Consumer Behaviour Towards Organic Food Consumption in Hong Kong

Consumer behaviour towards Organic Food Consumption in Hong Kong: An Empirical Study

BY

Lau Kwan Yi 06011446 Marketing Option

An Honours Degree Project Submitted to the School of Business in Partial Fulfillment of the Graduation Requirement for the Degree of Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours)

Hong Kong Baptist University Hong Kong

April 2009

AcknowledgementI would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge those who helped me in completing my honours project. To begin with, I would like to express my whole-hearted gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. David Ko, for his unfailing guidance and support. He has provided me with a lot of valuable advices and insightful feedback in the research process, so that I can complete this study smoothly. Secondly, I would like to thanks the Hong Kong Organic Centre, especially Miss Claudia Tsui, for their generosity and kindness in supplying me with precious information. Thanks must also be given to my friends for their kind support and help. Most importantly, I am indebted to my beloved family for their love and care.

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AbstractWith the recent rise of concern in food safety and environmental protection, the organic food market in Hong Kong expands rapidly. Being free of chemical fertilizers, patricides and preservatives, organic food represent a type of food that can free people from the threat of food poisoning or any other harmful effects arising from excess or illegal uses of harmful chemical in food. The organic industry is considered new to Hong Kong, and there has not been any legal regulation on certifying standard of self-claimed organic food. In view of the imbalance between a rising need for organic food and little regulated organic certification system, this research attempts to investigate on the consumption of organic food in Hong Kong. Through examining the demographic characteristics of general public, attitude towards organic food, health consciousness, environmental concerns and organic food knowledge, the study aims to identify associations between all these factors and the frequency in organic food consumption. For research design, both exploratory and descriptive researches were conducted in this study. Concerning methodology, the quota sampling method was adopted with the sample size of 330. To analyze the collected data, the statistical analysis of Statistical Package for Social Science was applied. Findings show that gender and presence of children in household have significant relationship with the organic food consumption. Positive relationships of attitude, health consciousness, environmental concerns and organic food knowledge with the frequency of organic food consumption are proved. Surprisingly, age, education and income are found not related positively to consumption of organic food. Recommendations are then provided based on the findings. Marketing strategies can be formulated by targeting in groups of customers which have a higher consumption potential. The supply and production volume can be increased, so as to lower the selling price of organic food to a more competitive level which is not more than above conventional food price level. Distribution channels of organic food can be increased with supermarkets, health food stores and market as main development distribution network to match with consumers shopping behaviour. Larger quantity and larger variety of organic food can be obtained by local and over-border sourcing to broaden consumer base. A system of organic food certification can be introduced to aid identification of real organic products. Education should be blended well into marketing mix and be carried out in the aspect of health, environmental and organic knowledge to boost the special competitiveness in health maintenance, environmental protection and in rearing a more favourable attitude towards organic food.Page ii

Table of Contents

Acknowledgement .........................................................................................................i Abstract.........................................................................................................................ii 1. Introduction..............................................................................................................1 1.1 Background ....................................................................................................1 1.2 Definition of Organic Food ...........................................................................1 1.3 Purpose of Research ......................................................................................2 1.4 Organic Food Consumption in Hong Kong.................................................3 1.5 Research Objectives.......................................................................................4 2. Literature Review ....................................................................................................4 2.1 Variables Influencing Consumption of Organic Food................................4 2.1.1 Demographic Factors..........................................................................5 2.1.2 Attitude.................................................................................................6 2.1.3 Health Consciousness..........................................................................7 2.1.4 Environmental Concerns....................................................................7 2.1.5 Organic Food Knowledge...................................................................8 2.2 Proposed Framework and Hypotheses ........................................................8 3. Methodology ...........................................................................................................10 3.1 Research Design ...........................................................................................10 3.2 Sampling Plan and Sample Size ................................................................. 11 3.3 Questionnaire Design...................................................................................12 3.4 Data Analysis ................................................................................................13 4. Analysis and Findings ............................................................................................14 4.1 Demographics...............................................................................................14 4.2 Nutrient Content Usage Pattern .................................................................16 4.3 Attitudes towards Organic Food.................................................................17 4.3.1 General Attitudes towards Organic Food.......................................17 4.3.2 Relationship between Attitudes and Age Group ............................18 4.3.3 Relationship between Attitudes and Gender ..................................20 4.3.4 Relationship between Attitudes and Education Level ...................20 4.3.5 Relationship between Attitudes of Income .....................................21 4.3.6 Relationship between Attitudes of Presence of Children in household ....................................................................................................24 4.4 Health Consciousness...................................................................................24 4.5 Environmental Concerns.............................................................................25 4.6 Organic Food Knowledge............................................................................26 4.7 Variables Affecting Frequency of Organic Food Consumption...............27Page iii

