Ekologiškų maisto produktų charakteristikos ir vartojimas: Lietuvos žygeivių nuomonės tyrimas

LTTyrimo objektas – ekologiškų maisto produktų ir jų vartojimo charakteristikos. Tyrimo tikslas – indentifikavus ekologiškų maisto produktų vartojimo veiksnius ir motyvus, nustatyti ekologiškų maisto produktų svarbą ir jų vartojimo charakteristikas Lietuvos žygeivių tarpe. Tyrimo uždaviniai: 1. Išryškinus ekologiško maisto produkto sampratą, apibrėžti motyvus ir veiksnius darančius įtaką ir charakterizuojančius ekologiško maisto produktus ir jų vartojimą 2. Įvertinti ekologiškų produktų vartojimo svarbą, atsižvelgiant į vertinimo skirtumus žygeivių vyrų ir žygeivių moterų tarpe. 3. Nustatyti ekologiško maisto produktų ir jų vartojimo žygeivių tarpe svarbos bei teigiamų ir neigiamų charakteristikų ryšį Tyrimo uždaviniams pasiekti buvo taikyti tokie tyrimo metodai: mokslinės literatūros analizė, lyginamoji analizė, apibendrinimas, anketinė apklausa, Pirsono testo chi kvadrato (χ²) testas ir koreliacinė analizė.

ENIncreasing consumer awareness of organic marketing and general trends in the organic food market indicate that organic consumerism is growing worldwide. In order to ensure the well-being of consumers, the main focus is on organic food products. The aim of the research – identifying the factors and reasons for the consumption of organic food products and determine the importance of organic food products and their consumption characteristics among Lithuanian hikers. Methods. Scientific literature analysis, comparative analysis, generalization, questionnaire survey, Pearson’s chi-square (χ²) test and correlational analysis. Results. Among both women and men, the majority of respondents rated the importance of using organic products neutrally: 41.9% – women, 36.9% – men. The main statement with which most hikers completely agreed and agreed is that the price of organic food products is higher than conventional food products 82.4% (n=394). Completely disagreed and disagreed with the statement that the labeling of organic food products is impossible to recognize, a lot of marketing misinformation 37.3% (n=178), that such products have fewer calories than regular food, 50.8% (n=243).The highest average estimates are attributed to the characteristics that organic food products must be certified and organically labeled 4.09 points (81% (n=387) of respondents agreed and completely agreed), grown without antibiotics, pesticides and other harmful substances 3.95 points (agree and completely agreed 75.9% (n=363)) and that organic food products are characterized by the observance of healthier processing/processing technologies 69.9% (n=334). According to the research data, a weak positive correlation was found in all cases (correlation coefficients ranged from 0.181 to 0.349) except for one, organic food ease of purchase of products and estimates of their importance. Conclusions. The study showed that the majority of Lithuanian hikers rated the importance of using organic products neutrally, although organic food products are still relevant for more than a third of hikers. The highest estimates are attributed to the characteristics that organic food products must be certified and organically labeled, grown without antibiotics, pesticides and other harmful substances and follow healthier processing and processing technologies. The majority of hikers agreed that the price of organic food products is higher than conventional food products, the most disagreed with the statement that the labeling of organic food products is impossible to recognize, a lot of marketing misinformation. According to the research, the evaluations of all positive as well as all negative characteristics of organic food and its consumption are statistically reliably related to each other in all cases, but the strength of the relationship varied. Keywords: organic food, organic food consumption, organic food characteristics.