested that a huge market potential exist for fresh organic fruits and vegetables in Ghana especially
because fruits and vegetables are consumed in nearly every home in Ghana. Osei-Asare (2009) in his
study of Ghanaian consumers reported that demand for organic products far outstripped supply and
suggested a huge potential for the organic sector in Ghana both for exports and for domestic
consumption. Also, Owusu & Anifori (2012) in their study estimated a market potential of
US$28,093,516 per annum of organic fruits and vegetables in Ghana and concluded the existence of a
huge market potential for organic products and for that matter organic fruits and vegetables in Ghana.
1.2 Problem Statement
Despite the rapid growth and huge potential for organic fruits and vegetables in Ghana (Norman,
2007), the current level of consumer consumption of organic food is still relatively low in comparison
to non-organic ones. Michaelidou & Hassan (2010) indicated that the array of organic produce
continues to increase as a result of the growing market potential. To respond effectively to the
continued growth and to benefit from the huge economic potential of the organic industry in Ghana,
11
there is a need for companies and marketers to understand the level of consumer awareness,
knowledge, attitudes and willingness to pay.
Several studies have provided evidence that consumer attitudes towards organic food significantly
influence their choice (Gil, Gracia, & Sanchez, 2000; Michaelidou & Hassan, 2008; Stolz et al., 2011).
Although there are substantial consumer studies on organic products from developed economies
(Owusu & Anifori, 2012), very few studies exist on the attitudes and willingness to pay for organic
fruits and vegetables in sub-saharan countries for that matter Ghana and other developing economies
(Nouhoheflin et al., 2004; Aryal et al., 2009).
Some research studies have been carried out on the Ghanaian market potential for organic food and
consumer willingness to pay a premium for organic fruits and vegetables (Owusu & Anifori, 2012;
Nouhoheflin et al., 2004). Owusu & Anifori (2012) concluded that 71% of Ghanaian consumers in
their study, were willing to pay over 50% price premium for organic vegetables and 82% were willing
to pay up to 50% price premiums for organic fruits. The future of organic production however to a
large extent will depend on consumer demand which is influenced by attitudes among other factors.
However, there are limited studies regarding consumer attitudes in Ghana. This is especially true for
different social groups, such as students (Freyer et al., 2005). Therefore to address this gap, this study
aimed at investigating the knowledge and attitudes of students towards organic fruits and vegetables in
Ghana.
1.3 Objectives of the study
1.3.1 General objective
The main objective of this study was to investigate attitudes towards organic fruits and vegetables of
university students in Ghana.
1.3.2 Specific objectives
The specific objectives of the study were:
To determine the level of consumer awareness and knowledge about organic fruits and
vegetables
To determine their attitudes towards organic fruits and vegetables
To identify the factors that influence their attitudes towards organic fruits and vegetables
To determine the relationship between their attitudes and intention to purchase organic fruits
and vegetables
To determine their willingness to pay for organic fruits and vegetables
To determine their expectations of organic fruits and vegetables
12
1.4 Research questions
Following the problem statement as developed above, the research intends to answer the following
research questions below:
What are the levels of awareness and knowledge of organic fruits and vegetables among
students?
What are their attitude towards organic fruits and vegetables?
What kind of factors influence their attitudes towards organic fruits and vegetables?
What is the relationship between their attitudes and purchase intention?
What are their willingness to pay for organic fruits and vegetables?
What are their expectations with regards to organic fruits and vegetables?
1.5 Hypothesis
Against this background, the following research hypothesis can be deduced from the problem
statement as well as the objective statement.
H1: There is a positive relationship between knowledge and attitude of organic fruits and
vegetables among students
H2: There is a positive relationship between health consciousness and attitude towards organic
fruits and vegetables among students
H3: There is a positive relationship between environmental concern and attitude of students
towards organic fruits and vegetables
H4: There is a positive relationship between attitudes of students and their intention to purchase
organic fruits and vegetables
1.6 Organization of the study
The first chapter is the introduction which presents the background of the study, problem statement,
objectives, research questions and ends with the hypothesis of the study.
The second chapter is a review of relevant concepts, theories and previous literature of the subject.
The chapter concludes with the development of a model and four (4) different hypotheses. This is
followed by the third chapter.
The third chapter is a presentation of the methodology which describes how the sample was selected
from the population and the methods of data analysis.
Chapter four includes a presentation of the results followed by chapter five which is the discussion of
the results.
The last chapter presents the conclusions, recommendations and future research.
13
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter is divided into six parts. The first part presents a general discussion on consumer
attitudes. This is followed by factors that could influence consumer attitudes towards organic foods.
Willingness to pay and expectations for organic fruits and vegetables are discussed. This is followed
by the relationship between attitude and purchase intention and finally a conceptual model based on
these arguments is drawn.
2.1 Consumer attitude
The term attitude is widely mentioned and used within society with varying meanings. The likes and
dislikes of individuals constitute their attitudes. Attitudes tend to influence the way people behave in a
given situation. An attitude in marketing terms is defined as a general evaluation of a product or
service formed over time and an example being hearing a loud noise over time could make one
develop a negative attitude towards the sound (Hogg et al., 2006).
Decisions that consumers make are based on their attitudes and marketers are challenged to understand
the reasons why a particular attitude might or might not exist. Marketers invest a lot in programs in
order to influence the attitudes of consumers which they often do through advertisements among
others.
Attitude, though not the only indication that specifies which consumption behavior will be in the
future, reveals the way that buyers are likely to behave in a defined situation (Chisnall, 1995).
Consumer actions stem from attitude and are linked to a complex set of ideas, motivations and
experiences (Bonti-Ankomah & Yiridoe, 2006).
2.1.1 Consumer attitudes towards organic fruits and vegetables
According to Aertsens et al. (2009) several studies reveal that beliefs about health, taste and
environmental consequences have the strongest influence on attitude towards buying organic food
products. The perception of negative long term effects of conventionally produced food on health has
led to an increased shift of consumers towards organic food alternatives with typical examples being
the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in Canada and avian flu in poultry (Bonti-Ankomah &
Yiridoe, 2006). However, other views are that while most consumers hold positive attitudes towards
organic food the number of consumers purchasing organic food on a regular basis in comparison to
those who do not, remains low (Aertsens et al., 2009). For instance Saba & Messina (2003) revealed
14
that consumers agreed that on average organic fruits and vegetables were healthy, environmentally
friendly, and more tasty and nutritious than conventionally grown foods.
According to Stobbelaar et al. (2007) attitudes of environmental friendliness, animal welfare and
personal health are important for adolescents with respect to organic food. Thøgersen (2007) reports
that attitude has been regarded as a key predictor towards intention of consuming organic food such as
fruits and vegetables. To be able to serve the needs of consumers, an understanding of the perception
and attitudes of consumers are important.
2.2 Factors that influence consumer attitude towards organic fruits and
vegetables
There are numerous factors that have been found to have an influence on attitudes towards organic
food. Also several studies exists on the factors such as health, environmental impact among others that
influence consumer attitudes towards organic food products (Vega-Zamora et al., 2013; Shafie &
Rennie, 2012). Based on a review of previous studies, this section is a discussion of factors likely to
influence attitudes and hypothesis drawn from each concept.
2.2.1 Consumer awareness and knowledge
Consumers make decisions on a daily basis. These decisions could be either at an individual or group
level. However, it is the sole prerogative or responsibility of those individuals to make those decisions.
Consumer awareness and knowledge come to play for well informed choices to be made. Consumer
knowledge can be categorized into subjective knowledge, objective knowledge and prior experience
(Brucks, 1985). Subjective knowledge refers to what individuals perceive they know which
incorporates one’s degree of confidence in his or her knowledge while objective knowledge refers to
what one actually knows (Brucks, 1985). Prior experience stems from what a consumer has
experienced before.
The role of knowledge and awareness for the development of the organic food market cannot be
underestimated. There are several direct and indirect costs that knowledge and awareness has on the
attitudes of consumers towards products and consequently their willingness to pay a premium price
(Bonti-Ankomah & Yiridoe, 2006). Because organic products are credence goods, consumers may
have a difficulty in trying to decipher if a product is produced using organic or conventional methods,
not even after repeated purchase and consumption, unless they are told so (Bonti-Ankomah & Yiridoe,
2006). Therefore, consumer knowledge and awareness of organically produced foods are important in
their purchase decisions. This is because, if someone is unable to clearly tell the difference between
substitute products, the person might end up paying a higher price for a cheaper product instead of the
organic one as a result of the difficulty in differentiating both products.
15
Various studies on consumer awareness and knowledge about organic foods show that although
consumer awareness exists generally across countries, there still are inconsistent interpretations of the
meaning of organic. Jolly et al. (1989) found in a survey among California consumers that the term
organic was associated with no artificial fertilizer, absence of residue, no pesticides and no growth
regulators. Among UK respondents, organic food was described as natural and healthy in comparison
to conventional ones with no difference in the understanding of organic among organic and non-
organic food buyers (Hill & Lynchehaun, 2002).
According to Gracia & de Magistris (2007), information on organic products is an important factor
clearly aiding the consumers to differentiate the attributes of organic products from those of the
conventional ones, and to form positive attitudes and quality perceptions towards these products.
Several studies reveal that lack of awareness and low knowledge prevent most consumers from buying
organic food hence knowledge and awareness of organic products, can affect attitudes and perceptions
towards the product and consequently, buying decisions (Vukasovic, 2013). Several researchers have
also confirmed that greater awareness and additional knowledge of organic food positively influence
attitudes towards organic food and levels of consumption (Aertsens et al., 2009). Stobbelaar et al.
(2007) also found that higher levels of education are positively related to higher levels of knowledge
with regard to organic food.
However, not all studies have identified a positive relationship between knowledge and organic food
consumption. Gotschi et al. (2007) measured (objective) knowledge of organic products and labels of
Austrian high school students as to which characteristics relate to organic products but no significant
relationship with attitudes and behaviour was found. In addition, knowledge and awareness may not
necessarily translate into direct purchase due to the existence of barriers that limit the ability of
consumers to transform such knowledge and perceived demand into actual demand or purchases. This
is partly explained by skepticism of consumers especially in Western industrialized countries about
organic labels (Bonti-Ankomah & Yiridoe, 2006). Hence consumer awareness and knowledge will
continue to be important for two reasons.
Firstly because there still exists a segment of the potential market that is not yet informed about
organic foods confirmed by the study of Demeritt (2002) in US which reported lack of awareness and
knowledge as the number one reason why consumers do not buy organic food with 59% of the
respondents indicating that they never considered organic products because they did not know about
them.