4.7.1 Relationship between Frequency and Age ......................................27 4.7.2 Relationship between Frequency and Gender ...............................28 4.7.3 Relationship between Frequency and Education Level ................29 4.7.4 Relationship between Frequency and Income................................30 4.7.5 Relationship between Frequency and Presence of Children in Household ...................................................................................................33 4.7.6 Relationship between Frequency and Attitude ..............................34 4.7.7 Relationship between Frequency and Health Consciousness .......34 4.7.8 Relationship between Frequency and Environmental Concerns .35 4.7.9 Relationship between Frequency and Organic Food Knowledge.35 5. Discussion................................................................................................................36 6. Recommendations ..................................................................................................39 6.1 Strategies based on Demographics .............................................................39 6.2 Strategies based on Consumption Pattern.................................................39 6.3 Strategies based on Attitude towards Organic Food ................................40 6.3.1 Coping with limited availability, variety and selling locations .....40 6.3.2 Coping with difficulty in identifying real organic food and confusing labels ..........................................................................................41 6.4 Strategies based on Health Consciousness.................................................41 6.5 Strategies based on Environmental Concerns...........................................42 6.6 Strategies based on Organic Knowledge....................................................42 7. Limitations and Further Research .......................................................................43 8. Conclusion ..........................................................................................................44 References ...................................................................................................................45 Appendices.................................................................................................................A1

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1. Introduction1.1 Background Food consumption patterns are rapidly changing nowadays as a result of environmental issues, concern about the nutritional value of food and health issues. Issues such as quality and safety in food attract consumer interest in organic food that is free from pesticides and chemical residues (Childs and Polyzees, 1997; Zotos et al., 1999; Baltas, 2001; Fotopoulos and Krystallis, 2002). Although the concept of "organic food" seems to be well known to many consumers (Roddy et al., 1996; Von Alvensleben, 1998), the proportion of consumers who purchase organic foods on a regular basis is low (Grunert, 1993; Wandel and Bugge, 1997; Roddy et al., 1996; Fotopoulos and Krystallis, 2002). To better protect consumers from harmful and fake organic food, knowing the factors affecting consumers consumption of organic products is therefore important. Through investigation, the profile of buyers and non-buyers of organic products can be figured out. This can be very critical for designing organic food labeling certification, improving public health and enhancing the profitability of the food industry (Drichoutis et al., 2005). 1.2 Definition of Organic Food There is no common definition of organic due to the fact that different countries have different standard for products to be certified organic. In simplest words, organicPage 1

foods are minimally processed to maintain the integrity of the food without artificial ingredients, preservatives or irradiation. Organic products are obtained by processes friendly to the environment, by cultivation techniques that consider both the attributes of the final product and the production methods (Chinnici et al., 2002). Generally speaking, Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation (United States Department of Agriculture National Organic Program, 2000). More than that, "organic" is not only a set of harmless agricultural production technique, its ultimate meaning behind is to respect the nature and life, pay attention to the conservation of the ecology to enhance environmental quality for future generations. 1.3 Purpose of Research With rising concern of health issues and food safety, many consumers have turned their site to organic products (Laroche et al., 2001). The increased consumers' interest in organic food has been attributed among others to the growing demand for food free from pesticides and chemical residues (Childs and Polyzees, 1997; Zotos et al., 1999; Baltas, 2001; Fotopoulos and Krystallis, 2002).

