An Evaluation of Consumers’ Preference for the Organic Rice Commodity in Thailand

Abstract

The objective of this study was to towards the growth of the Thai Organic rice industry: An evaluation of consumers' behavior and barriers to organic rice consumption in Thailand. The questionnaire was collected from 223 rice growers using simple random sampling by using the formula of Taro Yamane with 5 % variation. The descriptive and inferential statistics were used to answer the research purpose, such as mean percentage, ANOVA statistical analysis. This research found that; confidence in the 'organic-label', cheaper price, quality, nutritional value, range of organic products, accessibility and availability are the key deciding factors to purchase organic rice by consumers. Lack of trust in the authenticity of organic products is a key barrier and farmers needs to understand the certification and quality assurance processes to help them overcome this hurdle. Price is a significant motivator to purchase, as such, initiatives to increase efficiency in production and encourage farmers to plant more pest-resistant/high yielding rice variety is critical. The government certification programme needs to be standardize and utilize innovative technologies including the creation of national 'kite-mark' which provides the ability by the consumers to trace the origin of rice products (e.g. QRcode, augmented reality) to build trust in organic rice products. The research presented underpin the relevance of understanding the extrinsic and intrinsic motivations of consumers’ satisfaction to buy organic rice and how this can be used to better inform the development of Government policies.