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Consumers are increasingly seeking ecological, organic, minimally processed food from certified organic farms. Consumer purchasing decisions in the organic food market are determined by various factors. The main objective of the article is to identify the range and direction of multidimensional relationships between the frequency of purchasing organic food and the factors that determine purchasing decisions. For this purpose, a canonical analysis was performed. Statistical data were obtained from survey research conducted in Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary (600 questionnaires filled in each country) from December 2023 to March 2024. Research shows that the key factor that influences purchasing decisions with respect to organic food is its high quality. In countries such as Poland, Czechia, and Slovakia, this feature received the highest percentage of indications as very important, 53%, 44%, and 54%, respectively. In the second place, respondents indicated production without agricultural chemicals and food additives (in Hungary, this factor was considered the most important, with a percentage of indications at the level of 77%). In all the countries of the Visegrad Group, the influence of famous people, celebrities, and bloggers seems to be the least important—40.7% of respondents in Slovakia considered them completely unimportant, and as many as 73% in Hungary. Fashion was similarly rated low. In the case of this factor, the percentage of indications as unimportant ranged from 31% (Slovakia) to 76% (Hungary). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High prices of organic food are the main obstacle to the growth of the demand for organic food. This study's main objective was to quantify the size of the gap between consumers' willingness to pay more for organic food and the actual price premiums for organic food in Poland. Therefore, a two-step research study was undertaken. In order to identify barriers to the growth of organic food consumption and the perception of organic food prices, a survey based on an online questionnaire of 516 respondents was conducted. To determine price premiums of organic food, prices of organic and conventional food were quoted in 45 retail outlets offering organic and conventional food located in the Poznań agglomeration between October 2022 and June 2023. This research demonstrated a low acceptance of the high prices of organic food among consumers (only 14% of the investigated consumers were willing to pay more than 40% for organic food). On the other hand, the price premiums ranged between 35% and over 270%. To reduce the divergence, the measures supporting organic market development should be intensified with the simultaneous further involvement of supermarket chains. Along with these activities, the promotion of organic food ought to be carried out, considering that, as this research shows, men have fewer positive perceptions of organic food and, therefore, they should be targeted in the promotion measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Acta Scientiarum Polonorum. Oeconomia is the property of Wydawnictwo SGGW and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)