Organic Foods: Review of Research Papers

The focal point of this paper is to present a literature review for the manner that organic food changes the behavior consumption of customer. In this review, analysis would be done on the role that consumer behaviors play, both historically and in the context of contemporary society, in the context of the topic selected. In addition, analysis would also be done on the aspects of organic food history, use, cultural impact, and legal and ethical considerations that relate. Lastly it would be looked upon to identify the common trends in the diagnosis and prediction of behaviors that appear in the literature. The literature would be used to demonstrate the importance of the topic to field as a whole. The vast majority of the literature would be concentrated from the year 2000 through to the present, more than likely as advances in computer and other electronic technology has managed leaps and bounds in both affordability and availability.

The organic foods are the foods that are not produced by using the popular methods, like using pesticides and fertilizers and aim to keep the goodness of the food intact. There are no genetically modified organisms present in the organic foods, and they are not at all processed. The popularity of organic foods is on the rise as the general health consciousness of the people has changed a lot in the last decade. The basic reason of the cause is that the level of pollution has skyrocketed and it is affected the general human health badly. So the future of food is organic foods and in the sector there will be numerous changes in future, and it is hoped that all that will be for good only and this paper would show the manner that organic food changes the behavior consumption of customer.

It is but a logical move to include Renée Shaw Hughner as this article provides a complete overview of the organic food industry and its market mechanism. Alongside, this text evaluates the meaning of organic food as there are several meanings of the term ‘organic’, and there are several categories of the consumers of organic food . With every passing day the popularity of organic foods are increasing and there are numerous papers which aim to describe the different aspects of organic foods. Most of literature we have discussed aims to integrate and synthesize the findings on the published research on organic food consumption. In the article of Renée Shaw there are discussions about various rationales that the customers used while buying organic foods. The various motivations of both the organic and traditional food industries are dealt in the article.

There are certain environmental concerns and some of the literatures are devoted to these factors. ‘Health and Environmental Consciousness, Costs of Behavior and the Purchase of Organic Food’ is a very important essay by Peter Kriwy and Rebecca-Ariane Mecking. The paper dealt with the environmental and health consciousness as well as the behavioral costs and their direct effects on the purchase of organic products. In the general meaning taking organic food is nothing but ‘an investment in personal health’ and probably if we look the aspect in the way we will only understand why it is gaining so much popularity in recent times.

There are certain very important factors that contributed to the development of popularity of organic food through out the World. Organic foods do not use any foreign material in them. It is guaranteed that if one starts eating organic food than he or she will live a better and healthy life. Along with that the chances of getting ill will lessen. One of the most important reasons of eating organic foods is that it reduces the risk of getting cancer. The antioxidants in the organic foods help a human body to stay fit from cancer and this is one of the scientifically proven facts regarding the organic foods. Organic foods and crops support the environmental friendly causes and they do not allow the secretion of harmful gases in the environment and the atmosphere. The green house gases are also not emitted from the process.

Organic foods are quite costly and in many cases different corporate houses are the producers of the organic foods. There are several papers that deal with the price and corporate social responsibility in the field of organic food. The paper ‘The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility Associations on Trust in Organic Products Marketed by Mainstream Retailers’ investigates the determinants of consumer attitudes towards organic products that are marketed by different mainstream retailers under the private labels. As the organic foods are credence goods, the consumers can not directly verify the standards of the products and it is very important for the retailers that they hold up to the consumer trust. There are some papers which have made surveys in different cities of the World where the research questions mainly range from the different variables that a customer seeks out before buying a organic product and how the consumers belief a brand while buying organic foods. So it is the responsibility of the companies to hold on to that trust, and only than the consumer trust will translate into brand loyalty and the willingness of consumers to pay a premium price for the organic products.

Organic farming and Soil Organic Matter are two very important questions that keep on rising through out many research papers. Arnold Scofield has described SOM as a multifunctional resource, which has a very important impact in the chemical, physical and biological factors of every type of soil. It contributes to the agricultural production and can be environmentally valuable on one hand too. The organic farms should be very careful about the factor and may allocate an economic value as a way to promote its conservation. There are many benefits of organic farms, and in Erik Stokstad’s paper ‘Organic Farms Reap Many Benefits’ are focused on these aspects. There are reports of a study which can be termed as one of the most comprehensive and longest surveys ever conducted that spanned for over 21 years. The survey mentioned that organic farms can be nearly as productive as regular crops in some cases and in most of cases the process of organic farming leaves the soil healthier. Stokstad  notes, “Organic farms can be nearly as productive as regular farms for some crops, and they leave soils healthier. The study also conclusively demonstrates that for most crops, organic plots are more energy efficient per unit crop”. Through the study there are proves that for most of the crops the organic plots are more energy efficient in per unit. This is why organic foods can be the answer to many problems like food and poverty and environment.

One of the most important factors of organic crops is that they do not use any type of artificiality in the process, and in the way the crops take more time to grow up and be ready for sale. Here is a question. In conventional crops many types of pesticides and fertilizers are used as well as many hormone boosting products that make the crops to grow up in lesser times only to increase the profit of the producers. But organic foods can not use the process. In the recent development in nanotechnology there are certain aspects that can be used in farming and there are some ideas that the processes should be used in organic farming. It might help the crops to grow up faster than the conventional crops. But the most common idea is not to use the process in organic farming.

In some research papers there are several discussions of consumer knowledge and attitudes. The global market for organic food has really been opened up in recent times, and here there are several discussions about organic food products in countries like China, Italy and Germany. There are some models that aim to analyze the consumer behaviors in the countries and what are the products that they prefer to buy. In most cases the customers are strongly affected by the factors like income, degree of trust in the organic foods they are buying, the consumers concern and conception of health. The intent of the consumers is mainly based on their attitudes and overall perspectives. That can be really important in the processes.

The literature review shows that there are many areas which might show that the organic food industry is a growing concern. But there are some very important aspects in which there should be researches. There are still not concrete scientific proof of organic foods is being better than the traditional foods. There has to be some concrete evidences that will surely enhance the position of organic foods in the market. It is a well known fact that the organic foods do occupy a big market share in the food industry.  Also the popularity of the organic foods is on the rise. So it is very important that there are enough scientific evidences to back the claims made by the promoters of organic foods. This is the point where still a lot of work has to be done. More over it is also a very important factor that the price of organic foods is on the higher side. There should be attempts to lessen the price of organic foods so that more and more people become attracted to the organic foods. All the literatures that are devoted to organic foods and different aspects of organic foods should try to focus on these facts. The future is food industry is of the organic foods and there are high chances that it will become a rage in near future.

As a result it would be obvious that this paper would be well covered in all possible contexts of the related consumer choice and approach. In other words there would be enough attention to cover all perspective and context to the end result of the paper through inclusion of literature and references. In addition, analysis would also be done on the ethnic and cultural diversity, and legal and ethical considerations that relate because the aspects of health security certainly stand on the edge of privacy and confidentiality. Lastly it would be looked upon to identify the common trends in the consumer behaviours of potential customers that appear in the literature. Thus the literature is used to demonstrate the importance of the topic to field as a whole.