Agriculture Reference
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tasty. In our study, too, the participating students find these foods more delicious and
healthy and think that their taste is better (Table 1).
Generally if one has a positive attitude towards something, this attitude is expected to
reflect in the behavior later (Ajzen, 1991). In other words, if a person has a positive attitude
towards organic foods, he/she is expected to buy them. However, Shepherd et al. (2005)
found a disparity between attitudes and behavior - despite the majority of surveyed
consumers holding positive attitudes towards organic foods, only 4-10% reported an
inclination to choose the organic options next time. For organic foods are also thought to be
expensive (Finch, 2005; Padel & Foster, 2005; Radman, 2005; Shepherd et al. , 2005; Whole
Foods Market, 2005; Anonymous, 2004) - a common barrier to their purchase (Finch, 2005;
Fotopoulos & Krystallis, 2002; Lea & Worsley, 2005; Padel & Foster, 2005). In another study
conducted in Turkey, the reasonability of the prices ranked highest among the attributes
sought in organic products (Sarıkaya, 2007). There are also discouragements to buying
organic food, mainly high price and low availability (Fotopoulus & Krystallis, 2002;
Anonymous, 2004; Lea & Worsley, 2005; Padel & Foster, 2005; Tsakiridou et al., 2008). In our
study, it is shown that the students find organic foods more expensive and they state that
they would buy more organic food if they had a similar price with traditional food.
Considering the per capita income in Turkey, these statements are reasonable. Resembling
to our results, in the study conducted by Chrysshoidis and Krystallis (2005), the participants
state that they like organic foods better than traditional foods and they would prefer them if
sold in similar prices.
There are several factors involved in the choice of organic foods: place of purchase, values,
beliefs that they are healthier or better for the environment, positive attitudes, and sensory
characteristics of the food. In addition to these factors, certain demographic characteristics,
such as being female or young, may also contribute to a greater likelihood of buying organic
food (Davies et al., 1995; Lockie et al., 2004; Onyango et al., 2007) . Consumers of organic
products are typically women in their late 30s to 50s, and normally these consumers are
interested in their health and uncomfortable about food not organically raised; they
generally have children and at least a bachelor's degree (Davies et al., 1995). These
consumers are concerned with animal welfare, environmental issues and knowing how their
food is raised (Bellows et al., 2008). Radman (2005), Storstad & Bjørkhaug (2003) and Davies
et al. (1995) have shown in their studies that females buy more organic foods than males. In
this study, too, female students give more positive answers to all statements about their
attitudes towards organic foods than male student.
Bocaletti (2009) states that students, housewives, highly-educated people and those
concerned with environment have positive attitudes towards organic foods. Some studies
show that the young have positive attitudes towards organic foods, but the actual
consumers consist of individuals of older age groups (Hughner et al., 2007; Magnusson et
al., 2001). In our study, too, more than half of the participants claim to consume organic
foods while only 2.9% of them are regular consumers. This low rate may be the result of
certain circumstances such as the study group's consisting of students, their financial
dependence on their families, and their residing in dormitories and eating the food
presented there. In another study, similar to our results, one-third of respondents claim to
buy organic foods “very often” or “often”, and another 43 percent claims that their purchase
of such products is “rare” (Radman, 2005). In another study, rare buyers score highest
(58.3%) while regular buyers score lowest (6.0%) (Tarkiainen & Sundqvist, 2005). Another
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