Secondly, there is a possibility the latter may have general knowledge about them but do not have
detailed information to differentiate clearly the unique attributes of organic from conventionally grown
ones. If the issues of skepticism among other reasons mentioned above are dealt with, perceptions
16
about the inherent characteristics of organic may translate into increased actual demand (Bonti-
Ankomah & Yiridoe, 2006).
Based on these arguments, hypothesis one is developed.
H1: There is a positive relationship between knowledge and attitude towards organic fruits
and vegetables among students
2.2.2 Health consciousness
Health consciousness simply describes consumers who are aware, concerned about their health and as
such are motivated to improve and maintain their wellbeing to prevent ill health by engaging in
healthy behaviours (Newsom et al. 2005; Kraft & Goodell, 1993). Those individuals tend to be aware
of and involved with nutrition and physical fitness (Kraft & Goodell, 1993).
Extensive research has been carried to determine the factors that affect or influence attitudes towards
buying organic food with several of them indicating health as a major motive for the choice of organic
food (Padel & Foster, 2005; Bonti-Ankomah & Yiridoe, 2006; Aertsens et al., 2009). This is
particularly the case for organic fruits and vegetables since they are perceived as healthier compared to
the conventional ones.
An exploratory study by Lockie et al. (2002) found health to be a strong motivator for buying organic
food among Australian consumers. Evidence from the focus groups and laddering interviews revealed
assumed health value, social aspects and health consciousness as main motives for organic food
purchase. Personal health, quality of life and wellbeing were found as the strongest links in the main
ladders. In addition it has been found that health is a strong predictor of attitude and purchase of
organic food especially since consumers of organic food know that food intake affects their health
hence are willing to make changes in foods to improve their health (Schifferstein & Ophuis, 1998).
Chen (2007) also mentioned that there is a positive relationship between health consciousness and
attitude towards purchasing organic food.
However, the result of Tarkiainen & Sundqvist’s (2005) study though showed a positive result
indicated that the relationship between health consciousness and attitudes towards buying organic food
was not significant. They indicated that health consciousness does not explain general attitudes
towards organic food when organic bread and flour were examined. They stated however that the
result might be different if different organic food products were studied. In accordance with findings
by Tarkiainen & Sundqvist (2005), a study by Michaelidou & Hassan (2008) revealed health
consciousness to be the least important motive shaping attitudes towards organic produce in
comparison to ethical self-identity and food safety concern.
17
Though there are controversies whether organic is more nutritious than conventional ones, some
studies have found that there is a belief by consumers that organic food is indeed more nutritious (Lea
& Worsely, 2005).
With these divergent views on the influence of health consciousness on attitude towards organic food,
hypothesis two is developed.
H2: There is a positive relationship between health consciousness and attitude towards
organic fruits and vegetables among students
2.2.3 Environmental concern
Rising concerns about the environment is noted as one of the main factors towards purchasing any
product including organic fruits and vegetables (Thøgersen, 2007; Saba & Messina, 2003). Values of
respect, protection, sustainability and production in harmony with nature are known to be causing the
environmental attitude (Zanoli & Naspetti, 2002).
It is inferred that because consumers are becoming more concerned about the environment, they are
willing to contribute to protect it in any way possible including buying organic food products.
Consumer environmental consciousness makes them have a positive attitude towards buying organic
food (Tarkiainen & Sundqvist, 2005; Chen, 2009) because organic food cultivation takes into account
environmental aspects such as the use of organic compost and manure fertilizer while discouraging the
excessive use of synthetic pesticides among others. This minimizes the negative effects on the
environment. Zanoli & Naspetti, (2002) noted that when different product groups were considered,
environmental concerns were strongly expressed in consuming fruits and vegetables while with other
products like dairy, environmental concern was mentioned as a second motive after health or animal
welfare.
Stobbelaar et al. (2007) stated that adolescents value environmental friendliness as an attribute when
considering organic foods. A study by Wier & Calverley (2002) also revealed that younger people
prefer organic food especially due to the environmentally friendly production methods that are
employed. Consumers that are highly involved in organic and environmentally friendly related issues
tend to have positive attitude towards organic food and have stronger intention to purchase (Vermeir
& Verbeke, 2006). Many studies conducted across different countries and cultures about consumer
attitudes towards organic food have found that organic is seen as healthier, better tasting and more
environmentally friendly than conventional ones.
However, though people may have a positive attitude, they are largely passive in their role as
consumer when it comes to supporting environmental or animal welfare improvements with their
available budget (Vermeir & Verbeke, 2006). It is therefore argued that even though consumers have
18
positive attitude towards organic food, the number of consumers who regularly purchase organic food
is still relatively low (Aertsens et al., 2009).
Based on the above, hypothesis three is developed.
H3: There is a positive relationship between environmental concern and attitude of students
towards organic fruits and vegetables
2.3 Willingness to pay
Willingness to pay (WTP) for an organic product measures the additional price a consumer will pay
for an organic product above the price that is asked for a comparable conventional product (Kalogeras
et al., 2009). These excess prices that are above the fair price that is justified by the true value of the
product (Rao & Bergen, 1992; Vlosky et al., 1999), may serve as indicators of demand for that product
(Tse, 2001). Across the world, the relationship between price premiums of organic products and
consumer’s willingness to pay is vital for the launch of organic products to the market (Kyriakopoulos
& Oude Ophuis, 1997).
Numerous studies have been carried out to investigate consumers’ willingness to pay for organic
products. Gil et al. (2000) found higher willingness to pay premiums for organic fruits and vegetables
among Spanish consumers. Another study revealed that 52% of the German consumers in their sample
were willing to pay more for organic fruits and vegetables a percentage higher than that for animal and
grain products (Meier-Ploeger & Woodward, 1999).
Nouhoheflin et al. (2004) also assessed consumers’ perceptions and willingness to pay for organic
vegetable in Benin and Ghana and discovered a willingness to pay of more than 50% price premium
for chemical free vegetables. According to Osei-Asare (2009), 56% of Ghanaian consumers accepted
to pay a premium of 20% maximum for organic products. A study by Owusu & Anifori (2012)
revealed that 71% of Ghanaian consumers in their study were willing to pay over 50% price premium
for organic vegetables and 82% were willing to pay 1%-50% price premiums for organic fruits. The
above shows that WTP varies across countries and this is probably due to differences in samples,
market conditions among others. If strategies are to be designed to target future generations, their
willingness to pay for organic products including fruits and vegetables are of great interest.
2.4 Expectations towards organic fruits and vegetables
There are limited studies that closely examine consumer expectations of product quality
(Schleenbecker et al., 2013). A study by Stolz et al. (2009) focused on consumer expectations for
product characteristics of organic yogurt, milk and apples indicating that consumers do have
19
expectations with regards to organic food. Identifying consumers’ expectations with regard to organic
products is therefore of great importance.
2.5 Attitude influences on purchase intention of organic fruits and
vegetables A person’s attitude towards a product or item is important in determining an intention to or not to
purchase an item (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980). The theory of planned behavior has been used by many
studies to model organic food choice and attitude has been indicated as a significant predictor of
purchase intention (Chen, 2007; Saba & Messina, 2003; Gracia & de Magistris, 2007).
Preliminary studies have found that consumer intention to purchase organic food is normally as a
result of their positive attitudes towards organic food. The more positive the consumer attitude, the
stronger the intention to do such a behaviour (Ajzen, 1991). The most common positive attitudes
towards buying organic food is the belief that organic food is healthier, better for the environment and
of better taste (Dean et al., 2008; Chen, 2007; Thøgersen, 2007). A study by Saba & Messina (2003)
found attitude to be a significant predictor of intention of eating organic fruits and vegetables. Also
Tarkiainen & Sundqvist (2005) found a positive and significant relationship between attitude towards
buying organic food and purchase intention. Based on the above discussion, hypothesis four is
generated.
H4: There is a positive relationship between attitudes of students and their intention to
purchase organic fruits and vegetables
The above review of literature shows the inconclusive or mixed findings in the field of organic
research thus this study will add to literature or advance knowledge on attitudes towards organic fruits
and vegetables particularly in Ghana.
2.6 Conceptual framework
In organic food research, many studies are more explanatory than theoretical in trying to explain the
consumer decision making-process with studies by Tsakiridou et al. (2008), Essoussi & Zahaf (2008)
as examples. Although very few theoretical frameworks have been used in studying organic food
consumption, the most common ones that have being used by researchers (Chen, 2007; Zagata, 2012;
Tarkiainen & Sundqvist, 2005) are attitude-behaviour models such as the Theory of Reasoned Action
(TRA) and the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). However, several extensions and refinements of
these theories have been suggested (Nejad et al., 2004; Conner & Armitage, 1998). A core assumption
of the TRA and TPB is that people are rational in making decisions therefore cognitive approaches can
be used in predicting behavior (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1975).
20
Purchase intention of a product can be considered as the best predictor of actual behavior (Ajzen,
1991). Attitude determines final decisions in the consumer buying behavior (Basha et al., 2015). The
inclination to react to an object in a particular way is learned, indicating that attitudes are affected by
variable factors that cause the learning to take place before the formation of attitudes. People learn to
like objects and or to acquire unfavourable attributes towards objects (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980).
Based on evidences of preliminary studies and on the importance of attitude in the consumer buying
decision, a conceptual framework is developed. The proposed model believes that consumer attitude
towards purchasing organic fruits and vegetables are strongly influenced by three variables namely
knowledge, health and environmental consciousness. The model shown in Figure 2-1 therefore
illustrates the influence of the different factors on consumer attitude and the link between attitude and
purchase intention towards organic fruits and vegetables.
Figure 2-1 Conceptual framework
Consumer
knowledge
Health
consciousness
Environmental
concern
H4 H2
H3
Attitude Purchase
intention
H1
21
CHAPTER THREE
MATERIALS AND METHODS
This chapter is presented in five sections. Section 3.1 gives a description of the study area, section 3.2
gives the data sources, section 3.3 presents data collection, section 3.4 shows the questionnaire design
and finally section 3.5 the data analysis.
3.1 Description of the study area
Ghana is one of the lower middle income West African countries and according to the 2010 population
census, home to a population of 24.66 million.
