Factors affecting level of consumption of medicinal plants

Medicinal plants can play an important role in the prevention of various diseasesand increasing non-oil exports. Prevent degradation of resources and the environment, adapt to climate conditions in Iran, massive potential in terms of production, employment and exports, are some benefits of planting medicinal plants. Because one of the ways of increasing planting of medicinal herbs is increasing consumption, domestic and international marketing and exports medicinal plant products, in this study, we investigated the factors influencing the consumption of medicinal products. Identifying factors influencing the consumption of these products can be a guide for producers, processors and marketers to provide this route in better production planning and market use. Data for this study gathered through questionnaires from 384 customer of these products in Mashhad by using simple random sampling in 2014. Research done with using ordered Logit regression model and our results shows that variables such as diversity of production, income and number of household members, properties and effectiveness, brand, label, packaging, culture index and the index of consultation and advertising are meaningful. Therefore, for increasing the consumption of these products, marketing tools such as packaging, creating a prestigious brand, advertising and counseling can be effective.