Cleaner and Responsible Consumption 12 (2024) 100159

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Cleaner and Responsible Consumption

journal homepage: www.journals.elsevier.com/cleaner-and-responsible-consumption

Consumption patterns of organic vegetable consumers in Ghana

Camillus Abawiera Wongnaa *, Stephen Prah , Samuel Asare Austin ,
Emmanuel Agyei Amponsah , Caleb Achina , Davis Aban Ekow , Iddris Hudard Mazzola ,
Samuel Tweneboa Kwaku
Department of Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness and Extension, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Private Mail Bag, University Post Office,
Kumasi, Ghana

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

JEL classification: The study examined organic vegetable attributes, consumer decisions and consumption patterns of consumers in
C24 Ghana. A sample of 399 consumers was selected using a simple random sampling technique and data was
C31 collected through structured questionnaires. The study analyzed the important attributes of organic vegetables
E21
using Kendall’s coefficient of concordance. The factors influencing consumers’ decision to consume organic
Q18
vegetables and the proportion of their total expenditure allocated to organic vegetables was analyzed using
Keywords:
Cragg’s double hurdle model. Finally, ordered logit regression was employed to analyse the factors influencing
Consumption pattern
Ordered logistic regression
the consumption patterns of organic vegetables consumers. The results revealed that consumers prioritize health
Cragg double hurdle concerns and sensory attributes when purchasing organic vegetables as these were identified as the most
Organic vegetables important attributes. Also, socioeconomic factors, viz. age group, educational level and income level, as well as
Ghana institutional factors, viz. market type, availability of organic vegetables and accreditation, significantly influ­
enced the decision and expenditure on organic vegetables. In addition, consumers exhibited irregular con­
sumption patterns, and a significant proportion of consumers acquired information about organic vegetables
through family and friends. Furthermore, the ordered logit regression analysis revealed several factors that
significantly influenced the consumption patterns of organic vegetables. These include age category, educational
level, household head, household size, income level, type of market, time to market, and accreditation. The study
recommends that government and other stakeholders should consider consumers’ consumption patterns, attri­
butes of organic vegetables they consider prior to purchasing as well as factors influencing their decision-making
when developing marketing strategies and policies for organic vegetable farmers. This approach can help meet
consumer demands and help improve the development and promotion of organic vegetables in the market.

1. Introduction In the global spectrum, the world witnessed a remarkable vegetable

Vegetable production continues to play a pivotal role in ensuring
sustainable food supply for the world. The importance of vegetable
production cannot be overlooked as it provides employment opportu­
nities and serves as a crucial source of livelihood, particularly for rural
households, thus helping to alleviate poverty. In addition, vegetable
production activities in both rural and urban centers have the potential
to contribute significantly to the achievement of the first two Sustain­
able Development Goals (SDGs 1&2) set by the United Nations: reducing
extreme poverty and hunger. The successful attainment of these goals by
2030 is essential as it also paves way for addressing the broader spec­
trum of sustainable development goals (Nakai, 2018; Boca, 2021).
production of 1154 million tonnes in 2021 (Shahbandeh, 2023; Warid,
2023). This represents substantial growth compared to 1972 when
global vegetable production stood at 232 million tonnes (Shahbandeh,
2023). Currently, China emerged as the frontrunner, boasting an
impressive production volume of over 600 million metric tons of vege­
table in 2021 (Shahbandeh, 2023; Warid, 2023). Following closely
behind was India, with an approximate output of 138 million metric tons
of fresh vegetables (Shahbandeh, 2023; Blockeel et al., 2023). During
the same year, the average per capita consumption of fresh vegetables in
the United States stood at 139.8 pounds (Shahbandeh, 2023; Warid,
2023). The consumption of vegetables is widely recognized as a key
component of a healthy diet, particularly for those following a

