Modeling the public attitude towards organic foods: a big data and text mining approach

This study aims to identify the topics that users post on Twitter about organic foods and to analyze the emotion-based sentiment of those tweets. The study addresses a call for an application of big data and text mining in different fields of research, as well as proposes more objective research methods in studies on food consumption. There is a growing interest in understanding consumer choices for foods which are caused by the predominant contribution of the food industry to climate change. So far, customer attitudes towards organic food have been studied mostly with self-reported methods, such as questionnaires and interviews, which have many limitations. Therefore, in the present study, we used big data and text mining techniques as more objective methods to analyze the public attitude about organic foods. A total of 43,724 Twitter posts were extracted with streaming Application Programming Interface (API). Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) algorithm was applied for topic modeling. A test of topic significance was performed to evaluate the quality of the topics. Public sentiment was analyzed based on the NRC emotion lexicon by utilizing Syuzhet package. Topic modeling results showed that people discuss on variety of themes related to organic foods such as plant-based diet, saving the planet, organic farming and standardization, authenticity, and food delivery, etc. Sentiment analysis results suggest that people view organic foods positively, though there are also people who are skeptical about the claims that organic foods are natural and free from chemicals and pesticides. The study contributes to the field of consumer behavior by implementing research methods grounded in text mining and big data. The study contributes also to the advancement of research in the field of sustainable food consumption by providing a fresh perspective on public attitude toward organic foods, filling the gaps in existing literature and research.

Propensity to Purchase Organic Food

Organic food is becoming popular among today's millennial consumers because of increased awareness of healthy lifestyles. Scholars and practitioners attempt to understand what drives consumers to purchase organic foods toward developing market domination strategies and tactics. Since organic food tends to be more expensive than non-organic, this study aims to analyze the impact of consumer values on their tendency to buy organic food. Consumption values are an important factor that could drive consumer behavior and their preferences for goods or services. Consumption values are defined in terms of the required benefits from the purchase and consumption of the preferred products. Sheth, Newman, and Gross defined consumption values in terms of practical, social, emotional, epistemic, and conditional values.

Intenção de Compra de Alimentos Orgânicos: evidências de validade da Teoria do Comportamento Planejado ## Intention to Purchase Organic Food: evidence of validity of the Theory of Planned Behavior

O artigo descreve o processo de busca de evidências de validade de conteúdo e de estrutura interna do modelo da Teoria do Comportamento Planejado (TCP) (Ajzen, 1991) aplicado à predição da intenção de compra de alimentos orgânicos no contexto brasileiro. O artigo apresenta o efeito que as atitudes, as normas subjetivas e o controle comportamental percebido exercem sobre a intenção de compra de alimentos orgânicos. A pesquisa seguiu o delineamento de levantamento online com amostragem por conveniência. A amostra contou com 705 consumidores brasileiros, maiores de idade e responsáveis ou parcialmente responsáveis pela compra de alimentos em suas residências. Na análise de dados foram utilizadas as técnicas de análise fatorial exploratória, confirmatória e de regressão linear múltipla hierárquica. O modelo da TCP explicou 58% da variação da intenção de compra de alimentos orgânicos. As atitudes (β=0,42), as normas subjetivas (β=0,30) e o controle comportamental percebido (β=0,35) são preditores da intenção de compra de alimentos orgânicos. Os resultados são relevantes para as organizações públicas e privadas envolvidas na cadeia de produção, de alimentos orgânicos que buscam subsídios teóricos e evidências científicas para justificar o desenvolvimento de mensagens voltadas à promoção da compra de alimentos orgânicos. As evidências encontradas corroboram a eficácia da TCP como modelo preditivo e apresentam resultados significativos que contribuem para o entendimento da formação da intenção de compra de alimentos orgânicos no contexto brasileiro.ABSTRACTThe article describes the search process for evidence of content validity and internal structure of the Theory of Planned Behavior model (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991) applied to the prediction of the intention to purchase organic food in the Brazilian context. The article presents the effect that attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control have on the intention to purchase organic foods. The research followed the design of an online survey with convenience sampling. The sample included 705 Brazilian consumers, of legal age and who are responsible or partially responsible for the purchase of food at their homes. In the data analysis, the techniques of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical multiple linear regression were used. The TBP model explained 58% of the variation in the intention to purchase organic food. Attitudes (β = 0.42), subjective norms (β = 0.30) and perceived behavioral control (β = 0.35) are predictors of the intention to purchase organic foods. The results are relevant for public and private organizations involved in the organic food production chain that seek theoretical subsidies and scientific evidence to justify the development of messages aimed at promoting the purchase of organic foods. The evidence found corroborates the effectiveness of TPB as a predictive model and presents significant results that contribute to the understanding of the formation of the intention to purchase organic food in the Brazilian context.

