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Important Influencing and Decision Factors in Organic Food Purchasing in Hungary

Author

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  • Kinga Nagy-Pércsi

    (Institute of Regional Economics and Rural Development, Szent Istvan University, Pater Karoly st. 1, 2100 Godollo, Hungary)

  • Csaba Fogarassy

    (Climate Change Economics Research Centre, Szent Istvan University, Pater Karoly 1, 2100 Godollo, Hungary)

Abstract

Organic farming is one of the most developed and accepted production systems from the aspect of sustainability. In this study, the Hungarian organic market was segmented on the basis of attitude-relating motivations of organic food purchasing. A descriptive statistic was used for the whole sample, and factor and cluster analysis was applied to segment the organic consumers. A sample of 247 questionnaires was processed to investigate the behavior and characteristics of Hungarian organic food consumers. Our aim was to explore the Hungarian organic consumer market from the aspect of trust in labels, we would like to find answers to the questions “Which kind of information consumers check on the product?” and “What are the main influencing factors of purchase decisions?”. According to our research, the majority of organic food consumers say that color is not as important as taste or freshness, so they do not associate the color of the product with the freshness of the product. Based on the factor analysis, four clusters could be separated that show different shopping motives and differ in their attitude towards food shopping. We named these clusters: Health-conscious, Disappointed, Safe and free food eaters, and Quality-price comparators. Based on the recognized consumer segments, different information should be communicated to consumers so that they can use it in their consumer decisions. Our research suggests that branding or product labeling is not as important to organic food consumers as we previously thought.

Suggested Citation

  • Kinga Nagy-Pércsi & Csaba Fogarassy, 2019. "Important Influencing and Decision Factors in Organic Food Purchasing in Hungary," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-21, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:21:p:6075-:d:282385
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    Cited by:

    1. Yue Wu & Katalin Takács-György, 2022. "Comparison of Consuming Habits on Organic Food—Is It the Same? Hungary Versus China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-19, June.
    2. Julia Wojciechowska-Solis & Anetta Barska, 2021. "Exploring the Preferences of Consumers’ Organic Products in Aspects of Sustainable Consumption: The Case of the Polish Consumer," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-17, February.
    3. Manuela Vega-Zamora & Manuel Parras-Rosa & Francisco José Torres-Ruiz, 2020. "You Are What You Eat: The Relationship between Values and Organic Food Consumption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-13, May.
    4. Cristina Fleșeriu & Smaranda Adina Cosma & Vlad Bocăneț, 2020. "Values and Planned Behaviour of the Romanian Organic Food Consumer," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-21, February.
    5. Shahjahan Ali & Shahnaj Akter & Csaba Fogarassy, 2021. "Analysis of Circular Thinking in Consumer Purchase Intention to Buy Sustainable Waste-To-Value (WTV) Foods," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-14, May.
    6. József Tóth & Giuseppina Migliore & Giorgio Schifani & Giuseppina Rizzo, 2020. "Sustainable Value Creation in the Food Chain: A Consumer Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-12, February.
    7. Alberto Michele Felicetti & Antonio Palmiro Volpentesta & Roberto Linzalone & Salvatore Ammirato, 2023. "Information Behaviour of Food Consumers: A Systematic Literature Review and a Future Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-20, February.
    8. Shahnaj Akter & Shahjahan Ali & Mária Fekete-Farkas & Csaba Fogarassy & Zoltán Lakner, 2023. "Why Organic Food? Factors Influence the Organic Food Purchase Intension in an Emerging Country (Study from Northern Part of Bangladesh)," Resources, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-19, January.
    9. Iliriana Miftari & Rainer Haas & Oliver Meixner & Drini Imami & Ekrem Gjokaj, 2022. "Factors Influencing Consumer Attitudes towards Organic Food Products in a Transition Economy—Insights from Kosovo," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-14, May.
    10. Md. Nekmahmud & Maria Fekete-Farkas, 2020. "Why Not Green Marketing? Determinates of Consumers’ Intention to Green Purchase Decision in a New Developing Nation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-31, September.

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