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: wongnaaa@yahoo.com (C.A. Wongnaa).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clrc.2023.100159
Received 11 October 2023; Received in revised form 26 November 2023; Accepted 4 December 2023
Available online 9 December 2023
2666-7843/© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
nc-nd/4.0/).
C.A. Wongnaa et al.
vegetarian or plant-based eating pattern. However, over five decades,
the annual growth rate of vegetable production experienced a remark­
able trajectory (Shahbandeh, 2023; Warid, 2023; Rabobank, 2021). It
reached its peak in 2000, with an impressive rate of 11%, demonstrating
the industry’s tremendous progress. Since then, the annual growth rate
has moderated, stabilizing at 1.4% in 2021 (Shahbandeh, 2023; Rabo­
bank, 2021). These statistics underscore the continuous expansion and
significance of vegetable production on a global scale. Turning to
sub-Saharan Africa especially Ghana, vegetable production in 2021
amounted to 788,693 tonnes. Despite fluctuations over the years,
vegetable production in Ghana has generally shown an upward trend
between 1972 and 2021, with the 2021 output representing a peak in
production (Knoema, 2021). The increase in vegetable production is
primarily due to the growth of inorganic vegetable production rather
than organic vegetable production (Boateng et al., 2022; Blockeel et al.,
2023).
Generally, vegetables are defined as herbaceous plants or portions of
plants that can be eaten either raw or cooked (Eyinade et al., 2021).
They are high in nutrients, which support good health and build up the
immune system. Some of these crops are cultivated and harvested in the
field with the use of weedicides and chemical fertilizers to enhance their
growth (inorganic vegetables), while for others, farm yard manure,
potash, and compost are used in their production (organic vegetables).
Vegetable farming has generated one of the largest markets and has
provided jobs, money, and poverty alleviation to rural households
(Lothe et al., 2017). It has also aided in the production of sufficient and
readily available vegetables for the food sector, as well as in the growth
of the country’s restaurants and supermarkets (Terra et al., 2017; Ilakiya
et al., 2020). The international organic food sector is expanding, with
organic food and drink sales estimated to be at USD 64 billion in 2012
(Lee, 2020; O’Connor, 2021). The majority of demand focused on
Europe and North America, which account for nearly 90% of total global
sales. Between 1999 and 2016, the agricultural acreage utilized to
produce organic vegetables expanded from 11 million hectares to 57.8
million hectares worldwide (Wessel and Schwindt-Bayer, 2018). This
essentially attests to the fact that organic vegetable consumption is
gradually increasing.
The focus of this study is solely on organic vegetables. That is, veg­
etables produced through organic farming that does not involve the use
of artificial pesticides, genetically changed foods, and huge amounts of
fertilizer, but rather makes use of available input resources for produc­
tivity improvement and the development of enterprises that are both
sustainable and environmentally friendly (Kovalsky, 2022). Examples of
fruits and vegetables preferred by consumers whilst choosing natural
products, depending on the target group, are pineapples, apples, man­
gos, lettuce, oranges, potatoes, carrots, and cabbage. The recent increase
in interest and patronage of organic food production and its products is
directly related to important reasons such as environmental problems,
health problems, issues related directly or indirectly to food and other
biotic mechanisms resulting in a shift in food product preference
sequence from conventional to organically grown (Nguyen et al., 2019).
The negative consequences associated with the consumption of inor­
ganic vegetables are due to the overuse and misuse of synthetic pesti­
cides and chemicals. This has resulted in increased consumption of
organic vegetables throughout the world as people are more concerned
about environmental safety, animal welfare, and agricultural practices
(Palaniappan and Annadurai, 2018).
Studies have been carried out in many countries worldwide to
examine consumers’ perception, attitudes and consumption patterns
towards organic food in Spain (Gil and Soler, 2006), Italy (de Magistris
and Gracia, 2012), Greece (Karelakis et al., 2020), Turkey (Almli et al.,
2019), Romania (Orzan et al., 2018; Stoleru et al., 2019), Brazil (Hoppe
et al., 2013), Portugal (Benedetti et al., 2018), Australia (Chang and
Zepeda, 2009), Germany (Orzan et al., 2018), Bangladesh (Ahmed and
Basu, 2022), India (Gumber and Rana, 2017), Nepal (Singh et al., 2019)
and China (Wang et al., 2019). For instance, Ahmed and Basu (2022) as
2
Cleaner and Responsible Consumption 12 (2024) 100159
well as Gumber and Rana (2017) highlighted the need for such studies to
be conducted for different regions and countries as people’s perceptions,
attitudes and consumption patterns vary across the world depending on
cultural considerations. Obviously, studies of consumption patterns and
attitudes of organic vegetables are skewed to Asia, North America and
Europe with little attention to Africa even though few studies have been
done in Africa (Blockeel et al., 2023; Radulescu et al., 2021; Kawemama,
2018). Consumers value organic products for their quality, health and
environmental benefits (Hoppe et al., 2013; Shafie & Rennie, 2012).
However, most studies found that the cost of organic products remains a
barrier to widespread consumption. Incidence rates also differed across
countries (Kawemama, 2018). A study on the consumption of organic
vegetables is therefore required to help close this knowledge gap and
add to the scant literature in Africa. Therefore, this study seeks to answer
the following research questions: (1) What is consumers’ source of
knowledge of organic vegetables? (2) What are the important attributes
consumers consider when purchasing organic vegetables? (3) What are
the factors that influence the proportion of consumers’ expenditure on
vegetables allocated to organic vegetables? (4) What are the consump­
tion patterns of organic vegetables consumers? (5) What are the factors
that influence the consumption patterns of organic vegetables by vege­
table consumers?
The study makes the following contributions. Firstly, the rapid
growth in demand and production of organic vegetables resulting from
consumers’ becoming health-conscious and switching to organic vege­
tables necessitates continuous research in order to document and un­
derstand the evolution of the markets (Gumber and Jyoti, 2017).
Secondly, due to the lack of consumer research and continuously
changing trends among consumers in Ghana, this study will help vege­
table chain actors and policymakers follow the updated buying behav­
iors and attitudes of consumers of organic vegetables as well as the
attributes they consider when purchasing organic vegetables. Also, this
study will contribute to better consumer behavior and patterns towards
the consumption of organic vegetables among consumers in cities like
Greater Kumasi of Ghana. In addition, few studies have examined the
factors that influence the attributes consumers consider when purchas­
ing organic vegetables in East Africa (Radulescu et al., 2021; Nandi
et al., 2016) and West Africa (Kuni et al., 2020; Boateng et al., 2022).
Finally, the results of this study will contribute to efficient and effective
methods of production as well as marketing strategies for organic
vegetable producers in Ghana and to support public policy initiatives
that stimulate demand for organic vegetables. The next section of the
paper presents the literature review. This is followed by the methodol­
ogy. Whiles results and discussion are presented in section 4, conclusion
and recommendations are presented in section 5.
2. Literature review
The food market in the world is dominated by locally produced
foods, both organic and conventional (Cvijanovic et al., 2020).
Currently, consumers prefer the attributes of quality, freshness, and
taste of vegetables even though they are also increasingly concerned
about food safety (Grubor and Ðoki’c, 2016). Fruits and vegetables are
the best-selling categories of organic food. Specifically, organic fruit and
vegetable sales account for approximately 41% of organic sales (Cvija­
novic et al., 2020). Organic foods are popular on the market because
almost 90% contain fewer pesticides (Byrne, 2021; Rahman et al., 2021;
Cvijanovic et al., 2020). The global market for organic products con­
tinues to grow as retail sales of organic food and drinks reached USD 80
billion in 2014 (Willer and Lernoud, 2016). This expansion of the market
for natural and organic products follows a global trend of an increasing
demand arising from greater expectations for health and well-being.
A number of studies have examined the consumption patterns of
organic vegetables (Amicarelli et al., 2021; Ankrah Twumasi et al.,
2023; Benedetti et al., 2018; Pham et al., 2018; de Toni et al., 2017;
Sadiq, 2023; Traoré et al., 2023; Quaye et al., 2023). In Ouagadougou,
C.A. Wongnaa et al.
the demand for organic vegetable increases if consumers prioritize their
health (Amicarelli et al., 2021). In this regard, the health awareness of
consumers significantly increases the probability that consumers will
purchase organic vegetables continuously at product spots. In other
words, consumers who are more concern about the healthy attributes of
food for consumption are more likely to be motivated to constantly buy
organic food at their product spots (Benedetti et al., 2018; Pham et al.,
2018; de Toni et al., 2017), making food consumer behaviour changed
significantly in recent times (Amicarelli et al., 2021; Boone and Kurtz,
1998). Research has shown that food consumer purchasing behaviour is
a combination of social, profitable, artistic, and cerebral factors (Secer,
2020; Gumber and Rana, 2017; Goyal and Singh, 2007; Kuhar and
Juvancic, 2010). Also, the natural factors such as requirements and
motivation, literacy, tone-conception, personality, and station, influ­
ence consumers behaviuor (Owens, 2017; Crawford, 1997). In devel­
oping countries with rising per capita inflows, consumer demands for
food attributes are similar as safety, newness, appearance, and texture
are changing (Hadi et al., 2010). Across all food orders, the price has
traditionally been one of the most important factors affecting consumer
purchasing decisions (Eyinade et al., 2021; Karelakis et al., 2020; Wang
et al., 2019; Nguyen et al., 2021). For instance, Nguyen et al. (2021)
revealed that factors such as product quality, price, location of trade,
atmosphere, country of origin, and shopping convenience affect the
purchasing decisions of food consumers. They also indicated that high
prices and poor distribution were the most cited hedges to buying
organic vegetables in Vietnam. Srinieng and Thapa (2018) found that
food consumption is related to environmental and health mindfulness in
Bangkok, whereas Petrescu et al. (2017) found quality, perceived value,
and price fairness associated with the purchase of organic vegetables in
Romania. According to Kuni et al. (2020), the distance travelled by
consumers to purchase organic vegetables at the product spots signifi­
cantly decreases the food demand in Burkina Faso. Ankrah Twumasi
et al. (2023) found a strong positive correlation between expenditure on
organic food and off-farm income in Ghana. They further indicated that
female off-farm income shows a significantly higher correlation with
organic food expenditure compared to male off-farm income and
therefore female respondents with higher off-farm income are more
likely to spend more on organic food.
Evidence shows that the price of organic food is the most restricting
factor to consumers’ buying behaviour (Pham et al., 2018; Petrescu
et al., 2017; de Toni et al., 2017; Traoré et al., 2023). This is consistent
with classical economic demand theory, as organic goods are highly
elastic (Pham et al., 2018; Traoré et al., 2023). Benedetti et al. (2018)
however found that the price of organic products is not a significant
determinant of demand, possibly because organic food is healthy and
environmentally sustainable and sought by consumers. With regard to
income, two strands of empirical evidence exist. The first strand con­
siders income as a key determinant of the demand for organic food
products in the sense that low-income consumers cannot afford them
(Petrescu et al., 2017). As such, organic food can be considered as a
normal good because with any increase in income, household tend to
have a higher propensity to consume these healthy and
environmentally-friendly vegetables. In the second strand, income is not
a significant factor affecting the demand for organic food (Benedetti
et al., 2018; Pham et al., 2018; de Toni et al., 2017), hence, effective
demand is not just income centered.
Consumer preferences are influenced by food product attributes
which are grouped into three, viz. sensory, instrumental, and symbolic
(Wierenga, 1983), and may be located in the product (outside and in­
side). The sensory attributes include physical features such as taste,
smell, colour, and appearance (Ahmed and Basu, 2022;
Grzybowska-Brzeziska, 2013; Nabi et al., 2023; Peattie, 1995; Wierenga,
1983). Sensory factors such as colour, shape, texture, and taste of
organic food (Acheampong et al., 2023; Pham et al., 2018; Petrescu
et al., 2017), nutritive value or benefit (Nandi et al., 2016; Aigner et al.,
2019), and the quality of foods (de Toni et al., 2017; Nazir, 2023;
3
Cleaner and Responsible Consumption 12 (2024) 100159
Tormala and Rucker, 2018) are significant determinants of consumers’
demand for vegetables. Other significant determinants of organic food
demand include socioeconomic factors of consumers such as education,
gender, age, household size, distance to the nearest market, employment
status (Ankrah Twumasi et al., 2023; Boateng et al., 2023; Nandi et al.,
2016; Abdulai et al., 2017; Drechsel and Keraita, 2014; Saleem, 2023;
Van Veenhuizen and Danso, 2007; Wongnaa et al., 2019a), food safety
(Rizzo et al., 2020; Pham et al., 2018; Quah & Tan, 2009), availability
and time, accreditation (Nguyen et al., 2021) and health-supplement
expenditures (Quah & Tan, 2009). For instance, Byrne (2021) asserted
that younger and more educated consumers are more likely to purchase
safe vegetables. Women with children under the age of 18 and house­
holds of smaller size were cited as important factors in explaining con­
sumers’ choice of organic products. Higher incomes are largely related
to consumers’ preference to purchase organic and conventional products
(Boca, 2021; Wongnaa et al., 2019a). Boateng et al. (2023) revealed that
factors such as sex, age, education, extension visits, farmer association
membership, production timing, and access to marketing information
significantly influenced farmers’ adoption of Organic Vegetable Pro­
duction in Northern Ghana. Additionally, the extent of farmers’
commitment to OVP, in terms of acreage, is influenced by factors such as
age, land ownership, economic status, and farmer association mem­
bership. Moreover, freshness and product shelf life are characteristics
considered when purchasing organic food products for consumption,
and these characteristics are highly valued by consumers (Völkel, 2020;
Grzybowska-Brzeziska, 2011; Nguyen et al., 2021). Although research
on the nutritional value of organic produce varies widely and there is no
unanimous opinion among the authors, consumers highly value organic
foods because they are more nutritious than conventionally produced
foods (Acheampong et al., 2023; Byrne, 2020; Eyinade et al., 2021;
Orzan et al., 2018). Despite the existence of studies examining the
consumption of organic vegetables, there remains a research gap
regarding consensus among researchers on both the determinants of the
decision as well as the extent of consumers’ consumption of organic
vegetables. Further studies are required because organic vegetables are
more nutritious and healthier compared to conventionally produced
vegetables. Also, while consumers highly value organic vegetables due
to perceived nutritional and health benefits, the varying findings and the
lack of unanimous opinion among researchers highlight the need for
further investigation and clarification in this subject area.
3. Methodology
3.1. Data
The study was conducted in Greater Kumasi, Ghana’s Ashanti
Regional capital. The Greater Kumasi is sub-divided into seven (7)
different administrative entities and recognized as one of the largest and
fastest growing urban areas in Ghana, with an estimated population of
1,379,335 (GSS, 2021). The population of Greater Kumasi is made up of
about 48.63% males and 51.37% females (GSS, 2021). The average
household size in the metropolis is 3.2 (GSS, 2021). The city covers a
total area of 227 km2 and the topography of the region varies from
gently undulating to distinctly hilly and mountainous (GSS, 2021). It lies
between latitudes 6.416 N and longitudes 1.370 W. It has two rainy
seasons, viz. major rainy season which begins between March and July
while the minor rains start between September and November, with an
average annual rainfall of about 1300 mm. The relative humidity ranges
between 1270 mm and 1410 mm with average daily sunshine durations
ranging between 2 and 7 h and daily minimum and maximum temper­
atures of 21-20 ◦ C and 35–50 ◦ C, respectively (GMet, 2022).
Data was obtained from households in the Greater Kumasi using a
semi-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was divided into four
(4) sections. The first section collected information on socioeconomic
characteristics. The second section gathered information on attributes
consumers consider when purchasing organic vegetables for
C.A. Wongnaa et al. Cleaner and Responsible Consumption 12 (2024) 100159

