Willingness of generation Z consumers to pay more for organic food in Serbia

Abstract

Even though younger consumers have positive attitudes towards organic food, a very small number of them regularly purchase these products. One of the reasons for this could be the significantly higher price of organic food compared to the price of corresponding conventional products. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to evaluate the extent to which generation Z consumers are willing to pay premium price for organic food, and to identify the socio-demographic factors which impact their willingness to pay. The study was carried out on a sample of 213 students in the Republic of Serbia, an emerging organic food market, via a structured questionnaire. The results indicate that more than 2/3 of the respondents who purchase organic food would pay a premium price of between 1% and 40%. Only 8% of the respondents are not willing to pay more for organic food products. The Chi-squared test for independence was used to analyze the relationship between socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents and their willingness to pay; it was determined that smaller households (1-3 members), as well as households in bigger cities, show a greater willingness to pay premium price for organic food. The information which was obtained during the study could be used to assist producers and organic product retailers to create an effective pricing strategy and marketing communications strategy.