The impact of social trends: teenagers’ attitudes for organic food market in Thailand

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate teenagers’ preferences, attitudes, and purchasing power towards organic foods in markets and to explain influences of teenagers’ choices and purchasing intentions on organic foods. Design/methodology/approach - A paper-based and a web-based survey were conducted among 557 teenagers in Thailand. A choice experiment logit model was used to identify factors influencing decision in purchasing. Findings - The study found that teen consumers were likely to buy ready-to-cook organic food items instead of conventional food items because of health and food safety concerned under their budget constraints. The willingness to pay found organic food items (eggs, pork, chicken) had negative impact but organic opinion had positive impact. The attitudes on high price of organic food items were positive impact because of production process, quality, and quantity of products. Research limitations/implications - Teenagers’ consumption impacted on food demands in supermarkets and convenient stores because of their attitudes and behaviours in purchasing. The desired food characteristics should be good quality, safety for consumers, and available in the market nationwide. The supported policies for expanding organic markets were benefits for organic farmers to be sustainable farming. Originality/value - This study examined the impacts of economic conditions and the premium quality healthy food products on teenagers’ food motivation.