| Abstract [eng] |
The master 's thesis analyzes the factors influencing the decision to buy organic products. Consumer interest in organic products is growing. Consumers are also increasingly concerned about their health, the environment, ecology, suitability and sustainability. Thus, over the last decade, organic consumption, ecological sustainability, the consumer buying organic products, organic products, ecological way of life of consumers have become popular topics in research. Consumers are encouraged to change their consumption habits and make decisions to buy organic products instead of regular products. But consumers do not always pay attention to the ecological issues they highlight. Their behavior in purchasing situations is complicated, during the decision-making process of the purchase, a positive decision is not always made. It is therefore important to find out the factors that influence the decision to buy organic products. The aim of the master's thesis is to theoretically substantiate and identify, empirically verify the factors that influence the decision to buy organic products. The thesis consists of three main parts: the theoretical part, the research methodology and the empirical part. In the first part of the thesis, based on the academic literature, the concept of consumer behavior is analysed and framed and the consumer's decision to buy is identified in the context of consumer behavior theory. Consumer behavior reflects their actions when a consumer searches for, buys, uses, evaluates, or refuses goods and services to meet their needs and desires. Therefore, researching the patterns of consumer behavior developed by various researchers, it is clear that the consumer decision-making process starts with the problem that has come to light - the recognition of a need that has to be addressed. The decision of purchasing is inseparable from the search for information, which may be based on personal experience or external sources, followed by an evaluation of alternatives, which may depend on experience, social, cultural and psychological factors. And only then the decision to buy is made, followed by the last part of the consumer's decision to buy - the reaction after the purchase. The master 's thesis, decision-making factors in the market of organic products were identified. A five-stage consumer decision-making model developed by Kothler and Armstrong (2016) was chosen for the study, through which the factors that influence consumers most when purchasing organic products were identified through the prism of research. The second part of the thesis presents the research methodology and research organization. The following research methods were used for the research: the questionnaire survey of the Lithuanian population and the systematization and generalization of the obtained and processed questionnaire survey data. The general population consisted of 187,150 Lithuanians age range: from 18 to 65. 6% were selected for the study sample with the margin of error. The margin of error was applied according to the participation rate of the respondents. The third part of the thesis presents the research data obtained with the questionnaire, as well as the results of the empirical research, during which the factors that most influence consumers' decision to buy organic products were identified and the hypotheses formulated during the research were confirmed and rejected. 302 respondents filled the questionnaire. Ethical principles were followed in the quantitative study. The obtained data was processed with Microsoft Office Excel and SPSS specialized statistical software that allowed to conduct the data analysis and conclusions are presented. |
