Research on Consumer Willingness to Purchase Organic Food Products
Anna Shcherenkov, B.S. Business; Erinn Ryen, PhD in Sustainability

Abstract
This paper presents research on consumer’s behavior and willingness to purchase organic food products by analyzing literature previously conducted by other researchers and conducting instigators own research using online survey with the sample size of 208 participants. The main objective of this study is to examine consumer’s perceptions towards organic food products that may affect their willingness to purchase (WTP) organic foods. The Pearson correlation test and the regression analysis are conducted to validate or disprove the relationship between the variables. The findings have shown that human health, environmental consciousness, perceived cost, labeling and certification of organic food products influence consumer preferences to purchase organic food products. The study validates that the healthconsciousness is the key factor affecting consumer purchasing decisions of organic foods and accounts to 46% of the variability in WTP organic food products. This suggests that consumers are aware about health and nutrition benefits of organically grown produce which in turn impacts their purchasing decision. Several limitations are suggested for future study.

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