The Effect of Awareness of Organic Products Characteristics on Household’s Willingness to Consume Organic Saffron in Future in Mashhad County of Iran

This study was performed using data from 165 households in 13 areas of Mashhad County of Iran. A stratified sampling method was used to determine the sample size. Firstly, factors affecting the consumer's awareness of organic products were analyzed by using the Probit model in propensity score matching method. Then, the effect of consumers’ awareness on their willingness to consume the organic saffron in future was evaluated by estimating the average treatment effect on treatment group. The results from Probit model showed that education, attitude toward quality of organic product labels, environmental concerns and attitude toward price of organic products had positive effects on awareness of the organic products. After matching, the difference in average between treatment and control groups decreased for education, attitude toward price of organic products, environmental concerns and attitude toward quality of organic product labels. The results from estimating the average treatment effect on treatment group showed that the organic saffron future consumption among units of treatment group was 66 percent greater than those in control group. So, awareness of organic products had stimulus and positive effect on the willingness to consume the organic saffron in future. Therefore, in order to stimulate demand and increase sales, it was recommended to producers and suppliers of the organic products to use advertisements to inform consumers.