Influence of Geographic, Demographic and Psychological Factors towards Customer Intentions in Purchasing Organic Food in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Organic food demand has seen an incremental increase in contemporary society, and it has affected different purchasing intentions of existing and potential customers. This study is concerned with assessing each influencing intentions by categorising them into three main categories to conduct a quality assessment. The organic concept is not a new concept to Sri Lanka, and Sri Lanka has got a prestigious cultivating system that appreciates environmental safety and poison-free cultivation and consumption. This study was designed to explore the influence of geographic, demographic, and psychological factors on customer intentions towards purchasing organic food in Sri Lanka. Research objectives are identified to evaluate the impact of geographic, demographic, and psychological factors on customer intentions towards purchasing organic food and identify the most contributing factor/s to customer intentions to purchase organic food. Since this study was related to social and cultural phenomena, a qualitative research approach was selected with the thematic analysis method for data analysis. The researcher mainly targeted individuals who have different purchasing intentions towards organic food. Individuals in Colombo and Kandy districts were targeted by a convenience sampling technique. Data were generated by conducting semi-structured interviews and observations in Goods market - Colombo and in Kandy district specific supermarkets. The researcher conducted the research by adhering to all ethical considerations and the significance of this study is that currently there is a gap in Sri Lanka with only few research projects conducted for organic food and its purchasing intentions, demand and market. The findings of this study will redound to the benefits of students (school and higher education students), academic and non-academic parties, businesses and society will benefit from this research. The study concludes that there were no clear geographical influences that were able to explore. The demographic influences of marital status, disposable income, and occupation were investigated, and they were able to disprove the existing literature on formal education, gender, and age. As psychological influences, perceived food quality differences, environmentally friendly mindset, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, religious beliefs, other personal motives, trust in the seller and organic food certification were explored.

Keywords: Organic Food, Purchasing Intention, Geographical Influences, Demographical Influences, Psychological Influences