Organic Food Purchase Habits in Hungary

Viktoria Szente and Dorisz Torma
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Viktoria Szente: Department of Marketing and Trade, Faculty of Economics, Kaposvar University, Hungary
Dorisz Torma: Department of Marketing and Trade, Faculty of Economics, Kaposvar University, Hungary

Journal of Economic Development, Environment and People, 2015, vol. 4, issue 1, 32-40

Abstract: In Hungary organic food market has both demand and supply oriented aspect: several times not necessary products are distributed while the selection and volume of certain products are not satisfactory. Thus our aim was to develop a coordinated benchmark strategy to increase the trade of organic products. To get more details about the Hungarian organic food market we applied the 'mystery shopping' method to observe changes in organic food supply and carried out a quantitative survey using a 1,000 member countrywide panel. Our results indicate that organic origin is considered somewhat important for every 4th respondent, while only 3.7 percent of the interviewees paid attention to put organic food products in to their cart. The most serious obstacle is the doubt of surveyed individuals about the authenticity and the all eged benefits of organic products complete with a high perceived price. Price is the most influential factor on shopping decision, but the advantageous 'constant quality' and 'health benefit' factors are just following it. Most of the respondents stated that they buy organic products directly from the producer, 27.4 percent, but small retail outlets are likewise popular, though to a somewhat lesser extent. In conclusion, there is potential demand for ecological food products in Hungary. Although the proportion of conscious consumers is small; it significantly exceeds the current market share of the products. Consumers should be approached with better prices, smart retailing solutions and through awareness rising.

Keywords: organic food; consumer; retail; in-store marketing, strategy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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