Czech Consumers' Preference for Organic Products in Online Grocery Stores during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Oct 15;19(20):13316. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192013316.

Abstract

A major advantage of online organic produce shopping is the fact that it saves energy and reduces emissions otherwise generated by customers during their time spent on the road and while shopping. Organic products in general positively impact sustainability, the environment, and the regions of their origin along with the social changes in these regions and further rural development. Moreover, these products positively impact the perceived health benefits and quality of food labeled as organic. The Czech Republic has currently seen a rise in organic food purchasing and supply trends. This study maps the factors possibly influencing consumers' decision to go shopping for organic food online. Observed factors include the following demographic characteristics of consumers (respondents): gender, age, education, household income, number of children in the household and number of household members. A total of 757 respondents from the Czech Republic from September 2020 to December 2020 took part in the research. Logistic regression, used for data processing, identified the statistically significant effects of education, income and number of household members on online purchases. These conclusions were confirmed by a detailed contingency tables analysis, including the almost monotonous trend of the dependencies, with only minor deviations in a maximum of one category. The strongest influence of some categories on the emergence of partial dependencies was found by residue analysis. The research confirmed that the frequency of online grocery shopping increases significantly with increasing education and income of respondents and decreases with increasing the number of household members. Most respondents apparently shop for groceries online because of time savings, better product choice and more convenient and easier search.

Keywords: COVID-19; consumer behavior; food security and food safety; health behaviors; human environment; organic food products; quality of life; sustainable agriculture; sustainable development of rural and urban areas.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • COVID-19* / epidemiology
  • Child
  • Consumer Behavior
  • Czech Republic / epidemiology
  • Food Preferences*
  • Humans
  • Pandemics
  • Supermarkets

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the College of Polytechnics in Jihlava under Grant IGS–Nr.: INT/2022/0006: “Analysis of buying behaviour of customers by food purchase of organic food and regional products during the COVID-19 pandemic” and under Grant no. INT/2022/0008, ”Factors affecting corporate performance and attributes of its management” and by the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague under Grant IGA PEF CZU 2022B005 “Environmental footprint of selected protein sources in the Czech republic” and by Grant CZU nr. OP PPR815 “Realization of proof-of-concept activities of CZU at support for the transfer of technology and knowledge to practice: KZ08 New smart foods based on plant micro-particulates protein for school meals”.