Thesis (M.Com. (Research))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economic and Business Sciences, 2015 / Amid the global drive to promote environmentally less threatening food production methods, marketers have been exposed to many opportunities as well as challenges, in their desire to profitably satisfy consumers‟ ever-changing needs and wants. In South Africa today, the organic food drive is budding, with key hypermarkets stocking an ever increasing collection of such foodstuffs. Of late, interest and consideration towards organically produced foodstuffs and purchasing intentions thereof have been augmenting in importance amongst many consumers, in their response to concerns about the effects of conventional farming practices on human health, environment, and food safety among others. As many consumers are increasingly becoming conscious about the positive benefits of non-conventional foodstuffs, marketers are now forced to devise new strategies that effectively incorporate these highly sought organic produces. For this reason, organic farming has been regarded as the best and most attractive alternative to inorganic farming and has led to the production of „new‟ foodstuffs. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to determine the antecedents of consumer purchase intentions for organic food in Johannesburg, South Africa. This study used a survey questionnaire for primary data collection and the gathered data was used to quantitatively test the hypotheses. Through Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) statistical software and by means of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), the significance of the variables of this study was determined from a sample of 305 respondents across Johannesburg. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was used to check model fit, reliability and validity of the measurement instruments while Path Modeling checked model fit and was ultimately used for hypothesis testing. The findings revealed that attitude was the key antecedent that provided the highest level of explained variance in consumer purchase intention for organic food while Woolworths was the most popular retail outlet for organic food. The findings of this study are thought to have contributed immensely to both theory and correspondingly informed practice. Likewise, the same results will continue to provide meaningful theoretical along with practical ramifications to concerned stakeholders. Indeed, it is also anticipated that the findings of this study will go a long way in guiding future research endeavours.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/18806 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Mhlophe, James Bongani |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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