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Journal of Food Products Marketing, 15:379–391, 2009 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1045-4446 print/1540-4102 onlineDOI: 10.1080/10454440802537231

WFPM1045-44461540-4102Journal of Food Products Marketing, Vol. 15, No. 4, Aug 2009: pp. 0–0Journal of Food Products Marketing

Natural: Influences of Students’ Organic Food Perceptions

Students’ Organic Food PerceptionsA. R. Beaudreault

AMY R. BEAUDREAULTThe Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA

This study aimed to describe: whether labels, brands, and prices oforganic food influenced students’ perceptions; if selected groupsinfluenced students’ perceptions; and how students perceived selectedgroups’ perceptions of organic food. The research also determinedif significant differences existed among students’ gender, collegemajor, and child-rearing location description to their possibleinfluencers of organic food. The method was a survey with an N =207 with a response rate of 91%. The population consisted ofundergraduate students at The Ohio State University. For selectedgroups, respondents’ families had the most influence on students’perceptions of organic food.

KEYWORDS Organic food, perceptions, media, college students

INTRODUCTION

All humans need food and, since 1916, supermarkets have been the placewhere most purchase the food they require (Piggly Wiggly, 2006). Food is acommon necessity that crosses all socioeconomic statuses, ethnicities, cul-tures, ages, and genders. Even for people who rarely think beyond theirnext meal, food and eating are inevitable aspects of the sustainability ofhuman life—rural or urban.

While consumers stroll down grocery aisles with lists in hand, newproducts bombard the shelves daily creating an array of choices for them.Communication within a grocery store is a unique experience. Nonverbally,food packaging speaks to consumers: “Fat-free,” “All Natural,” and“Organic” are words found on labels; however, the effect(s) of these signals

Address correspondence to Amy R. Beaudreault, MS, PhD candidate, 118 East BlenknerStreet, Columbus, OH 43206. E-mail: amybeaudreault@gmail.com

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is unclear, as well as the question of whether the products’ marketing strat-egies or other forces spark consumers’ interests and willingness to buy. Manyof these products are examples of the recent needs and public opinions ofthe U.S. population (and international countries) involving food production.

Agricultural issues, most importantly ones involving food, have remainedcentral foci in public communication involving environmental and humanhealth issues. Although the 20th-century agricultural techniques yieldedincreased food production, at the same time this technology generated wide-spread social changes. One particular market experiencing a steady increasesince the 1970s—and expansive growth since the 1990s—is organic food.

The National Organic Standards Board (1995, p. 26) defined “organic” as:

Organic agriculture is an ecological production management system thatpromotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biologi-cal activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on man-agement practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecologicalharmony.

Organic farming became one of the fastest growing sectors of U.S. agri-culture during the 1990s. Organic food production is a potential way to lowerinput costs, decrease reliance on nonrenewable resources, attain high-valuemarkets and premium prices, and enhance farm income. Organic farmingsystems exclude the use of synthetic (man-made) chemicals in crop productionand prohibit the use of antibiotics and hormones in livestock production.

Consumption levels of organic food helped the U.S. organic foodindustry reach $10.8 billion in consumer sales in 2003, according to theOrganic Trade Association’s 2004 Manufacturers Survey. The survey alsofound that the organic food market grew an estimated 17% to 21% eachyear since 1997, whereas the entire food market grew from 2% to 4% peryear during the same period. A surprising result reported from the same sur-vey was that organic meat, poultry, and fish represented a mere 1% oforganic food sales, but expanded by 78% during 2003. Fruits and vegetablesremained the largest category in 2003, accounting for 42% of sales (USDAEconomic Research Service, 2003). In a demonstration of just how quicklythe organic food phenomenon caught on, independent studies are the onlystatistics for this market because U.S. organic food production was not partof the Census of Agriculture until 2002. The number of organic farmers ororganic farmland changes in the United States is impossible to approximatebecause no data or archives exist. The next agricultural Census, which willinclude this data, is scheduled for 2007 and the National Business Journalestimated that U.S. sales of organic products would reach $17.8 billion thatyear (USDA Economic Research Service).

