3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Market and socio-psychological factors affecting organic food purchase decision and post-purchase outcomes in South Africa(2018) Chauke, Xitshembhiso DifferenceOrganic food consumption is an aspect of green consumption which is increasingly making inroads into consumers’ consumption patterns across the globe, especiallyin Europe and North America. In South Africa, the growth is slow, both in supply and demand. Even though mainly sold in specialised markets, such as the Bryanston organic food market in Johannesburg, retail chains, such as Pick’n Pay, Shorprite-Checkers and Woolworths are getting into the organic food market, selling items, such as vegetables, herbs, grains and oil seeds, fruits and dairy products. The consumers are reportedly mainly medical patients, middle to upper income consumers, the “younger” consumer generation, who shop in the upmarket food stores and parents of younger children. Research has been conducted to understand the drivers of organic food purchase by employing various models and theories across the globe. For example, Aertsens, Verbeke, Mondelaers and Van Huylenbroeck’s (2009) untested model linked Schwartz’ values theory and the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to propose personal factors affecting organic food purchase intention and behaviour. Even though the study combined two theories to suggest drivers of organic food purchase intention and behaviour, mainly psychological drivers were suggested. In addition to this limited focus, the study does not consider the resultant pleasure or satisfaction that consumers may get from purchasing and consuming a more natural and environmentally friendly food, which the Biophilia hypothesis theory suggests. More so, there are suggestions that external factors, such as marketing, economic, governmental and social factors can influence organic food purchase. The explanatory powers of some of these factors (e.g., social factors) have either not been empirically tested, or the studies of their impact are fragmented and lack integration. The fragmented studies in some cases provide contradictory findings. Studies show that when consumers purchase green products and are satisfied with their decision, their overall image of the products improves and leads to positive outcomes, such as positive word of mouth communication, repurchase intentions and the willingness to pay a high price iii associated with green products. Whether these will be the case for organic food in South Africa is one of the objectives of this study.To answer this question, and for better comprehension of the drivers of organic food purchase and post-purchase outcomes, ideas from the Biophilia Theory, Aertsens et al.’s (2009) adapted TPB and Yiridoe et al.’s (2005) model that suggests external drivers are integrated into a conceptual model in this study. This is to understand the impact of marketing, psychological and social factors on organic food purchase decision, satisfaction and three post-purchase outcomes (word of mouth communication, repurchase intentions and willingness to pay price premium). A survey of 611 South African organic food consumers in the cultural and socio-economically rich and diverse Gauteng province of South Africa, the proposed conceptual model with fourteen hypotheses (H1 – H14) were quantitatively tested using Partial Least Square (PLS) structural equation modelling.The results revealed that market factors (i.e., price, distribution and communication), even though they made no significant impact, explained 04% of organic food purchase decision. With an explanatory power of 53%, the psychological factors (perception of product attributes, environmental attitude, behavioural beliefs, perceived value and overall image) were found to havestrong impact on the purchase decision. Out of these psychological factors, only environmental attitude did not make a significant impact. Social factors explained 16% of organic food purchase decision, with family influence making a significant impact. While the purchase decision explained 66% of organic food consumption satisfaction, the satisfaction in turn had an explanatory power of 74%, 63% and 62% of repurchase intention, word of mouth and willingness to pay a price premium respectively. This study’s tested conceptual model of organic food purchase decision, satisfaction and postpurchase outcomes in an economically and socio-culturally diverse country such as South Africa, makes important theoretical and practical contributions. For example, it provides a comprehensive conceptual model, which can be used to understand other green consumption behaviour, not only in South Africa, but in other countries. It also reveals that marketers are ineffective in promoting, distributing and pricing organic food products. Further studies should be conducted in other South African provinces and should consider product related, economic and governmental factors helping and hindering organic food purchase and consumption.Item Perceptions of institutional influence on the scalability of social enterprise: a study of social entrepreneurial practise in the South African food Industry(2017) Larbi, Lee Calvin Jojo TeteThe field of social entrepreneurship is gaining prominence in academic research through its ability to drive innovation and solve complex societal problems. There is a growing interest in this field due to the inherent appeal of entrepreneurship as well as the need to address social inequalities. However, despite the growing interest in social entrepreneurship, there is limited academic research in the subject – especially with regards to the nexus between institutional influence