Table 1 Table 2
Income levels of communities in the former Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly. Selected communities among each income level.
High Income Dadiesoaba, Asokwa, West Ayigya, Mbrom, Adiebeba, Adiembra, Income category Communities Proportion of households
Ahodwo, Danyame, Odeneho Kwadaso, Aketego, Bomso, Bompe,
High Income Ahodwo 20
Ridge, Nhyiaso, Extension, Parakuo Estate, Daban New Site, New
Bomso 19
Amakom Extension, Asokwa Residential Area.
Nhyiaso 20
Middle Asafo, Amakom, Airport, Bantama, Dichemso, Aprade, New Tafo,
Kwadaso 21
Income Asebi, Anyinam, Kuwait, Atonsu, New Atonsu, Gyenyase, New
Asokwa 22
Agogo, Adoato, Kyirapatre Estate, Bohyen, Adumanu, Adumanu
Middle income Asafo 34
Extension, Asanti Newtown, Apiri, North Suntreso, Kotei, South
Atonsu 39
Suntreso, Boadi West Patase, Ohwimase, Kwadaso Estate, Santase
Bantama 32
Odumase Extension, Patase, Kentinkrono.
Bohyen 29
Low Income Apatrapa, Dompoase, Aboabo, Moshie Zongo, Dichemso, Old Tafo,
Kwadaso estate 27
Ayigya Zongo, Dakwadwom, Sawaba, Yalwa, Daban, Kaase, Nsenee,
Low income Ayigya Zongo 34
Ahinsan, Anwomaso, Gyinyase, Adukrom, Asewase, Buobai, Nima,
Old Tafo 31
Pakuso, Abrepo, Sokoban, Amanfrom, Yenyawso, Buokrom,
Yenyawoso 32
Ayeduase.
Asewase 17
Source: Nimoh et al., (2018). Ayeduase 22

Total 15 communities 399

consumption. Also, the third section covered the consumption patterns Source: Author’s calculation, 2020
of organic vegetables as well as the source of knowledge about organic
vegetables. The surveyed population was a vegetable-consuming family
random sampling was employed in selecting the respondents.
unit (Table 1), and was selected based on different residential household
The socioeconomic characteristics of respondents are presented in
income levels in the former Kumasi metropolis (Nimoh et al., 2018). One
Table 3. Overall, it was obvious that most respondents were females
reason for using income levels as a basis is that consumption is a function
(66.42%) and fall within the age category of 30–45. This means that
of income (Lin and Seo, 2017). Also, consumers with higher incomes are
females who were relatively younger dominated the consumers of
willing to pay more (Priyanka, 2018). A multistage sampling technique
organic vegetables. Among the organic lettuce and green pepper groups,
was employed for this study. This is to ensure a fair representation of the
respondents who consumed organic green pepper were males (67.85%)
various consumer groups within the city. The communities have already
greater than 29.49% males that consumed organic lettuce. However,
been stratified into low-income (15 communities), middle-income (25
organic lettuce respondents were slightly older than organic green
communities), and high-income (26 communities) by the former Kumasi
pepper respondents. Also, sampled respondents constituting 37.32%
Metropolitan Assembly. There are six (6) municipals and one (1)
were highly educated and completed SHS while only 5.01% had no
metropolis within the Greater Kumasi. The sub-metros are Bantama,
formal education. This is consistent with similar findings of Wongnaa
Manhyia North, Manhyia South, Nhyiaeso, and Subin; and the munici­
et al. (2019a) that most consumers of organic vegetables are educated
pals are Suame, Asokwa, Kwadaso, Old Tafo, Asokore Mampong, and
farmers. Furthermore, most respondents (69.92%) were household
Oforikrom. Both the sub-metro and municipals were selected for accu­
heads with their monthly incomes in the range of GHS800-GHS1900.
rate turnout (Table 2).
Among the two groups, majority of the organic lettuce respondents
The total number of households within Greater Kumasi is 406,928
(64.74%) were household heads and earned higher incomes than the
(GSS, 2021). Using Yamane’s (1967) 1 sample size determination for­
organic green pepper respondents (29.97%). These findings imply that
mula the sample size was estimated to be 399 households.
household heads with higher incomes are more likely to influence the
In the first stage of the multi-stage sampling technique, five com­
consumption patterns in the household. Type of markets varied signif­
munities were selected from each of the income levels using systematic
icantly among the organic lettuce and green pepper vegetable re­
sampling. This was completed by choosing one town as a starting point
spondents. It was observed that most respondents purchase lettuce and
and choosing every other nth (sampling interval)2 town on the sample
green pepper vegetables from open markets with few respondents pur­
list. ‘n’ is calculated by dividing our desired sample size (towns) by the
chasing organic vegetables from the internet. This is not surprising
total number of towns on the sample list. The ‘n’ was calculated using
because most vegetable consumers in Ghana purchase
the formula;
Table 4 presents the differences between income levels among
total number of towns organic vegetables with their chi-square values. The results showed that
Sample size (n) = (1a)
desired sample size there were significant variations across the variables. Evidently, most
respondents in the middle income category of the organic lettuce group
Based on the sample size, 102 households were chosen from the high-
(54.08%) were older than other income level groups. The results are
income group, 161 households from the middle-income group, and 136
consistent with the findings of previous studies (Abdulai et al., 2017;
households from the low-income group using the formula:
Drechsel and Keraita, 2014; Van Veenhuizen and Danso, 2007; Wongnaa
total number of towns in the income group et al., 2019a). However, the results showed that high income consumers
Households in income group=
total number of towns in the three income groups in the green pepper group were older than other income levels. Across
∗ sample size the two groups, female respondents dominated organic vegetables
(2) consumption across the three income levels. For instance, over 90% of
the respondents in organic lettuce and green pepper groups fall within
We carefully selected the major retail markets in each sub-metro and the high-income group. Educational level was statistically significant
municipal due to the degree of expected consumer concentration. At the between the two group. It was revealed that organic lettuce respondents
last stage, simple random sampling was used to select towns among the in the high-income level category have completed SHS education which
income groups. Within houses, which contain several consumers, simple is greater than green pepper respondents in high income category
(37.5%). This is in line with Abdulai et al. (2017)’s findings which found
that most organic vegetable consumers have higher levels of education.
1
n = 1+NN(e)2 Where N = number household = 406,928 households (GSS, Most of the organic lettuce consumers (62.5%) were married especially
2021), e = margin of error (5%) and n = sample size. those in high income group compared to 60.43% of the organic green
2
sampling interval (n) = total number of towns pepper consumers falling in the high-income level category.
desired sample size

4
C.A. Wongnaa et al. Cleaner and Responsible Consumption 12 (2024) 100159

Table 3
Socioeconomic characteristics of respondents.
Variable Organic lettuce Organic green pepper Pooled
2 2
Freq % X Freq % X Freq %

Age range:
18–29 72 23.08 7.21** 96 26.16 1.19 26.07
104
30–45 161 51.6 187 50.95 201 50.38
>45 79 25.32 84 22.89 94 23.56
Gender:
Male 92 29.49 10.76*** 118 67.85 4.20** 134 33.58
Female 220 70.51 249 32.15 265 66.42
Level of education:
No formal 16 5.13 29.47*** 18 4.9 3.10 20 5.01
Primary 44 14.1 53 14.44 56 14.04
JHS 72 23.08 107 29.16 117 29.32
SHS 129 41.35 134 36.51 149 37.34
Tertiary 51 16.35 55 14.99 57 14.29
Marital status:
Single 103 33.01 4.81 131 35.69 0.267 141 35.34
Married 181 58.01 204 55.59 223 55.89
Divorced 19 6.09 20 5.45 22 5.51
Widowed 9 2.88 12 3.27 13 3.26
Household head:
Yes 202 64.74 18.26*** 257 29.97 0.022 279 69.92
No 110 35.26 110 70.03 120 30.08
Monthly income:
<800 76 24.36 10.92*** 98 26.7 4.97* 112 28.07
800–1900 156 50.0 180 49.05 194 48.62
>1900 80 25.64 89 24.25 93 23.31
Type of market:
Supermarket 43 13.78 18.19*** 50 13.62 6.88 55 13.78
Open market 150 48.08 167 45.5 178 44.61
Wholesale 42 13.46 47 12.81 48 12.03
Retail (table top shops) 63 20.19 86 23.43 98 24.56
Internet 14 4.49 17 4.63 20 5.01

Source: Field Data, 2020. * and ** denote significant levels of 1% and 5% respectively. vegetables in open markets usually from table tops.

