Consumers’ grouping of organic and conventional food products—implications for the marketing of organics

Summary

This study investigates the relationship between how consumers prefer to group different varieties of organic and conventional products and their preferences for organic food. Using a web-based questionnaire, 849 Danish respondents were asked to group the content of a virtual basket of organic and non-organic fruit and vegetables into two smaller baskets. Almost half of the consumers placed the products according to whether they were organic or not. These consumers were found to have a significantly higher confidence in the benefits of organic products and stated a significantly higher organic consumption than consumers who placed fruit in one basket and vegetables in the other. Differences in preferences for organic food between the two categories of consumers were further tested – and confirmed – in a choice experiment involving preferences for milk. Potential implications of the results include better space management in supermarkets, improved understanding of how promotion affects organic demand, and refined consumer choice modelling techniques.