Debunking Gender Myths of South African Generation Y Consumers Towards Organic Food Products

Around every corner, billboard, social media post, television show, movie, or news broadcast is the likelihood of a message aimed at environmental degradation. Modern-day consumers are bombarded with various environmental issues and are subsequently asked to join the environmental cause. One way consumers have joined the environmental movement is by changing their food purchasing habits. Organic food products provide solace to consumers in their food purchases as these products are set to be free from harmful pesticides, hormone stimulants, and processed chemicals, which are known to cause not only harm to the natural environment but also the consumer ingesting them. As such, consumers are purchasing organic products for both personal benefits and environmental care. Traditionally, female consumers have been the main household purchasers; however, in today’s modern society, any sex of the family purchases the month’s groceries. Moreover, males have become self-conscious about what products they consume and are increasingly questioning what is in their purchasing food. Therefore, in terms of organic food products, the question begs to be asked: does the gender of the Generation Y consumer play a significant role in today’s organic food market in South Africa? 500 Generation Y respondents aged between 18 and 35 years made up the study’s sample. The respondents were drawn from across Southern Africa through a specialist data-collection organization. The results indicate that both Generation Y men and women are knowledgeable, have positive attitudes, and have perceived behavioral control toward organic food product purchase intentions. However, male’s health consciousness had no significant effect on purchase intentions, as opposed to their counterparts. The results from the study emphasize the need for differentiated marketing campaigns geared towards gender in terms of organic food purchase behavior. Furthermore, this study helps business analysts and academics better understand the purchase intentions of Generation Y consumers in South Africa.