The Ghanaian population in general is young with 40.4% of the population below 15 years, 54.3% are
aged 15 to 64 years and 5.3% are 65years or older1. Ghana is regarded as an agrarian economy largely
due to the sector’s contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) generally, labour absorption and to
foreign exchange earnings. In 2013, the agricultural sector contributed (22.0%) to the total value of
goods and services produced in the country (Ghana Statistical Service, 2014). In Ghana, Agriculture is
predominantly on a small holder basis and the main system of farming is traditional with production
varying with the amount and distribution of rainfall. The principal agricultural exports from Ghana
include cocoa, timber, horticultural products, fish, sea foods, game & wildlife.
Ghana has ten administrative regions. This study was carried out in the University of Cape Coast
located in the Central Region which is one of the regions. The region is famous for its many higher
education institutes and tourism purposes. The University of Cape Coast is one of the major public
universities in Ghana providing quality education to students. The University offers several
programmes at the certificate, diploma, bachelors, master and postgraduate level. Figure 3-1 below
indicates the map of Ghana with the Central Region highlighted.
1 http://www.statsghana.gov.gh/docfiles/glss5_report.pdf Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS)
22
Figure 3-1 Map of Ghana with the study area (Cape Coast) highlighted2
3.2 Data sources
Primary data sources were used which refers to data collected originally by researchers primarily with
the purpose of solving a certain problem. It is suitable for studies which require up-to-date information
to answer specific research questions (Bryman & Bell, 2007). Primary data was obtained via surveys
and included specifically tailored research questions.
3.3 Data collection
Business research is classified into qualitative and quantitative approaches. Qualitative approach seeks
to gain a deep understanding of a phenomena and provides insights that lays the foundation for further
quantitative study (Bryman & Bell, 2007). Quantitative approaches on the other hand, are deductive
and emphasizes quantification in gathering and analyzing data. Quantitative approaches aim at
generalizing findings to a population (Creswell, 2009).
2www.wikipedia.org
23
Surveys, structured interviews, structured observations and content analysis are applicable to conduct
a quantitative study (Bryman & Bell, 2007). Survey is a quantitative method in which a questionnaire
is designed to collect standardized data by accessing to a representative sample of certain population
for further generalization. This method is advantageous for collecting data within limited time and
costs (Bryman & Bell, 2007).
A quantitative approach was used for this study because of the reasons stated above as well as the
large sample size. In addition, the research was to test hypotheses derived from the conceptual
framework (Figure 2-1).
The data was collected via a cross-sectional survey in Ghana using a designed questionnaire. The
questionnaire was pretested using five (5) students from the University of Ghana, Legon and this
ensured clarity of the questions and the needed corrections were made where necessary.
A convenient sampling technique was used to select a sample of 200 students from the University of
Cape Coast, Ghana. The rationale of the study was explained to the respondents and their verbal
consent was sought before questionnaires were handed out. Questionnaires were collected after they
were completed. Out of 213 questionnaires that were returned, 13 had several missings, resulting in a
final sample of 200 respondents.
3.4 Questionnaire design
The questionnaire (Appendix 1) is made up of several parts which include:
Part A shows the respondents’ demographic characteristics.
Part B contains information about the respondents’ awareness, objective and subjective
knowledge of organic fruits and vegetables.
It also contains information about consumer buying behaviour.
Part C shows attitudes towards organic fruits and vegetables
It also includes information on consumer willingness to pay and expectations of organic fruits
and vegetables. A detailed description of the various parts are presented below.
3.4.1 Socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents
With respect to socio-demographic factors, respondents were asked questions about their gender, age,
level of study, programme of study, marital status, nationality, employment status, financial situation
of their families and the person responsible for shopping for the household (Appendix 1).
24
3.4.2 Awareness and knowledge (objective & subjective) of organic fruits and
vegetables
Respondents’ awareness of organic fruits and vegetables were solicited by asking if they had ever
heard of the term organic produce with a nominal scale ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as the measurement.
Respondents’ source of knowledge was collected by asking them what their source of knowledge was
with options (school, friends, home, internet, other media) for them to select from.
To evaluate the objective knowledge, four statements with a true or false scale were used (Park et al.,
1994; Pieniak et al., 2010). All the four statements were false and they are: “organic farmers may use
synthetic fertilizers”, “organic farmers may use genetically modified seeds”, “organic vegetables may
be irradiated to improve conservation”, “organic farmers may use synthetic pesticides”. The option of
“do not know” was not provided as a way to make the respondents think and reflect and make their
choice about those statements. The true or false scale was further recoded with “0” as incorrect and
“1” correct response. The final objective knowledge measure was obtained as a computation of the
total number of correct responses with a range from 0 to 4.
The subjective knowledge was measured by using three items adapted from Pieniak et al. (2010): (1)
“Compared with an average person, I know a lot about organic fruits and vegetables” (2) I know a lot
about how to estimate the quality of organic fruits and vegetables” and (3) “People who know me
consider me an expert in the field of organic fruits and vegetables”. These statements were answered
on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from “strongly disagree” (1) to “strongly agree” (5). The average
across the three items in the scale was computed as subjective knowledge.
3.4.3 Consumer buying behavior
Information sought from respondents with respect to buying behavior included frequency of eating
and buying fruits and vegetables, place of purchase and purchase intention. To investigate the eating
behavior of respondents, they were first asked if they consume organic fruits and vegetables with
“yes” or “no” as measurement.
Next respondents were asked how frequently they eat organic fruits and vegetables and the answers
were recorded on a 4-point scale ranging from “never”, “seldom”, “often” and “nearly always”. The
consumption variable was recoded with “never=1”, “seldom = 2”, “often=3”, “nearly always =4”.
Respondents’ frequency of buying organic fruits and vegetables was identified by asking the question
“On 10 times that you buy the following food item, how often do you choose one that is organic?” An
11-point scale ranging from 0 to 10 was used (Pieniak et al., 2010). Further recoding was done and
three categories were used. Respondents answering 0 or 1 were considered as “non-buyers”, 2 to 6
were “occasional buyers” and 7 to 10 were classified as “ habitual buyers” (Van Loo et al., 2013).
25
Fourthly, information on the place of purchase of organic fruits and vegetables was collected by
asking respondents to choose from the given options (supermarket, farm/garden, market, street side)
where they usually shop from.
Lastly, the purchase intention was measured. Respondents were asked in two separate questions how
likely it is that they “plan” or “desire” to purchase organic fruits and vegetables. A 5-point scale was
used for measurement ranging from “strongly disagree” (1) to “strongly agree” (5).
3.4.4 Consumer attitudes towards organic fruits and vegetables
For this part of the questionnaire, most of the questions were measured using a 5-point scale. To
determine attitudes of respondents towards organic fruits and vegetables, three separate questions
adapted from Tarkiainen & Sundqvist (2005) were used. (1) “I think it is good to buy organic fruits
and vegetables” (2) “I think it is important to buy organic fruits and vegetables” (3)” I think it is wise
to buy organic fruits and vegetables”.
3.4.4.1 Factors that influence attitudes towards organic fruits and vegetables
Several factors influence attitudes towards organic produce. To collect information about factors
influencing attitudes towards organic fruits and vegetables, respondents were asked to indicate their
opinion on a number of statements (Appendix 1). A 5-point Likert scale with “1= much worse,
“2=worse”, “3=same”, “4=better”, “5=much better” was used as measurement for all the factors.
These statements were adapted from several studies. Below are the factors and corresponding studies
from which adaptation was made.
Health consciousness - Aertsens et al. (2009); Kutnohorská &Tomšík (2013); Tarkiainen &
Sundqvist (2005)
Environmental concern - Wandel & Bugge (1997); Chen (2007); Dean et al. (2008);
Tsakiridou, et al. (2008)
Consumer knowledge - Schaefer (1997)
Price - Tarkiainen & Sundqvist (2005)
Trust - Dickieson & Wiertz (2009)
Product related characteristics - Verbeke et al. (2009); Dickieson & Wiertz (2009)
3.4.4.2 Belief
Respondents were asked to evaluate some criteria when comparing organic fruits and vegetables with
conventional ones. This was adapted from the studies of Hoogland et al. (2007) and Vanhonacker &
Verbeke (2009). The criteria that they had to evaluate were “healthiness, taste, price, safety,
26
environmental friendliness, quality, availability and proximity”. A 5-point scale was used with
“1=much worse”, “2= worse” “3=same”, “4=better”, “5=much better”.
3.4.5 Willingness to pay
To determine consumer willingness to pay, respondents were first asked if they will be willing to pay
more for organic fruits and vegetables. A measurement scale “yes” and “no” was given.
Secondly, they were given a hypothetical scenario “assume a normal fruit and vegetable eg: pawpaw
costs GH₵2. How much are you willing to pay extra for an organic pawpaw?” The range of prices
given to the respondents included “0.00”, “0.10-0.50”, “0.60-1.00”, “1.00-1.50”, “1.60-2.00”, “2.00 &
above”. 3
3.4.6 Expectations towards organic fruits and vegetables
With respect to expectations towards organic fruits and vegetables, respondents were asked two
separate questions to determine their expectations. (1) “Organic fruits and vegetables must bear an
organic label” (2) “Consumers need more education to help them decipher between organic and
conventional ones”. A 5-point scale ranging from “strongly disagree” (1) to “strongly agree” (5) was
used as measurement for these questions.
3.5 Data analysis
The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 20) software was used for performing
all statistical analyses. Results were considered significant at p-values < 0.05. Frequency and
descriptive analysis were used to show the percentages and mean values of items which allowed
summarizing of the data, further comparison and description of results such as demographic
information obtained from the study. Prior to performing the regression analysis, reliability analysis
were performed for several concepts. Reliability analysis are used in determining how reliable and
consistent concept measures are. Cronbach’s alpha is an effective way of checking the internal
reliability (Bryman & Bell, 2007) and is a score between 0 and 1. A Cronbach’s alpha above 0.6 is
often accepted hence questions or items are more reliable if the score is higher (Flynn et al., 1994).
However, if the Cronbach’s alpha is less than 0.6, items with the lowest item-total-correlation and/or
alpha if item deleted are removed until the score is greater than 0.6. Correlation analysis helps to
establish if there exists an association between continuous variables. Correlation is measured by the
value of the Pearson r coefficient. The correlation coefficient ranges from -1 to +1 and determines the
strength and the direction of the association. The value of -1 indicates a perfect negative relationship
and +1 indicates a perfect positive relationship. Hence, the higher the correlation, the more similar the
3 (€1 = GH₵4.79, GH₵2= €0.42)
27
variables (Bryman & Bell, 2007). On the other hand, a value of 0 indicates that there is no relationship
(Sarstedt & Mooi, 2014).
