Consumer trends for organic products: The case of the Marmara region in Turkey

Abstract

Organic agriculture, which is one of the prominent environmentally friendly alternative agriculture systems, aims to repair the environment's deteriorating balance with entirely natural methods and by using equity. Today, environmentally conscious consumers, whose numbers are increasing significantly every day, are turning to consumption of organic products for healthy living and clean land and water. Thus, the healthy and natural nutrition concept that entered our daily lives with the development of organic agriculture has increased in importance. This study aims to determine the organic product consumption trends of consumers and examine the marketing characteristics of organic producers. Therefore, data were collected from 240 consumers using questionnaires in the organic product markets in Istanbul and Bursa provinces. The data analyses show that there are slight differences between the preferences of female and male consumers, and most consumers of organic products are middle-aged and older with higher education and income levels. In organic product marketing, it is necessary to improve the product quality, regulate the marketplaces and decrease the marketing margins in favour of consumers.