Generation Y students' purchase behaviour towards organic foods in South Africa

Objective - The primary objective of this study is to identify and explain the antecedents of organic food purchase behaviour of Generation Y students in the South African context. This study aimed to shed some light on Generation Ystudents' health consciousness, perceived behaviour control, convenience, attitudes, purchase intentions, and actual buying behaviourtoward organic food products. The study also attempted to determine the underlying strengths and relationships between the constructs used in the measurement scale. Lastly, gender relationships were investigated to determine if any differences existed between males and females in terms of their organic food product purchases. Methodology/Technique - This research study employed a descriptive, non-probability, convenience sampling design. The intended target population was full-time registered undergraduate Generation Y students aged between 18 and 24 years. The sample size was 200 students based across the four faculties within the chosen higher education institution, namely the Faculty of Management Sciences, the Faculty of Applied and Computer Sciences, the Faculty of Engineering, and the Faculty of Human Sciences. The 200 self-administered questionnaires were distributed during recess times as to not to disrupt any learning time. The questionnaire contained a cover letter explaining the purpose of the study and that participation in the study was completely voluntary. Findings - The measurement scale displayed adequate reliability and validity for all constructs. Furthermore, all constructs had statistically significant positive means, indicating that Generation Y students are health-conscious, care for the opinions of friends and family, display pro-organic attitudes, intentions, and behaviour. Results from this study indicate that there is a need for food organizations to consider implementing organic-based products in their product offerings within the South African market. Novelty - Investigation oforganic food product purchase behaviouramong South African Generation Y students (Consumer behaviour). Type of Paper - Empirical Keywords: Organic Foods; Purchase Behaviour; Generation Y, South Africa. JEL Classification: M31, M39.

Addressing Sustainability within Public Procurement of Food: A Systematic Literature Review

Public procurement has been recognized as a tool to promote more sustainable production and consumption practices. As such, an increasing body of literature has become available in recent years focusing on the sustainable public procurement of food. This article reviews the literature on the sustainable public procurement of food with the aim to analyze how sustainability is framed. This is done by analyzing what aspects of sustainability are emphasized and what practices are identified as sustainable. A systematic literature review was conducted between the years 2000 and 2020, identifying 103 articles. Results from the literature review indicate that the focus has primarily been on studies to evaluate and explore policy and good practices for procuring sustainable foods. A dominant focus on specific foods types and origins, e.g., those locally sourced and organic foods, is highlighted by a large share of the literature to address all three sustainability pillars. We observed that most articles focus on all three pillars of sustainability (environmental, social, and economic), addressing different aspects and types of foods, although the focus varied depending upon geographic location. Despite many studies identifying opportunities and potential, few articles assess the sustainability or outcomes of procurement processes through quantitative or qualitative methods or how actors in the procurement process can improve procurement toward more sustainable foods. This indicates a need for further case studies and guidelines to measure the development, progress, and performance of public food procurement.

An Analysis of Preference of Organic Food Products by the Consumer in Theni District, Tamilnadu

In this competitive World, Organic food plays important role in Consumer Preference Level. Today’s people are given more importance to their health more than money. There is several Organic companies providing food products; in this study, they commonly take Organic food products. The consumers who get Preference on Organic products started to buy and utilising their regular Consumption. This stimulates the research to know - why the Consumers Preference Level on the Organic foods. Which factors influence Consumers Preference Level?

Review on Evaluation of Physalis peruviana L.’s Antioxidant, Antimicrobial and Biochemical Activities

In this review, it was emphasized that natural and organic foods have a rich structure in terms of antimicrobial, antioxidant, and vitamin content. Physalis peruviana L., products contain minerals, amino acids, withanolides, flavonoids, and essential fatty acids, thus representing good sources of these compounds. These compounds have protective, regulatory, and nutritional roles in metabolism. Physalis peruviana L. is a wild fruit that has been widely used for centuries, mainly in folk medicine. The fruit and juice of Physalis peruviana L., contain high amounts of vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K1, and many other mineral substances. In addition, the ingredients in Physalis peruviana L., have antioxidant, antibacterial, antiviral, antiallergic, anti-inflammatory, and antineoplastic effects. The available evidence has demonstrated the nutritional value of different products of Physalis peruviana L., suggesting them to be potential candidates for use in the cosmetic industry, in the preparation of functional foods, and phytomedicine for the prevention.