The purchase of organic rice in Thailand: general considerations and the importance of traceability systems

Name: Kamonwan Chaiwattanasin

keyword: Organic rice

; Traceability system

; Consumer buying process

Abstract: This project concentrates on a contemporary topic in applied marketing that focuses on a technological issue that is important to Thailand. In particular, it involves the purchase of organic rice in Thailand in terms of both general considerations and the importance of traceability systems. This study will focus on profiling light and heavy organic rice consumers, criteria for purchasing organic rice and their importance as well as consumer awareness towards the traceability system and the components that consumers desire to see in it. Rice is the main staple food of Thailand, and the demand for organic rice has been increasing due to health and food safety concerns. Organic rice dominates Thai organic agriculture with an 85% stake (Sakolwitayanon, Soni, & Damien, 2018). The major rice brands are now investing in promoting new premium product lines, which consist mainly of organic rice (Rice, pasta, and noodles in Thailand, 2018). Although there are a lot of organic certifications, consumer trust in the organic process is still unclear. If consumers do not perceive of the organic certify label as signifying authenticity, then a traceability system could be a useful tool for enhancing consumers' trust, as it can be used to trace a product’s journey through the supply chain from producer to consumer. However, traceability systems in Thailand are still not commonly used, although the government partnered with IBM in 2010 to start a traceability project intended to strengthen small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Most of the traceability system benefits commonly stated are related to producers and businesses instead of consumers. Consequently, consumer buying process theory will be used in this study to identify the criteria consumers consider when purchasing organic rice, consumer awareness of the traceability system and the system’s desired attributes. The results of the study showed that actually, most consumers did not aim to buy organic rice at first, intending instead to buy colored rice, such as brown rice and rice berry. It turns out that most of the colored rice available in supermarkets that they usually purchase is organic. Consumers were also not aware of the traceability system. However, after being educated, they seemed to see the importance of traceability system in terms of purchasing organic rice. This study will be beneficial to the readers who are in the organic rice business and aim to adopt a traceability system for developing their products and brand reliability. Further, it contains information on what criteria consumers considering when purchasing organic rice. Therefore, marketing managers will be able to understand organic rice consumers better in order to create loyalty to, and differentiation in, their brands.

Thammasat University. Thammasat University Library

Address: BANGKOK

Email: preserv@tu.ac.th

Name: Hoffman, K. Douglas

Role: advisor

Created: 2018

Modified: 2021-06-16

Issued: 2021-06-16

วิทยานิพนธ์/Thesis

application/pdf

DOI: 10.14457/TU.the.2018.354

eng

DegreeName: Master of Science

Level: Master's Degree

Descipline: Marketing

Grantor: Thammasat University

©copyrights Thammasat University

ลำดับที่.	ชื่อแฟ้มข้อมูล	ขนาดแฟ้มข้อมูล	จำนวนเข้าถึง	วัน-เวลาเข้าถึงล่าสุด
1	1565kamonwan.pdf	4.65 MB	3	2024-06-20 14:48:06

ใช้เวลา

0.037578 วินาที