Comportamento do consumidor de produtos orgânicos: uma análise na perspectiva da teoria da cadeia de meios e fins

Abstract

Accompanying the transformations evident in the world food market, changes in consumer purchase behavior have been observed in several food sections, with a tendency in growth for organic products, which can be seen as one ofthe great food tendencies ofthe lastdecade. The objective ofthisthesis wasto investigate, through the Means Ends Chain Theory, consumer behavior of organic foodproducts in open markets inthe city ofBelo Horizonte, MG, with reference to the identification and characteristics ofthe products and the relationships betweenthem and also the relationship betweenthe consequences ofpurchase and consumption in relation to the consumers' grades, structure presupposed by this theory. In sight ofthis, a literature revision was made with relationship to the evolution ofthe organic market, concepts of market strategies and consumer behavior, and the consumer's oforganic foods behavior. For theoretical sustenance, a structure based on the evolution ofmarketing research in perspective ofvalues inthe studyofthe consumeis behavior, the Means Ends Chain Theorywas used. A laddering technique was used for research, allowing through the representation ofthe information in the head office of joined relationships and, later, in the hierarchical value map,to identifyorientations of the consumers* perception. The great number ofattributes, consequences and identified values, revealed a complex structure that characterizes these consumers' cognitive perspectives, lhe occurrence ofperceptible and nonperceptible attributes of the product served as means of unveiling purchase attitude, verifying growing perspective of attributes non-perceptible. The attributes " non-toxic" and "better flavor" were identified as predominant in the conformation ofthe dominant chains. The experience with relationship to the use ofthe productandcommunication, resulting in credibility with relationship to the organic product and the purchase process, are considered decisive elements in this market. The orientation perceptions were decisive for guaranteeing the constitution ofthe productandalso the heafth andsafetyofthe consumer. Based on these orientation perceptions seven large specific groups that characterized the consumers* of chemical firee vegetables cognitive perspectives andorganic vegetables were identified: "Practical - itmakes my life easier", "social Conviviality", "Socially and environmentally responsible", "Health and economy", "safe eating", "Pleasure and nostalgia" and "Pleasure and energy." With relationship to the values, as many domams of individual interest stimulation as collective interests were evidenced, and identified in three large groups: the first one formed by representative values ofdomains of individual interest stimulation ('*to Live life well", "life Quahty" and "Longevity") representing more than halfofali the identified relationships between attributes and values; a second one formed by intermediate values, that showed as many domams of individual interest stimulation as collective ("Harmony-balance" and"Peacefulness"); and athird formed by representative values of domains of collective interest stimulation ("Socialize" and t£Happiness"). It can be concluded that there occurred a prevalence of relationships with characteristics ofdomams ofindividual interest stimulation and that the values 'to live life well" and "Harmony-balance" are the values whose relationships with the attributes showed more representatives.