Consumers’ Perception of Safety of Leafy Vegetables and Its Effect on Their Vegetable Purchasing Decisions in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana

Aim: The study sought to determine consumers’ perception of the safety of leafy vegetables and how it affects their decision to purchase leafy vegetables in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana.
Methodology: Data employed in the study comes from 200 consumers in the study area. Perceptions of consumers were assessed by using a 5-point Likert-type scale. Consumers were asked to indicate the extent to which they agree to statements about safety of vegetables in the retail market of Kumasi-Ghana. These perception scores were averaged to form the consumer perception index. Consumers’ demographic characteristics were cross tabulated against their perception to find the influence one has on the other. Also, consumers’ perceptions were cross-tabulated against their purchasing decision of leafy vegetable to find the association between them.
Results: The main findings are that consumers are very much aware of the unsafe nature of leafy vegetables in the retail market, which is caused by the use of chemicals and contaminated water on vegetables during production. Consumers also perceive retailers as mishandling leafy vegetables in the retail market and that consuming leafy vegetable with chemical residue is a risk to consumers’ health. Demographic characteristics such as educational level, type of occupation and monthly income had a significant positive relationship with consumers’ perception of leafy vegetable safety. Unsafe perception had a significant effect on the purchasing decision of leafy vegetable.
Conclusions: The findings of the study imply that consumers’ demographic characteristics have the ability to influence his or her perception regarding the safety of leafy vegetables. Also, consumers’ negative perception is likely to affect their decision to purchase leafy vegetables. Moreover, the high awareness and consumer perceptions indicate consumers are likely to patronize products of retailers whose products are perceived to be safe by consumers. Thus, efforts to assist retailers should aim at making them understand this perception and how products can be handled well.