Cannabis products purchase choice – what does influence it?
When the non-medical use of cannabis became legal in the United States, government agencies implemented policies to support safer consumption through the use of a regulated market. Despite the continued growth of the regulated market, sales still take place through unregulated channels. So it’s worth looking at the factors that influence buying cannabis in general. All this to understand why some consumers still decide to buy from an illegal source.
What is the most important when choosing cannabis products?
To this end, the researchers decided to conduct research on people who buy cannabis and investigated at least one characteristic that would influence the choice of purchase. Study shows, that the price aspect is the most important. However, not much more than other attributes, such as product quality, route of administration, product recommendations, packaging.
Report shows that demand was price inelastic. It means that a change in price had no effect on the interest in the product. However, the degree of elasticity varies with age, gender and cannabis experience. The elasticity of demand also varied based on differences in quality. These are aspects such as potency and aroma appearing to influence consumer choice.
In overall there seems to be diversity in preference for different factors. It depends on consumer experience, reason for use, and gender. Price obviously affects choices, but demand is relatively inelastic. This suggests that consumers may look for the cheapest, unregulated cannabis, but to avoid any constraints on consumption. In addition to price, according to the study, there is a significant gap in understanding consumer choices. Perceived quality also seems to influence the choice.
Therefore, to identify and understand general cannabis-choosing behaviour, more research is needed. Understanding the role of all factors involved in decision-making is essential to improving cannabis policy to better support public health and safety, as well as meet the needs of consumers.