Evaluation of consumers’ purchasing process for organic food products

Alessandro Scuderi; Claudio Bellia; Vera Teresa Foti; Luisa Sturiale; Giuseppe Timpanaro; Alessandro Scuderi; Claudio Bellia; Vera Teresa Foti; Luisa Sturiale; Giuseppe Timpanaro

doi:10.3934/agrfood.2019.2.251

AIMS Agriculture and Food

2019, Volume 4, Issue 2: 251-265. doi: 10.3934/agrfood.2019.2.251

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Research article Special Issues

Evaluation of consumers’ purchasing process for organic food products

1.
Department of Agricultural Food and Environment (Di3A) University of Catania, Italy
2.
Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture (DICAR) University of Catania

Received: 31 October 2018 Accepted: 20 February 2019 Published: 28 March 2019

This research analyzes consumers’ different purchasing attitudes in traditional and on-line markets. Italy’s on-line direct selling process for organic farm products is still in its formative phase, and the prospective developments mark an interesting research area, not least because it may represent a tool to integrate the relationship with customers and improve companies’ marketing strategies. The research carried out on the direct selling on-line channels allowed the authors to prove a direct and indirect utility for the choice of organic food products. Information obtained with word-of-mouth among consumers seems to be playing an increasingly relevant role in the purchasing process of the virtual community, representing a strong generator of messages and experiences both in virtual and traditional markets. This paper analyzes the behavior of consumers to understand whether it is conditioned more by off-line than on-line channels and which parameters condition the purchasing process. The research confirms that off-line channels for organic products condition the consumers’ choices, linked to traditional word-of-mouth as well as to experiential and sensory direct marketing contact with the producer. An inverse behavior was observed with positive conditions that mostly emanate from on-line channels in the process of buying organic products. The on-line purchasing process involves the system of information linked to the product, i.e., the e-community, which allows the product to be shown together with the comments, evaluations, and recommendations of consumers on the net, reducing the effects generated by the packaging and the brand.
- electronic word-of-mouth,
- information and communication technology,
- e-commerce,
- experiential marketing,
- fruit and vegetables,
- organic produce
Citation: Alessandro Scuderi, Claudio Bellia, Vera Teresa Foti, Luisa Sturiale, Giuseppe Timpanaro. Evaluation of consumers’ purchasing process for organic food products[J]. AIMS Agriculture and Food, 2019, 4(2): 251-265. doi: 10.3934/agrfood.2019.2.251

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Abstract

This research analyzes consumers’ different purchasing attitudes in traditional and on-line markets. Italy’s on-line direct selling process for organic farm products is still in its formative phase, and the prospective developments mark an interesting research area, not least because it may represent a tool to integrate the relationship with customers and improve companies’ marketing strategies. The research carried out on the direct selling on-line channels allowed the authors to prove a direct and indirect utility for the choice of organic food products. Information obtained with word-of-mouth among consumers seems to be playing an increasingly relevant role in the purchasing process of the virtual community, representing a strong generator of messages and experiences both in virtual and traditional markets. This paper analyzes the behavior of consumers to understand whether it is conditioned more by off-line than on-line channels and which parameters condition the purchasing process. The research confirms that off-line channels for organic products condition the consumers’ choices, linked to traditional word-of-mouth as well as to experiential and sensory direct marketing contact with the producer. An inverse behavior was observed with positive conditions that mostly emanate from on-line channels in the process of buying organic products. The on-line purchasing process involves the system of information linked to the product, i.e., the e-community, which allows the product to be shown together with the comments, evaluations, and recommendations of consumers on the net, reducing the effects generated by the packaging and the brand.

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