International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET)
Volume 10, Issue 01, January 2019, pp. 1331-1338, Article ID: IJMET_10_01_135
Available online at http://www.iaeme.com/ijmet/issues.asp?JType=IJMET&VType=10&IType=01
ISSN Print: 0976-6340 and ISSN Online: 0976-6359
© IAEME Publication
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AN ASSESSMENT OF CONSUMERS ATTITUDE
IN ORGANIC PRODUCTS USAGE PURPOSES
AND DOMINANT GROUPS
D Solomon Christopher*
Research Scholar, Department of Commerce,
Dr. M G R Educational and Research Institute, Chennai- 600095, Tamilnadu, India
C.B. Senthilkumar
Professor and Head, Department of Commerce,
Dr. M G R Educational and Research Institute, Chennai- 600095, Tamilnadu, India
S. Nallusamy
Professor and Dean, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Dr. M G R Educational and Research Institute, Chennai- 600095, Tamilnadu, India
*corresponding author
ABSTRACT
The aim of this research is to understand the consumer behavior, attitude and usage
purposes of organic products in their daily life. The researcher was adopted survey
method to collect responses from 100 organic product consumers residing in Chennai city
of Tamil Nadu. The empirical results indicate that nine dimensions of usage purposes of
organic products were explored and the entire organic product consumers covered in this
survey are significantly classified into two groups such as, high users and moderate users
based on their attitude towards organic products consumption. To conclude, consumers
are advised to use more organic products due to health concern, and environmental
concern.
Keywords: Organic Products, Usage Purposes, Health Consciousness, Eco-friendly and
Usage Groups
Cite this Article: D Solomon Christopher, C.B. Senthilkumar and S. Nallusamy, an
Assessment of Consumers Attitude in Organic Products Usage Purposes and Dominant
Groups, International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology, 10(01), 2019,
pp.1331–1338
http://www.iaeme.com/IJMET/issues.asp?JType=IJMET&VType=10&Type=01
1. INTRODUCTION
The demand for organic products in recent years is widely increasing due to socio-economic
enhancement and increase in health and eco-friendly awareness among the consumers. The
awareness and knowledge with respect to organic products usage is also gradually increasing
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D Solomon Christopher, C.B. Senthilkumar and S. Nallusamy
among the today’s consumer [1-5]. India is one of the predominant countries which exports more
organic products to other countries across the globe. Today’s consumers are become more
conscious with respect to health, environmental conservation, availability of products, safety,
chemical free, consumer attitude and environmental non-degradation in this digital world [6-10].
Still there is need for the organic products marketers to understand the market and consumers to
survive in this versatile marketing environment. Furthermore, still there is a need for the
consumers to get exposure about the benefits and uses of organic products in their day-to-day
lives [11-16].
2. LITERATURE SURVEY
An attempt was made to explore the determinants of consumer behaviour towards organic food
among Swedish consumers. The researcher has adopted survey method by employing structured
questionnaire to gather the responses and opinions from the Swedish organic consumers. The
result indicates that perceived likelihood organic food purchases, environment, health,
transportation and easy recycling aspects have significant impact on the on the consumer
behaviour towards organic food purchase [17, 18].
Primary survey was conducted to understand the consumer preference towards the organic
products in Tiruchirappalli Corporation of Tamil Nadu. The researcher adopted descriptive
research design to conduct this empirical marketing research. The results show that enhancement
in the awareness of health concern and environmental concern the consumers prefer the organic
products and the researchers also concluded that the promotional activities for organic products
are plays an imperative role in inducing the purchase intention of the consumers [19, 20].
Farah Ayuni Shafie and Denise Rennie have studied the consumer perception towards organic
foods consumption. The researchers explored the perception of consumers with regard to food
safety, human health and environmental concern, nutrition value, taste, freshness and packaging
have significant influence towards the organic food preference among Malaysian consumers [21].