Although data on organic food production are limited, the USDA istaking active steps to remedy this situation. Recently, on February 25, 2006,

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Students’ Organic Food Perceptions 381

the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) hosted “Briefing and Round-table: USDA Surveys and Organic Sector Data Needs.” USDA managers ofseveral major agricultural surveys in the Agricultural Marketing Service,National Agricultural Statistics Service, and ERS discussed their surveys andopportunities for expanding them to include organic production and mar-keting. Representatives from USDA agencies and several organic interestgroups attended, including the Organic Trade Association and the OrganicFarming Research Foundation.

Many researchers in the private and public sectors are now conductingstudies on the buying habits and demographics of consumers of organicfoods, according to the USDA, and most have produced varied data.Depending on the type of survey, sample size, and geographic coverage,results have reached different conclusions. Ultimately, however, previousresearch found some general themes: consumers prefer organically producedfood because of perceived health attributes and concerns about pesticideresidues, overall environmental fears, and farm-worker safety (Regmi, 2001).

The increase in public awareness and interest has become newsworthy.Food involves humans, thus food also involves publics. In communicationstudies, many theories might explain how the media affected this mass pub-lic opinion or vice-versa. Agenda setting and framing contribute in someway to the rise in sales of organic foods; however, because of the over-whelming response the USDA received from the public concerning thelabeling of organic food, organic food is an issue that involves everyonefrom elites and environmentalists to even small-town journalists.

Many characteristics in the study of organic food might explain thissurge in sales and popularity. Since the 1960s, the United States has experi-enced demographic changes. Some of the demographic shifts includeage distribution, slowing population growth, median family structurechanges, and the workforce gender makeup (Govindasamy & Italia, 1999).Research suggests that higher-income families (Thompson, 1998) andfemales (Govindasamy & Italia, 1999) are more likely to be informed aboutfood issues.

Public anxiety involving health appeared to be the main motive fororganic food sales (Saba & Messina, 2003). Reasons for this concern rangefrom consumer regulation trust decline (Warren, Hillers, & Jennings, 1990)and food scares (Miles & Frewer, 2001). Past studies have attempted todescribe the organic food consumer. This study attempts to uncover whichfactors influence organic food’s recent popularity and what drives the U.S.population to view organic food as beneficial.

Research Objectives

The objectives of this study were to determine the perceptions aboutorganic food among a selected group at The Ohio State University (OSU)

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using survey research. Questionnaire responses supplied an enhancedunderstanding of the influences affecting consumer demand of organicfood. The selected groups in this study consisted of family, friends, celeb-rities, politicians, OSU professors, and green-focused nonprofit organiza-tions. Advertisements, print newspapers, and television were the mediaexamined.

Specific objectives of this study included the following:

1: To describe the degree to which labels, brands, and prices of organicfood influence students’ perceptions of organic food.

2: To describe how students perceive the selected groups’ perceptions oforganic food.

3: To describe the degree of influence to which selected groups have on thestudents’ perceptions of organic food.

4: To describe the degree of influence that media has on perceptions oforganic food.

5: To determine if a significant difference exists between gender andperception influencers of organic food.

6: To determine if a significant difference exists between college major andperception influencers of organic food.

7: To determine if a significant difference exists among childhood-rearinglocation description (rural, suburban, or urban) to their perception influ-encers of organic food.