Furthermore, majority of the consumers in the organic lettuce group
were not household heads in the low-income category but about 88.64%
of the green pepper consumers were household heads. Moreover, the
results showed that most consumers who fall in the low-income category
earned between GHS800-GHS1900 across the two groups. This is in line
with the findings of Méndez-Picazo et al. (2020) that reported that in­
come influence consumers’ purchasing behaviour. All the respondents
from different income categories tend to purchase organic lettuce and
green pepper mostly from open market. This could be due to the fact that
open market vegetables are less expensive compared to the
supermarkets.
3.2. Analytical framework
3.2.1. Descriptive statistics
Socioeconomic characteristics of respondents, source of knowledge
of organic vegetables and consumption patterns as well as distribution of
consumption patterns were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as
frequency tables, percentages, mean and standard deviation. Evidently,
most studies conducted used time series, cross-sectional, and panel data.
Studies by Zaman (2023) and Shahid et al. (2023) elucidated the
distinctive nature of cross-panel data which is characterized by the
cross-movement of variables across different nations within both the
regressors and the dependent variable. In contrast, panel data tradi­
tionally involves the study of the same respondents over a specific
period. However, in the context of analyzing consumers’ consumption
patterns of organic vegetables in Ghana, the study utilized
cross-sectional data.
3.2.2. Kendall’s coefficient of concordance
A number of studies have investigated the level of agreement of re­
spondents using the Kendall’s coefficient of concordance (Amponsah
et al., 2023; Wongnaa et al., 2019a; Asante et al., 2023). In this study,
the attributes consumers consider when purchasing organic vegetables
was analyzed using the Kendall’s Coefficient of Concordance (W).
Several attributes were presented to the respondents to rank the attri­
butes based on their importance. The Kendall’s W is a non-parametric
statistic which measures the level of agreement among many judges
(P) evaluating a specified collection of n objects (Amponsah et al.,
2023). The Kendall’s W is specified as:
12S
W= (1b)
p2 (n3 − n) − pT
where P= number of attributes, n= sample size, T and S = correlation
factor for tied ranks and sum of square statistic, respectively. The sig­
nificance of the Kendall’s W is determined by testing the following
hypothesis:
H0. There is no consensus among consumers in terms of the rankings
of the attributes.
H1. There is consensus among consumers in terms of the rankings of
the attributes.
The decision rule for testing the significance of W is to compare the
Chi-square critical to the chi-square computed. If the computed chi-
square is greater than the chi-square critical, we reject the null hy­
pothesis and rather accept the alternative hypothesis. This indicates that
there is agreement among the consumers in terms of ranking the attri­
butes.
3.2.3. Cragg’s double hurdle model
The factors influencing consumers’ decisions and the intensity of
their consumption of organic vegetables are modelled within the utility
maximization framework (Borges, Lansink & Emvalomatis, 2019). The

5
C.A. Wongnaa et al. Cleaner and Responsible Consumption 12 (2024) 100159

Table 4
Socioeconomic characteristics of respondents by income levels.
Variable Organic lettuce Organic green pepper

Low income Middle income High income χ 2 Low income Middle income High income χ2
Freq % Freq % Freq % Freq % Freq % Freq %

Age range:
18–29 28 40.0 27 27.55 17 11.81 32.41*** 36 40.91 41 29.29 19 13.67 29.10***
30–45 34 48.57 53 54.08 74 51.39 41 46.59 73 52.14 73 52.52
>45 8 11.43 18 18.37 53 36.81 11 12.5 26 18.57 47 33.81
Gender:
Male 36 48.57 42 42.86 14 9.72 51.68*** 38 43.18 64 45.71 16 11.51 43.85***
Female 34 51.43 56 57.14 130 90.28 50 56.82 76 54.29 123 88.49
Level of education:
No formal 2 2.86 2 2.04 12 8.33 3 3.41 5 3.57 10 7.19
Primary 16 22.86 10 10.2 18 12.5 54.44*** 19 21.59 17 12.14 17 12.23 54.49***
JHS 28 40.0 22 22.45 22 15.28 38 43.18 48 34.29 21 15.11
SHS 18 25.71 58 59.18 53 36.81 21 23.86 61 43.57 52 37.41
Tertiary 6 8.57 6 6.12 39 27.08 7 7.95 9 6.43 39 28.06
Marital status:
Single 36 51.43 32 32.65 35 24.31 20.28*** 48 54.55 46 32.86 37 26.62 23.54***
Married 30 42.86 61 62.24 90 62.5 36 40.91 84 60.0 84 60.43
Divorced 2 2.86 3 3.06 14 9.72 2 2.27 5 3.57 13 9.35
Widowed 2 2.86 2 2.04 5 3.47 2 2.27 5 3.57 5 3.6
Household head:
Yes 60 14.29 91 92.86 51 35.42 101.67*** 78 88.64 128 91.43 51 36.69 118.66***
No 10 85.71 7 7.14 93 64.58 10 11.36 12 8.57 88 63.31
Monthly income:
<800 23 32.86 23 23.47 30 20.83 9.13** 25 28.41 46 32.86 27 19.42 14.37***
800–1900 38 54.29 48 48.98 70 48.61 51 57.95 61 43.57 68 48.92
>1900 9 12.86 27 27.55 44 30.56 12 13.64 33 23.57 44 31.65
Type of market:
Supermarket 6 8.57 22 22.45 15 10.42 34.86*** 11 12.50 23 16.43 16 11.51 34.24***
Open market 47 67.14 34 34.69 69 47.92 52 59.09 49 35.0 66 47.48
Wholesale 3 4.29 11 11.22 28 19.44 5 5.68 14 10.0 28 20.14
Retail (table top shops) 14 20.0 27 27.55 22 15.28 20 22.73 46 32.86 20 14.39
Internet – – 4 4.08 10 6.94 – – 8 5.71 9 6.47

Source: Field Data, 2020. * and ** denote significant levels of 1% and 5% respectively.

utility maximization theory assumes that individuals act rationally by
maximizing their utility while considering various constraints. More­
over, the theory posits that individuals choose to consume organic
vegetables when the potential benefits outweigh the associated costs.
The dependent variable in this study represents respondents’ decisions
and the intensity of consumption, which falls within an interval with
positive probability and exhibits continuous distribution throughout the
interval’s range. The study hypothesized that consumers’ source of
knowledge significantly influenced the consumption of organic vegeta­
bles in Ghana. Generally, important attributes considered when pur­
chasing organic vegetables significantly influence purchasing decisions.
Also, consumption patterns of organic vegetable consumers are signifi­
cantly influenced by socioeconomic and institutional factors. When
modelling a dependent variable with characteristics like consumption,
several models are commonly used. These include the Tobit model
(Tobin, 1958) for capturing the intensity of consumption and the
Heckman (Heckman, 1979) or the Cragg double hurdle (Cragg, 1971)
model for separately modelling the probability of consumption and the
intensity of consumption even though the Tobit model assumes the same
factors influence both the decision and the intensity of consumption.
Consequently, the Tobit model may not be suitable for situations where
consumption decisions and the intensity of consumption are influenced
by diverse variables or by the same variables, however, in different ways
(Cragg, 1971). The Heckman model offers an advantage over the Tobit
model as it observes the decision process in two stages, allowing for the
utilization of different sets of explanatory variables (Heckman, 1979).
On the other hand, the Cragg double hurdle model represents a modi­
fication of both the Tobit and Heckman models, offering increased
flexibility in capturing the intricacies of the data. Each of these models
presents unique features and considerations, and the selection should be
made based on the specific characteristics and objectives of the study.
The Cragg double hurdle model shares similarities with the Heckman
model, but it incorporates the possibility of zero observations in the
second stage after passing the first stage. This possibility may arise due
to individual choices or random circumstances. In contrast, the Heck­
man model assumes the absence of zero observations (Heckman, 1979).
The household’s consumption decision in this study is approached in
two ways. First, the household determines whether or not to consume
organic vegetables, representing a binary decision. Second, the house­
hold determines the proportion of their expenditure on vegetables
allocated to organic vegetables, representing a continuous decision.
Consider Yi∗ denoting the latent variable capturing the probability de­
cision to consume organic vegetables, which is observed as Yi . This
latent variable Yi∗ can be explained by a set of explanatory variables
computed using probit regression, and it can be specified as follows:
Yi∗ = βi Wi∗ + ωi (3)
{
1 if Yi∗ > 0
Yi = (4)
0 for otherwise
where Yi∗ and Yi = dependent variable (thus 1 if respondent decides to
consume organic vegetable and 0 otherwise); Wi = explanatory vari­
ables (see Table 5 for variable definitions and measurements); βi and ωi
= parameters to be estimated and error term, respectively. The contin­
uous decision was modelled using the truncated regression model in the
second stage as:
⎧
⎪ ∗ ∗
⎨ Hi if Yi = 1
⎪
Hi∗ = . ∼ N(0, 1); ωi ≈ N(0, σ 2 ) (5)
⎪
⎪
⎩ Yi∗ > 0
We therefore specified the two decisions empirically as:

