Determinants of Organic Food Purchase: Evidence from Kamrup Metropolitan District, Assam

The paper aims to identify and examine the key factors influencing consumers’ actual purchase behaviour toward organic food products. It seeks to highlight the relative impact of cognitive, social, attitudinal, and market-related factors within a consumer behaviour framework. The study employs a quantitative research design using primary data collected from 400 consumers familiar with organic food products through a structured questionnaire. A multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the effects of knowledge, health, food safety, perceived price, subjective norms, trust, availability, quality, awareness, attitude, overall satisfaction, purchase intention, and word of mouth on actual purchase behaviour. The results reveal that purchase intention is the strongest and most significant predictor of actual purchase behaviour, followed by availability and perceived price. Quality shows a significant negative influence on actual purchase behaviour, suggesting caution when higher quality is perceived. Word of mouth exhibits a marginal effect, while knowledge, health concern, food safety, awareness, attitude, trust, subjective norms, and overall satisfaction do not significantly influence actual purchase behaviour. The study focuses on actual purchase behaviour rather than purchase intention, highlighting the gap between consumer perceptions and actual buying behaviour and emphasizing the importance of behavioural drivers in organic food consumption.