METHOD

The study focused on an accessible population from The Ohio StateUniversity (OSU) undergraduates in the College of Food, Agriculture andEnvironmental Sciences’ (FAES) class Contemporary Issues. FAES studentshave a choice to complete one 597 course as a junior or senior in the fol-lowing departments within the FAES College: Agricultural, Environmental,and Development Economics; Animal Sciences; Food, Agricultural, andBiological Engineering; Food Science and Technology; Horticulture andCrop Science; Human and Community Resource Development; and PlantHealth Management. Three classes were scheduled for Autumn Quarter2006. These classes were Problems and Policies in World Population,Food, and Environment; Issues Concerning Use of Animals by Humans;and, Pesticides, Alternatives, and the Environment. The accessible popula-tions consisted of all students enrolled in the three classes offered duringthis quarter in 2006.

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Students’ Organic Food Perceptions 383

The reasons for studying this group vary. First, the results of the studyprovided a better understanding of the influences on perceptions of thispopulation that can be used in lobbying, marketing, and education. Second,the group was expected to return a high response rate. Third, by surveyingstudents in this college, students already have a basic knowledge of con-temporary agricultural issues and they are the future professionals of thefield. Fourth, students from other colleges were enrolled in 597 FAEScourses, which the researcher learned during the pilot test. Therefore, com-parisons among colleges were examined.

Quantitative research was used to conduct the study. The questionnaireconcentrated on the subjects’ influences on their perceptions pertaining tolabels, brands, and price of organic food and the influences of selectedgroups and the media on the students’ perceptions. Part of the study alsowas comparative. The comparison among groups’ characteristics identifiedwhether the student’s gender or college major had a significant differenceon the perceptions’ influencers of organic food, and also whether thestudents’ childhood-rearing location related to their influencers’ perceptions.The demographic portion of the survey collected data to address the com-parison objectives.

The instrument used was a questionnaire that included 28 items withperceptions being measured on a 6-point Likert scale of six varying degreesof agree/disagree. The sections of the questionnaire included: Organic FoodPurchasing Decisions, Perceptions and Public Opinion, Media and OrganicFood Perceptions, and Demographics.

To secure the content validity of the questionnaire, seven expertsreviewed the questionnaire—two experts in methodology and five expertsin organic food. A minimum of four experts needed to approve the ques-tionnaire items to be considered valid. After the questionnaire’s expertreview established validity, the questionnaire was pilot tested for reliabilityusing Chronbach’s alpha. Reliability is the measurement of variability ofanswers (Groves et al., 2004). The questionnaire was pilot tested duringSpring Quarter 2006 in a FAES 597 Animal Science course with an N = 33. Ifthe variance of the response deviations is low and the reliability coefficientapproaches 1.0, then the questionnaire will have high reliability. Forthe purposes of this study, the reliability coefficient must meet a standard of.6 to .7 (Nunnally & Bernstein, 1994, pp. 264–265) to be considered reliable.The reliability coefficient for the pilot test was .83. Therefore, the question-naire possessed reliability and no further changes were made to items.

To determine each respondent’s influences of perceptions, the answersfrom each item were tabulated. The instrument and responses were codedand entered into a Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS, 2004)database for statistical analysis. Descriptive statistics described the accessiblepopulation.

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Whether there was a significant difference with the characteristics ofgender, college major, and childhood-rearing description were identifiedwith the accessible population’s influences of organic food perceptions.A one-way ANOVA was used for statistical comparisons to identify theexistence of significant differences. An alpha level of .05 was assigned apriori.

When studying media effects, distinction between whether the mediawas the sole influencer is difficult to measure and is a limitation in thisstudy. Also, when reporting advertising effects, many advertisements influ-encers are subliminal and therefore the respondent is incapable of measur-ing the advertisements influence (Moore, 1982). Last, defining organic foodas one category is also a limitation. Organic products are not all the sameand assuming they are is a limitation within the study.

RESULTS

Student enrollment during the second week of Autumn Quarter totaled207 students (N = 207) in the classes studied. Questionnaires were distrib-uted during the second week of classes at a convenient time requested fromthe professors. Total response was 189 students (91%). The class populationwas comprised of 10% more males than females. Although 38% of thepopulation responded that they were reared in a rural location, only 25%responded that they lived on a farm.

