What motivates Greek consumers to buy organic food? : an investigation into the motives of residents of Thessaloniki

Abstract

In the present study, an attempt was made to identify the motivations behind the purchasing of organic food among the Greek residents of Thessaloniki. The study adopted a quantitative approach, more specifically 100 complete and usable questionnaires were obtained. In addition, a modified version of the Michaelidou & Hassan model was used. Based on the fact that five out of six hypotheses of this study were supported, it can be concluded that the model chosen for this research is a promising model, which could be used in future similar studies. Results show that Greeks from Thessaloniki buy organic food, mainly because of health consciousness, ethical self-identity and food safety concems. Although 84% of the consumers report having a positive attitude towards organic food due to the motivations investigated, some of the consumers cannot overcome certain obstacles in purchasing organic food, such as high prices, poor availability and confused labels. Several limitations of the work were recognized, such as the small sample size, which meant that the results cannot be absolutely generalized to a wider population group, like all Thessaloniki residents, and the usage of only quantitative methods, which limit a better understanding of the motivations The value of this study is that it can offer food marketers from Thessaloniki a direction to enhance strategies for marketing organic products.