Year: 2017
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Currently, there is limited research that investigates organic food trends in college students.Little is known about knowledge, perception, purchasing behaviors, and potential barriers of organic food in students.The purpose of this descriptive, posttest only, multi-factorial design study was to measure knowledge and perception of organic food buyers vs. organic food non-buyers in Northeast Ohio college students with varying demographics (N = 1490).An anonymous 52-question electronic survey was distributed to 21,089 students to recruit participants for the study via e-mail.The survey consisted of four sections in the following order: socio-demographic characteristics, purchasing, knowledge, and perception.This study examined gender, major, and place of residence with respect to organic food buyers and organic food non-buyers among university students.Participants for this study were at least 18 years of age and were enrolled fulltime at the university's main campus.Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, three-way factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA), chi-square, and paired t-tests.An alpha level of 0.05 was set to determine if statistical significance was present in the data.Results of this study indicate that students have a higher perception of organic food than conventional food with respect to being better for the environment, more humane, tastes better, is safe to consume, and that they provide additional health benefits.Conventional food is perceived as being more affordable and having a longer shelf life than organic food.Females, non-science majors, and organic food buyers have a higher perception of organic food than males, science majors, and organic food non-buyers.Findings indicate that consumers purchase organic food based on perceived benefit.Results also revealed that place of residence does not influence whether college students purchase or do not purchase organic food.With respect to knowledge, gender and buyer type do not influence knowledge of organic food among college students.Significance was seen in major type and organic knowledge interactions.Findings indicate that students with a non-science major have a higher perception and a lower knowledge of organic food than students with a science major.Additionally, students with a science major have a lower perception and a higher knowledge of organic food than students with a non-science major.Results of this study indicate that, among science majors, organic food buyers have a lower knowledge of organic food than organic food non-buyers.your support.I would also like to thank my thesis committee members, Dr. Barbara Scheule and Jamie Matthews, for their constructive feedback that has improved my research immensely.In addition, I would like to express gratitude to those who completed my survey; this research could not have been possible without their participation in my study.A special thank you to all my family
Author: Sarah Katirji
Institution: Kent State University
Language: English
Topic: Organic Food and Agriculture
Subfield: Plant Science
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2730679330