A Study on Customer Satisfaction and Preference Towards Organic Products

A Study on Customer Satisfaction and Preference Towards Organic Products

*Dr.L.Mythili

Associate Professor

Sri Ramakrishna College of Arts & Science for Women

INTRODUCTION

The term organic is rooted in bio from Greek bios meaning life or way of living. Organic food products, was first coined in the 1940s and refers to food raised, grown and stored and/or processed without the use of synthetically produced chemicals or fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, growth hormones and regulators or generic modification. (Essoussi & Zahaf, 2008). Roddy, Cowan and Hutchinson (1994) view organic food products as a product of organic farming.

Lampkin et al. (1999) thinks the term organic is best thought of as referring not to the type or inputs used, but to the concept of the farm as an organism, in which all the components of the soil, minerals, organic matter, micro-organisms, insects, plants, animals and humans interact to create a coherent, self-regulating and stable whole. Reliance on external inputs, whether chemical or organic, is reduced as far as possible.

Organic Farming is a certifiable farm management system with controls and traceability that is in harmony with the local environment using land husbandry techniques such as soil conservation measures, crop rotation and the application of agronomic, biological and manual methods instead of synthetic inputs. This is different from Traditional Farming, which is Often subsistence oriented using few or no purchased inputs.

        conventional or Intensive Farming utilizes Green revolution methods designed to maximize  profit often by extracting maximum output using external purchased inputs, especially mineral fertilizers and synthetic agro-chemicals and irrigation to support production.The demand for organic products in Indian has been growing significantly for the past five Yeats. 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 these 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 Coimbatore 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 50 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 closed-ended questionnaires. In pursuance of the study's stated objectives, the formulated hypotheses were subjected to regression and chi-square analyses.