Organics in New Zealand: consumer perception and purchase behaviour of organic food

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of New Zealand consumer perception and purchase behaviour of organic food. Research in this area is of importance as the popularity of organic food has been increasing in New Zealand and many other countries. Many studies have investigated consumer perception of organic food in other countries, but there is limited literature available that is specific to New Zealand. Data was collected using a mixed method survey involving the mall-intercept technique and mail survey. A mall intercept survey of consumers was carried out in three locations around Christchurch, Canterbury, with a total of 97 respondents. 72 responses were obtained at the time of the mall intercepts. An additional 78 questionnaires with postage-paid return envelopes were given to consumers who did not have time to respond on the day, with 25 mail responses received. Descriptive (i.e. frequencies and averages) and inferential (i.e. one-way Anova and independent sample t-tests) statistics were used to analyse the data. This study contributes to knowledge about the perceptions and purchase behaviour of New Zealand consumers in regards to organic food. The most frequently bought organic food items are fruit/vegetables, followed by dairy and meat/eggs. The most important benefits of organic food perceived by New Zealand consumers were found to be health and well-being of current and future generations, animal welfare protection, no/minimal pesticides, no/minimal food additives and good taste. The biggest barrier to the purchase of organic food for New Zealand consumers was shown to be high price, followed by limited availability of organic food and limited choice/variety of organic food options. Except for gender, demographic factors were generally not found to have a statistically significant effect on consumer perception or purchase behaviour for organic food. The results of an independent sample T-test indicate a statistically significant relationship between gender and the importance placed on the attributes of more nutritious, health benefits, no/minimal fertilisers, no/minimal food additives and animal welfare protection. The means for these attributes suggested that they were significantly more important to women than to men. The only significant result to take note of for the effect of income would be for the attribute of biodiversity protection. The calculated means suggested that biodiversity protection was significantly less important to respondents with a high income. The attributes no/minimal pesticides and climate protection were significantly more important to the group of respondents with undergraduate degrees. The conclusions of this study indicate which attributes are the most important to consider in future research of the production of organic food for New Zealand consumers, and give an indication of the attributes that should be emphasised in the marketing of organic food in New Zealand. Key words: consumer perceptions, New Zealand, organic food, purchase behaviour