Regression analysis was used for the main analysis to determine factors that influence attitudes
towards organic fruits and vegetables as well as the influence of attitude towards intention to purchase
organic fruits and vegetables. Next, independent sample T-test was used to ascertain the mean
difference of some categorical variables such as nationality and gender. One-way ANOVA F-test was
also performed to test the difference in WTP means across different socio-demographic groups (with
more than two categories). In addition, the Dunnett’s T3 and Scheffe post hoc tests were used. Results
from the Scheffe’s post hoc test were used if the p-value of the Levene’s test (homogeneity of variance
test) was equal or greater than 0.05 hence the null hypothesis of equal variances assumed was
accepted. On the other hand, the Dunnett’s T3 test was employed if the p-value generated by the
Levene’s test was less than 0.05.
28
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS
This chapter includes a presentation of the results of the study and the interpretation of the main
findings of the study. Socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents are presented followed by
the main findings.
4.1 Socio-demographic characteristics of the sample
The socio-demographic characteristics of the sample are presented in this section. As shown in Table
4-1, out of the total of 200 respondents that were randomly sampled, 87 of the respondents (43.5%)
were males and the majority 113 respondents (56.5%) were females.
Five age categories were identified within the sample. Approximately 22% of the respondents were
between the ages of 18 and 24, 18% were between 25 and 30 years, 10.5% were between the ages of
31 and 35 years. The remaining two categories together constituted 49.5% and they were between the
ages of 36 and 45 years. The sample shows majority of the respondents being Generation Y (Sullivan
& Heitmeyer, 2008) since together 50.5% of the respondents were between the ages of 18 and 35
years. Second year students made up the majority of respondents (35.0%) and the largest proportion
(37.0%) were offering Bachelor of Education programs (B. Education).
Table 4-1 shows the marital status of the respondents. About 98.0% of the respondents were single and
2% were married. Next the nationality of the respondents were determined and 199 (99.5%) of the
respondents were Ghanaians and only one was non-Ghanaian. With respect to employment status, the
majority of the respondents (69.5%) were unemployed and 30.5% were employed (full-time 23.5%
and part-time 7.0%). This is expected because most degree programs are often on a full time basis as
such those in full time employment are probably postgraduate students, those with paid study leave
typically employed by the Government of Ghana or on sandwich programs. Out of the three categories
provided to estimate the financial situation of the family of respondents, 11.5% were in a difficult
financial situation, 53.5% were average and 35.0% were well off. Also, only 4.0% of the respondents
were mainly responsible for grocery shopping of the household with 30.5% responsible together with
someone else. The majority (65.5%) of respondents grocery shopping was the responsibility of another
person.
29
Table 4-1 Socio-demographic characteristics of the sample (n=200)
Characteristics Frequency Percentage (%)
Total 200 100
Gender
Male 87 43.5
Female 113 56.5
Age
18-24 44 22.0
25-30 36 18.0
31-35 21 10.5
36-40 50 25.0
41-45 49 24.5
Level/Year of study
First 57 28.5
Second 70 35.0
Third 45 22.5
Fourth 21 10.5
Others 7 3.5
Program of study
B.Education 74 37.0
B.Com 34 17.0
B.Arts 35 17.5
B.Science 57 28.5
Marital status
Single 196 98.0
Married 4 2.0
Nationality
Ghanaian 199 99.5
Others 1 0.5
Employment status
Employed 61 30.5
Unemployed 139 69.5
Financial status
Difficult 23 11.5
Average 107 53.5
Well-off 70 35.0
Person responsible for shopping
I am main person responsible 8 4.0
I am responsible with someone else 61 30.5
Another person is responsible 131 65.5
30
4.2 Awareness and knowledge of organic fruits and vegetables
Consumer awareness and knowledge of organic fruits and vegetables were determined firstly by
asking if they had heard of the term organic produce and respondents answered “yes” or “no”.
Approximately 90.0% of the respondents answered in the affirmative and 10.0% responded that they
had never heard of the term organic produce (Table 4-2). Most students who answered in the
affirmative were B. Education students followed by Bachelor of Science (B. Science) students. This
result is not surprisingly because these group of students are likely to have come in contact with the
term through one or more courses undertaken in such programs. An example could be agricultural or
integrated science which is a core subject most students follow in these programs. Secondly,
respondents were then asked of their source of organic produce knowledge. Figure 4-1 shows that
majority of the students (52.0%) indicated they obtained the knowledge from school with home and
friends being the least source from which knowledge about organic was acquired. This is consistent
with the study of Osei et al. (2013) who also found school as the main source through which
knowledge of organic produce and agriculture was acquired in Ghana.
Table 4-2 Awareness of organic fruits and vegetables (n=200)
Have you ever heard of the term organic produce?
Factor Yes No Total
Total 180 20 200
Gender 90% 10% 100%
Male 77 10 87
Female 103 10 113
Age
18-24 41 3 44
25-30 33 3 36
31-35 19 2 21
36-40 41 9 50
41-45 46 3 49
Level of study
First 52 5 57
Second 62 8 70
Third 40 5 45
Fourth 19 2 21
Others 7 0 7
Program of study
B.Education 65 9 74
B.Com 32 2 34
B.Arts 32 3 35
B.Science 51 6 57
31
Figure 4-1 Source of organic knowledge (n=200)
To determine respondents’ subjective knowledge, the average across three items were computed
(Appendix 1). The Cronbach’s alpha was 0.764 indicative of consistency between the three items. The
average across respondents was 3.3 out of 5. Thus deduced that respondents perceived they knew
enough about organic produce.
To determine the objective knowledge of students, four items were used for which respondents had to
indicate “true” or “false”. The percentage of correct and wrong answers for the four items are shown
below (Table 4-3). Less than half of the students (31.5%) answered correctly to the first item in Table
4-3. With respect to the second item, only 25.5% answered correctly. For the last two items in Table 4-
3, not more than 31.0% of the respondents were able to answer correctly to those items.
Table 4-3 Respondents' objective knowledge (n=200)
Statements Correct Correct Wrong
answer response response
(%) (%)
Organic farmers may use synthetic pesticides False 31.5 68.5
Organic farmers may use synthetic fertilizers False 25.5 74.5
Organic farmers may use genetically modified seeds False 29.0 71.0
Organic vegetables may be irradiated to improve conservation False 31.0 69.0
52%
18%
5%
16%
9%
32
Table 4-4 shows the frequency and percentage of respondents with respect to their objective
knowledge and reflects how respondents answered correctly on all four questions combined. Majority
of the respondents (43.0%) were unable to answer correctly to any of the questions while 18%
answered correctly to only one question. On the other hand, 5.5% managed to answer correctly all four
questions while two to three questions were answered correctly by 33.5% of the students. This means
that within the sample, only 15.5% of the respondents had adequate objective knowledge (equal and
beyond three correct answers) of organic production. This also implies that majority of the
respondents were not familiar with the statements or items.
Table 4-4 Objective knowledge measured as number of correct answers (n=200)
Number of correct answers Frequency Percentage (%)
0 86 43.0
1 36 18.0
2 47 23.5
3 20 10.0
4 11 5.5
From the results above it can be deduced that although the students perceived to know a lot about
organic produce, their objective/actual knowledge was relatively low.
4.2.1 Consumption and consumer buying behavior
Information on buying behavior included consumption, frequency of purchase, place of purchase and
purchase intention of organic fruits and vegetables. Respondents were asked if they consume organic
fruits and vegetables and 93.0% answered yes and 7.0% stated they do not consume organic fruits and
vegetables. The percentage of students who claim to consume organic is quite high. Although the
reason is not known it could probably be due to the fact that they do not really know what organic
means evident in their objective knowledge.
The frequency with which respondents eat organic fruits and vegetables were obtained by asking them
to indicate on a four point scale. With respect to fruits, 57.5% of the respondents indicated they
consume fruits and 2.0% stated that they never consume fruits at all. For vegetables, all respondents
consumed them with 60.5% of the respondents consuming vegetables often. As shown Table 4-5, in
general, vegetables were consumed more by respondents than fruits.
With the frequency of buying fruits and vegetables, 8% of respondents were identified as non-buyers
of vegetables (8.5% non-buyers of fruits) whereas 63.5% were occasional vegetable buyers (76.5% for
fruits) and 28.5% were habitual vegetable buyers (15% for fruits). Contrary to the study by Padel &
Foster (2005) who stated supermarket as the primary place of organic food purchases, most of the
33
respondents (73%) in this study stated that they normally purchase organic fruits and vegetables from
the market. This result is expected because in Ghana like most developing countries, although
supermarkets are springing up rapidly, they are not the main source of buying fresh food items
particularly fruits and vegetables which happens to be the reverse in developed countries. Most fruits
and vegetables are often sold fresh on the open market in Ghana.
Table 4-5 Consumption and buying behavior (n=200)
Frequency Percentage
Do you consume organic fruits and vegetables?
Yes 186 93.0
No 14 7.0
How often do you eat the following products?
Fruits
Never 4 2.0
Seldom 48 24.0
Often 115 57.5
Nearly always 33 16.5
Vegetables
Never 0 0
Seldom 31 15.5
Often 121 60.5
Nearly always 48 24.0
Frequency of purchase
Fruits
Non-buyers 17 8.5
Occasional buyers 153 76.5
Habitual buyers 30 15.0
Vegetables
Non-buyers 16 8.0
Occasional buyers 127 63.5
Habitual buyers 57 28.5
Place of purchase
Supermarket 15 7.5
Farm/garden 18 9.0
Market 146 73.0
Street side 19 9.5
Others 2 1.0
34
4.3 Belief about importance of organic fruits and vegetables in comparison
to conventional ones In comparison to conventional fruits and vegetables, respondents evaluate organic produce more
highly on various criteria including healthiness, taste, price, safety, environmental friendliness,
quality, availability and proximity (Figure 4-2). Healthiness, quality and taste of organic fruits and
vegetables was highly valued by consumers. This is in line with previous studies that point to health
and food safety as essential drivers for purchasing organic food (Padel & Foster, 2005; Bonti-
Ankomah & Yiridoe, 2006; Van Loo et al., 2013). Similarly, previous studies have showed that
organic food products are perceived to have better taste compared with conventional ones (Lockie et
al., 2002; Van Loo et al., 2010). Safety and environmental friendliness was also noted as quite
important with respect to perception of difference between organic and conventional produce which is
similarly confirmed by other studies (Bonti-Ankomah & Yiridoe, 2006; Gracia & de Magistris, 2007).
