A Study on Good Agricultural Practices in Consumer Preferences and Behaviors: The Case of Karaman Province

Abstract

Purpose – The high unit cost of Organic Agriculture products and the fact that conventional products contain chemical residues and are harmful to human health, the environment (soil, water, etc.), and other life stakeholders in nature (animals, plants, etc.) have led consumers to products of good agricultural practices. To examine consumer attitudes towards Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) in terms of "Human Health", "Benefit to the Environment" and "Purchase" dimensions and to present the findings by making statistical tests. Design/methodology/approach – The population of the study was selected from households shopping for food products in Karaman province, by easy sampling method. In this study, which was carried out by adopting a quantitative research model, a questionnaire was used as a data collection tool. Demographic questions, consumer attitude scale, and brand personality scale were used in the survey. The obtained data were analyzed using the SPSS-25 statistical program. In addition, the one-way variance (ANOVA) test, T-test, and correlation analysis were performed with these data. Findings – According to the findings of the research; It has been understood that dimensions such as the perception that ITU is beneficial to human health and the environment affect the attitudes and behaviors of consumers. In addition, statistically significant differences were obtained between these dimensions regarding the demographic characteristics of consumers. Discussion – It is observed that the attitudes and behaviors of consumers at the point of purchasing agricultural food products have changed depending on their health and environmental awareness. It has been observed that individuals become more sensitive to human health and the environment as their knowledge of the negative effects of the foods they buy on human health and the damage they cause to the environment increases.