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Organic food promotes a balance of human, other living organisms and the nature. It also promotes no artificial preservatives and best maintain the originality of food. This prevents excess use harmful ingredients and thereby ensures health. The aim of the study is to gain knowledge about Hong Kong consumers' demographic characteristics, attitudes, health consciousness, environmental concerns, organic food knowledge and behaviour towards organic foods. From the research, the attitudes and purchase behaviour of organic food will be assessed. It will give organic food marketers a direction to improve the marketing strategies of their products. If organic food is consumed by more consumers, society can greatly benefit from a public and global health perspective (Wang et al., 1995). This results in a favourable situation benefiting the consumers, manufacturers as well as the whole society. 1.4 Organic Food Consumption in Hong Kong Following the worldwide trend, Hong Kong residents are becoming increasingly health conscious and tend to consume healthier and more nutritious. In a public opinion survey on customer behaviour (Hong Kong Organic Resource Centre, 2008), 90% of respondents have consumed organic products, showing a 30% increase while compared to a similar research done by the same organization in 2005. Demand for organic products for Hong Kong consumers is rising speedily. There are many researchers investigated the consumers attitudes towards organicPage 3

food but most of the empirical works on organic food are related to western regions like Canada (Barbara, 2008), America and Europe Makatouni, 2002; Verdurme et al., 2002, Baker et al., 2004; Zanoli and Naspetti, 2002). However, there is an inadequate study that focuses on the consumer behaviour in Hong Kong. To redress the imbalance, this study attempts to investigate consumer behaviour of organic food in Hong Kong. 1.5 Research Objectives The research objectives are summarized as follows: i. ii. iii. To figure out the consumption pattern of Hong Kong people for organic food. To find out the attitudes towards organic food of the general public. To find out the demographic characteristics, attitude, health consciousness, environmental concerns and organic knowledge level in relation to the frequency of organic food consumption. iv. To provide recommendations for marketers on how to improve the organic claims and formulate relevant strategies to attract potential consumers. In this paper, the term buyers will be used to refer for those who always, often or sometimes buy organic products, while non-buyers refer for those who never buy organic products.

2. Literature Review2.1 Variables Influencing Consumption of Organic FoodPage 4

A review of the literature on organic food consumption shows that several attempts have been made to examine consumers' perception of organic food, factors that have facilitated or prevented the organic food choice, consumers' attitudes, as well as reasons for purchase or non-purchase in many foreign countries. 2.1.1 Demographic Factors In particular, organic food buyers tend to be younger than non-buyers (Jolly, 1991). Age seems also to affect consumer attitudes towards organic food. Young people are more environmentally conscious but less willing to pay more due to their lower purchasing power, whereas older people are more health conscious and more willing to pay an extra price for organic food (Wandel and Bugge, 1997; Thompson and Kidwell, 1998; Von Alvensleben, 1998; Fotopoulos and Krystallis, 2002). Women seem to be more interested in organics than men, and they are more frequent buyers than men (Davis et al., 1995; Wandel and Bugge, 1997). Overall, more positive attitudes towards organic food have been detected in women as opposed to men (Lea and Worsley, 2005). Education has also been reported as a significant factor affecting consumer attitudes towards organic food products. People with higher education are more likely to express positive attitudes towards organic products, require more information about the production and process methods of organics (Magnusson et al., 2001; Hill andPage 5