However, the price, proximity and availability of organic fruits and vegetables were valued less
compared to conventional ones and have been reported in other studies as barriers to organic food
purchases (Hughner et al., 2007; Van Loo et al., 2010). This is particularly the case especially in
developing countries where demand is perfectly elastic for most food products.
Figure 4-2 Belief about importance of organic in comparison to conventional fruits & vegetables
(A 5-point scale “1=much worse”, to “5=much better”) (n=200)
35
4.4 Willingness to pay
The study assessed respondents’ willingness to pay for organic fruits and vegetables and the results are
presented below.
Figure 4-3 Willingness to pay (WTP) more for organic fruits and vegetables (n=200)
Several studies have reported price as one major barrier to organic food purchases (Hughner et al.,
2007; Van Loo et al., 2010). In this study, respondents were asked if they would be willing to pay
more for organic fruits and vegetables and majority of the respondents (88.0%) answered in the
affirmative that they were willing to pay more for organic fruits and vegetables.
Furthermore, respondents were asked a hypothetical question to elicit how much more they were
willing to pay for organic fruits and vegetables assuming a conventional pawpaw cost GH₵2. Figure
4-3 shows the percentage of respondents for each category of willingness to pay. While 10.0% of the
respondents stated that they were not willing to pay anything higher than the market price, 16 percent,
19 percent, 26 percent, 14 percent and 15 percent of the students were willing to pay 0.10-0.50, 0.60-
1.00, 1.10-1.50, 1.60-2.00 and > 2.00 respectively in addition to the market price of a conventional
pawpaw. Respondents willing to pay between 1.10-1.50 formed the majority. This shows that 90% of
the students were in one way or the other willing to pay more for an organic produce which is
confirmed by several studies (Osei-Asare, 2009; Owusu & Anifori, 2012).
36
Figure 4-4 Willingness to pay extra for an organic pawpaw (n=200)
4.4.1 Willingness to pay across different socio-demographic characteristics
T-test and one-way ANOVA test were performed to find the difference in means of respondents’
willingness to pay. It was revealed that gender (t-test p=0.260) and nationality (t-test p=0.802) had
statistically similar means that is, the differences in their means were not statistically significant.
Additionally, age, level of study, programme of study and marital status also had no statistical effect
on the WTP means (one-way ANOVA F test, p= 0.076, 0.846, 0.577 and 0.880 respectively).
In contrast, both employment status and family financial status showed significant differences in
means when classified over WTP. The differences were all significant at 1 per cent level. As shown in
Table 4-6, with respect to employment status, respondents in any form of employment (part-time and
full-time) were willing to pay extra for organic fruit compared to unemployed respondents. Likewise
respondents whose family were well-off were willing to pay more than those whose family were in an
average or difficult situation with respect to finances.
GH₵
37
Table 4-6 WTP across socio-demographic characteristics (n=200)
Items Means F P
Age
18-24 4.02a 2.151 > 0.05
25-30 3.50a
31-35 3.38a
36-40 3.84a
41-45 3.20a
Level of study
100 3.46e 0.348 > 0.05
200 3.59e
300 3.78e
400 3.71e
Others 3.86e
Programme of study
B.Education 3.55f 0.662 > 0.05
B.Com 3.41f
B.Arts 3.57f
B.Science 3.84f
Marital status
Married 3.50b 0.023 > 0.05
Single 3.62b
Employment
Unemployed 1.19e 119.84 < 0.001
Full-time 5.38f
Part-time 5.21g
Family financial status
Well-off 4.69a 36.136 < 0.001
Difficult 3.30b
Average 2.98c
a, b, c indicate significantly different means using Scheffe Post Hoc;
e, f, g indicate significantly different means using Dunnett’s T3 Post Hoc
38
4.5 Expectations with regards to organic fruits and vegetables
With respect to the expectations of respondents with regards to organic fruits and vegetables, majority
of them on average (3.71/5) indicated that organic fruits and vegetables must bear an organic label to
allow for easy identification. This expectation is not surprising because most fruits and vegetables in
Ghana are sold and bought fresh on the open market and as such most do not bear an organic label
whereas most imported and exported ones do bear organic labels (Osei-Asare, 2009). Likewise
consumers on average (4.09/5) indicated that more education is needed to help them decipher between
organic and non-organic fruits and vegetables. This is not surprising because organic products are
credence goods thus consumers may have a difficulty in trying to decipher if a product is produced
using organic or conventional methods, not even after repeated purchase and consumption, unless they
are told so (Bonti-Ankomah & Yiridoe, 2006).
4.6 Correlation
Correlation analysis is used primarily to measure the strength or degree of linear association between
two continuous variables (Gujarati, 2004). Generally, multicollinearity is a problem when the
correlation value is higher than 0.7 (Dormann et al., 2013). From the correlation matrix (Table 4-7),
multicollinearity is not found in the model since all variables have a correlation coefficient which is
less than 0.7.
Table 4-7 Correlation matrix (n=200)
Attitude Health Consumer Environmental Purchase
consciousness knowledge concern intention
Attitude 1.000
Health consciousness 0.526** 1.000
Consumer knowledge 0.544** 0.457** 1.000
Environmental concern 0.299** 0.649** 0.434** 1.000
Purchase intention 0.500** 0.329** 0.384** 0.228** 1.000
***p<0.001, **p<0.01, *p<0.05
39
4.7 Reliability
Reliability test was performed separately on each of the concepts to check the Cronbach’s alpha value.
A Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.6 and above is generally accepted (Flynn et al., 1994; Sarstedt & Mooi,
2014). The Cronbach’s alpha for all the concepts in Table 4-8 were equal or above 0.6 therefore
internal reliability is consistent and sufficient for further analysis.
Table 4-8 Reliability analysis (n=200)
Variable Cronbach's alpha Number of items
Attitude 0.898 3
Health consciousness 0.679 3
Environmental concern 0.731 3
Consumer knowledge 0.631 2
Purchase intention 0.630 2
Subjective knowledge 0.764 3
4.8 Regression analysis
4.8.1 Simple and multiple linear regression results
The study employed simple and multiple linear regressions and diagnostic tests were done to ensure
that all assumptions of linear regression were met.
The first regression was carried out to test the relationship between three factors and attitude whereas
the second regression was carried out to test the relationship between purchase intention and attitude.
The first regression model showed the relationship between health consciousness ( 1X ), consumer
knowledge ( 2X ) and environmental concern ( 3X ) on attitude (dependent variable=Y).
The model specification is as follows:
)1.....(.....................................110 kk XXY
Where Y represents the dependent variable, XK the explanatory/independent variables, βo (intercept),
β1….βk are regression coefficients associated with k explanatory variables, ε is the disturbance or error
term.
40
The second regression model was a simple linear regression which showed the impact of attitude (1X )
on purchase intention (dependent variable=Y).
The specified model with the same terminology as before is as follows:
)2.....(..............................110 XY
For the first regression model (Table 4-9), all the three factors (health, environmental concern and
consumer knowledge) were included in the model. All three factors were found to be significant. The
hypotheses for the positive relation between attitude and Consumer knowledge (H1) and Health
consciousness (H2) were accepted at a high level of significance (p<0.001). Both knowledge and
health consciousness positively affect the attitude towards organic food. The coefficient for
Environmental concern (H3) is negative (p<0.05) and thus the hypothesis (H3) that environmental
concern is positively related to attitude towards organic food is rejected. The R2 value refers to the
coefficient of determination and is a value between 0 and 1. It explains the variation in Y that can be
explained by the variation in the X’s. From the estimation of the model, the value of R2 was 0.410.
This shows the impact that the factors have on attitude. The factors together explained 41.0% of
attitude thus can be inferred that factors contribute main predictors of consumer attitude.
For the second regression (Table 4-10), a simple linear regression was used to determine the
relationship between purchase intention and attitude. Attitude was found to have a significant positive
impact on purchase intention thus hypothesis 4 was accepted. From the estimation of the model, the R2
was 0.250 implying that 25.0% of the intention to purchase organic fruits and vegetables is explained
by attitude. This means there are other variables that have an influence on purchase intention.
However an R2 of 25.0% means that attitude can be regarded as one of the main predictors of purchase
intention.
The beta values (the number next to the stars) indicate the individual contribution of each predictor to
the model (Field, 2009). The beta value shows the relationship between attitude and each factor. A
positive value reflects a positive relationship between the predictor and the outcome and a negative
value shows a negative relationship. Based on the results of this study, consumer knowledge and
health consciousness have a positive impact on attitude while environmental concern has a negative
impact.
The beta values also explain the degree to which each independent variable affects the dependent
variable if all other independent variables are kept constant. Among the factors influencing consumer
attitude towards organic fruits and vegetables, health consciousness had the highest impact with a beta
value of 0.572.
41
Lastly, each beta value has a corresponding standard error. As shown in Table 4-9 and Table 4-10, the
value within brackets next to the beta value is the standard error. According to Field (2009), the
standard error are used to determine whether or not the beta value differs significantly from zero.
Table 4-9 Results from multiple linear regression (n=200)
Dependent variable: Attitude
Variables Model
Beta coefficient Standard error
Consumer Knowledge1 0.520*** (0.079)
Health Consciousness2 0.572*** (0.095)
Environmental C3 -0.236* (0.101)
Constant 0.532 (0.341)
R-squared 0.410
Prob>F 0.000 ***p<0.001, **p<0.01, *p<0.05 1Scale from “1 = strongly disagree” to “5 = strongly agree” 2Scale from “1 = strongly disagree” to “5 = strongly agree” 3Scale from “1 = strongly disagree” to “5 = strongly agree”
Table 4-10 Results from simple linear regression (n=200)
Dependent variable: Purchase intention
Variables Model
Beta coefficient Standard error
Attitude4 0.458*** (0.056)
Constant 1.767 (0.221)
R-squared 0.250
Prob>F 0.000
***p<0.001, **p<0.01, *p<0.05 4 Scale from “1 = strongly disagree” to “5 = strongly agree”
42
CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION
Based on previous literature on the subject and reference to the results obtained from the regression,
this section presents a discussion of the attitudes of students towards organic fruits and vegetables in
Ghana followed by a discussion of the influence of the three factors on attitude. Next an analysis of
the relationship between attitude and purchase intention and concludes with the contributions,
limitations and multidisciplinary approach of the study.
5.1 Attitude
The likes and dislikes of individuals constitute their attitudes and consumer attitude tend to influence
the way people behave in a given situation. According to Tarkiainen & Sundqvist (2005) with regards
to behaviour of consumers, the more positive an attitude, the higher the intention to perform that
behavior. In this study, attitude was determined using three statements for which the mean was 3.8/5.
