An Empirical Analysis Of Factors Influencing Consumers' Willingness To Pay For Organic Food In Punjab Pakistan

The development in science and technological activities yielded disruptive results in human health as well as in nature.People in today's world are becoming more health conscious and concerned about the increasingly harmful effects of chemicals in food.Increased severe diseases and the death rates drawn the attention of people more and more toward the purity of the food.Organic food as the product of a farming system which evades the practice of human-made fertilizers,pesticides;growth regulators and livestock feed additives.The organic legislation prohibits treatment and the use of genetically modified organisms(GMOs)or products acquired by or from GMOs.Organic agriculture is a systematic production that is working to environmentally,socially and economically sustainable production.Instead,the agricultural systems depend on crop rotation,animal and plant manures,some hand weeding and biological pest control.As a result,the market of organic products has grown continuously over the last few decades.With the increase in the natural food demand and consumer intentions to buy such produces,research attention and interest have also continued to gain ground in the world.Recently,it has been observed that the incredible growth and consumer interest in organic food are attributed to the heightening displeasure and worries over the safety of conventional produces.The growing domestic organic food industry in Pakistan is a new feature of the structural shifts in food demand in the country.Consumer demand partialities for organic food impact on agricultural production methods due to the positive consequences of improved soil fertilization enhanced productivity and increased use of indigenous knowledge.Understanding consumer demand for food,specifically organic food,in Pakistan,becoming gradually important as consumers' attitudes and willingness to pay strongly influence the direction of food retailers'strategies.Many consumers across the country are becoming conscious about the positive benefits of non-conventional foodstuffs;marketers are now forced to devise new strategies that effectively incorporate the organic produces.This research is conducted independently on the topic of "an empirical analysis of consumer willingness to pay(WTP)for organic products in Punjab Pakistan." The primary objective of the study was to get a better understanding of variables that influence attitude and Willingness to Pay(WTP)towards organic products.So,the variables were taken into accounts are attitude,health concerns,environmental concerns,culture,organic food knowledge,labeling and certification,perceived expensiveness,availability and a range of social demographic which included gender,age,education level and income level.In order to elucidate the nature of this study,it was suitable to select the quantitative method for this research.The quantitative methodology was catered focusing on the statistical data gathered from the research participants,based upon closed-ended questions.We used the questionnaire method for data collection for the measurement of an instrument,and sample design was non-probability and convenience.Questionnaires form had completed and distributed among 600 organic consumers to obtain a demographic profile of consumers and their view about using organic products during September to November 2017.Data were collected from the respondents belong to almost all professions including Civil servant,Company employee,professionals,managers,Sales/services,Self-employed,Farmer,company employees,Labor,Homemaker,students,Unemployed,and retired,etc.Structural Equation Modeling(SEM)under Analysis of Moment Structures(AMOS)was used to evaluate the data.Cronbach's alpha was used to check the reliability through SPSS,Confirmatory Factor Analysis(CFA)was used to test the validity of the measurement instruments while Path Modeling tested model fit and was ultimately used for hypothesis testing.Results indicate that consumers who were interested in buying the organic food products were likely to buy a more significant quantity of those products.The willingness to buy(WTB)organic food depends upon the attitudes,subjective norms,organic food knowledge,availability and labeling&certification.-However,the health concern is ranked 1st among all these.The analysis of SEM extracted six essential factors that influence consumers' willingness to pay WTP toward organic food products are health concerns,organic food knowledge,subjective norms,positive attitude,availability and labeling and certification.This indicates that consumers' concern in organic food is influenced by their trust that organically produced food is healthier and safe.Moreover,the rejection of hypothesis developed on environmental concerns shows a negative attitude towards ecological values in the study area.Furthermore,perceived expensiveness and culture also have a negative impact on WTP for organic product.However,WTP for the organic food product in Pakistan is not necessarily affected by environment-related values of organic food products,culture,and lifestyle.This may be unique to Pakistan because the consumer market for organic food products in Pakistan is still at its early stage of development.A contribution of this paper lies in providing suggestions that the successful implementation of the practical measures or consequences mostly depends on the extent of the government's support and commitment to food security,food safety and ensuring that all transactions,advertisements are regulated in the country.These highlighted facts that policymakers,marketers and other concerned stakeholders must alter their strategies and regulations based on the managerial and policy implications that were discussed and provide evidence in the study.Further research may explore the role of more motivating factors in order to have a better understanding about consumer's more WTP for safe food.