THE CURRENT TREND IN THE CONSUMPTION OF ORGANIC

PRODUCE

A case study

Background of the Study

As Filipinos and as part of an agricultural country, the most accessible method of contributing to this world – wide advocacy to save the environment would be to become patrons of organic produce.

Scope and Delimitation

The study was limited to the teenagers of St. Scholastica’s Academy – Marikina during the school year 2010 - 2011, ages 13 – 16, and their parents.

Statement of the Problem

What is the profile of the students and parents in terms of their socio – economic status?

Do the respondents know the difference between organic and inorganic farming?

Statement of the Problem

Will the parents still buy these products despite of its higher price once they become more familiarized with the positive effects of organic produce?

What influences the parents to patronize organic products and the teenagers to consume these produce?

Theoretical Framework

Clarke Rogers (1962) stated in his Theory of Diffusion of Innovations that lack of assurance is the primary predicament of the innovation – decision which is deducted through cost benefit analysis.

Theoretical Framework

However, this may not always be the case. According to Rogers, page 257, personality greatly borders every person’s innovation – decision. What makes diffusion feasible is this variety (Rogers 257).

Theoretical Framework

According to Rogers, page 284, mass media was believed to have an instantaneous influence on the mass audience. This great influence was also confirmed in our study. Details will be given later on.

Conceptual Framework

Review of Related Foreign Study

In 2006, according to Consumer Reports, “some produce was more likely to retain such residues, while it was less probable that other varieties did so.”

Organic produce is supported by the Environmental Protection Agency as harmless food for children to eat.

Review of Related Local Study

The main goals of non – conventional farming include increase of soil fertility, enhancing soil quality, preserving soil and water and augmenting biodiversity on the fields. There is an incorporation of these aims with the focal reason of sustaining an economically feasible farm without the reliance on artificial substances.

Review of Related Foreign Literature

The consumer's behavior in selecting products they will buy includes the knowledge, meaning and beliefs that consumers have developed from their experience and stored in their memories (Peter et al., 1999).

Review of Related Local Literature

Manufacture of chosen non – conventionally grown crops brought bigger profits as compared to conventional farming methods, micro level studies exposes.

Method of Research Used

The design employed by the researcher in order to carry out the purpose of the study was the descriptive method.

Aside from this, it also utilized the historical method.

Sources of Data

The respondents of this study were randomly selected Year I to Year IV students from St. Scholastica’s Academy of Marikina who were enrolled for the school year 2010-2011 and their randomly selected parents.

Data Gathering Instruments

The two-page questionnaire has 6 dichotomous questions while the rest of the questions were cumulative. The answers to the Guttman Scale question had either 3 or 5 choices.

An unstructured interview was not conducted due to its inconvenience.

Data Gathering Procedure

The survey questionnaires were reproduced to reach an approximate of 112 copies and then, distributed to all the sections of Year I to IV of St. Scholastica's Academy – Marikina. The researchers distributed four copies per section: one copy for a student, another copy for the student's parent, and two copies for the student and her parent.

Statistical Treatment of Data

Taking the percentage of consumers who prefer a certain choice among the given options in the questionnaire would be the most appropriate manner of presenting the tallied survey responses because it will show whether or not a stated alternative would receive majority of the replies.

Interpretation of Data

Interpretation of Data

Interpretation of Data

Interpretation of Data

Summary

The major purpose of this study was to persuade the citizens to be patrons on an organic produce and present the positive effects of this product. Specifically, the study was undertaken to assist in overcoming the presented problems such as the efficiency of consumer education in acquainting consumers with the basic facts about organic farming and its produce.

Conclusions

Majority of the respondents believed that they belong to the Middle Class.

Most of the respondents also knew the difference between organic and inorganic farming.

Conclusions

A greater part of the respondents are actually willing to buy organic products despite of its higher price once they become more familiarized with its positive effects.

The tri - media, which includes the television, radio and newspaper, primarily influences the consumers to patronize organic produce.

Recommendations

The findings of the study are only indications that in order to fully utilize advertisement, the promotion team of organic produce must make use television, radio and newspaper ads.

The advertising group of non – conventional produce must concentrate on divulging facts and figures that will support the advantages their products claim.

Recommendations

It is also advisable for the future researchers of a similar topic to increase the sampling population to enhance the accuracy of the data they will be able to gather. They could also specify the organic produce they are focusing the study on, to make the outcome of the study more specific.

Recommendations

The future researchers could also conduct interviews to their chosen respondents so that the recommendations which they would be able to come up with will be more particular.

Bibliography