6
C.A. Wongnaa et al. Cleaner and Responsible Consumption 12 (2024) 100159

Table 5 Table 5 (continued )

Variable definitions used in the models. Variable Description Measurement Apriori Mean Std.
Variable Description Measurement Apriori Mean Std. dev
dev
organic vegetables
Age1 Age 1 if respondent’s age +/− 0.503 0.500 and 0 otherwise
is between 30 and Avail Availability 1 if respondent had + 0.478 0.353
45 years and organic vegetables
0 otherwise available and
Age2 1 if respondent’s age +/− 0.235 0.424 0 otherwise
is between above 40 Label Labelling 1 if respondent + 0.473 0.338
years and purchase organic
0 otherwise vegetables because
Gend Gender 1 if respondent is +/− 0.472 0.335 of label and
male and 0 otherwise
0 otherwise Shelf Shelf life 1 if respondent + 0.766 0.423
Marit Marital status 1 if respondent is +/− 0.558 0.497 purchase organic
married and vegetables because
0 otherwise of shelf life and
HHead Household 1 if respondent is 0.699 0.459 0 otherwise
head household head and Yi Consumption 1 if respondent 0.781 0.413
0 otherwise decision consumed organic
Hsize Household size Number of + 4.55 1.88 vegetables and
household members 0 otherwise
PrimEdu Primary 1 if respondent has + 0.140 0.347 Total Ghanaian cedis 63.82 49.67
education completed primary expenditure
education and H∗i Proportion of Proportion of 0.623 0.292
0 otherwise expenditure consumers
JHSEdu Junior High 1 if respondent has + 0.293 0.455 expenditure on
School completed JHS vegetables allocated
education and to organic
0 otherwise vegetables
SHSEdu Senior High 1 if respondent has + 0.373 0.484
Source: Field Data, 2020.
School completed SHS
education and
0 otherwise Ci = β0 + β1 Age1 + β2 Age2 + β3 Gend + β4 Marit + β5 HHead + β6 Hsize
TerEdu Tertiary 1 if respondent has + 0.142 0.350
education completed tertiary + β7 PrimEdu+β8 JHSEdu + β9 SHSEdu + β10 TerEdu + β11 MonthInc1
education and
+ β12 MonthInc2 + β13 WholMkt + β14 OpenMkt
0 otherwise
MonthInc1 Monthly 1 if respondent earns +/− 0.142 0.350 + β15 RetMkt + β16 InterMkt + β17 TimMkt + β18 Emplod + β19 Accredit
income between GHC800-
GHC1900 and
+ β20 Avail + β21 Label + β22 Shelf + εi (6)
0 otherwise
MonthInc2 1 if respondent earns +/− 0.486 0.50
To assess the suitability of the Tobit or a two stage model (Cragg
above GHC1900 and double hurdle model or Heckman model) for our data, the likelihood
0 otherwise ratio test was employed. This test allowed us to compare the goodness-
WholMkt Wholesale 1 if respondent +/− 0.120 0.325 of-fit of these two models and determine which one best fits our data. In
purchase organic
line with the methodology proposed by Asante et al. (2017) and
vegetables from
wholesale and Wongnaa et al. (2022), the likelihood ratio statistic (L ) was calculated
0 otherwise by considering the log likelihoods of the probit, truncated and Tobit
OpenMkt Open Market 1 if respondent +/− 0.446 0.497 regression models. The computation of this statistic is expressed as
purchase organic follows:
vegetables from
open market and L = − 2(LLProbit + LLTruncated − LLTobit ) (7)
0 otherwise
RetMkt Retail 1 if respondent 0.245 0.430
+/−
where LLProbit ,LLTruncated and LLTobit are the log likelihoods of probit,
purchase organic
vegetables from truncated and Tobit regressions respectively. To determine the appro­
retail and priate model for discussion, the estimated L is compared to the critical
0 otherwise value of the chi-square distribution. Therefore, when the computed L
InterMkt Internet 1 if respondent + 0.050 0.218 exceeds the critical value, a two stage model (Cragg double hurdle or
purchase organic
vegetables from
Heckman model) is used. However, when the computed L is less than
internet and critical value, the Tobit is appropriate. Furthermore, the Cragg double
0 otherwise hurdle is preferred over the Heckman model when the inverse Mill’s
TimMkt Time to market Time from – 18.53 9.54 ratio capturing selection bias in the Heckman model is insignificant.
respondent’s
Therefore, this study employed the Cragg double hurdle.
homestead to the
nearest market in
minutes 3.2.4. Ordered logistic regression
Emplod Employment 1 if respondent is + 0.696 0.46 Given the categorical nature of the dependent variable, which rep­
status employed and resents different levels of consumption, ordered models such as the or­
0 otherwise
Accredit Accreditation 1 if respondent + 0.439 0.260
dered logit or ordered probit are commonly employed (Wooldridge,
purchase accredited 2010). While the ordered probit model assumes a normally distributed
random term, the ordered logit model assumes a logistic distribution.
Even though both models yield similar results (Wooldridge, 2010), for

7
C.A. Wongnaa et al. Cleaner and Responsible Consumption 12 (2024) 100159

this study, the ordered logit model has been chosen. According to Habib
et al. (2022), ordered logistic regression is suitable for modeling an
ordinal dependent variable that is conditioned on independent vari­
ables, comprising both continuous and categorical variables. In this
particular study, the dependent variable represents different levels of
consumption, with the responses coded as follows: 0 for “never,” 1 for
“rarely,” 2 for “sometimes,” 3 for “very often,” and 4 for “always.”
Following the approaches outlined by Cameron and Trivedi (2005) and
Habib et al. (2022), the specified model for the ordered logit regression
is as follows:
( )
exp αj + βj Wi
Pr(Di > j)= [ ( )] j= 0 − 4 (8)
1 + exp αj + βj Wi
ln this study, the marginal effects was computed to measure the
magnitude of the influence of explanatory variables on the dependent
variable, despite the conventional odds ratios in logistic regression to
discuss the results. This was specified as:
∂f(Xβ)
h(X, β) =
∂X
where Di denotes dependent variable reflecting the 5 categories (never,
rarely, sometimes, very often and always) of consumption patterns: Di =
0; Households who ‘never’ consume organic vegetables used as refer­
ence group (organic lettuce or organic green pepper); Di = 1; House­
holds who ‘rarely’ consume organic vegetables (organic lettuce and
organic green pepper); Di = 2; Households who ‘sometimes’ consume
organic vegetables (organic lettuce and green pepper); Di = 3; House­
holds who consume organic vegetables (organic lettuce and organic
green pepper) ‘very often’; Di = 4; households who ‘always’ consume
organic vegetables (organic lettuce and green pepper); Wi denotes the
explanatory variables comprising socioeconomic and institutional fac­
tors; βj and αj denote parameters to be estimated and constant term,
respectively.
4. Results and discussion
2016). Again, about 72.2% of the respondents have knowledge on
organic green pepper and mostly obtained such knowledge from family
and friends. This is similar to the aforementioned results for lettuce only
that majority of the respondents’ sourced knowledge of the vegetable
from the internet and radio accounting. The implication is that most
respondents prefer to surf the internet for information for understanding
of food products (Sinyolo et al., 2020; Aldosari et al., 2019).
4.2. Important attributes consumers consider when purchasing organic
vegetables
Table 7 presents the important attributes consumers consider when
purchase organic vegetables. The results revealed that most consumers
ranked health concern as 1st position in all thematic areas when pur­
chasing organic lettuce and organic green pepper. This was followed by
sensorial and shelf life ranked as 2nd and 3rd positions, respectively.
However, packaging of the vegetable was found to be unimportant as it
occupied the 7th position. This means that packaging of organic vege­
(9) tables will not be an issue as long as the product proves to be nutri­
tionally beneficial and healthy. These findings are not surprising
because generally most consumers are concerned about these attributes
particularly health, taste, color, appearance and shelf life of the product.
This finding is consistent with those of previous studies that reported
that consumption of vegetables is mostly influenced by health-related
concerns and sensorial shelf-life (Secer, 2020; Wongnaa et al., 2019b).
The implication is that consumers have become very conscious of their
health and nutritional status they mainly considered purchasing foods
that met their dietary needs (Wongnaa et al., 2019b). Environmental
awareness also has an effect on organic food consumption in both
developed and developing countries (Srinieng and Thapa, 2018). In
addition, the test statistics of level of agreement using the Kendall’s W
was 79.4% and 76.7% for organic lettuce and organic green pepper
respectively, which implies that the sampled respondents highly agreed
to the ranking of the attributes, hence the null hypothesis of no agree­
ment among the respondents is rejected in favor of the alternative that

