Consumer’s Trust in the Consumption of Organic Agricultural Products in Thailand
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Abstract
The objectives of this research were to study: 1) basic demographic characteristics, value perception, and knowledge regarding organic agricultural products; 2) consumption behavior; 3) consumers’ trust; and 4) factors related to consumers’ trust in organic agricultural products among 385 consumers in Thailand. Data were collected via online questionnaires distributed through a Facebook page using convenience sampling. Descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, and mean) and inferential statistics (Chi-square and Pearson correlation) were utilized for data analysis.
The results revealed that the majority of consumers were female (71.69%), with an average age of 38.36 years. Most held a bachelor's degree (61.56%), were government or state enterprise employees (40.00%), had an average monthly income of 42,506.85 baht, and were single (59.22%). Regarding perceptions, 86.49% of consumers demonstrated a high level of value perception, while 75.84% had a moderate level of knowledge (mean score of 16.17 out of 27). Consumption behaviors included purchasing vegetables (78.10%), buying from retail stores (77.10%), shopping on weekends (49.30%), spending less than 500 baht per visit (59.00%), prioritizing quality (62.90%), and purchasing for self-consumption (59.40%). Furthermore, consumers reported the highest level of trust in organic products (mean = 4.33) across all four dimensions: health, ecology, fairness, and care. Hypothesis testing indicated that occupation and marital status were significantly correlated with consumers’ trust (p < 0.05). Additionally, perceived value showed a significant positive correlation with trust (p < 0.01), suggesting that enhancing value perception is crucial for building consumer trust. These findings serve as a guideline for developing communication strategies, marketing policies, and the sustainable promotion of organic product consumption.
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King Mongkut's Agricultural Journal
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