Lynchehaum, 2002; Wier et al., 2003), have the confidence to negotiate conflicting claims in relation to organic food (Padel and Foster, 2005), and are more willing to pay a premium for organic food (Jolly, 1991; Wandel and Bugge, 1997). Moreover, demand for organic food seems to be positively correlated to income (Von Alvensleben, 1998). Higher income households are more likely to form positive attitudes and to purchase more organic food (Grunert and Kristensen, 1991; Magnusson et al., 2001). However, income appears to affect mainly the quantity of organic products bought and not the general willingness to buy. Higher income households do not necessarily indicate higher likelihood of organic purchases. Some lower income segments seem to be more entrenched buyers (Fotopoulos and Krystallis, 2002). The presence of children in the household has also been regarded as a significant factor, which positively influences consumers' organic food attitudes as well as buying behaviour (Davis et al., 1995; Thompson and Kidwell, 1998; Fotopoulos and Krystallis, 2002). However, children's age can be considered as a key factor, meaning that the higher the age of children in the household, the lower the propensity to buy organic food (Wier et al., 2003). 2.1.2 Attitude The socio-demographic profile seems to affect consumer attitudes and buying behaviour towards organic food. Organic food attitudes are mainly influenced by gender,Page 6

age, income, level of education and the presence of children in the household (Davis et al., 1995; Wandel and Bugge, 1997; Thompson and Kidwell, 1998; Magnusson et al., 2001; Wier et al., 2003). 2.1.3 Health Consciousness Health consciousness refers to the degree to which health concerns are integrated into a persons daily activities (Jayanti and Burns, 1998). Health consciousness is considered as a subjective intention or motivation to improve an individuals health. Past studies have shown that the most important reason for purchasing and consuming organic food appears to be health consciousness (Tregear et al., 1994; Huang, 1996; Schlegelmilch et al., 1996; Hutchins and Greenhalgh, 1997; Wandel and Bugge, 1997; Von Alvensleben, 1998; Magnusson et al., 2001; Squires et al., 2001, Padel and Foster, 2005). 2.1.4 Environmental Concerns The consumers' level of ecological concern is related to their willingness to purchase green products (Amyx et al., 1994). Although it is not a priority issue, it also has significant effect in affecting consumption of organic products (Kristensen and Grunert, 1991; Tregear et al., 1994; Von Alvensleben, 1998; Schifferstein and Oude Ophuis, 1998). Organic products use environmental friendly ways to produce and process, people who

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are more concern for the environment is proposed to have a positive effect on the purchase of organic products. 2.1.5 Organic Food Knowledge Organic knowledge refers to the extent to which consumers have enduring organic-related cognitive structures (Grunert and Grunert, 1995). Knowledge is proposed to have a positive effect on a persons perceived diet effectiveness and his or her consumption of organic products (Peter et al, 1999). In addition, knowledge is expected to have a negative effect on a persons skepticism level (Szykman et al., 1997). 2.2 Proposed Framework and Hypotheses With reference to the foregoing literature review and the extension of the work of Boutsouki et al. (2008) conceptual framework, a framework is proposed in Figure 1 to explain the consumption of organic products of Hong Kong consumers. The framework shows the hypothesized relationships among consumers demographic factors, attitude, health consciousness, environmental concerns, organic knowledge and consumption of organic products.

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Figure 1: The Proposed Framework

H1

Demographic Factors a. Age b. Gender c. Education Level

Attitude

H3

d. Income e. Presence of Children in household

Health Consciousness

H4

Environmental Concerns

Consumption of organic productsH5

Organic Food Knowledge

H6

H2

The research hypotheses are as follows: H1: H1a: H1b: H1c: H1d: H1e: There is association between demographic factors and attitude. There is a negative relationship between age and attitude. There is a positive relationship between women and attitude. There is a positive relationship between education level and attitude. There is a positive relationship between income and attitude. There is a positive relationship between presence of children in household and attitude. H2: There is association between demographics factors and the frequency of organic food consumption. H2a: There is a negative relationship between age and the frequency of organic foodPage 9

