Abstract:
The objectives of this research were: 1) to study the organic rice purchasing behavior; 2) to study the relationship between individual factors and customers organic rice purchasing behavior in Surin Municipality, Surin Province; and 3) to study the problems and obstacles related to organic rice purchasing and provide suggestions for the organic rice purchasing introduced by customers in Surin Municipality. The samples consisted of 385 participants who buy organic rice at various flea markets in Surin Municipality. A questionnaire was employed for data collection. Statistics used for data analysis were mean and percentage. Further, chi-square was applied to find the relationship between individual factors and organic rice buying behaviors of customers in Surin Municipality.
The study found that most consumers are influenced to buy organic rice by salesmen or distributors. Averagely, they consume organic rice more than 5 kilograms per month. Additionally, the organic rice consumers usually buy the organic rice from department stores at least 5 times per month. The cost of each purchasing is between 100-200 baht and the reason for the purchase is the benefit of organic rice. Moreover, the study also showed that most of them buy the organic rice at the price of 51-60 baht per kilogram and most of them have behavior to buy organic rice due to public relations. According to the relationship between the individual factors and the organic rice purchasing behaviors, the study revealed that genders are significantly interrelated with the organic rice purchasing behaviors at .05 of statistical level in terms of influential people on the purchasing decision, purchasing sources, and selling patterns. Owing to age, it was found that age is significantly correlated to the organic rice purchasing behavior at .05 of statistical level in terms of influential people on the purchasing decision, purchasing sources, each purchasing costs, and purchasing reason. Additionally, the study also showed that there is a significant correlation between the organic rice purchasing behavior and the education level at .05 of statistical level in terms of influential people on the purchasing decision, monthly consuming amounts, purchasing sources, purchasing frequencies, purchasing reasons, and selling patterns. Finally, the study also revealed that there is a significant correlation between the organic rice purchasing behavior and occupation at .05 of statistical level in terms of influential people on the purchasing decision, monthly consumption, purchasing sources, purchasing frequencies, each purchasing costs, purchasing sources, and selling patterns. In addition, most consumers still encounter problems in buying organic rice because the public relations is not as thorough as it should be. As a result, there is a difficulty for consumers to buy organic rice since the consumer lacks of knowledge on organic rice as well as there are few useful information resources about organic rice. However, most consumers suggest that public relations to promote knowledge and prepare sources of information about organic rice should be provided by relevant organizations. In addition, retailers / places selling organic rice should have a clear labeling and publicizing must be focused.