Determinants affecting purchase intention of organic food among medical employees

Abstract

Organic food is natural food items restricted from artificial chemicals such as fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, antibiotics, and genetically modified organisms. Thus, organic food is considered healthy food as synthetic chemicals are prohibited in its production. Organic food has become more common and in greater demand among consumers due to improved awareness of eating healthily. This study aims to identify the determinants that may influence customers’ purchase intention of organic food, such as knowledge, safety, health consciousness, environment, price, and availability of the organic food. Moreover, this study discovers the dominant factor that may affect the organic food purchase intention. The participants of this study are the medical employees of Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan. In finding the factors affecting organic food purchase intention, self-administered close-ended questionnaires have been distributed to 357 respondents. From the responses, the dominant factors that are affecting organic food purchase intention among the employees are price and availability of organic food. The results of this study may benefit from developing an effective marketing strategy for vendors involved in organic food marketing and help them comprehend their customers’ perceptions of organic food.