Research Project by the Students of III B.B.A

March 8, 2018

CONSUMERPERCEPTION WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ORGANIC FARM PRODUCTS IN MANGALORE CITY

INTRODUCTION

Organicfood products are popular across Europe and United Statesof America.Asia is not far behind with India being a prominent player (Balaji and Injodey,2017). Organic farming is not new in India andis being followed from ancient time. Organic farming is a method whichprimarily aims at cultivating the land and raising crops in such a way, as tokeep the soil alive and in good health by use of organic wastes (crop, animaland farm wastes, aquatic wastes) and other biological materials along withbeneficial microbes (bio fertilizers) to release nutrients to crops for increasedsustainable production in an eco-friendly pollution free environment. As these foodproducts are fresh, hygienic and healthy. Over the past decades, organicfarming has experienced a considerable rise in most of the industrializedcountries. The demand for organic foods is increasing day by day. Worldwideconsumers are becoming health conscious and are concerned about nutrition andthe quality of food consumed. Consumers are also increasingly concerned withthe food safety and the consumers are getting health conscious and are payingmore attention to quality of food consumed.


NEEDFOR THE STUDY

Healthhas become a primary concern of people today. Nowadays problems faced by peopleinclude work stress, tension, environmental pollution all of which takes a tollon the health. Consumers nowadays prefer food products which are not harmful totheir health and in addition to this they also approach dietitian, nutritionistand hit the gym to lead a healthy life. This study involves a comprehensivestudy of the consumer perception towards organic farm products.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Astudy without certain objective is not of any use. Hence, these are thefollowing objectives of the study:

·        To study the Age-wisedistribution of the Consumers

·        To study the productsfrequently purchased by the consumers.

·        To evaluate the reasonsfor buying organic products.

·        To know the benefitsthe consumers have derived from consuming organic products.


SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This studyprimarily aims to study the consumer perception towards organic farm products.With rising discomfort in the minds of the consumers with regard to use of foodproduced using chemical fertilizers and pesticides, many consumers have turnedtheir site to organic food products. The increased consumers' interest inorganic food has been attributed among others to the growing demand for foodfree from pesticides and chemical residues.

SAMPLE AND SAMPLE SIZE

Theconsumers of organic farm products were the sample for the study. Conveniencesampling technique is used to select sample for the study and the sample sizefor the study conducted was 41.

Eachrespondent has been given a questionnaire in which each of the respondents hasfilled the necessary information required for the analysis and study. Whilecollecting the questionnaires the respondents have also been asked questionsregarding products they buy, changes in their health after consuming organicproducts, etc., for the purposes of the study. 

MATERIALS ANDMETHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY

Forthe purpose of the study both primary and secondary data has been used.  Here the primary data has been collected bygiving out questionnaires to the respondents. Secondary data is the informationwhich is already available, that has been already collected for a specificpurpose by others who have conducted a research in the same area. 

LIMITATIONS OF THESTUDY

Following are some ofthe limitations of this particular study:

  • Personally approaching 41 consumers forsurvey was one of the greatest difficulty.
  • There is a chance of personal bias whicheffects the original data.
  • Some respondents hesitate to provideactual information, making the survey difficult.
  • Lack of time was another importantconstraint. 

FINDINGS

The majorfindings of the Study constitutes the Following.

  • The study reveals that 34% of the respondents belonged to 20-30years ofage. This indicates that the younger generation is highly health conscious andprefer consuming organic farm products free from pesticides and preservatives.
  • From the study it is found that 27% respondents buy organic productsevery month followed by 21% respondents who buy them once in two months.
  • The study found that the commonly bought farm products include ghee,honey, rice, jaggery, millets, milk, egg and brown sugar.
  • 32% of the respondents have been buying the organic products since lessthan a year this indicates the lack of promotional advertisements and lack ofavailability of the products easily.
  • The study reveals that 66% of the respondent strongly agree that consumingorganic farm products are beneficial for health.
  • From the study it is found that 68% of the respondents opined that theyhave experienced improvement in their health after consuming organic products.

SUGGESTIONS

Based on the findings from the Studyconducted these are some of the suggestions

  • The wholesalers and retailers may takesteps to create awareness of organic farm products and benefits of consumingthem.
  • Government can increase the trend forconsumption of organic food by increasing public awareness through variousprogram and TV advertisements.
  • The Government must further come forwardto provide organic products at subsidised price so that consumers can easilybuy them.

CONCLUSION

The importance of organic farm products was ignored for a longtime. As a result of environmental sustainability, importance is shifted fromconventional food products to Organic farm products. The study focused toexamine the consumer perception towards organic farm products in Mangalorecity. The study brought out the fact that people buy organic food products on aregular basis and have been using them from quite a few years. It was foundthat the youngsters form major consumers of organic food and feel improvementsin their health after they have started consuming organic food. The consumersbuy millets, ghee, jaggery, eggs, etc. and prefer buying organic products dueto the health benefits it provides.

The marketers oforganic products must introduce innovative and dynamic promotional techniquesto create awareness about organic products. Consumers’ willingness to purchaseorganic products is influenced by high price, limited access and information.  


-A Research Project by the Students of III B.B.A

 Under the guidance of Ms. Sangeetha Nayak K

 Lecturer in Commerce & Management