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05.17.2006

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NOW AVAILABLE» Organic2006 CONSUMER ATTITUDES & BEHAVIOR, FIVE YEARS LATER & INTO THE FUTURE Organic2006 provides comprehensive analysis of attitudes and behavior by organic consumer segment, as well as insights on perceptions and language about organics, motivators and barriers to purchase, pricing factors, purchase and use by channel, and consumer familiarity and usage of over 60 organic brands. Click to learn more...

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For more Hartman Group articles on ORGANIC, click here...

04.12.2006 "Wal-Mart Goes Organic"

11.18.2004 "The Branding of Organics: What Works & What Doesn't"

04.27.2004 "The Symbolic Power of 'Organic'"

07.12.2002 "The Organic Consumer May Not Be Who You Think It Is"

12.13.2002 "Hanging on to Your Organic Consumers"
For more Hartman Group articles on DEMOGRAPHICS, click here...

01.30.2004 "The Latino Consumer?: a Quest for the Elusive "Jose Six-Pack""

01.12.2004 "The Death of Generational Marketing"

07.12.2002 "The Organic Consumer May Not Be Who You Think It Is"

05.10.2002 "Will the New Wellness Consumer Please Stand Up"

Archives »
Click here for an archive of past HartBeat articles

Who's Buying Organic?: Demographics 2006

Organics have definitely arrived: Almost three-quarters (73%) of the U.S. population consume organic foods or beverages at least occasionally. Clearly, the conventional belief that all organic users are highly educated, high-income, Caucasian females should be put to rest. Although many organic consumers fit this profile, they in no way represent the entire spectrum of organic users.

Contrary to common industry beliefs, we at The Hartman Group understand that the organic consumer is no longer represented by just a single ethnic group. As the number of consumers purchasing organics continues to increase, organic consumers have become quite diverse in terms of their demographics. Our research shows that one of the most prevalent beliefs about organics - that only Caucasian consumers are interested in organic products - is simply not true.

As part of our new report, Organic2006: Consumer Attitudes & Behavior, Five Years Later & Into the Future, we constructed two indexes to measure different ethnic groups' level of participation in the World of Organics. One, an Organic Ethnic Purchase Index, measures how likely members of different ethnic groups are to have purchased any organic food or beverage in the previous three months. The other, a Core Organic Consumer Index, assesses how likely members of different ethnic groups are to be Core organic users: those consumers most actively and intensely involved in the World of Organics. Through quantitative analysis of survey responses from over 2,100 consumers, supplemented by in-depth, ethnographic consumer interviews, we have been able to use these indexes to evaluate the relationship between ethnicity and organic use.

Compared to Caucasian Americans, two ethnic groups we examined are relatively more likely to purchase organics: Asian Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latino Americans (Figure 1). What this means is that based upon their representation in the population, Asian Americans and Latino Americans are more likely to buy organics than Caucasian consumers. Even more surprising to many industry observers, when we look at the ethnic groups most likely to be Core organic consumers, we find that Latino Americans and African Americans are much more likely to be in the Core than Caucasian Americans (Figure 2).

These statistically significant findings have huge implications for marketers who traditionally have only targeted the stereotypical profile of an organic consumer. While it is true that the typical organic consumer is Caucasian (given their large numbers in population), the real room for growth (both in terms of revenue and profit) lies with other ethnic groups, some of whom actually exhibit higher levels of organic purchasing or Core organic involvement. Given that Latino Americans are (1) the fastest growing ethnic group in the U.S. and (2) the ethnic group that shows the most intense interest in organics, this is a group marketers cannot afford to ignore. More than just advertising products and price points, there is an opportunity to connect with this group through unique messaging that resonates on a cultural level.

Looking more closely at Latino Americans, they represent a key ethnic group in regard to organics: while they are only somewhat more likely than Caucasians to purchase organics, many of those who do tend to be more intensely involved in the World of Organics.

There are probably a myriad of reasons for this intensity, one of which is Latinos' historical connection with organics. For generations, Latino culture's "conventional" foods have in fact been organic, while close connections to the land and the authenticity of its products have long been part of Latino tradition.

Consider some recent findings by The Hartman Group: Compared to Caucasian Americans, Latino Americans are significantly more likely to buy organics for the following reasons: to support the environment, to avoid pesticides and genetically modified foods, to support better treatment of farm animals, "for my children" and because organic food tastes better. The diversity of their reasons for purchase underscores the fact that Latino Americans have a long-standing cultural association with organics that has given organics a multi-dimensional appeal that conjures up many positive perceptual attributes.

Another motivation for buying organics is the traditionally strong concern for family in Latino culture. Consider the following findings by The Hartman Group:

• Among Latino Americans, an astonishing 65% of organic users with very young children (under age 5) are Core users (compared to 30% among those without small children).

• Among Latino Americans, 57% of organic users with young children (under age 10) use organics daily, compared to only 17% among those without young children.

Such findings are produced at The Hartman Group through the dedicated interplay of our team of anthropologists, ethnographers and sociologists who are engaging consumers daily in their lives, their homes and where they shop. By recognizing that (1) the organics marketplace is multicultural and (2) different cultural heritages provide different motivations for organic use, marketers can learn to appreciate the complex relationships between ethnicity and organics.

Organic2006 CONSUMER ATTITUDES & BEHAVIOR FIVE YEARS LATER & INTO THE FUTURE For many more insights into the World of Organics, explore our new report: Organic2006: Consumer Attitudes & Behavior, Five Years Later & Into the Future. click for more»

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