Nine OSU colleges with 54 majors were represented with the followingpercentages: Arts (2%); Biological Sciences (1%); Humanities (10%); Busi-ness (24%); Mathematical & Physical Sciences (1%); Social & BehavioralSciences (23%); Engineering (3%); Food, Agriculture, and EnvironmentalSciences (37%); and Continuing Education (1%). For the purposes of thisstudy, the colleges were combined into two groups (A and B). Theresearcher referred to Group A as soft sciences, which are colleges with anemphasis on social sciences or the arts, including business. Group B wascategorized as hard sciences, which focus on areas that are objectiveaspects of nature.

The frequencies of responses varied for each question. Price influencedstudents’ perceptions of organic foods the most when compared to brands andlabels. The brands of food influenced students’ perceptions the least. Brands,labels, and price influenced females’ perceptions of organic food more thanmales’ perceptions. However, the most significant result in gender was priceperceptions. Sixty-eight percent of males agreed that price influenced their per-ceptions of organic food compared to 86% of females (See Table 1).

Students then were asked to indicate the degree they agree/disagreewith the perceptions of selected groups and whether those groups affectedthe students’ perception. An example of the question was (1) “My family’s

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Students’ Organic Food Perceptions 385

perceptions of organic food influence my perceptions of organic food;” (2)“I view my family’s perceptions of organic food as positive.” This methodwas used to describe whether positive or negative group perceptionsaffected the students’ perceptions.

The majority of students responded that all the selected groups, exceptpoliticians, possessed positive perceptions of organic food. Most studentsagreed (81%) that celebrities have positive perceptions of organic food. Green-focused nonprofit organizations came second with 78% of students in agree-ment that green-focused nonprofits have positive perceptions of organic food.

For selected groups, respondents’ families had the most influence onstudents’ perceptions of organic foods. Politicians influenced students’ per-ceptions the least. Although students perceived celebrities as having posi-tive attitudes of organic foods, only 15% of students responded thatcelebrities influenced their perceptions (See Table 2).

TABLE 1 Brand, Label, and Price Influences by Gender

Statement

Disagreement Agreement

StD MD SD SA MA StA

Male

The brands of organic food products influence my perceptions of organic food.

41.2 19.6 14.7 17.6 5.9 1

The labels on organic food products influence my perceptions of organic food.

31.1 14.6 10.7 27.2 14.6 1.9

The prices of organic food influence my perceptions of organic food.

11.7 9.7 9.7 19.4 22.3 27.3

FemaleThe brands of organic food products

influence my perceptions of organic food.34.9 19.3 9.6 26.5 7.2 2.4

The labels on organic food products influence my perceptions of organic food.

22.9 13.3 7.2 30.1 16.9 9.6

The prices of organic food influence my perceptions of organic food.

4.7 2.4 7.1 17.6 25.9 42.4

Key: StD: Strongly disagree SA: Slightly agreeMD: Moderately disagree MA: Moderately agreeSD: Slightly disagree StA: Strongly Agree

TABLE 2 Percentage Agreement that Selected Groups InfluencedStudents’ Perceptions

Selected group Percentage of agreement

Family 38.2Friends 25.2Celebrities 15.2Politicians 6.5Green-focused non-profits 23.6

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Media did not have as much influence on students’ perceptions asexpected. Advertisements affected students, with 53% responding thatadvertisements positively affect their organic food perceptions. Approxi-mately one-third of students regularly read and/or watch news stories aboutorganic food, but only 14% responded that they search for news storiesfocusing on organic foods.

An interesting finding was that when asked whether an article in anelite newspaper positively or negatively affected their perceptions oforganic food, 20% agreed that a positive article changed their perceptionsand 20% agreed that a negative article changed their perceptions. However,when asked a similar question using the medium of television the percent-age increased. Television news programs that highlighted the positiveaspects of organic food changed 26% of students’ perceptions and whennegative aspects were highlighted 24% responded that the story changedtheir perceptions. This leads to the conclusion that television news affectsperceptions more than elite newspapers for this population. (See Table 3.).

