CONSUMER PREFERENCE AND BUYING BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS ORGANIC CEREAL PRODUCTS: A STUDY IN COIMBATORE CITY, SOUTH INDIA

Abstract

The increasing organic food products demand has highlighted the need to understand consumer preference and buying behaviour towards specific product categories such as organic cereal products. The present study aimed to analyze consumer preference and buying behaviour, identify the factors influencing consume preference, and determine the major constraints associated with the purchase of organic cereal products in Coimbatore City, South India. Primary data were collected from 120 consumers selected through purposive sampling from 12 recognized organic specialty stores using a structured interview schedule. Percentage analysis, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Rank Based Quotient (RBQ) analysis were done using IBM SPSS statistics. The findings indicated that organic rice was accounted for 26.09%, which was the most favored organic cereal product, followed by organic cereal flour at 20.16% and organic millets at 19.37%. A majority of respondents, 56.67%, regularly purchased organic cereal products, with 47.37% preferring websites and 45.11% preferring supermarkets as their alternative purchase channels other than specialty organic stores. The most common purchase quantity was 1-2kg, reported by 36.76% of respondents, with a monthly expenditure ranging from ₹2,001 to ₹3,000 for 31.67% of them. EFA revealed six underlying factors which influencing the consumer preference: Health and Food safety, Environmental Sustainability, Product Quality and Sensory Attributes, Trust and Certification, information and Labelling, and Price and Availability. The six identified factors explained 69.13% of the total variance in consumer preference towards organic cereal products. High price is identified as the most severe constraint (RBQ = 93.90), indicating that affordability remains a major barrier to the purchase of organic cereal products despite growing consumer awareness. These findings offer valuable insights for producers, retailers, and policymakers in formulating effective strategies for pricing, marketing, certification, and distribution to enhance the consumption of organic cereal products in emerging urban markets.