m201602007 PDF

INTERCONTINENTAL JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH REVIEW
ISSN:2321-0346 - ONLINE ISSN:2347-1670 - PRINT -IMPACT FACTOR :1.590

VOLUME 4, ISSUE 2, FEBRUARY 2016
A STUDY ON THE CONSUMERS' BUYING BEHAVIOR

TOWARDS ORGANIC FOOD PRODUCTS IN THANJAVUR
DISTRICT
J.PADMATHY 1
1
2
R.SARASWATHY 2
Assistant Professor, AnnaiVailankanni Arts and Science College, Thanjavur.

Assistant Professor, AnnaiVailankanni Arts and Science College, Thanjavur.
ABSTRACT
The demand for organic products in Indian has been growing significantly for the past five years..
Consumers are willing to pay more for organic goods.. The increasing numbers of consumers who
prefer and are willing to buy these products are subjected to the buying process. Consumers have
different buying behaviours and these behaviours are constantly changing as a result of the
availability of best alternatives to choose from. Products are chosen for numerous reasons. Overall,
the buying process is extremely fast-paced today. Hence, the present study is conducted to explore the
extent of the impact of consumers buying behaviour towards the marketing of organic products in
Thanjavur District. The study investigates the relationship between variables that affect consumers
buying behaviour for organic products and identifies the price levels consumers prefer to pay for
organic products in the district. An attempt has also been made to examine the factors that affect the
organic products buying behaviours of the consumers. Convenience sampling method was used to
select 200 respondents living in the district and who make purchases for the products. The primary
data was collected from the respondents with the help of pre-tested structured opened and closedended questionnaires. In pursuance of the studys stated objectives, the formulated hypotheses were
subjected to regression and chi-square analyzes. The findings of the study reveal that there is
significant relationship between the variables which affects consumers buying behaviour for organic
products. Similarly, the factors affecting the consumers buying behaviour have major implications
on purchasing decisions.Green marketers can therefore understand, identify and design marketing mix
strategies to appeal to the preferences of the market segments for green products.
INTRODUCTION
Due to the increased importance of marketing to market success, firms continue to launch various
forms of green packaging prgrams through the introduction of recyclable and useful packages. Green
marketing is considered as one of the major trends in modern businesses (Kassaye, 2001). Today,
environmental or green marketing, a strategic marketing approach, is a recent focus in business
endeavours (Ottman, 1998). Consumers are therefore, becoming more sensitive in their environmental
attitudes, preferences, and purchases (Sarigll, 2009). The desire of consumers to purchase ecofriendly products and services is rising. Many are more aware of environmental issues and
consequently choose products that do not damage the environment over less environmentally friendly
products, even if they cost more. Firms today are faced with consumers who are environmentally
conscious when making a purchase.
Environmentally preferable products are sometimes more expensive to purchase than other
alternative products. Green consumers have been shown to be willing to pay a higher price for
environmentally friendly products (Larocheet al, 2001; Peattie, 2001), which is a huge opportunity for
companies as well as governments looking to make eco-friendly policy changes. Thus, the increasing
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number of consumers who prefer and are willing to buy eco-friendly products are creating opportunity
for businesses that are using eco-friendly or environmentally friendly as a component of their
value proposition. Businesses that offer products which are manufactured and designed with an
environmental marketing mix have a long term competitive advantage. A better understanding of
consumers buying behavior will allow businesses to acquire more market-applicable approach to
sustain in the competitive market.
Behavior has a strong influence in terms of consumer purchases. They are the main triggers in the
consumer purchasing process and alsoinfluence the perception of a product. This complicated process
enables businesses to attract new consumers and adapt their products or services according to their
needs and wants or change consumers behavior towards their products or services. Consumers tend
to reduce their impact on the environment by their purchasing decisions.
There are various factors that affect the buying-decision process of consumers. A number of
Researchers have identified many factors as influencing this process including; environmental
knowledge (Mostafa, 2006), perceived product price and quality (DSouza et al., 2007), companys
environmental reputation (Schwepker and Cornwell, 1991), environmental concerns (Phau and Ong,
2007) and credibility of environmental advertising (Thgersen J, 2000)
It has become very essential to know the factors that create the desire of consumers to purchase a
product. Hence, the present study contributes to the field by investigating and exploring the extent of
the impact of consumers buying behavior towards organic food products in Thanjavur districts.
LITERATURE REVIEW
According to Mostafa (2007), green purchase behavior refers to the consumption of products that
are benevolent or beneficial to the environment, recyclable or conservable and sensitive or responsive
to ecological concerns. Clem (2008) reveals that going green reflects a social consciousness around
saving and advancing the Earths natural resources, preserving and protecting them for the sake of
civilization. Consumers are becoming more and more aware of environmental issues and this has
increased the demand for ecological products.If consumers have a favourable attitude toward greening
environment, they are more inclined to purchase green products. The continuous awareness of