This shows that generally, the students think it is good, wise and important to buy organic fruits and
vegetables and thus can be concluded that they hold a positive attitude towards organic food.
5.2 Consumer knowledge
It was hypothesized that having more knowledge about organic fruits and vegetables results in a more
positive attitude towards organic produce. It can be established from the results that consumer
knowledge impacts attitudes towards organic fruits and vegetables meaning that a higher knowledge
about organic fruits and vegetables results in a more positive attitude towards organic food. Findings
from this research are consistent with similar studies that found a positive relationship between
consumer knowledge and attitude (Padel & Foster, 2005; Stobbelaar et al., 2007).
5.3 Health Consciousness
It was hypothesized that there is a positive relationship between health consciousness and attitude
towards organic fruits and vegetables among students. The co-efficient of health consciousness was
positively correlated with attitude (Table 4-9). This means that being more health conscious relates to
more positive attitude towards organic food. On average keeping all other independent variables
constant, a unit increase in health consciousness results in an increase in attitude by 0.572 thus this
hypothesis was accepted. It can be explained that students who pay attention to their health, are
concerned about their health and believe that organic food contains healthy ingredients are health
conscious and tend to have a positive attitude towards organic fruits and vegetables. This finding is
consistent with the study of Chen (2007) who found that there is a positive relationship between health
consciousness and attitude towards organic food.
43
5.4 Environmental concern
With regard to environmental concern, the hypothesis was that there is a positive relationship between
environmental concern and attitude of students towards organic fruits and vegetables. However, the
regression showed a significant negative relationship between environmental concern and attitude at a
5% level. These results indicate that being more concerned about the environment results in a more
negative attitude towards organic food. The co-efficient for environmental concern was -0.236 (Table
4-9). A unit increase in environmental concern keeping all independent variables constant, results in
declining attitude of students on average by 0.236. This hypothesis was therefore rejected. This
finding is contrary to the study of Zanoli & Naspetti (2002) who noted that environmental concerns
were strongly expressed in consuming fruits and vegetables. Other contrary results include that of
Wier & Calverley (2002) and Stobbelaar et al. (2007) who stated that adolescents and younger people
value environmental friendliness as an attribute when considering organic foods especially due to the
environmentally friendly production methods that are employed. Nonetheless, this study is in line with
the study of Vermeir & Verbeke (2006) who argued that though people may be involved in
environmental issues, they are largely passive in their role as consumer when it comes to supporting
environmental improvements with their available budget (Vermeir & Verbeke, 2006) thus
environmental concern does not necessarily translate into positive attitudes towards organic food
purchase.
5.5 Purchase intention
The results from the study revealed that there is a positive relationship between attitude and purchase
intention thus hypothesis 4 was accepted (Table 4-10). This implies that the more positive attitude
students have towards organic fruits and vegetables, the higher the likelihood of organic food
purchases. This finding is consistent with that of Saba & Messina (2003) and Chen (2009) who stated
that attitude and purchase intention consistently show a positive relationship. This result is also in line
with that of Thøgersen (2007) who mentioned that attitude is considered as a key predictor of intention
towards organic food purchases. This finding also supports the TPB theory that attitude is one factor
that determines purchase intention (Ajzen, 1991).
5.6 Contributions
This study contributes to literature in the area of organic food. This study contributes specifically to
current literature on consumer attitudes towards organic fruits and vegetables in Ghana. This study
found that health consciousness and consumer knowledge are two factors that influence attitudes of
students in Ghana. Although similar studies have been conducted in other countries and found similar
results, to the best of knowledge of the author, no previous study in Ghana have explored these results
of students towards organic fruits and vegetables. Additionally, this study provides Ghanaian
44
marketers in particular with a better understanding of how they can influence the attitude and purchase
intention of this target group.
5.7 Limitations of the study
There are some limitations of this study despite its contributions. First of all, this study was conducted
using only students from one University in Ghana hence the findings must be interpreted within this
frame. Also caution must be taken with respect to generalization because respondents were from just
one University and region so might not be accurate to generalize these finding for all students and
consumers in general. Secondly, WTP was deduced in a hypothetical way thus other methods which
are non-hypothetical such as experimental auctions should be used to confirm the WTP findings of
this study.
5.8 Multidisciplinary approach
Organic production presents several opportunities and benefits in the broader context of nutrition and
rural development. Several studies indicate that organic production is encouraged on the basis of
multiple benefits. It is argued to provide healthier food, improved environment, provides economic
impacts and contributes to the rural economy (Lobley et al., 2009; Smith & Marsden, 2004; Renting et
al., 2003).
According to Lobley et al. (2009), organic farming can contribute to rural development through
enhanced employment and closer networks with the local economy, reconnecting consumers and
producers and stimulating positive economic multiplier effects. Some studies have found that in
developing countries, certified organic agriculture is more beneficial than conventional agriculture,
due to the higher price farmers receive for their produce (Bolwig et al., 2009; Maertens & Swinnen,
2009). Again organic production is argued to be more beneficial and sustainable due to less input use
in comparison to conventional agriculture. As such farmers tend to earn more, there is increased
employment and adequate money is earned to feed their households. This has wider implications on
the nutrition of households and the potential to enhance food security. Organic production in addition
safeguards the health of farmers because organic farming reduces the exposure of farmers to harmful
chemicals thus contributes to a productive workforce, improves livelihoods and general wellbeing. All
these have multiplier effects on the family and the economy as a whole. All these benefits can only be
achieved if organic production increases and the idea is more embraced.
To achieve the benefits that organic production brings, the knowledge of its positive impacts must be
advocated. An understanding of the current state of affairs (awareness, knowledge, attitudes, etc) are
crucial to allow appropriate strategies to be designed to influence people in order to benefit from the
45
positive impacts of organic production. Findings from this study therefore contributes to
understanding consumer attitudes particularly of students towards organic fruits and vegetables.
46
CHAPTER SIX
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
6.1 Conclusion
The findings of the study revealed that although the objective knowledge of students were quite low,
in general, they are aware of the existence of organic fruits and vegetables and most of them hold
positive attitudes towards organic fruits and vegetables. The main factors that were found to influence
attitudes of students towards organic fruits and vegetables in Ghana were health consciousness and
consumer knowledge. It can therefore be inferred that the belief about health benefits of organic as
well as the positive experiences and knowledge one holds about organic, translates into a positive
attitude.
On the other hand, environmental concern was found to have a significant negative relationship with
attitude hence the conclusion that students do not regard highly environmental issues when choosing
organic fruits and vegetables.
Additionally, the results revealed a positive relationship between attitude and purchase intention and
can be concluded that Ghanaian students that have a positive attitude towards organic are likely to
purchase organic products.
It is worth noting that although on average students were willing to pay more for organic fruits and
vegetables (especially those employed and financially well-off), they also expected that organic fruits
and vegetables be labelled primarily to make it easy to distinguish between organic and conventional
ones.
Table 6-1 Hypothesis and results summary
Hypothesis Accepted/Rejected
H1: There is a positive relationship between knowledge and attitude
towards organic fruits and vegetables
Accepted
H2: There is a positive relationship between health consciousness and
attitude towards organic fruits and vegetables among students
Accepted
H3: There is a positive relationship between environmental concern and
attitude of students towards organic fruits and vegetables
Rejected
H4: There is a positive relationship between attitudes of students and their
intention to purchase organic fruits and vegetables
Accepted
47
6.2 Recommendations and further research
Based on the results of the study, the following recommendations are made:
Firstly, the outcome suggests that objective knowledge of students are quite low hence the need for
intensified awareness creation and education of the benefits of organic production.
Secondly, evidence from the study shows that there is indeed a market potential for organic in Ghana.
At the policy level, educational institutions can be mandated to increase dissemination of organic
knowledge at all levels of education. Additionally, policy makers can initiate steps to encourage
organic production so that it becomes part of the country’s national agricultural production.
Forinstance the Ministry of Food and Agriculture can be tasked to include organic knowledge in their
extension programs with farmers. These initiatives are key since increased knowledge is likely to have
multiplier effects due to the numerous benefits of organic production for rural development.
Furthermore, the present study serves as a form of recommendation and provides strategy for
marketers with regards to organic promotion in Ghana. With knowledge of factors that affect
consumer attitudes, advertisements can be well targeted for the various groups and market segments.
Marketers in Ghana can leverage on this information to forecast and design future strategies to attract
groups such as students considering that in a few years they will form a major consuming class with
high purchasing power.
Finally, policy action is needed for certification and enforcement of labels on organic products to help
consumers make well informed choices.
Given the key findings from the study, further research should explore the influence of other factors
on attitude and purchase intention, more regions and universities in Ghana should be considered to
broaden the scope of the study and allow for more generalization of the results. It will also be
interesting for future research to look at certification and labelling of organic food in the sub region.
48
REFERENCES
AdeOluwa, O. O. (2010). Organic agriculture and fair trade in West Africa. Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations, 223-246.
Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior, organizational behavior and human decision
processes, 50(2), 179-211.
Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1975). Belief, attitude, intention and behavior: An introduction to theory
and research.
Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1980). Understanding attitudes and predicting social behaviour. Prentice-
Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
Aertsens, J., Verbeke, W., Mondelaers, K., & Van Huylenbroeck, G. (2009). Personal determinants of
organic food consumption: A review. British Food Journal, 111(10), 1140-1167. Retrieved
from http://doi.org/10.1108/00070700910992961.
Aryal, K. P., Chaudhary, P., Pandit, S., & Sharma, G. (2009). Consumers’ willingness to pay for
organic products: A case from Kathmandu valley. Journal of Agriculture and Environment,
10, 15-26.
Basha, M. B., Mason, C., Shamsudin, M. F., Hussain, H. I., & Salem, M. A. (2015). Consumers’
attitude towards organic food. Procedia Economics and Finance, 31(15), 444–452. Retrieved
from http://doi.org/10.1016/S2212-5671(15)01219-8.
Bonti-Ankomah, S., & Yiridoe, E. K. (2006). Organic and conventional food: A literature review of
the economics of consumer perceptions and preferences. Organic Agriculture Centre of
Canada, 59, 1-40.
Bolwig, S., Gibbon, P., & Jones, S. (2009). The economics of smallholder organic contract farming in
tropical Africa. World Development, 37(6), 1094-1104.
Brucks, M. (1985). The effects of product class knowledge on information search behavior. Journal of
Consumer Research, 1-16.
Bryman, A., & Bell, E. (2007). Business research methods. Oxford University Press, USA.