4.1. Source of knowledge of organic vegetables Table 7

Important attributes consumers consider when purchasing organic vegetables.
Table 6 presents the source of knowledge of organic vegetables Product attributes considered during the purchase of organic lettuce
among the respondents. It is evident from the Table that most re­ Attribute Mean Ranks
spondents (79.2%) have knowledge of organic lettuce. Evidently, most Health concern 3.24 1st
of them (32.8%) had their source of knowledge of lettuce from family Sensorial (taste, color and appearance) 3.25 2nd
Shelf life 3.35 3rd
and friends. This could be attributed to the close interaction within the
Environmental concern 3.51 4th
social system in the study area. The next sources of knowledge were Labelling on the package 4.49 5th
through radio, internet and television at 16.3%, 14.3%, and 7.8%, Customer service 4.78 6th
respectively. These findings are similar to the findings of previous Packaging 5.38 7th
studies that reported that in Sub-Saharan Africa, most people obtain Test statistics Value
N 399
information about products through family and friends as well as radio
Kendall’s W 0.794
and television (Ahmed and Basu, 2022; Sinyolo et al., 2020; Simon et al., Chi-square 465.302
df 6
Asymptotic significance 0.000
Table 6 Product attributes consumers consider when purchasing of organic green pepper
Source of knowledge of organic vegetables.
Attribute Mean Ranks
Knowledge/Source Lettuce Green pepper Health concern 3.31 1st
Sensorial (taste, color and appearance) 3.39 2nd
Frequency Percentage Frequency Percentage
Shelf life 3.42 3rd
Knowledge of vegetable Environmental concern 3.50 4th
Yes 316 79.2 288 72.2 Customer service 4.20 5th
No 83 20.8 111 27.8 Labelling on the package 4.85 6th
Source of knowledge: Packaging 5.33 7th
Newspapers 13 3.3 14 3.5 Test statistics Value
Television 31 7.8 44 11.0 N 399
Radio 65 16.3 45 11.3 Kendall’s W 0.767
Internet 57 14.3 60 15.0 Chi-square 400.057
Family and friends 131 32.8 123 30.8 df 6
Other 23 5.8 24 6.0 Asymptotic significance 0.000

Source: Field Data, 2020 Source: Field Data, 2020

8
C.A. Wongnaa et al. Cleaner and Responsible Consumption 12 (2024) 100159

there is agreement in ranking the attributes.
4.3. Factors influencing the decision and expenditure on organic
vegetables
The factors influencing the decision and expenditure on organic
vegetables are presented in Table 8. The analysis of the results indicates
that the likelihood ratio test statistic surpasses the critical value. This
finding suggests that the Cragg double hurdle model provides a more
suitable framework for interpreting the results compared to the Tobit
model. Based on the findings in column 3 of Table 8, several factors such
as age group, educational level, household head, income level, market
type, availability, and accreditation exhibit significant effects on the
likelihood of purchasing organic vegetables. In addition, the expendi­
ture on organic vegetables was influenced by educational level, gender,
being married, employment status, income level, time to market,
accreditation and availability. Specifically, an increase in a consumer’s
age, particularly within the category of 45 years and above, by one year,
results in a 10.6% increase in the probability of purchasing organic
vegetables. This suggests that as consumers grow older, they tend to
become more health-conscious and inclined towards choosing organic
vegetables as part of their dietary preferences. The findings regarding
educational levels, particularly secondary school (SHS) and tertiary
education, indicate that progressing from SHS to tertiary education

Table 8
Factors influencing the decision and extent of purchasing organic vegetables.
Cragg double hurdle Tobit estimates Heckman model

Variables Probit results Truncated results Probit results OLS results

Coefficient Marginal effects Coefficient Coefficient Coefficient Coefficient

30–45years 0.362 0.066 − 0.013 − 0.012 0.281 − 0.177**

(0.248) (0.045) (0.010) (0.010) (0.244) (0.090)
Above 45years 0.611** 0.106** − 0.007 − 0.005 0.522* − 0.161
(0.293) (0.050) (0.012) (0.012) (0.290) (0.100)
Gender (male) − 0.210 − 0.036 − 0.016* − 0.020** − 0.314 − 0.249***
(0.199) (0.034) (0.008) (0.009) (0.197) (0.076)
Primary − 0.460 − 0.082 − 0.013 − 0.017 − 0.264 0.001
(0.544) (0.091) (0.022) (0.023) (0.526) (0.177)
JHS − 0.807 − 0.151 − 0.007 − 0.010 − 0.586 0.277*
(0.511) (0.084) (0.020) (0.021) (0.498) (0.165)
SHS 0.041*** 0.027*** 0.035*** 0.010 0.170 0.238
(0.011) (0.012) (0.010) (0.021) (0.501) (0.159)
Tertiary 0.298*** 0.044*** 0.027*** − 0.009 0.615 − 0.106
(0.135) (0.013) (0.011) (0.022) (0.525) (0.168)
Marital status (married) − 0.050 − 0.010 0.020** 0.022** 0.001 0.025
(0.217) (0.037) (0.009) (0.009) (0.213) (0.076)
Household head − 0.769*** − 0.131*** − 0.010 0.012 − 0.765*** − 0.160**
(0.248) (0.040) (0.009) (0.010) (0.242) (0.079)
Household size − 0.042 − 0.007 − 0.002 − 0.004 − 0.001 0.033*
(0.052) (0.009) (0.002) (0.002) (0.053) (0.019)
Employment status (employed) − 0.234 − 0.040 0.017 0.019** − 0.292 − 0.019
(0.227) (0.038) (0.090) (0.009) (0.227) (0.075)
GHS800-1900 0.267*** 0.046*** 0.022** 0.024** 0.308 0.146*
(0.118) (0.018) (0.009) (0.010) (0.213) (0.081)
Above GHS1900 0.108 0.019 0.010 0.010 0.201 0.169*
(0.292) (0.052) (0.012) (0.012) (0.290) (0.097)
Open Markets 0.644** 0.108** − 0.019 − 0.017 0.558* − 0.573***
(0.296) (0.052) (0.012) (0.013) (0.290) (0.105)
Wholesale 0.094 0.018 − 0.006 − 0.004 − 0.040 − 0.262**
(0.434) (0.080) (0.016) (0.016) (0.450) (0.132)
Retail − 0.299 − 0.058 − 0.020 − 0.017 − 0.310 − 0.615***
(0.333) (0.064) (0.014) (0.014) (0.322) (0.123)
Internet − 0.303 − 0.059 − 0.036 − 0.041* − 0.443 − 0.687***
(0.539) (0.106) (0.026) (0.021) (0.536) (0.178)
Time to market (minutes) − 0.089*** − 0.015*** − 0.043** − 0.060** 0.092*** − 0.001
(0.016) (0.002) (0.012) (0.020) (0.016) (0.001)
Availability 0.717*** 0.122*** 0.004 − 0.002 − 0.699*** 0.057
(0.213) (0.034) (0.009) (0.009) (0.209) (0.075)
Accreditation 0.617** 0.105** 0.031*** 0.035*** − 0.639*** 0.349***
(0.248) (0.041) (0.010) (0.010) (0.245) (0.081)
Labelling − 0.314 − 0.054 − 0.016 − 0.023 − 0.181 0.178**
(0.215) (0.036) (0.019) (0.026) (0.210) (0.075)
Shelf life 0.154 0.026 0.025*** 0.024** 0.139 − 0.118
(0.229) 0.039 (0.009) (0.010) (0.227) (0.084)
sigma 0.074*** 0.566***
(0.003) (0.025)
Inverse Mill’s ratio − 0.350
(0.901)
Constant 1.500** 0.075** 0.076** 1.196* 4.393***
(0.726) (0.030) (0.031) (0.720) (0.247)
Observations 399 399 399
LR chi2(22) 175.15*** 59.73*** 11.43***
Pseudo R2 0.4185 0.379
Wald chi2(22) 61.08*** 145.77***
Log likelihood − 121.67 − 456.56 − 407.46 − 370.70

Standard errors are in parenthesis. * = 10%, ** = 5% and *** = 1%. Source: Field Data, 2020.