consumption. H2b: There is a positive relationship between women and the frequency of organic food consumption. H2c: There is a positive relationship between education level and the frequency of organic food consumption. H2d: There is a positive relationship between income and the frequency of organic food consumption. H2e: There is a positive relationship between presence of children in household and the frequency of organic food consumption. H3: There is a positive relationship between attitude and the frequency of organic food consumption. H4: There is a positive relationship between health consciousnesses and the frequency of organic food consumption. H5: There is a positive relationship between environmental concerns and the frequency of organic food consumption. H6: There is a positive relationship between organic food knowledge and the frequency of organic food consumption.

3. Methodology3.1 Research DesignPage 10

Both exploratory and descriptive researches were conducted in this study. For exploratory research, secondary data were collected from academic journals, the Internet and reference books. In terms of descriptive research, a questionnaire was structured and personal interviews were conducted to determine the attitudes and behaviour of consumers in Hong Kong towards organic food. 3.2 Sampling Plan and Sample Size As one of the research objectives is to compare the buyers and non-buyers group, the sample size formula for the estimation of proportion was applied (Malhotra, 2004). Based on a past research done in Hong Kong (Hong Kong Organic Resource Centre, 2005), the proportion of buyers is 30%. By substituting it into formula, the number 3231can be obtained. Therefore, 330 questionnaires were distributed and the sample size should be large enough to minimize Type II error. In order to obtain the maximum socio-economic scattering of consumers characteristics, the quota sampling method was adopted as to follow the sampling plan of a similar study (Siu and Tsoi, 1998). Three districts, Wan Chai, Sha Tin and Sham Shui Po were selected as to represent the high income district, middle income district and low income district respectively. 110 questionnaires were distributed in each district. The respondent was selected from every three passed-by to avoid self-selection bias.

1

Assuming confidence level is 95% and standard error is 5%, therefore2 2

n=0.3*(1-0.7)*1.96 /0.05 = 323 Page 11

A pretest of questionnaire was conducted with 10 respondents prior to avoid ambiguous wording and inapplicable questions in the questionnaire. Also, the survey was completed through face-to-face interview in order to minimize misunderstanding of the questions. 3.3 Questionnaire Design A structured questionnaire will be used which employed with true-false questions, multiple-choice questions and Likert scale questions. Part 1 is aimed at identifying organic food buyers and non-buyers, and their consumer behaviour. Statements are extracted from 2 similar reports done in Hong Kong by the Hong Kong Organic Resources Centre (2005, 2008). Part 2 consists of statements developed by previous research (Tsakiridou et al., 2008) to assess attitudes towards organic food. The statements are short listed and slightly modified from the original 23 statements to be better suit in gauging attitudes. In Part 3, a six-item Likert-type scale to measure health consciousness was adapted from Kraft and Goodell (1993) and expanded to 10 items with another research (Cheung, 2005) to examine personal health and diet. The ten-item Likert type scale to measure environmental consciousness was selected from Shepherd et al. (2005) and expanded based on the reference from the Green Power in Part 4.Page 12

In Part 5, 10 true or false questions is used to test knowledge of organic products with reference to the statements developed by the Agricultural, Fisheries and Conservation Department (2008). A Do Not Know option is created to avoid unreliable answers. Finally, in Part 6, demographic information of gender, age, occupation, marital status, presence of children in household, members in household, income and educational level are collected. 3.4 Data Analysis To analyze the collected data, the statistical analysis of Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was applied. Different data analysis methods are as follow: 1. Reliability Test was employed to determine the Cronbachs alpha of attitude towards organic food, health consciousness and environmental concerns. The resulting alpha coefficients of the three variables are 0.835, 0.830 and 0.840 respectively, which all above the minimum acceptable threshold of 0.7 suggested by Nunnally (1978). The reliability test is contained in Appendix 4.1 for reference. 2. Frequency counts and descriptive statistics were used to summarize the result of respondents. 3. Regarding attitudes towards organic food, One-way ANOVA was employed to find out the significant differences between each of the five demographic factors. 4. One-way ANOVA, independent sample T-test and Linear Regression were used toPage 13