Chen, M. F. (2007). Consumer attitudes and purchase intentions in relation to organic foods in
Taiwan: moderating effects of food-related personality traits. Food Quality and Preference,
18(7), 1008-1021.
Chen, M. (2009). Attitude toward organic foods among Taiwanese as related to health consciousness,
environmental attitudes, and the mediating effects of a healthy lifestyle. British Food Journal,
111(2), 165-178.
Chisnall, P. M. (1995). Consumer behaviour. 3rd edition. McGraw-Hill Book Company, England.
Conner, M., & Armitage, C. J. (1998). Extending the theory of planned behavior: A review and
avenues for further research. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 28(15), 1429-1464.
Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches, 3rd
ed., Thousand Oaks. Sage publications.
49
Dean, M., Raats, M. M., & Shepherd, R. (2008). Moral concerns and consumer choice of fresh and
processed organic Foods. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 38(8), 2088-2107.
Demeritt, L. (2002). All things organic 2002: A look at the organic consumer. The Hartman Group,
Bellevue, WA.
Dickieson, J., Arkus, V., & Wiertz, C. (2009). Factors that influence the purchase of organic food: A
study of consumer behaviour in the UK.
D’Monte, D. (2011). One man’s meat is simply another’s poison, Asian Conversation. Retrieved from
http://www.asianconversation.com/indiaNonVeg.php.
Dormann, C. F., Elith, J., Bacher, S., Buchmann, C., Carl, G., Carré, G., ... & Münkemüller, T. (2013).
Collinearity: A review of methods to deal with it and a simulation study evaluating their
performance. Ecography, 36(1), 27-46.
Essoussi, L. H., & Zahaf, M. (2008). Decision making process of community organic food consumers:
An exploratory study. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 25(2), 95-104.
Field, A. (2009). Discovering statistics using SPSS. London: Sage publications.
Flynn, B. B., Schroeder, R. G., & Sakakibara, S. (1994). A framework for quality management
research and an associated measurement instrument. Journal of Operations Management,
11(4), 339-366.
Freyer, B., Leitner, H., & Lindenthal, T. (2005). What will the next generation do when they succeed
their parents?. Researching Sustainable Systems, Adelaide.
Ghana Statistical Service (2014). Population & housing census: Summary report of final
results. Ghana Statistical Service, Accra.
Gil, J. M., Gracia, A., & Sanchez, M. (2000). Market segmentation and willingness to pay for organic
products in Spain. The International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 3(2), 207–
226. Retrieved from http://doi:10.1016/s1096-7508(01)00040-4
Gotschi, E., Vogel, S., & Lindenthal, T. (2007). High school students' attitudes and behaviour towards
organic products: Survey results from Vienna. University of Natural Resources and Applied
Life Sciences, Vienna.
Gracia, A., & De Magistris, T. (2007). Organic food product purchase behaviour: A pilot study for
urban consumers in the South of Italy. Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research, 5(4), 439–
451. Retrieved from http://doi.org/10.1300/J038v11n04_05
Gujarati, D. (2004). Basic Econometrics Fourth (4th) Edition. Magraw Hill Inc, New York.
Hill, H., & Lynchehaun, F. (2002). Organic milk: Attitudes and consumption patterns. British Food
Journal, 104(7), 526-542.
Hoefkens, C., Verbeke, W., Aertsens, J., Mondelaers, K., & Camp, J. V. (2009). The nutritional and
toxicological value of organic vegetables: Consumer perception versus scientific evidence.
British Food Journal, 111(10), 1062-1077.
Hogg, M., Askegaard, S., Bamossy, G., & Solomon, M. (2006). Consumer behaviour: A European
perspective, Harlow: Prentice Hall.
50
Hoogland, C. T., de Boer, J., & Boersema, J. J. (2007). Food and sustainability: Do consumers
recognize, understand and value on-package information on production standards?. Appetite,
49(1), 47-57.
Hughner, R. S., McDonagh, P., Prothero, A., Shultz, C. J., & Stanton, J. (2007). Who are organic food
consumers? A compilation and review of why people purchase organic food. Journal of
Consumer Behaviour, 6(2), 94-110.
IFOAM & FiBL. (2006). The world of organic agriculture. Statistics and emerging trends 2006.
International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), Bonn and Research
Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, Frick, 27–35.
IFOAM. (2004). Network building for lobbying in Africa. Compiled by Souleymane Bassoum, René
Tokannou and Nguji Mutura. IFOAM, Bonn.
Jolly, D. A., Schutz, H. G., Diaz-Knauf, K. V., & Johal, J. (1989). Organic foods: Consumer attitudes
and use. Food Technology, 43(11), 60-66.
Kalogeras, N., Valchovska, S., Baourakis, G., & Kalaitzis, P. (2009). Dutch consumers' willingness to
pay for organic olive oil. Journal of International Food & Agribusiness Marketing, 21(4),
286-311.
Keraita, B., & Drechsel, P. (2015). Consumer perceptions of fruit and vegetable quality:
Certification and other options for safeguarding public health in West Africa (Vol. 164).
IWMI.
Retrieved from http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Publications/Working_Papers/working/wor164.pdf
Kraft, F. B., & Goodell, P. W. (1993). Identifying the health conscious consumer. Journal of Health
Care Marketing, 13(3), 18-25.
Kutnohorska, O., & Tomšík, P. (2013). Consumers’ perception of the health aspects of organic food.
Agricultural Economics–Czech, 59, 293-299.
Kyriakopoulos, K., & Oude Ophuis, P. A. O. (1997). A pre-purchase model of consumer choice for
biological foodstuff. Journal of International Food & Agribusiness Marketing, 8(4), 37-53.
Lea, E., & Worsley, T. (2005). Australians’ organic food beliefs, demographics and values. British
Food Journal, 107(10), 855–869.
Lobley, M., Butler, A., & Reed, M. (2009). The contribution of organic farming to rural development:
An exploration of the socio-economic linkages of organic and non-organic farms in England.
Land Use Policy, 26(3), 723-735.
Lockie, S., Lyons, K., Lawrence, G., & Mummery, K. (2002). Eating ‘green’: Motivations behind
organic food consumption in Australia. Sociologia Ruralis, 42(1), 23-40.
Maertens, M., & Swinnen, J. F. (2009). Trade, standards, and poverty: Evidence from Senegal. World
Development, 37(1), 161-178.
Magkos, F., Arvaniti, F., & Zampelas, A. (2006). Organic food: Buying more safety or just peace of
mind? A critical review of the literature. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition,
46(1), 23-56.
Meier-Ploeger, A., & Woodward, L. (1999). Trends between countries. Ecology and Farming,
20(1), 15-15.
51
Michaelidou, N., & Hassan, L. M. (2008). The role of health consciousness, food safety concern and
ethical identity on attitudes and intentions towards organic food. International Journal of
Consumer Studies, 32(2), 163-170.
Michaelidou, N., & Hassan, L. M. (2010). Modeling the factors affecting rural consumers’ purchase of
organic and free-range produce: A case study of consumers’ from the Island of Arran in
Scotland, UK. Food Policy, 35(2), 130-139.
Nejad, L. M., Wertheim, E. H., & Greenwood, K. M. (2004). Predicting dieting behavior by using,
modifying, and extending the theory of planned behavior. Journal of Applied Social
Psychology, 34(10), 2099-2131.
Newsom, J. T., McFarland, B. H., Kaplan, M. S., Huguet, N., & Zani, B. (2005). The health
consciousness myth: implications of the near independence of major health behaviors in the
North American population. Social Science & Medicine, 60(2), 433-437.
Norman, J. C. (2007). Ghana at 50: Horticulture and national development. Ghana Journal of
Horticulture 6, 1–7.
Nouhoheflin, T., Coulibaly, O., Cherry, A. J., Al-Hassan, R. M., & Adegbola, P. Y. (2004).
Consumers' perceptions and willingness to pay for organic vegetable in Benin and Ghana. In
2004 Inaugural Symposium, December 6-8, 2004, Nairobi, Kenya (No. 9525). African
Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
Organic Farming Statistics. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.fibl.org/en/themes/organic-farming-
statistics.html
Osei-Asare, Y. B. (2009). Status of organic agriculture in Ghana: A survey of consumers, producers,
and marketers. Retrieved from
http://www.ifoam.org/about_ifoam/around_world/aosc_pages/Marketing_products.html.
Osei, S. A., Owusu, M., Pomaa-Yeboah, P., & Boateng, M. (2013). A study of student perception of
organic agriculture and organic foods. Ghanaian Journal of Animal Science, 7(2), 142-150.
Owusu, V., & Anifori, M. O. (2012). Assessing consumer willingness to pay a premium for organic
food product. Evidence from Ghana, 1–13
Padel, S., & Foster, C. (2005). Exploring the gap between attitudes and behaviour: Understanding why
consumers buy or do not buy organic food. British Food Journal, 107(8), 606–625.
Park, C. W., Mothersbaugh, D. L., & Feick, L. (1994). Consumer knowledge assessment. Journal of
Consumer Research, 21(1), 71-82.
Pieniak, Z., Aertsens, J., & Verbeke, W. (2010). Subjective and objective knowledge as determinants
of organic vegetables consumption. Food Quality and Preference, 21(6), 581-588.
Rao, A. R., & Bergen, M. E. (1992). Price premium variations as a consequence of buyers' lack of
information. Journal of Consumer Research, 19(3), 412-423.
Renting, H., Marsden, T. K., & Banks, J. (2003). Understanding alternative food networks: Exploring
the role of short food supply chains in rural development. Environment and Planning A, 35(3),
393-411.
52
Saba, A., & Messina, F. (2003). Attitudes towards organic foods and risk/benefit perception
associated with pesticides. Food Quality and Preference, 14(8), 637-645.
Sarstedt, M. & Mooi, E. A. (2014). A concise guide to market research. The process, data, and
methods using IBM SPSS Statistics. Berlin: Springer.
Schaefer, A. (1997). Consumer knowledge and country of origin effects. European Journal of
Marketing, 31(1), 56-72.
Schifferstein, H. N., & Ophuis, P. A. O. (1998). Health-related determinants of organic food
consumption in the Netherlands. Food quality and Preference, 9(3), 119-133.
Schleenbecker, R., & Hamm, U. (2013). Consumers’ perception of organic product characteristics. A
review. Appetite, 71, 420-429.
Shafie, F. A., & Rennie, D. (2012). Consumer perceptions towards organic food. Procedia-Social and
Behavioral Sciences, 49, 360-367.
