Abstract
This study aimed to analyze how perceptions of eco-friendly agricultural products affect food choice criteria, based on a sample of 225 study participants (consumers) in Sejong City, South Korea. We focused on the following criteria: Health, food safety, environmental protection, trust, reputation, nutrition, and taste. We used factor analysis to classify responses into three types of consumer attitude: Organic-minded, pesticide-free focused, and local food-minded. Then, we applied a logit analysis to determine values of agricultural products (dependent variables) and consumer attitudes toward eco-friendly agricultural products (independent variables). We found that South Korean consumers were not motivated by health or environmental protection, nor were they substantially concerned about food safety; their utmost concern was the reputation of organic products. Pesticide-free focused and local food-minded consumers placed a higher value on nutrition and taste, respectively, likely because, in South Korea, organic agriculture is a component of eco-friendly agriculture, leading to the entanglement in consumer perceptions of organic and pesticide-free products. This paper discusses how phased development strategies of organic agriculture, including the eco-friendly agricultural policy, have failed. It is therefore needed to develop and implement new policies for South Korean eco-friendly agriculture.
Highlights
Organic agriculture in South Korea developed differently from that observed in many other countries worldwide
The South Korean government has actively promoted eco-friendly farming, including fostering organic agriculture, as part of its policy to strengthen the competitiveness of the local agricultural market
We analyzed the perceptions of three groups of South Korean consumers toward eco-friendly agricultural products based on data surveyed from 225 study participants
Summary
Organic agriculture in South Korea developed differently from that observed in many other countries worldwide. The South Korean government has actively promoted eco-friendly farming, including fostering organic agriculture, as part of its policy to strengthen the competitiveness of the local agricultural market. This strategy was implemented to counter the overload of the market with imported products due to the Uruguay Round Trade negotiations in the mid-1990s. Consumer confusion about the various certification levels led to the conversion-period certification for organic products being eliminated in 2006 and low-pesticide certification being removed in 2015 This multi-faceted system of eco-friendly agricultural certification has confused producers and consumers alike about the differences between eco-friendly and organic agricultural products. This is a problem in South Korea; Chinese consumers are confused about the differences between products labeled ‘green’ and ‘organic’ [4]
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