9
C.A. Wongnaa et al.
increases both the likelihood and extent of purchase decisions. This
implies that consumers with higher levels of education exhibited a sta­
tistically significant positive impact compared to those without any
formal education. Educational attainment plays a significant role in
shaping people’s purchasing behavior, as educated individuals tend to
possess firsthand knowledge about the benefits of organic vegetables.
According to Méndez-Picazo et al. (2020) and Ahmed and Basu (2022),
educated individuals are more mindful of their dietary choices, leading
to increased purchases of healthy vegetables. Gender exerts a note­
worthy negative influence on the extent of purchasing organic vegeta­
bles, with statistically significant implications at the 10% level. This
suggests that male consumers are 1.6% less likely to enhance their
purchasing power of organic vegetables. This could be attributed to the
lower presence of male respondents at the marketplace (Rahman et al.,
2021; de Toni et al., 2017), which may consequently impact their extent
of purchase. Whiles being married and employment status significantly
positively influenced the extent of purchasing of organic vegetables,
consumers who are employed as well as married have a higher intensity
to purchase organic vegetables. This agrees with the findings of
Méndez-Picazo et al. (2020) that reported that marital status influenced
consumers’ decision to purchase vegetables. Similarly, Ceschi et al.
(2017) opined that employed respondents were more likely to pay for
apple attributes in Italy.
The variable for household head had a statistically significant
negative relationship with the likelihood of purchasing organic vege­
tables. Thus, the household head is 13.1% less likely to purchase organic
vegetables. Potential explanations could include factors such as the
household head’s personal preferences, dietary habits, financial con­
siderations, or lack of awareness about the benefits of organic vegeta­
bles. Additionally, cultural norms, social roles, or traditional gender
roles within the household might influence the purchasing decisions
made by the household head. There exists a positive and significant
relationship between income level and the probability of purchasing
organic vegetables, as well as the amount spent on them. Specifically, for
consumers with an income range of GHS800-1900, they will 4.6% more
likely purchase organic vegetables and their expenditure on these veg­
etables will increase by 2.2%. This suggests that respondents in the
middle-income category are more inclined to purchase organic vegeta­
bles. The type of market, specifically open markets, has a positive and
significant impact on the probability of purchasing organic vegetables.
Access to open markets leads to a 10.8% increase in the likelihood of
purchasing organic vegetables. One possible explanation for this is that
open-market products are often more affordable compared to other
market types, which motivates respondents to prefer purchasing from
open markets.
Additionally, the time required to reach the market was found to
have a negative and significant effect on both the probability and
expenditure on purchasing organic vegetables. An increase of 1 min in
travel time discourages respondents from purchasing organic vegeta­
bles. This can be attributed to the general tendency of individuals to
reduce their inclination for purchasing food items if they have to travel
longer distances or spend more time reaching the source of those food
items. This is consistent with the findings of Kuni et al. (2020) who
found that an increase in the distance travelled by consumers to pur­
chase organic vegetables at the product spots significantly decreases the
food demand in Burkina Faso. There is a positive and statistically sig­
nificant relationship between accreditation and both the likelihood and
extent of purchasing organic vegetables. An increase in the accreditation
of organic vegetables by Food and Drugs Authority results in a 12.2%
higher probability and a 3.1% increase in the extent of purchasing
organic vegetables. Accreditation by FDA serves as a symbol of trust and
credibility, making respondents feel more confident in purchasing
organic vegetables that have received accreditation. Also, it could be
that the organic vegetables have
been verified by a recognized authority or certification body.
Moreover, the study found that the availability of organic vegetables
10
Cleaner and Responsible Consumption 12 (2024) 100159
had a noteworthy impact on consumers’ purchase decisions. The results
revealed a significant positive correlation between the availability of
organic vegetables and the likelihood of purchasing them, with a notable
increase of 12.2%. Also, the shelf life of organic vegetables tends to
positively and significantly affect the expenditure on them. This implies
that as the accessibility of organic vegetables improves, respondents are
more inclined to buy them. This phenomenon can be attributed to the
fact that when there is a consistent and reliable supply of vegetables in
the market, it tends to stimulate consumer demand and encourages
greater purchasing behavior. These findings corroborate those of pre­
vious studies (Méndez-Picazo et al., 2020; Rahman et al., 2021; Vietoris
et al., 2016; Mditshwa et al., 2017).
4.4. Consumption pattern of organic vegetable consumers
Table 9 presents the organic vegetable consumption patterns of
sampled consumers. It was evident that majority of the respondents
(28.57%) consumed organic vegetable sometimes. This is not surprising
in Ghana because most people have little knowledge of organic vege­
tables. While 18.55% of the consumers had rarely consumed organic
vegetables, only 17.54% and 13.28% of the consumers consumed
organic vegetables very often and always respectively. The results imply
that consumption of organic vegetables among the consumers is rela­
tively low and therefore there is the need to educate them to help
improve their consumption patterns. This finding is consistent with
Dapaah Opoku et al. (2020) that reported that sufficient and increase
awareness of organic vegetables in Ghana could improve consumption.
4.5. Factors influencing the consumption patterns of organic vegetables
Table 10 presents the factors influencing the consumption patterns of
organic vegetables. According to Habib et al. (2022), the estimated
parameters of the ordered logit is off little impact and therefore the
marginal effects are discussed relative to the based group. The likelihood
ratio statistic is statistically significant at the 1% level which implies that
the ordered logit is best for the data. Also, it was found that variables
such as age category, educational level, household head, household size,
income level, type of market, time to market, and accreditation have
significant influence on the consumption patterns of organic vegetables.
A significantly negative influence of a consumer’s age in the 30–45 years
category decreases the probability of never and rarely consuming
organic vegetables. However, it was indicated that older households are
more likely to consume organic vegetables sometimes. This means a
positive and significant influence of older consumers on consumption
patterns. The possible reason could be the fact that older households
tend to increase the consumption of organic vegetables because older
people are prone to sicknesses and hence, may prefer more organic food.
Similar findings were observed with consumers who fall within the age
category of above 45 years. This finding suggest that older people have a
higher propensity to increase organic vegetable consumption patterns.
Being educated up to SHS and tertiary levels have positive
and significant influences on sometimes and very often consumption
patterns. This implies that as respondents increase by 1 year in educa­
tion, it will lead to a 4%–7% increase in the probability of influencing
organic vegetable consumption patterns. Generally, people with higher
Table 9
Consumption pattern of sampled consumers.
Consumption pattern Frequency Percent
Never 88 22.06
Rarely 74 18.55
Sometimes 114 28.57
Very often 53 13.28
Always 70 17.54
Source: Field Data, 2020
C.A. Wongnaa et al. Cleaner and Responsible Consumption 12 (2024) 100159

Table 10
Factors that affect consumption patterns of organic vegetables.
Variables Pooled Never Rarely Sometimes Very often Always

Coefficients Marginal effects Marginal effects Marginal effects Marginal effects Marginal effects

