Consumer attitudes and behavioral intentions in the category of organic food products

Brzi način života, užurbanost i velika količina stresa zbog poslovnih i privatnih obaveza dovode do promjene životnog standarda ljudi, sve veće brige o zdravlju i želje za unosom nutritivno bogatih prehrambenih proizvoda u svoj organizam. Sukladno tome dolazi do raste potražnje, ali i ponude na tržištu organskih prehrambenih proizvoda. Organska hrana proizvod je organske poljoprivrede koja se odnosi na način uzgoja proizvoda prilikom čega se ne koriste nikakva umjetna gnojiva, pesticidi, regulatori rasta i ostale kemikalije koje bi ugrozile kvalitetu hrane, ali i okoliša u kojem ti proizvodi rastu. Potrošači diljem svijeta postaju sve svjesniji o tome što kupuju, odakle potječe i kakve je kvalitete hrana koju konzumiraju pa žele biti sigurni u informacije koje posjeduju o njoj. Unaprjeđenje ekonomije, porast broja visokoobrazovanih ljudi i brojne informacije o utjecaju hrane koja se konzumira na organizam ljudi, rezultirali su razvojem proizvodnje organskih prehrambenih proizvoda. Stoga je cilj rada istražiti stavove potrošača i njihove namjere ponašanja u kategoriji organskih prehrambenih proizvoda. Za potrebe rada izučavali su se sekundarni izvori podataka u vidu znanstvene i stručne literature (knjige i periodične publikacije) kako bi se definirali pojmovi stava i namjere ponašanja te povezanost između njih kada je kupnja organskih prehrambenih proizvoda u pitanju. Također, za potrebe diplomskog rada provedeno je opisno, anketno istraživanje, na prigodnom uzorku ispitanika. Veličina uzorka bila je 102 ispitanika. Prema rezultatima dobivenima primarnim istraživanjem može se uočiti kako je velik broj potrošača upoznat s organskim prehrambenim proizvodima, no velika većina njih je neodlučna što se može pripisati nedostatku informacija o istima. Istraživanje pokazuje kako potrošači smatraju organske prehrambene proizvode zdravima, kvalitetnima, no cjenovno višima o konvencionalnih prehrambenih proizvoda.The fast lifestyle, busyness, and large amounts of stress due to business and private obligations, lead to a change in people's living standards, increasing the concern about own health and the desire to intake nutritionally rich food products into their organism. In accordance to that, there is a growing demand, as well the supply, on the market of organic food products. Organic food is a product of organic agriculture, which refers to the method of growing products, during which no artificial fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators and other chemicals are used and would threaten the quality of food, moreover, the environment in which these products grow. Consumers all over the world are becoming increasingly aware of what they buy, where it comes from and the quality of the food they consume. Therefore, they want to be certain of the information they receive about it. The improvement of the economy, growing numbers of highly educated people and numerous information about the effects of the food we consume on our bodies and those of our nearest, have resulted in the development of the organic food and products productions. In that note, the aim of this thesis is to investigate the attitudes of consumers and their behavioral intentions in the category of organic food products. For the purposes of this thesis, secondary sources of data in the form of scientific and professional literature (books and periodicals) were studied in order to define the concepts of attitude and behavioral intentions, as the connection between them, when it comes to the purchase of organic food products. In addition, for the purposes of the thesis, descriptive research was conducted in the form of a survey, on a convenient sample of respondents. The sample size is 102 respondents. According to the results obtained from the primary research, it can be seen that many consumers are familiar with organic food products, but most of them are undecided, which can be attribute to a lack of information about them. The research shows that consumers consider organic food products to be healthy, high-quality, but more expensive than conventional food products