Why Are You Turning a Blind Eye to Fair Trade Coffee?—Focused on the Comparison between Korea and Africa

Mina Jo, Haggai Kennedy Ochieng and Jisong Kim ()
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Mina Jo: Division of Hotel & Tourism, College of Economics & Business Administration, The University of Suwon, Hwaseong 18323, Republic of Korea
Haggai Kennedy Ochieng: Department of Liberal Arts, Duksung Women’s University, Seoul 01369, Republic of Korea
Jisong Kim: Department of Economics, College of Economics & Business Administration, The University of Suwon, Hwaseong 18323, Republic of Korea

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 24, 1-19

Abstract: This study examines the reasons why people turn a blind eye to fair trade coffee (FTC) and the way to revitalize the FTC market. In-depth interviews with eight Koreans and eight Africans living in Korea were conducted and analyzed qualitatively. Our thematic analysis employed NVivo Word Cloud analysis and Text Search to analyze the relationship among words. The study reveals that Koreans do not purchase FTC due to low awareness, low priority among coffee selection attributes, low accessibility and low product competitiveness. As producers, Africans do not produce FTC because of a lack of information, low returns, cultural factors, lack of interest from political leaders and corruption. African consumers do not purchase FTC due to low accessibility, low priority among coffee selection attributes, doubts about FTC and its high price. To revitalize the FTC market on the demand side, it is important to improve accessibility, promote and market the brand and pay attention to cultural constraints.

Keywords: fair trade coffee (FTC); ethical consumption; Korea; Africa; qualitative research (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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