Green harvest: consumer attitudes as seeds of change towards a sustainable food revolution

Abstract

The breakthrough of organic food plays a crucial role in mitigating climate change. This is based on several research findings stating that organic food can reduce the use of chemicals, improve soil conditions, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and support biodiversity. However, the high price constraint of organic food leads most people to prefer non-organic food daily. The focus of this research is to determine the level of consumer willingness to pay more (WTPM) for organic food by examining the role of knowledge of organic food (OFK), price consciousness (PC), and consumer attitudes (CA). The 300 respondents were collected from all islands in Indonesia, including Java, Bali, Kalimantan, Sumatra, Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi, Bangka Belitung, and Papua. This study uses Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test the research hypothesis. The research results indicate that OFK and PC directly and significantly influence CA. Furthermore, PC and CA also directly and significantly affect WTPM. Interestingly, OFK does not directly drive consumer WTPM. On the other hand, CA plays a significant mediating role between OFK and PC regarding WTPM. The implications of this research finding are that to increase the adoption of organic food as a climate change mitigation measure; efforts are needed to enhance consumers' knowledge and awareness of the benefits of organic food to form a more positive attitude towards the product. This, in turn, can improve their willingness to pay a slightly higher price to support organic food consumption in Indonesia.