IJFSNPHT 2017 Volume 9 Issue 1

International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition, Public Health and Technology (IJFSNPHT) ISSN: 0975 – 8712

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Organic Food Consumption among Urban Consumers in Batticaloa District, Sri Lanka. Kirijini Selvarajah and Thivahary Geretharan. IJFSNPHT (2017), 9(1):1-6

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Title:

Organic Food Consumption among Urban Consumers in Batticaloa District, Sri Lanka

Authors & Affiliation:

Kirijini Selvarajah and Thivahary Geretharan

Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, Eastern University, Sri Lanka

kirijini@ymail.com, tgeretharan@yahoo.com

Abstract:

The trend of organic food consumption is expanding among people. There is a necessity to study what really persuades consumers to turn towards organic food. In this regards a study was conducted to identify the organic food consumption pattern among the consumers in three urban areas in Batticaloa district, Sri Lanka namely Manmunai North, Kattankudy and Eravur Town. The study also focused on the influential effect of consumer perception and consumer motivation related to organic food consumption and investigates the factors that limit the consumption of organic foods. The research was based on primary and secondary data sources. The study was conducted among randomly chosen hundred urban consumers in Batticaloa district. Individual interviews involving questionnaire survey were conducted in each urban council among the consumers at food purchasing places. The study employed descriptive statistics, coefficient of correlation and the regression to analyse the resulting data. The study predicts that organic food consumption has significant relationship with total knowledge, consumer perception, consumer motivation, product related factors, health consciousness, environmental consciousness, number of household members and monthly income. The prominent motivating factors to purchase organic foods include environmental concern, health concern, safety, product quality and trust. Conversely, trust, price, accessibility, assortment, shelf life, taste, and lack of time to look for organic food are the main factors that limit the consumption of organic foods in the study area.

Key words: consumer motivation, consumer perception, environmental consciousness, health consciousness, purchase intension