Demand Analysis for Organic Fruits in Boroujerd County, Using of Heath Beliefs Model

The future of organic agriculture, to a large extent, depends on the consumer demand and their motive for paying extra prices for organic foods and indeed, consumers play a pivotal role in the future investments on organic farming. Growth in the consumer demand for friendly, “green” or chemical-free food products, has led to the expansion of organic farms which have developed as a part of wider organic movement incorporating producers, manufacturers and consumers. Consequently, the choices of the consumers are as important as the producers through the whole chain of organic food production. Therefore, an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms that lead people to use such products is thus critically important. The aim of the study was to explore the influence of constructs of the Health Beliefs Model on willingness to use organic foods using a multistage, random sample of households (n= 204) in a survey conducted in Iran. Structural Equation modelling showed that perceived benefits and Orientation to health are significant predictors of willingness regarding the use of organic fruits. These variables can predict nearly 58% variance of consumer willingness to use organic fruits.