Fresh Vegetable Consumer Perceptions; Understanding and Trusting Participatory Guarantee Systems Labelling
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Abstract
Participatory guarantee systems (PGS) have created opportunities for smallholder farmers to access
the organic market, and PGS labeling is used to provide information to consumers. This paper explored
fresh vegetable consumer perceptions, understanding of and trust of PGS labelling. A survey of 608 respondents was conducted in Bangkok and Nakhon Pathom. Descriptive statistics were employed; Mann-Whitney U and Chi-square test were performed. The results showed that 16 percent of consumers were aware of PGS labelling while 21 percent understood it. Consumer trust of PGS labelling was less than consumer trust for organic and good agricultural practices (GAP) from government standard certification and other International Organic Farming Federation standards which are certified by private institutions. Consumers who were aware of and understood PGS labelling had higher trust levels than others. Pesticide safe and organic fresh vegetable consumers were more likely to be aware of and understand PGS labelling, and moreover they had a higher level of trust than others. The results suggest that the government and private sector should develop marketing communication strategies for PGS to improve awareness and understanding of it so that consumers will place more trust in it.
Article Details
King Mongkut's Agricultural Journal
References
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