Suganya and Aravinth have studied consumer preference towards organic food products with the
price variations. The result indicates that consumers have higher awareness and usage with
respect to organic food products whereas; the income and likelihood of people have significant
differentiation in their perception towards organic food consumption in Tamil Nadu [22].
Sangeetha carried an exploratory research to examine the consumer preference towards
organic products in Tirupur district of Tamil Nadu. The researcher found that, health, nutrition,
eco-friendly concern is the major influencers of consumer preference towards organic products.
Further the researcher explored that packaging is the one of the important vital promotional
attribute determining the purchase decision of the consumers [23].
3. OBJECTIVES AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
The main objective of the research is
• To study the demographic profile and usage purpose of the organic products among
consumers.
• To identify the factors of consumer attitude towards organic products purchase
intention
• To explore the types of organic product consumers based on their attitude and
preference.
• This present study is covered only the organic product consumers in Chennai city of
Tamil Nadu.
• To examined the attitude and preference of consumers on organic products
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An Assessment of Consumers Attitude in Organic Products Usage Purposes and Dominant Groups
•
This marketing research was restricted its sample size to 100 due to time and cost
constraint.
4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This study is empirical and exploratory in nature. Primary data were collected with the help of a
well-designed structured questionnaire from 100 organic product consumers residing in Chennai
city using convenient sampling method. The attitude and preference towards organic product
variables were measured using 5-point Likert scale. To check the reliability of scale, Cronbach's
Alpha reliability co-efficient was used. The value being 0.800, scale is more consistent and highly
reliable.
5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The data collected were subject to analysis using SPSS version 16.0 and the tools such as,
percentage analysis, factor analysis, cluster analysis and discriminant analysis has been applied
to draw meaningful answers to research objectives of the study. The percentage analysis has been
applied to understand the demographic profiles of the consumers and the results are tabulated in
Table 1.
Table 1 Demographic Profile of Consumers
Demographic Profile (N = 100)
Age (D1)
15 to 25 Years
26 to 35 Years
36 to 45 Years
Above 45 Years
Gender (D2)
Female
Male
Educational Qualification (D3)
School Level
Graduate
Post – Graduate
Professional and Others
Occupation (D4)
Self Employed
Govt. Employee
House Wife
Private Employee
Family Monthly Income Level (D5)
Below Rs. 20,000
Rs.20,001 – Rs.40,000
Rs.40,001 – Rs.60,000
Above Rs.60,001
Marital Status (D8)
Married
Un Married
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Percentage
74
16
7
3
61
39
2
17
67
14
8
10
5
77
62
24
10
4
19
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D Solomon Christopher, C.B. Senthilkumar and S. Nallusamy
Table 2 Consumer’s Usage Purpose of Organic Products
Usage Purpose of Organic Products (N = 100)
Frequency
Which kind of organic product you prefer regularly (OD1)
Fruits & Vegetables
33
Provisions
29
Dairy Products
38
From whom do you come to know about organic products (OD2)
Family
71
Friends
17
Social media
12
How often do you buy Organic Products (OD3)
Once in a Week
33
Once in a Month
35
Rarely
32
The reason why you prefer organic products (OD5)
Price
6
Quality
23
Health
58
Environment Friendly
13
Your mode of purchase (OD6)
Online Store
4
In-store
60
Apps
1
Multiple-shops
35
Table 3 Consumer Reference Organic Products
Organic Products Consumer Reference (N = 100)
Percent
Consumers suggest organic products to others
Yes
94
No
6
They ensure that the buying products are really organic or not
Yes
50
No
50
Cost incurred in buying an organic product offers maximum level of satisfaction
Yes
63
No
37
Consumers sure that organic products are chemical free
Yes
52
No
48
Consumers ensure that organic products (Fruits and Vegetables) are free from pesticides
Yes
54
No
46
Table 1 shows that majority of the respondents are female (61%), aged between 15 to 25 years
(74%), post graduates (67%) and singles (81%). Majority of the respondents are working in
private organizations (77%) and earning below Rs. 20,000 (62%) as monthly family income.