examine the relationship between the independent variables (demographic factors, health consciousness, environmental concerns, organic food knowledge) and dependent variable (frequency of label usage). 5. Chi-square analysis and independent sample T-test were applied again to investigate the significant differences between users and non-users on their demographics, health consciousness, environmental concerns and organic food knowledge. For all analysis, a probability level of 5 Housewife Student Unemployed Retired Self-employed Others $30,000-$34,999 $35,000-$39,999 $40,000-$44,999 $45,000-$49,999 112 45 20 35 89 1 8 12 26 18 15 5 6 Page 15 33.9 13.6 6.1 10.6 27.0 0.3 2.4 3.6 7.9 5.5 4.5 1.5 1.8 Yes Frequency 147 122 53 73 38 41 77 169 152 220 % 44.5 37.0 16.1 22.1 11.5 12.4 23.3 51.2 46.4 66.7 No 110 33.3 Others 9 2.7 Female 46 - 55 56 - 65 66 or above Undergraduate Postgraduate Frequency 183 53 24 5 160 14 % 55.5 16.1 7.3 1.5 48.5 4.2

$20,000-$24,999 $25,000-$29,999 Total Family Monthly Income $5,000 or below $5,000-$9,999 $10,000-$14,999 $15,000-$19,999 $20,000-$24,999 $25,000-$29,999 Frequency of Consumption At least Once/week At least Once/month Once half a year Consumption of Organic Food Buyers

22 6 15 13 32 39 55 38 37 41 21 99

6.7 1.8 4.5 3.9 9.7 11.8 16.7 11.5 112 12.4 6.4 30.0

$50,000 or above

0

0.0

$30,000-$34,999 $35,000-$39,999 $40,000-$44,999 $45,000-$49,999 $50,000 or above

38 23 19 17 41

11.5 7.0 5.8 5.2 12.4

Seldom Never

166 65

50.3 19.7

Non-buyers

65

19.7

4.2 Nutrient Content Usage Pattern 265 buyers were asked to identify their consumption pattern in organic food consumption. As shown in Table 2, 34.3% and 38.1% of the respondents indicated a past and future spending of $51-$200 respectively in organic food. Most buyers bought organic vegetables most often while 83.8% of the respondents shop for organic food in supermarkets. 41.1% respondents always read organic food labels when shopping for organic food. For the price premium consumers are willing to pay when compared with conventional food, 67.5% of the respondents are willing to pay a higher price for organic food.Table 2: Consumption Pattern of Organic Food Buyers Variables Past Spending on Organic Food $50 or below $51-$200 $201-$500 Frequency 76 91 44 % 28.7 34.3 16.6 $501 - $700 $701 1000 $1001or above Frequency 23 15 16 Page 16 % 8.7 5.7 6.0

Planned Future Spending on Organic Food Type of Organic Food Bought Most Often Shopping Place for Organic Food

$50 or below $51-$200 $201-$500 Vegetables Fruits Meat Markets Supermarkets Convenient Stores

34 101 56 133 41 13 44 222 2 109 69 48 9 77 124

12.8 38.1 21.1 50.2 15.5 4.9 16.6 83.8 0.8 41.1 26.0 18.1 3.4 29.1 46.8

$501 - $700 $701 1000 $1001or above Processed food Raw Material

22 24 28 59 19

8.3 9.1 10.6 22.3 7.2

Health Food Stores Stores Others Seldom Never

97 1 3 28 11

36.6 0.4 1.1 10.6 4.2

Frequency to Read Organic Food Labels Price Premium Willing to Pay(compared with conventional food)

