FACTORS INFLUENCING THE BUYING DECISION OF ORGANIC PRODUCTS BY THE MATERNAL WOMEN – WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ARAKONAM TALUK, RANIPET DISTRICT.

Abstract

India is the country with the greatest number of organic producers worldwide, according to the 2018 World of Organic Agricultural Report. Accordingly, over the previous five years, the Indian government has vigorously promoted organic farming. Pregnancy is considered the ideal time to adopt an organic diet since it reduces unintentional pesticide exposure, which can have negative effects on both the mother's and the unborn child's health. Given that many pesticides include endocrine-active ingredients, it has been proposed that eating organic food during pregnancy may lower the risk of pesticide exposure and protect the foetus against endocrine-related health problems including hypospadias. The empirical technique served as the foundation for this study, which examined how consumers determine organic products.  Pregnant customers who buy organic products from different locations in Arakonam Taluk provided structured questionnaires to be used in the collection of primary data for this study. To better understand the relationship between demographics and perception elements, this study aims to identify the characteristics that influence consumers' perceptions of organic food items. Questionnaires were given to about 150 respondents for the current study, and data were gathered using a purposive simple random sampling approach.

The result indicates that the majority of maternal women (36.7%) are between the ages of 25.1 and 30; they are mostly Hindu (46.7%) and fall into the BC (56.0%) category; the majority of their families (38.0%) have four or five members; and 52.7% live in rented housing. The fact that the majority of sample respondents (37.3%) held a degree in the relevant subject suggests that the respondents must have some knowledge about organic goods. According to the respondents' household income status, over 62.0% of the respondents had incomes under Rs. 30,000, and a sizeable amount of their expenditure, particularly on food goods, fell below Rs. 10,000, making up roughly 71.3% of the sample respondents as a whole. The result also gives us confidence that the research area's sample respondents prioritize health consciousness and maintain a balanced nutritional intake, leading them to buy organic items and suggest that the level of education not influencing the buying motive of the sample respondents.