Determination of ConsumersPreferences for Conventional, Healthy and Organic Cucumbers in Isfahan City Using Choice Experiment Method

Continuing growth in human population and consumptionmeans that the global demand for food will increase for at least another 40 years and that the world needs 70-100% more food by 2050. Environmental issues such as climate change، depletion of naturalresources and biodiversity loss increasingly threaten the welfare ofhuman civilization. Confronting these threats requires، among otherthings، behavioral changes in citizens، governments and companies. Farmers and other producers are responding to consumer concerns about pesticides by creating new marketing opportunities for products grown with environmentally sound practices. Environmental economists are increasingly interested in better understanding of how people cognitively organize their beliefs and attitudes towards environmental change in order to identify key motives and barriers that stimulate or prevent action. The purpose of the presentinvestigation is to evaluate the consumers’ preferences and factors affecting their choice for conventional، healthy and organic cucumbers in Isfahan، Iran.

Data were collected on a sample of 230consumers in 2013 by using the proportionate stratification samplingmethod through face-to-face interviews based on a comprehensive structured questionnaire. Before the survey، the reliability and validity of the questionnaire were initially evaluated in a pre-test study، respectively، by using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) criteria. Individual preferences were uncovered in choice experiment method (CEM) by a contingent ranking experiment. In a contingent ranking experiment، respondents are required to rank a set of alternative options، characterized by a number of attributes، which are offered at different levels across the options. Data were analyzed by multinomial logit models. The approach consists of modeling utility، that isto say the net benefit a consumer obtains from selecting a specificproduct in a choice situation. Determining and arranging selected sets based on a review of studies and theoretical basis design scenarios of the experiment method، includes environmental characteristics، taste، appearance، price، duration of storage، the disease and the long-term complications.

Most of the respondents were female، with average age of 41. 6 years، academic education level (39. 5%) and the average monthly income of 9،760 thousand Rials. The results show that 77. 1%، 12. 4% and 10. 1% of consumers، respectively selected the healthy، organic and conventional crops as a first choice. Moreover، the consumer''s awareness towards healthy food products is low. According to the logistic regression results، the most important factors affecting the consumers'' healthier choices are income، consumer knowledge about the characteristics of healthy and organic crops، the level of consumer’s attitudes toward the importance of environmental protection and human health and having an elderly or sick member in the household. On the other hand، healthy shopping concern، age، gender، employment status and education have no significant impact on the consumer’s selection. In other words، the likelihood of choosing healthy and organic products is more in people who care about their health and nutritional status، as well as with more health consciousness، environmental concerns and knowledge regarding the risks of pesticides and characteristics of free of pesticide fruit and vegetables.

There is no difference between academic and non-academic respondent’s preferences for healthy crops، because of no general academic courses on the importance of environmental protection، healthy shopping، production and consumption of healthy and organic products in Iran''seducationalsystem. Moreover، attitude and awareness play fundamental rolesin consumers'' preferences. Willingness to pay for healthy food products in women is observed to be more than men. This could be due to the fact that housewives have more leisure time than men to make themselves aware. Also in most families buying and cooking raw materials is one of women''s responsibilities which enables them to be more cautious in selecting foods. Knowing the characteristics of healthy and organic cropsis one of the most important factors in choosing and purchasing these products. Since the elderly and ill people need more feeding care and have less resistance to harmful additives and preservatives in food products، their families are more willing to buy free of chemicals fruits and vegetables. Promoting the consumers awareness toward the benefits of healthy products could change their attitude about the importance of maintaining health and subsequently improve public health and the environment. Furthermore، it is necessary to adopt thestandardsin the process of healthy crop production and to monitor andto strengthenthe marketing system of healthy products such as guaranteeing labeling and appropriatepackaging.