Always Usually Sometimes Negative 0 1/4 higher

1/2 higher double

42 13

15.8 4.9

4.3 Attitudes towards Organic Food 4.3.1 General Attitudes towards Organic Food Both buyers and non-buyers of organic food were asked about the attitudes towards organic food and the result is presented in Table 3. Generally speaking, the general public have a favourable attitude towards organic food (Mean = 3.18) while the buyers have a more favourable attitude (Mean = 3.24). Viewing organic food healthier scores the highest mean of 4.12. The lowest means of 2.43, 2.48 and 2.49 are scored by the views that it is difficult to identify real organic products, organic products labels in the market are confusing and organic products are very expensive respectively.Table 3: Attitudes towards Organic Food Page 17

General Std. Item 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. I am not interested in organics. I prefer buying organics. Organic products are safer and more reliable. Organic products are of better quality. Organic products are healthier. Organic products taste better. Organic products are of higher nutrition value. Organic products are very expensive. The packaging of organic products looks less pleasing to the eye. 10. The outlook of organic products is less attractive. 11. Organics are supreme products consumed only by rich people. 12. Consumption of organic products represents higher social status. 13. Not many organic products are available in the market. 14. There is a small variety of organic products. 15. There are a lot of selling locations for organic products. 16. It is difficult to identify real organic products. 17. The organic products labels in the market are confusing. 18. I trust organic products. 19. I trust organic producers. 20. Organics consumption helps protecting the environment. 2.61 2.61 2.83 2.43 2.48 3.12 3.06 3.71 .811 .834 .806 .914 .840 .787 .812 .764 3.16 3.17 2.63 .815 1.013 .917

Buyers Std.

Mean Deviation Mean Deviation 3.65 3.45 4.03 3.96 4.12 3.27 3.61 2.49 3.14 .897 .854 .724 .672 .720 .775 .789 .848 .796 3.81 3.62 4.08 4.01 4.21 3.30 3.65 2.55 3.20 .842 .785 .749 .666 .673 .778 .785 .852 .797

3.24 3.30 2.45

.818 .984 .932

2.61 2.61 2.85 2.48 2.65 3.19 3.11 3.80

.842 .842 .826 .917 .845 .775 .823 .715

Overall Mean

3.18

3.24

4.3.2 Relationship between Attitudes and Age Group One-way ANOVA reveals statistically significant differences in attitudes towards organic food of different age groups. As shown in Table 4, 4.1 and 4.2, the figure (F=6.246, p0.05). There is no relationship between attitude and age group, hence, hypothesis H1a can be rejected (Appendix 4.2).Table 4: Descriptive statistics of Attitudes between Age Group Frequency 16-25 26-35 36-45 46-55 56-65 66 or above 122 53 73 53 24 5 Mean 3.10 3.30 3.32 3.15 2.98 2.81 Std. Deviation .322 .466 .444 .404 .232 .282

Table 4.1: Result of One-Way ANOVA for significant differences between Attitudes and Age Group Sum of Squares Between Groups Within Groups Total 4.631 48.049 52.68 df 5 324 329 Mean Square .926 .148 F 6.246 Sig .000

Table 4.2: Result of Turkey Test for significant differences between Attitudes and Age Group (I) Age 16-25 26-35 36-45 26-35 16-25 56-65 36-45 16-25 56-65 (J) Age Mean Difference (I-J) -.196 -.218 .196 .320 .218 .342 Std. Error .063 .057 .063 .095 .057 .090 Sig. .026 .002 .026 .011 .002 .003 Page 19

66 or above 56-65 26-35 36-45 66 or above 36-45

.511 -.320 -.342 -.511

.178 .095 .090 .178

.049 .011 .003 .049

4.3.3 Relationship between Attitudes and Gender To examine the significant difference between attitude and gender, Independent Sample T-test is applied in Table 5 and 5.1. Levenes Test for Equality of Variances p>0.05 means assumption of equal variances is met. The figure (t=-5.376, p