Significant differences among characteristics of gender, college major,and childhood-rearing location description were identified with the accessiblepopulation’s perception of organic food. A one-way ANOVA was used forstatistical comparisons to identify the existence of significant differences. Analpha level of .05 was appropriate and is commonly used in social sciences.

A Likert scale, otherwise referred to as a summated rating scale, wasused to generate means summed across questions. The sums are assumed

TABLE 3 Influence of Newspapers and Television News

Statement

Disagreement Agreement

StD MD SD SA MA StA

I read a newspaper article in an elite newspaper (such as the New York Times) on the positive aspects of eating more organically. The story changed my perceptions of organic food.

56.4 15.1 8.9 14.5 3.4 1.7

I read a newspaper article in an elite newspaper (such as the New York Times) on the negative aspects of pesticides on vegetables. The story changed my perceptions of organic food.

59.1 14.9 6.1 12.2 4.4 3.3

I watched a journalistic TV program (such as 20/20) on the positive aspects of eating more organically. The story changed my perceptions of organic foods.

52.2 11.0 10.4 22.0 3.8 .5

I watched a journalistic TV program (such as 20/20) on the negative aspects of pesticides on vegetables. The story changed my perceptions of organic foods.

53.0 12.6 10.9 15.3 7.1 1.1

Key: StD: Strongly disagree SA: Slightly agreeMD: Moderately disagree MA: Moderately agreeSD: Slightly disagree StA: Strongly Agree

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Students’ Organic Food Perceptions 387

to be internal in scale of measurement. No significant differences werefound among gender, students’ college major, and childhood-rearing loca-tion description.

DISCUSSION

This study is significant because results provide researchers additional infor-mation on what and how public opinion about organic food is generated.College-aged students are the first group of young adults who are experi-encing the rise in organic food sales and grocers. Rapid growth in consumerdemand frequently generates transformations within the industry. Recom-mendations to organic food stakeholders would be to advertise organicfood’s benefits. Since 53% of students agreed that advertisements positivelyinfluence their perceptions, stakeholders should not only advertise productsbut also organizations, research, and political campaigns in regard toorganic food. Advertisers should specifically target college campuses andtelevision programming for adults ages 18–24.

Many advertising campaigns that use celebrity spokespeople—like GotMilk?, which encourages milk consumption and features a celebrity with amilk mustache in the print campaign—have been memorable and success-ful. However, this study’s research concluded that celebrities do not havemuch influence with this population’s organic food perceptions. The use ofcelebrities in social marketing campaigns may raise awareness but does notinfluence perceptions.

Politicians also should not be used in advertising or as representationof special interest groups. Politicians possessed the least influence and stu-dents also perceived them to have the least positive perceptions of organicfood. Results indicated that advertisements should be family or friend basedbecause those selected groups influenced students’ perceptions the most.

Newspaper and television news results indicated that news storiesshould be sold more aggressively to television. Advertisement practitionersshould place ads on television and public relations practitioners shouldpitch stories to television news shows more than to newspapers. Televisionnews stories influenced students’ positive perceptions of organic foods 6%more than print newspaper articles. Intuitively, television advertisementsmight exert better influence than print advertisements.

As child rearing location description had no significant difference withstudents’ perceptions and influencers of organic food, advertising should bespread across geographic locations. However, industries should researchand be aware of accessibility to products before advertising in certain loca-tions. Also, media in rural, suburban, and urban areas should producestories on organic foods.

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The implications for future studies are boundless in regard to organicfood. Just as sales of organic food have increased, so too has research onthe topic. However, research on perceptions and buying habits of organicfood continue to be limited. More research has been conducted in Europethan in the United States, which is ironic because the United States globallyproduces the most food.