and scale of social enterprise. The majority of social entrepreneurial endeavours in South Africa are found in the food industry. Despite the magnitude of the role that social entrepreneurs play in this industry, research remains limited. Definitional debates with a bias towards conceptual research over empirical research dominates current study on social entrepreneurship – resulting in a lack of consensus among researchers on what social entrepreneurship means. In addition to the above, social entrepreneurship literature has devoted insufficient empirical and theoretical work to the study of scaling of social impact. The majority of the theoretical work has been geared towards the development of practitioner frameworks. The empirical research in the field has also been limited, specifically with regards to understanding the drivers of successful scaling of social entrepreneurial organisations. The majority of these empirical studies have utilised comparative case study approaches. Using institutional theory as a lens, this research aimed to develop a conceptual framework that can be utilised by social entrepreneurs, as well as relevant stakeholders in order to promote the scale of individual social enterprises, particularly in the South African food industry, by developing a “roadmap” to scaling. In addition to the above, the focus was on food security in the South African food industry. It is intended that the conceptual framework can indirectly address the broader societal issues surrounding food security. The above was achieved through a qualitative study. Perceptions of institutional influence on scale as well as start-ups, and drivers of scale were identified through conducting a literature review. A conceptual framework was then established from these constructs. The next step involved conducting semi-structured interviews with 14 social entrepreneurs in the food industry to validate the constructs, and identify the relationships between the constructs. The data was then analysed using the Interpretative Phenomenological approach. The result of the qualitative research is a conceptual research framework, with certain hypotheses. The empirical study identified social innovation as well as the implementation of impactful governmental policies as the most critical institutional influencers of scale. In addition, using SCALERS model as a reference, the empirical study identified lobbying, alliance building, and staffing as drivers to scale. It is noted that that lobbying and alliance building can be linked to government policies as it relates to the collaboration of social enterprises in order to influence policymakers, in addition, staffing relates to the use of volunteers to bring new innovative solutions to the business – these drivers of scale (based on SCALERS model) reinforce the identified institutional influences as critical to scale. If all of the above are present, with all things being equal, then social ventures are more likely to scale – resulting in economic growth and in addition, social issues such as food security will be addressed. From a social entrepreneurship perspective, this study made a substantial contribution in shifting the social entrepreneurship research focus from conceptual, definition biased research towards empirical research that strengthened theoretical research on social entrepreneurship.Item The role of business and government in shaping South Africa's food safety regime between 2000-2015(2016) Mbenyane, Balungile CThis research report provides a framework to assess the value of private-public partnerships (PPPs) in shaping the regulatory framework of the food safety regime within southern Africa. As one of Africa’s largest economies and major exporting countries, South Africa provides a clear case for analysing how developing countries in Africa have adopted and enforce international standards relating to the safety of foodstuffs that are produced, distributed and sold. Within the international systems, governments are generally held responsible for the ratification of international treaties that inform global standards and are criticised or excluded when they fail to comply. However, the role of private sector in supporting and enforcing food safety practices has not been evaluated in any meaningful way. The aim of this research is further the understanding of how PPPs have formed in South Africa and to what extent they have had a positive impact on the advancement of food safety between the years 2000 and 2015. With the help of document analysis and a review of the current regulatory framework, this research is framed within the concept of hybridity and allows us to better understand the focus of PPPs within South Africa’s food safety regime. The main conclusion is that South Africa’s commitment to food safety is strong but the relevant policy remains uncoordinated and undefined. South African businesses and the government are involved at the international level in terms of standards-setting and are aware of the global food safety strategy. The primary reason for this is that the country’s involvement improves trade prospects and affirms its role as a collaborative actor within the International Food Safety Complex (IFSC). However, South Africa still experiences several issues relating to food safety risks that affect trade and challenge the efficacy of existing food safety regulations. The recommendation is that public and private sectors should invest more capital and capacity in establishing a comprehensive food safety policy that brings together legislation, identifies key actors and provides a guideline to improve transparency and accountability relating to food safety issues in South Africa.