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An Assessment of Consumers Attitude in Organic Products Usage Purposes and Dominant Groups
Table 2 indicates that majority of the respondents are came to know about organic products from
family members (71%), prefers organic products for health (58%) reason and they are buying the
products in stores (60%). Sizeable portion of the respondents are diary organic products (38%),
once in a month (35%). Table 3 indicates that majority of the respondents are suggest organic
products to others (94%), ensuring that they are buying organic products in every month (50%)
to increase their satisfaction towards organic products usage purpose (63%). Majority of the
organic product consumers prefers products which are chemical free (52%) and free from
pesticides (54%).
Table 4 Factor Analysis and Reliability Statistics
Variance
Dimensions of Organic Product
No. of Items
Mean (SD)
Preference
(Eigen Value)
Health Consciousness
4
15.39 (2.944)
11.255 (4.721)
Eco-Friendly
3
11.93 (2.396)
9.733 (2.078)
Price
3
10.46 (2.480)
9.292 (1.843)
Environmental Conservation
2
7.12 (1.552)
7.384 (1.586)
Availability of Products
2
6.45 (1.956)
7.287 (1.472)
Safety
3
9.98 (2.256)
7.011 (1.253)
Chemical Free
3
11.45 (1.940)
6.731 (1.222)
Consumer Attitude
2
7.63 (1.509)
6.401 (1.157)
Environmental Non1
3.48 (1.068)
5.994 (1.019)
Degradation
KMO and Bartlett's Test
Total Variance Explained
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling
Adequacy Value = 0.662
Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings
(Bartlett's Test of Sphericity
Approx. Chi71.089% of nine dominant groups
Square 675.075; df = 253; Sig.0.000)
Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's Alpha Value = 0.660 of the 23 items
Table 4 indicates that the factor analysis has been applied to 23 consumer perception towards
organic products preference items to understand the underlying dominant dimensions in them.
The extraction methods of PCA and rotated component method of Varimax with KMO have been
applied for this study and it present table 3. Consequently, the result indicates reliability statistics
of Cronbach's Alpha Value = 0.660 for the 23 consumer perception towards organic products
preference items validity is good as per the recommend range 0.5 above. The result shows that
the lower standard deviation values, the mean values of the consumer perception towards organic
products preference variables are the robust measures of them. The KMO value of 0.662 (nearer
to 1) it indicates that the factor reduction process has been applied to 23 variables. That 23
consumer perception towards organic product variables has been grouped into nine independent
dominant dimensions which explain total 71.089% of variance in them. The most dominant factor
1 is health consciousness factor explains 11.255% variance with 4.721 Eigen value and it contains
4 items.
The second dominant factor is Eco-Friendly factor 9.733% of variance with 2.078 Eigen value
and it contains 3 items. The third dominant factor is Price factor which explains 9.292% of
variance with 1.843 Eigen value and it contains 3 items. The fourth factor is environmental
conservation factor which explains 7.384% of variance with 1.586 Eigen value and it contains 2
items. The fifth factor is availability of products factor which explains 7.287% of variance with
1.472 Eigen value and it contains 2 items. The sixth factor is Safety factor which explains 7.011%
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D Solomon Christopher, C.B. Senthilkumar and S. Nallusamy
of variance with 1.253 Eigen value and it contains 3 items. The seventh factor is chemical free
factor which explains 6.731% of variance 1.222 Eigen value and it contains 3 items. The eighth
factor is Consumer Attitude which explains 6.401% of variance with 1.157 Eigen value and the
last ninth factor is environmental non-degradation which explains 5.994% of variance with 1.019
Eigen value. Furthermore, it concludes the nine independent factors have been extracted out of
23 items of consumer perception towards organic products preference which the health
consciousness is most dominant factor, followed by eco-friendly, price environmental
conservation, and availability of products, safety, chemical free, consumer attitude and
environmental non-degradation.