environmental problems may in turn change consumers attitudes and purchase intentions as well.
Consumer purchase intention has been an important concept in marketing literature. Previous
studies have exposed that consumer with intention to buy products exhibit higher actual buying rates
than those customers who demonstrate that they have no intention of buying (Brown, 2003).
Blackwell et al. (2001) also support this by indicating that purchase intentions represent what
consumers think they will buy. Furthermore, behavior towards a particular object is approximated by
an intention to perform that behavior (Malhotra and Mccort 2001). Thus, purchase intention positively
affects the probability of a customer decision that he will buy green products.
Environmental concerns play an important role on consumers intention to purchase green
products. Thus, environmental concerns are not the only factor for the consumers to purchase
environmentally friendly products. There are other factors that lead to the purchases.
Green consumers have been shown to be willing to pay a higher price for environmentally friendly
products (Larocheet al, 2001; Peattie, 2001). A high price of green product is an indicator of
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environmental performance, because less polluting products are more costly to produce (Mahenc,
2008). A study conducted by DSouza et al., (2006) contrary reported that generally,perception of
green products is negatively associated with customers intention to purchase them if they are of
higher prices and low quality in comparison to traditional products.
Green products quality is also a concerned factor for most consumers. Green consumers generally
trust on these brand and are not ready to compromise on quality. As there is an expectation on the part
of customers that all products offered should be environmentally safe without a need to sacrifice
quality, businesses must enhance green product quality as well as focus on environmental benefits of
a product, and share these aspects with customers in order to achieve the recognition in the market
(DSouza et al, 2006). Hence, these reveal that traditionalproduct characteristics such as brand name,
its price and quality are still the most important ones that consumers considered when making
purchasing decision (Ganet al, 2008).
Other studies have indicated that many consumers are unwilling to forgo essential product benefits
during their purchase decision. So therefore, green products must also perform competitively not only
according to environmental aspects, but also on the basis of other important product characteristics for
instance convenience or durability (Diamantopoulos et al, 2003).
Consumers choice for green products can be heavily influenced by the packaging too. Packaging
attributes can persuade consumers to purchase the product. According to Dantasetal., (2004),
packages and labels have only a fewseconds to make an impact on the consumers mind; during that
time, it must catch the consumers eye, and convince the shopper that it is the optimum option on the
shelf (Rowan, 2000).
Based on the review of literature, the following factors have been chosen for this study as factors that
affect consumers buyingbehaviors for green products
Price
Environmental concerns
Quality
Brandname
Convenience
Durability
Packaging
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The research objectives are
To find the relationship between the variables that affect consumers buying behaviors for organic
food products..
To examine the factors that affect consumers buying behaviors for organic food products.
To offwe valid sugggestion.valid suggestion to understand customer behaviour towards organic
food products.
HYPOTHESIS
Null Hypothesis:Consumers buying behavior has no relationship with purchase decisions of organic
food products.
Alternate Hypothesis:Consumers buying behavior has a relationship with purchase decisions of
organic food products.
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METHODOLOGY:
The Thanjavur District has Eight Sub Districts namely Thanjavur, Thiruvaiyaru,
Kumbakonam, papanasm, Thiruvidaimaruthur, Orathanadu, Pattukkottai and Peravurani.We treat as
clusters. Then we selected respondents randomly from each cluster on the basis of convenience.
Quantitative research was used in this research. In our study quantitative method refers to the survey
we implemented in the form of questionnaires, which are directed to ultimate consumers.
DATA COLLECTION
Data for our study is primarily collected through secondary researches, preliminary interviews
with the customers and a survey in a form of structured questionnaires. We have obtained 138
complete survey responses from individual customers. The questionnaires were distributed among
ultimate customers in eight sub district of Thanjavur District.175 surveys were distributed to organic
food products customers during the period of June 2016-September 2016. However; several
questionnaires were incomplete as many questions had been left unanswered. It happened mostly in
self-administered surveys. We used 138 questionnaires for analysis purpose.
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION:
It is observed that maximum number of respondents falls in the 30-40 categories. The highest
number of respondents fall in the 21-30 categories. Thus around 70% of the respondents are below 40
years of age and are relatively young.
.
Gender
No. of Respondents
Percentage
Male
Female
Total
Marital status
Single
Married
Separated
Widowed
Total
Qualification
SSLC
HSC
Graduation
Post-Graduation
Others
Total
Income
Less than 10000
10000-15000
15000-20000
20000-25000
Above 25000
Total
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90
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138
No. of Respondents
38
75
7
18
138
No. of Respondents
6
17
68
32
15
138
No. of Respondents
30
31
30
13
34
138
45
65.22
34.78
100
Percentage
28
54
5
13
100
Percentage
4
12
49
23
11
100
Percentage
20
22
23
9
25
100