This study should be replicated at a different institution using a sim-ple random sample. Although child-rearing location description found nosignificant difference in relation to influencers of organic food, geo-graphic location might play a more significant role in the findings if stud-ies were conducted at different universities. The study also could usedifferent classes to survey. Even though this study focused primarily oncollege seniors who had majors in the College of Food, Agriculture, andEnvironmental Sciences, a future study should include different agegroups, considering both underclassmen and graduate students. By sur-veying different ages, variability in age relationships could be examinedwith major study variables. Students or individuals in their early 20sshould be researched because they are new consumers to the grocerymarket and their current perceptions may not alter with age. As thisdemographic becomes older and assumes gender and family roles, theirperceptions, especially those of females, would then trickle down to theirchildren.

Further research should focus on one specific organic commodityinstead of organic food as a monolithic entity. Students may only buy onecommodity and, therefore, not consider themselves organic food consum-ers. Or, students may perceive specific commodities differently.

This study only focused on influences of perceptions and not what theperceptions actually are. Future studies should explore and describe stu-dents’ perceptions of organic food. Other influences that were not exploredinclude the taste of organic food, animal welfare, and health. Whetherstudents perceive organic food to be healthier or safer is important in evalu-ating perceptions. Other perceptions that have not been explored arewhether students perceive the taste of organic food to be different and if thesatisfaction of buying locally grown food is a positive influence of purchasingorganic food.

Although newspapers and television news stories focusing on organicfood were explored in relation to influence, the Internet was not included.Younger people today use the Internet and many receive their news primarilythrough the Internet. Therefore, future studies should also include Internetnews (either in print or video) as influencers of perceptions. Because thisstudy focused on influences of perceptions, research is needed on the buyinghabits and overall perceptions. A study comparing the buying habits andperceptions of organic food at different colleges would add greatly toorganic food research.

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Universities across the United States—including Yale University, whichis at the forefront—are offering students more organic food choices indining halls. Research on how this change in dining halls affects students’dining choices and even college enrollment choices can be further studied.Another topic related to college dining halls would be to look at how theoffering organic food affects perceptions.

Further research could also investigate which products students arebuying when they do purchase organic food. Many organic grocers such asWhole Foods and Wild Oats sell prepared meals in individual servings. Apossible conclusion is that students, who are purchasing food for one andmay not cook, choose to buy the prepared meals regardless of whether theingredients are organic.

CONCLUSION

Most of the results supported previous research. Labels slightly affectedfemales’ perceptions more compared to males’ perceptions. Researchreported that males are less likely than females to use nutritional labeling(Bender & Derby, 1992; Nayga, 1996). Dunlap and Beus (1992) found thatfemales are more opposed to pesticide residues than males. Huang (1993)concluded that females demonstrated a higher willingness to pay for safety-risk reduction. A study conducted by the Food Marketing Institute (2001)found that organic shoppers are more likely to be females and the largestpercentage of these shoppers were between the ages of 25–39. However,this study also reported that brands and price influenced females’ organicfood perceptions more than males’ perceptions.

Agricultural issues stir controversy. Discussions involving the environ-ment, economy, safety, and health all have impacts on organic food. Iforganic food sales continue to rise, intuitively that means organic food per-ceptions will continue to change. Perceptions are not usually stagnant.

Understanding influences of perceptions is important in all industries.Researchers must ask the question of: Why do individuals think that way?Learning what most influences individuals is knowledge that can be used inall realms of society, especially with regard to public policy and govern-mental issues.

By identifying factors influencing the increase in organic food sales,researchers are exploring the impact of influences. Influences play a part insales and organic food is a topic that stirs debate on both sides of the issue.On one hand, many believe the more production of food the better, whileothers believe that higher returns are not worth the cost to human, animal,and environmental health. Only time will predict if organic food’s recentpopularity will continue throughout the 21st century or if it is just anotherfad in American history.

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