6. CLASSIFICATION OF ORGANIC PRODUCT CONSUMERS
Cluster and Discriminant analysis has been applied to classify the consumers based on the attitude
dimensions with respect to their perception on organic products purchase and the results are
tabulated in Table 5. Table 5 shows that all the 100 organic consumers are significantly classified
into two different cluster groups such as, high users and moderate users based the seven
independent factors extracted out of 23 attitudes towards organic products variable. The results
clearly shows that health consciousness is most dominant discriminating factor, followed by ecofriendly, price, environmental conservation, availability of products, safety, chemical free,
consumer attitude and environmental non-degradation in their order of differentiation and
dominance. Further, the discriminant analysis result proves that such classification is 96%
correct.
Table 5 Classification of Organic Product Consumers
High Moderate Tests of Equality of Group
Users
Means
Discriminant Discriminant Users
Variables
Coefficient
Loadings
Mean
Mean
Wilks'
F-Value Sig.
Lambda
(SD)
(SD)
16.81
12.97
Health Consciousness
.690
.301
.600
65.329 .000
(2.062) (2.640)
12.92
10.24
Eco-Friendly
.386
.190
.706
40.794 .000
(1.619) (2.576)
11.44
8.78
Price
.515
.242
.729
36.436 .000
(1.803) (2.594)
7.22
6.95
Environmental
-.035
-.022
.993
.736
.393
Conservation
(1.650) (1.373)
6.81
5.84
Availability of
.300
.157
.942
6.046 .016
Products
(1.900) (1.922)
10.21
9.59
Safety
-.245
-.109
.983
1.726 .192
(2.391) (1.978)
12.17
10.22
Chemical Free
.358
.210
.760
30.920 .000
(1.519) (1.974)
7.97
7.05
Consumer Attitude
.011
.007
.914
9.276 .003
(1.344) (1.615)
3.48
3.49
Environmental Non-.330
-.307
1.000
.002
.963
Degradation
(1.148)
(.932)
(Wilks Lamba = 0.347; Chi-square = 98.936, df = 9, Sig. = 0.000)
Classification Results a,c
Cluster Number of Case
Predicted Group Membership
Total
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An Assessment of Consumers Attitude in Organic Products Usage Purposes and Dominant Groups
Count
Original
%
High Users
Moderate Users
High Users
Moderate Users
High Users
59
0
93.7
.0
Moderate Users
4
37
6.3
100.0
63
37
100.0
100.0
7. SUGGESTIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
•
•
•
•
•
•
The consumers are advised to use more organic products due to health concern,
normative concern and environmental concern in their day-day-life.
The consumers are suggested to prefer organic products through physical mode or
purchase rather, online mode of purchase to reduce the cost of the product.
The consumers are requested to purchase organic products which benefit the farmers
and also contribute to the growth of the agriculture economy.
The advertisers of organic products are suggested to nurture more promotional
strategies to reach the prospective consumers.
The manufacturers are advised to focus the moderate users in order to increase their
consumption pattern from moderate to high which benefits the farmers of the country.
The organic product consumers should gain awareness through different sources
before making their purchase decision on other products..
8. CONCLUSIONS
This consumer behavioral research was conducted to examine the attitude of organic consumers
residing in Chennai city of Tamil Nadu. The empirical results indicate that consumers are
classified into two dominant groups such as, high organic product users and moderate organic
product users. Further, the empirical findings support that the predominant dimensions such as,
health consciousness, eco-friendly, price, environmental conservation, availability of products,
safety, chemical free, consumer preference and environmental non-degradation are attitude of
consumers towards organic products purchase intention. Finally, the consumers are advised to
use more organic products due to health concern, normative concern and environmental concern
in their day-day-life.
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