Sheng, J., Shen, L., Qiao, Y., Yu, M., & Fan, B. (2009). Market trends and accreditation systems for
organic food in China. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 20(9), 396-401.
Smith, E., & Marsden, T. (2004). Exploring the ‘limits to growth’in UK organics: Beyond the
statistical image. Journal of Rural Studies, 20(3), 345-357.
Stobbelaar, D. J., Casimir, G., Borghuis, J., Marks, I., Meijer, L., & Zebeda, S. (2007). Adolescents’
attitudes towards organic food: a survey of 15- to 16-year old school children. International
Journal of Consumer Studies, 31(4), 349–356. Retrieved from http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1470-
6431.2006.00560.x
Stolz, H., Stolze, M., Hamm, U., Janssen, M., & Ruto, E. (2011). Consumer attitudes towards organic
versus conventional food with specific quality attributes. NJAS - Wageningen Journal of Life
Sciences, 58(3), 67–72. Retrieved from http://doi.org/10.1016/j.njas.2010.10.002.
Sullivan, P., & Heitmeyer, J. (2008). Looking at Gen Y shopping preferences and intentions:
Exploring the role of experience and apparel involvement. International Journal of Consumer
Studies, 32(3), 285-295.
Tarkiainen, A., & Sundqvist, S. (2005). Subjective norms, attitudes and intentions of Finnish
consumers in buying organic food. British Food Journal, 107(11), 808-822.
Thøgersen, J. (2007). Consumer decision making with regard to organic food products, in Vaz,
M.T.D.N., Vaz, P., Nijkamp, P. and Rastoin, J.L. (Eds), Transitional Food Production Facing
Sustainability: A European Challenge, Ashgate, Farnham.
Tsakiridou, E., Boutsouki, C., Zotos, Y., & Mattas, K. (2008). Attitudes and behaviour towards
organic products: an exploratory study. International Journal of Retail & Distribution
Management, 36(2), 158-175.
Tse, A. C. (2001). How much more are consumers willing to pay for a higher level of service? A
preliminary survey. Journal of Services Marketing, 15(1), 11-17.
Vega-Zamora, M., Manuel, P. R., Eva, M. M. A., & José, T. R. F. (2013). The influence of the term
‘organic’ on organic food purchasing behavior. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 81,
660-671.
53
Vanhonacker, F., & Verbeke, W. (2009). Buying higher welfare poultry products? Profiling Flemish
consumers who do and do not. Poultry Science, 88(12), 2702-2711.
Van Loo, E., V. Caputo, R. M. Nayga, J. Meullenet, P. G. Crandall, and S. C. Ricke. 2010. Effect of
organic poultry purchase frequency on consumer attitudes toward organic poultry meat.
Journal of Food Science, 75(7), S384-S397.
Van Loo, E. J., Diem, M. N. H., Pieniak, Z., & Verbeke, W. (2013). Consumer attitudes, knowledge,
and consumption of organic yogurt. Journal of Dairy Science, 96(4), 2118-2129.
Verbeke, W., Scholderer, J., & Lähteenmäki, L. (2009). Consumer appeal of nutrition and health
claims in three existing product concepts. Appetite, 52(3), 684-692.
Vermeir, I. & Verbeke, W. (2006). Sustainable food consumption: Exploring the consumer’s attitude-
behavioural intention gap. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 19(2), 542-553.
Vlosky, R. P., Ozanne, L. K., & Fontenot, R. J. (1999). A conceptual model of US consumer
willingness-to-pay for environmentally certified wood products. Journal of Consumer
Marketing, 16(2), 122-140.
Vukasovič, T. (2013). Attitude towards organic meat: An empirical investigation on West Balkans
Countries (WBC) consumers. World’s Poultry Science Journal, 69(3), 527–540. Retrieved
from http://doi.org/10.1017/s004393391300055x.
Vukasovič, T. (2016). Consumers’ perceptions and behaviors regarding organic fruits and
vegetables: Marketing trends for organic food in the twenty-first century. Journal of
International Food & Agribusiness Marketing, 28(1), 59–73. Retrieved from
http://doi.org/10.1080/08974438.2015.1006974.
Wandel, M., & Bugge, A. (1997). Environmental concern in consumer evaluation of food quality.
Food Quality and Preference, 8(1), 19-26.
Wier, M., & Calverley, C. (2002). Market potential for organic foods in Europe. British Food Journal,
104(1), 45-62.
Yang, H. Q., & Jie, Y. L. (2008). Recent development of organic farming in the world and the
development strategy of organic horticulture in China. Acta Horticulturae Sinica, 35(3), 447-
454.
Zagata, L. (2012). Consumers’ beliefs and behavioural intentions towards organic food. Evidence
from the Czech Republic. Appetite, 59(1), 81-89.
Zanoli, R., & Naspetti, S. (2002). Consumer motivations in the purchase of organic food: A
means-end approach. British Food Journal, 104(8), 643-653.
54
APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Questionnaire Dear participant,
Thank you for helping complete this survey. I am a master student of Ghent University, Belgium. The
purpose of this research is to understand consumer attitudes towards organic fruits and vegetables in
Ghana. The results will be analyzed and used as part of a master’s dissertation. I will be grateful if you
could provide me with the necessary information to make this research successful. It will take 15
minutes to complete.
The following guidelines are provided below to help you answer this questionnaire:
Each question will be preceded by a brief introduction. It is kindly recommended that you read
through carefully before answering the questions.
For most of the questions, a scale for instance from 1 to 5 will be given. Kindly take a look at
the scale before answering the question.
The questionnaire is anonymous and all information will be treated confidentially.
Part A: Personal information
1. What is your gender?
Male [ ] Female [ ]
2. Indicate your age by ticking one of the boxes
18-24 [ ] 25-30 [ ] 31-35 [ ] 36-40 [ ] 41-45 [ ] 46 & above [ ]
3. What is your level of study?
100 [ ] 200[ ] 300[ ] 400[ ] Other …………………..
4. What is your programme of study? …………………………………………..
5. What is your marital status?
Married [ ] Single [ ] Divorced [ ] Separated [ ] Widowed [ ]
6. What is your Nationality?
Ghanaian [ ] Other (specify)…………………………
7. What is your employment status?
Full-time paid work [ ] Part-time paid work [ ] Retired [ ] Student [ ] Unemployed [ ]
8. On a scale from 1 to 6, with 1-2 being “difficult”, 3-4“average”, and 5-6 being “well-off”, how
would you estimate the financial situation of your family?
Financial situation 1-2 3-4 5-6
[ ] [ ] [ ]
55
9. Who is generally responsible for the grocery shopping for your household?
I am the main person responsible [ ]
I am responsible together with someone else [ ]
Another person is responsible [ ]
Part B: Awareness and knowledge (objective/subjective) of organic fruits and vegetables
10. Have you ever heard of the term organic produce?
Yes [ ] No [ ]
11. What is your source of knowledge?
School [ ] Friends [ ] Home/Family [ ] Internet [ ] Other media [ ]
12. Indicate if the following statements about organic produce are true or false.
T F
Organic farmers may use synthetic pesticides [ ] [ ]
Organic farmers may use synthetic fertilizers [ ] [ ]
Organic farmers may use genetically modified seeds [ ] [ ]
Organic vegetables may be irradiated to improve conservation [ ] [ ]
13. For each of the following statements, please indicate your opinion by ticking a box
Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Disagree Agree
Compared with an average person, I know a
lot about organic fruits and vegetables
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
I know a lot about how to estimate the quality
of organic fruits and vegetables
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
People who know me consider me an expert in
the field of organic fruits and vegetables
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
14. Do you consume organic fruits and vegetables?
Yes [ ] No [ ]
15. How often do you eat the following products?
Never Seldom Often Nearly always
Fruits [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Vegetables [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
16. On 10 times that you buy the following food item, how often do you choose one that is
organic?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Fruits [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Vegetables [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
17. Where do you normally purchase organic fruits and vegetables?
Supermarket [ ] Farm/garden [ ] Market [ ] Street side [ ] Other……..
56
18. Please indicate how likely it is that you plan or desire to purchase organic fruits and vegetables.
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
agree
I am more likely to purchase organic fruits and
vegetables next time I go shopping
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
I intend to buy organic fruits and vegetables in
the near future
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Part C: Attitudes towards organic fruits and vegetables
19. What is your attitude towards organic fruits and vegetables?
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
agree
I think it is good to buy organic fruits and
vegetables
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
I think it is important to buy organic fruits and
vegetables
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
I think it is wise to buy organic fruits and
vegetables
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
20. What factors influence your attitude towards organic fruits and vegetables?
Health consciousness Strongly
disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
agree
I pay attention to my health [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
I believe organic food contains more natural
and healthy ingredients than conventional food
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Health is very important to me [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Environmental concern
I pay a lot of attention to the
environment
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Environmental aspect is very
important in my food choice
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
I believe that organic fruits and vegetables are
produced in a more environmentally friendly
manner than conventional ones
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Consumer knowledge
My knowledge about organic fruits and
vegetables is sufficient
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
In general, I hold a positive opinion about
organic food
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Price
Organic food is expensive [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
The price of organic food is very important to
me
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
I don’t mind paying more for organic food [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Trust
I have confidence in food producers when they
claim products are organic
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
I have trust in supermarkets when they [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
57
advertise products as organic
I have confidence when producers have
certification as organic
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Product related
Organic food is a marketing scam [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
I view organic food as a status symbol [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Status plays a role in my purchase of organic
food
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
I associate organic food with affluent lifestyle [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
I feel pressure from my friends or family to
purchase organic food
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
21. How would you evaluate the following aspects when comparing organic fruits and vegetables with
conventional ones? “Organic fruits and vegetables scores (worse/better) than conventional ones”.
Much worse Worse Same Better Much better
Healthiness [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Taste [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Price [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Safety [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Environmental friendliness [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Quality [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Availability [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Proximity [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
22. Will you be willing to pay more for organic fruits and vegetables?
Yes [ ] No [ ]
23. Assume a normal fruit and vegetable eg: pawpaw costs GH₵2. How much are you willing to pay
extra for an organic pawpaw?
0.00 [ ] 0.10-0.50 [ ] 0.60-1.00[ ] 1.10-1.50[ ] 1.60-2.00[ ] 2.00 & above [ ]
24. What are your expectations with regards to organic fruits and vegetables?
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
agree
Organic fruits and vegetables must bear an
organic label
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Consumers need more education to help
them decipher between organic and
conventional ones
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Thank you for completing the questionnaire