Determinants of the acquisition of organic and conventional foods in Brazilian households

Abstract

This paper investigated the determinant factors of the organic and conventional food consumption decision for different categories among Brazilian households. For this, we estimated a Probit model for each of the fourteen aggregate categories (seven organic and seven conventional) using microdata from the Household Budget Survey (Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares - POF) 2008-2009. We found that schooling exerts a greater influence than the per capita income on the decision to consume organic food in Brazil. In addition, results showed that variables such as age, household location and health concern also exert influence on the consumption of organic food in Brazilian households.