Occupation
No. of Respondents
Percentage
Self-employed
20
14
Government employee
30
22
Quasi Government employee
19
14
Private employee
13
9
Professionals
38
28
Others
18
13
Total
138
100
The above table reveals that, 65.22% of the respondents are Male and 34.78% of the respondents are
Female. 28% of the respondents are single, 54% of the respondents are Married,5% are separated and
13% of the respondents are Widowed. 4% of the respondents belong to SSLC level, 12% of the
respondents belong to HSC level, 49% of the respondents belong to Graduation Level, 23% of the
respondents belong to the PG Level, and 11% of the respondents belong to the Other Qualification.
20% of the respondents belong to the Income level of less than10000, 22% of the respondents belong
to the Income level of 10000-15000, 23% of the respondents belong to the Income level of 1500020000, 9% of the respondents belong to the income level of 20000-25000 and 25% of the respondents
the Income level is above 25000. 28% of the respondents are professionals 22% of the respondents are
working in Government sector and Quasi Government employee and self-employed employees
occupy 14% and other employees and Private employee occupy 13% and 9% respectively.
TABLE SHOWING CHI-SQUARE OVERALL SUMMARY OF DEMOCRAPHIC
VARIABLES VS FACTORS AFFECTING BUYING BEHAVIOUR OF OGRANIC
PRODUCTS
S.NO Dimension
Ho
D.f
P
Level
of
value significance
1.
Gender Vs Factors
There is no significant 4
0.154 0.05
association
between
the
variables Gender vs Factors
determining Consumer Buying
Behaviour
2.
Income Vs Factors
0.013 0.05
association
between
the
variables Incomevs Factors
Behaviour
3.
Occupation
Vs There is no significant 4
0.252 0.05
Factors
association
between
the
variables
Occupation
vs
Factors determining Consumer
Buying Behaviour
4.
Age Vs Factors
0.868 0.05
association
between
the
variableAge
vs
Factors
Behaviour
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FOOD
Remarks
Ho accepted
Ho rejected
Ho accepted
Ho accepted

Hypothesis: there is no relationship between demographic factors and the various factors determining
consumer buying behaviour. It is clear that the p-value is more than 0.05 for 3 factor so (p<0.05), the
null hypothesis is accepted at 5 percent level of significance. But, there is relationship between
income and consumer behaviour.
TABLE SHOWING ONE WAY ANOVA OVERALL SUMMARY OF DEMOCRAPHIC
VARIABLES VS FACTORS AFFECTING BUYING BEHAVIOUR OF OGRANIC FOOD
PRODUCTS
S.n
o
1
Dimensions
Ho: Hypothesis
Category
Educational
qualification
Factors
There is no significant
association between the
variables Gender vs Factors
determining
Consumer
Buying Behaviour
Between
groups
With
in
groups
Total
There is no significant
association between the
variables Marital statusvs
Factors
determining
Consumer
Buying
Behaviour
Vs
Marital status Vs
Factors
Sum of
square
5.124
df
4
Mean
square
1.281
267.676
134
2.328
272.800
138
Between
groups
With
in
groups
3.449
0.862
269.351
134
2.342
Total
272.800
138
With
in
groups
Total
257.511
134
272.800
138
sig.
Result
0.55
0
0.699
Ho
Accepted
0.36
8
0.831
Ho
Accepted
2.239
Hypothesis: there is no relationship between Educational qualifications and marital statusvs the
factors determining consumer buying behaviour. It is clear that the p-value is more than 0.05 for the
above factor so (p<0.05), the null hypothesis is accepted at 5 percent level of significance.
FINDINGS:
65.22% of the respondents are Male and 34.78% of the respondents are Female .
28% of the respondents are single 54% of the respondents are Married 5% of the respondents
are separated and 13% of the respondents are widowed.
4% of the respondents belong to SSLC level, 12% of the respondents belong to HSC level,
49% of the respondents belong to Graduation Level, 23% of the respondents belong to the PG
Level, and 11% of the respondents belong to the Other Qualification.
14% of the respondents are self employed 22% of the respondents are working in the
government organization, 14% of the respondents are working in Quasi Government, 9% of
the respondents are working in private sectors ,25% of the respondents are professionals and
13% of the respondents are working in other sectors.
20% of the respondents belong to the Income level of 10000, 22% of the respondents belong
to the Income level of 10000-15000, 23% of the respondents belongs to the Income level of
15000-20000, 9% of the respondents belongs to the income level of 20000-25000 and 25% of
the respondents the Income level is above 25001.
There is no significant association between Gender and factors determining consumer
behaviour. towards organic food products.
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There is a significant association between Income and factors determining consumer

