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Factors Determining Buying Behavior on the Organic Food Market in the Visegrad Group Countries—Using Canonical Correlation Analysis
Consumers are increasingly seeking ecological, organic, minimally processed food from certified organic farms. Consumer purchasing decisions in the organic food market are determined by various factors. The main objective of the article is to identify the range and direction of multidimensional relationships between the frequency of purchasing organic food and the factors that determine purchasing decisions. For this purpose, a canonical analysis was performed. Statistical data were obtained from survey research conducted in Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary (600 questionnaires filled in each country) from December 2023 to March 2024. Research shows that the key factor that influences purchasing decisions with respect to organic food is its high quality. In countries such as Poland, Czechia, and Slovakia, this feature received the highest percentage of indications as very important, 53%, 44%, and 54%, respectively. In the second place, respondents indicated production without agricultural chemicals and food additives (in Hungary, this factor was considered the most important, with a percentage of indications at the level of 77%). In all the countries of the Visegrad Group, the influence of famous people, celebrities, and bloggers seems to be the least important—40.7% of respondents in Slovakia considered them completely unimportant, and as many as 73% in Hungary. Fashion was similarly rated low. In the case of this factor, the percentage of indications as unimportant ranged from 31% (Slovakia) to 76% (Hungary).
Factors influencing the purchasing of organic food by Slovak consumers: Quality or promotion?
This study explores the purchasing behaviour of Slovak consumers regarding organic food. Using data collected by CAWI from 318 respondents, the research aims to examine the relationship between the socio-economic characteristics of Slovak consumers and their purchasing behaviour, with particular attention to the factors influencing their decision to buy organic food. Based on the chi-square test of independence, results show that the purchase of organic food depends on consumers' income and education levels. Organic food consumption is primarily driven by factors related to high quality, nutritional content, sensory attributes of organic food and healthy lifestyle, rather than by external social trends such as celebrity endorsement, curiosity, fashion, and trendiness, which are considered the least important. Additionally, the purchase of organic food is most frequently initiated for personal use and general household consumption, while purchases for children or individuals with allergies are less common. Using hierarchical cluster analysis, the study identifies three clusters of conumers who make decisions about purchasing organic food based on the same factors: (1) fashion and celebrities, (2) high quality, sensory quality, nutrient content, healthy lifestyle and traditional production methods, (3) fair trade, locally produced, family, curiosity, environmental impact, absence of GMOs and additives and controlled production process). The first cluster was the smallest. These were marginalized, niche factors. The second cluster consisted of respondents for whom the quality of the product, its features, as well as health and traditional production methods were important. The third cluster of respondents included people for whom social, environmental, and safety factors were important. These findings provide valuable insights for segmenting the organic food market and for developing product labelling policies and marketing communication strategies.
Kondycja finansowa samorządu lokalnego a poziom życia ludności - ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem obszarów wiejskich
Solvency and Debt of Rural Communes vs. Their Residents’ Standards of Living: A Polish Case Study
The purpose of this paper is to present the multidimensional dependencies between the budgetary solvency and debt of Polish rural communes on one side, and the residents’ standards of living on the other. Local government units’ budgetary solvency and debt (one of the key components of their financial condition) are important determinants of their efficient functioning oriented at addressing the needs of local communities as much as possible. The literature on the subject reveals a cognitive gap in the research into the standards of living and ways of driving social well-being, which is manifested in the dearth of empirical studies on how the components of local governments’ financial standing impact residents’ standards of living. Due to the multifaceted nature of the categories under consideration, a canonical analysis procedure was carried out to identify the linkages between them, and three statistically significant canonical roots were identified. This study demonstrates that if the values of variables relating to budgetary solvency and the debt levels of Polish rural municipalities (communes) are known, they have the potential to explain over 29% of the variance in the set related to the residents’ living standards. Hence, the components of local governments’ financial conditions are important, yet not the sole determinants of the population’s standards of living. The findings from such analyses could be used indirectly, e.g., by local authorities in the context of creating their development strategies and selecting measures designed to transform the socioeconomic structure of territorial units in accordance with what their residents need.
Organic Farming as a Driver of Environmental Benefits or the Other Way Around? Environmental Conditions vs. Organic Farming Development in the EU with Particular Focus on Poland
Organic farming takes on particular importance in the context of implementing the sustainable development concept as it combines environmentally safe farming methods with (as a general assumption) producing pollution-free food. Hence, environmental conditions might play a role in determining the development pace of that type of farming. The key objective of this paper is therefore to identify the scope and direction of multidimensional relationships between the development level of organic farming and environmental conditions. This was performed with the canonical analysis. The research process included the structuring of the authors’ own synthetic metrics used in assessing the condition of the environment and the development level of organic farming. The study covered European Union countries and all 380 Polish districts (Poland is one of the very few Union members where organic farming development is currently inconsistent with the expected trends adopted under the Common Agricultural Policy). It follows from the analyses that when the variables relating to environmental conditions are known, they can explain only less than 10% of variance in the set of variables used in describing the development level of Polish organic farming. In turn, the analysis at Union level suggests that a positive—but not stronger than moderate—correlation exists between the two phenomena.
Barriers to the Consumption of Organic Food in Visegrad Group Countries
The consumption of organic food fits into the sustainable development goals and constitutes a justification for the further development of organic farming. The research aimed to identify the most important limitations to the growth of organic food consumption in the Visegrad Group countries and to indicate the differences and similarities in their perception. Therefore, at the turn of 2024, a survey was conducted among consumers in each of the countries of the Visegrad Group on a population of 600 people using an identical survey questionnaire. The research shows that in all four countries, the most important barrier to the growth of organic food is its high price, which is of great importance to Slovak consumers. The low availability and narrow offer, as well as insufficient information on organic food, were also important for consumers. On average, over 80% of the surveyed consumers rate the price level of organic food as high – the highest percentage was observed in Slovakia and the lowest in Czechia. Also, approximately 80% of the surveyed can accept a price up to 20% higher than conventional food. In the opinion of the respondents, the most important factors that would increase organic food consumption include lowering its prices, increasing income, and expanding the offer and availability.