30–45years 0.735*** − 0.124*** − 0.027*** 0.036*** 0.042*** 0.073***

(0.252) (0.044) (0.010) (0.015) (0.015) (0.024)
Above 45years 1.571*** − 0.223*** − 0.081*** 0.025 0.081*** 0.198***
(0.306) (0.043) (0.020) (0.017) (0.018) (0.042)
Gender (male) − 0.124 0.018 0.006 − 0.003 − 0.006 − 0.015
(0.213) (0.031) (0.010) (0.005) (0.010) (0.026)
Primary − 0.449 0.073 0.019 − 0.019 − 0.024 − 0.048
(0.497) (0.078) (0.024) (0.019) (0.026) (0.057)
JHS − 0.500 0.082 0.020 − 0.022 − 0.027 − 0.053
(0.459) (0.070) (0.023) (0.016) (0.024) (0.054)
SHS 0.483*** − 0.064 − 0.030 0.040*** 0.024 0.065
(0.156) (0.066) (0.026) (0.012) (0.028) (0.057)
Tertiary 0.139*** − 0.020 − 0.008 0.003 0.070*** 0.017
(0.044) (0.071) (0.026) (0.012) (0.026) (0.059)
Marital status (married) − 0.141 0.021 0.007 − 0.003 − 0.007 − 0.017
(0.218) (0.032) (0.010) (0.005) (0.011) (0.026)
Household head − 1.206*** 0.177*** 0.056*** − 0.029*** − 0.058*** − 0.146***
(0.233) (0.035) (0.012) (0.011) (0.012) (0.028)
Household size − 0.162*** 0.024*** 0.008*** − 0.004** − 0.008*** − 0.020***
(0.053) (0.008) (0.003) (0.002) (0.003) (0.007)
Employment status (employed) − 0.028 0.004 0.011 − 0.011 − 0.021 − 0.031
(0.220) (0.032) (0.010) (0.005) (0.041) (0.027)
GHS800-1900 0.202*** − 0.030 − 0.009 0.052 0.046*** 0.024**
(0.033) (0.035) (0.011) (0.061) (0.011) (0.012)
Above GHS1900 0.320** 0.010 0.011 − 0.035 0.030** − 0.020
(0.157) (0.044) (0.012) (0.091) (0.014) (0.034)
Open Markets 0.154 − 0.020 − 0.009 0.001 0.007 0.021
(0.303) (0.041) (0.017) (0.003) (0.015) (0.040)
Wholesale − 0.562 0.087 0.024 − 0.017 − 0.029 − 0.064
(0.385) (0.060) (0.017) (0.014) (0.020) (0.044)
Retail − 0.431 0.065 0.020 − 0.012 − 0.022 − 0.051
(0.352) (0.052) (0.017) (0.010) (0.018) (0.043)
Internet − 0.955* 0.157* 0.032** − 0.041 − 0.049* − 0.098**
(0.508) (0.089) (0.016) (0.030) (0.026) (0.038)
Time to market (minutes) − 0.010*** − 0.029*** 0.021 − 0.023** − 0.042*** − 0.019***
(0.003) (0.013) (0.037) (0.011) (0.013) (0.003)
Availability − 0.060 0.001 0.012 − 0.008 − 0.012 − 0.012
(0.209) (0.031) (0.019) (0.009) (0.023) (0.025)
Accreditation 0.452* − 0.066* − 0.021* 0.452* 0.022* 0.055*
(0.241) (0.035) (0.011) (0.241) (0.012) (0.029)
Labelling − 0.089 0.013 0.004 − 0.002 − 0.004 − 0.011
(0.212) (0.031) (0.010) (0.005) (0.010) (0.026)
Shelf life 0.221 − 0.032 − 0.010 0.011 0.011 0.027
(0.233) (0.034) (0.011) (0.006) (0.061) (0.028)
/cut1 − 2.177*** (0.708)
/cut2 − 1.108 (0.701)
/cut3 0.350 (0.700)
/cut4 1.260* (0.704)
Observations 399
LR chi2(22) 131.03***
Pseudo R2 0.1041
Log likelihood − 563.829

Source: Field Data, 2020. ***, ** and * denote significant levels of 1%, 5% and 10% respectively.

educational levels consume organic vegetables sometimes and very
often. That is, a one year increase in educational level is associated with
a 4% and 7% increase in consuming organic vegetables sometimes and
very often respectively. A noteworthy and positive correlation was
observed between the variable for household head and consumption
patterns. Particularly, it was found that being a household head will
17.7% and 5.6% more push consumers to never and rarely consume
organic vegetables respectively, as compared to the negative influence
observed at higher consumption levels. Despite being decision-makers
within the household, household heads tend to exercise restraint in
shaping household consumption patterns within the constraints of the
family budget.
Household size plays an important role in influencing organic
vegetable consumption. The results showed that household size has a
negative and significant influence on the probabilities of never
consuming, rarely consuming, sometimes consuming, very often
consuming and always consuming organic vegetables. It was revealed
that an increase in household size was associated with decreases in the
consumption patterns. For instance, consumers with large families will
2.4% and 2% less likely never and always consume organic vegetables
respectively. The implication is that large families may face high budget
for food cost and hence, may prefer to prepare staple foods than vege­
tables. Income level showed a significant positive influence on the
likelihood exhibiting all consumption patterns. Specifically, consumers
within the GHS800-1900 income category will more likely influence
both very often and always consumption patterns. The results imply that
an additional GHS1 in income will 4.6% and 2.4% more likely influence
consumers to very often and always consume organic vegetables
respectively. Again, respondents who earned above GHS1900 also tend
to consume organic vegetables very often. Thus, they are 3% more likely
to consume organic vegetables very often compared to income below
GHS800. The variable for type of market, especially internet, presents a

11
C.A. Wongnaa et al.
negative association with all organic vegetable consumption patterns
except at the “never” and “rarely” categories. This is consistent with the
fact that consumers who surf the internet to purchase organic vegetables
are 9.8% less likely to consume organic vegetables always. Most internet
services tend to delay in delivery of vegetables and come with extra cost
of delivery which consumers could obtain same vegetables in open
markets.
Moreover, the results showed that the time to market exerts a
negative significant influence on the probability of all consumption
patterns except the ‘rarely’ category. This implies that consumers who
spent more minutes to reach the market are less likely to change their
consumption patterns. For instance, an additional minute to the market
tends to discourage respondents’ propensity to change consumption
patterns. It was revealed that accreditation is positively associated with
three consumption patterns (sometimes, very often, and always) but
negatively correlated with two consumption patterns (never and rarely).
5. Conclusion and policy implications
The study examined organic vegetable attributes, consumer de­
cisions and consumption patterns of organic vegetables of consumers in
Ghana. The results of the Kendall’s Coefficient of Concordance indicate
that health concern is the most important attribute for consumers when
purchasing organic vegetables. The implication is that consumers pri­
oritize the health benefits associated with organic vegetables given their
lower pesticide residue and higher nutritional value. Also, attributes
related to sensorial aspects, viz. taste, texture, and appearance and shelf
life were found to be equally important. This suggests that consumers
not only value the health aspect but also consider the overall quality and
longevity of organic vegetables.
The empirical findings from the Cragg double hurdle model reveal
that age group, education, income, access to different types of markets
(including online markets), availability of organic vegetables, and
accreditation of organic vegetables were found to have positive in­
fluences on the decision to consume organic vegetables as well as the
expenditure on them. This implies that individuals with higher educa­
tion, higher income, and belonging to certain age groups are more likely
to choose organic vegetables and spend more on organic vegetables.
However, household head and distance to the market were found to
have negative significant influences on the decision to consume organic
vegetables and the amount spent on them. This suggests that when the
household head is responsible for making the purchasing decisions, and
when the distance to the market is greater, the likelihood of purchasing
organic vegetables decreases.
The results from the ordered logit regression analysis indicate that
factors such as education, household head, household size, income, and
accreditation of organic vegetables have positive significant influences
on the consumption patterns of organic vegetables. This implies that
individuals with higher education, larger household sizes, higher in­
come, and access to accredited organic products are more likely to
exhibit consistent pattern of consumption of organic vegetables. On the
other hand, being above 45 years, the type of market (internet), and time
to market were found to have negative significant influences on con­
sumption patterns. This suggests that older individuals, those who rely
on internet markets, and those who face longer time to market are less
likely to consistently consume organic vegetables.
The study makes the following recommendations. Firstly, the study
suggests that continuous awareness campaigns should be undertaken by
the government and other stakeholders on the benefits of consuming
organic vegetables. These campaigns can utilize various communication
channels such as radio, television, and the internet to highlight the
health, sensorial, and environmental benefits associated with
consuming organic vegetables. By emphasizing these attributes, con­
sumers can be encouraged to make informed choices and opt for organic
vegetables. Considering that market type, income, and education
significantly influence organic vegetable consumption patterns, the
12
Cleaner and Responsible Consumption 12 (2024) 100159
study recommends that local government authorities should play a role
in promoting mass education about organic vegetables. This can be
achieved through educational programs and initiatives to raise aware­
ness about the benefits of organic vegetables. Additionally, efforts
should be made to improve market infrastructure within districts to help
facilitate easier access to organic vegetables, thereby enhancing the
frequency of purchases. Furthermore, the availability and accreditation
of organic vegetables are crucial factors that positively influence con­
sumer demand. Therefore, the study recommends that the Food and
Drugs Authority take steps to implement and enforce an accreditation
system for organic vegetables in Ghana. This accreditation badge would
serve as a quality assurance measure, instilling consumer confidence and
promoting trust in the organic vegetables market. By ensuring the
authenticity and quality of organic vegetables, this initiative can help
foster the growth of the organic vegetables industry and even create
opportunities for vegetable exportation in the long run. The study rec­
ommends that short-term policies should focus on targeted marketing
and education initiatives, while medium-term measures should address
affordability and market accessibility. Furthermore, long-term policies
should promote sustainable farming practices, invest in infrastructure
development, as well as conduct consumer awareness campaigns. By
implementing these policy implications, stakeholders can foster a posi­
tive shift towards increased organic vegetable consumption, benefiting
both individuals and the environment.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Camillus Abawiera Wongnaa: Conceptualization, Formal analysis,
Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft. Stephen Prah:
Data curation, Software, Writing – review & editing. Samuel Asare
Austin: Data curation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing.
Emmanuel Agyei Amponsah: Data curation, Investigation, Writing –
review & editing. Caleb Achina: Formal analysis, Resources, Writing –
review & editing. Davis Aban Ekow: Data curation, Software, Writing –
review & editing. Iddris Hudard Mazzola: Investigation, Resources,
Writing – review & editing. Samuel Tweneboa Kwaku: Methodology,
Validation, Writing – review & editing.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data availability
Data will be made available on request.
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