There is no significant association between Occupation and factors determining consumer
There is no significant association between Age and factors determining consumer behaviour.
towards organic food products.
There is no significant association between Educational qualification and factors determining
consumer behaviour. towards organic food products.
There is no significant association between Marital status and factors determining consumer
CONCLUSIONS:
This study was conducted to find out the relationship between the variables that affect consumers
buying behaviors for organic food products,inThanjavurDistrict.The results suggest that a large
number of consumers in the selected areas value the environment and have a typical buying behavior.
The consumers prefer organic food products for their survival. This indicates green product awareness
among consumers. As consumers are aware and concerned about the greenproducts, it creates an
opportunity for developing green marketing focusing on more consumers. Overall, this study clearly
identified a positive relationship between the variables or factors which affect consumers buying
behavior for green products. Consumers buying behavior acts as a predictor and have a direct
influence on the decision process when purchasing of organic food products. The results provide
reasonable support to all the hypothesized relationships.
It was also identified that while consumers have positive behavior towards purchasing organic
food products, when it comes to actual purchase, price, environmental concerns and quality are still
the key factors influencing their purchase decisions.
REFERENCES
1. Blackwell R D, Miniard R D and Engel P W (2001), Consumer Behavior, New York, Harcourt
College Publishers.
2. Brown M (2003), Buying or Browsing? An Exploration of Shopping Orientations and Online
Purchase Intention, EuropeanJournal of Marketing, Vol. 37, Nos. 11/12,pp. 1666-1684.
3. Dantas M I, Minim V P, Deliza R and Puschman R (2004), The Effect of Packaging on the
Perception of Minimally Processed Products, Journal ofInternational Food and Agribusiness
Marketing, Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 71-83.
4. Diamantopoulos A, Schlegelmilch B B, Sinkovics R R and Bohlen G M (2003), Can SocioDemographics Still Play a Role in Profiling Green Consumers? A Review of the Evidence and an
Empirical Investigation, Journal of BusinessResearch, Vol. 56, No. 2, pp. 465-80.
5. Diamantopoulos A, Schlegelmilch B B, Sinkovics R R and Bohlen G M (2003), Can SocioDemographics Still Play a Role in Profiling Green Consumers? A Review of the Evidence and an
Empirical Investigation, Journal of BusinessResearch, Vol. 56, No. 2, pp. 465-80
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48

6. DonaldR.Copper,and Pamela s.Schindler,(2006),Business Research Methods., Tata McGraw
Hill Edition.
7. C R Kothari., Research Methodology( 2008 ), New Age International Publishers
8. Donald R Cooper., and Pamela S Schindler.,(2006), Business Research Methods., Tata
McGraw Hill Edition.
9. Mahenc P (2008), Signalling the Environmental Performance of Polluting Products to Green
Consumers, International Journal of Industrial Organization, Vol. 26, pp. 5968.
10. Malhotra N K and McCort J D (2001), A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Behavioral Intention
Models: Theoretical Consideration and an Empirical Investigation, InternationalMarketing
Review, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 235-269
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INTERCONTINENTAL JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH REVIEW

ISSN:2321-0346 - ONLINE ISSN:2347-1670 - PRINT -IMPACT FACTOR :1.590

A STUDY ON THE CONSUMERS' BUYING BEHAVIOR

Assistant Professor, AnnaiVailankanni Arts and Science College, Thanjavur.

INTERCONTINENTAL JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH REVIEW

INTERCONTINENTAL JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH REVIEW

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

INTERCONTINENTAL JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH REVIEW

INTERCONTINENTAL JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH REVIEW

INTERCONTINENTAL JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH REVIEW

INTERCONTINENTAL JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH REVIEW

There is a significant association between Income and factors determining consumer

INTERCONTINENTAL JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH REVIEW

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