Organic Food Consumption Patterns

Abstract

This research addresses two important issues for the future expansion of organic consumption in France. The first one is related to knowing whether the organic choice is a permanent feature of consumer's attitude or not: Do organic buyers occasionally pick one organic product or do they choose organic for "several" categories? The second issue concerns the impact of prices on buying organics which is revisited, distinguishing between capturing new consumers and increasing the demand coming from people already involved in organic markets. These questions are examined using the market basket approach; the price issue requires further estimations of demand models. The study relies on two staple food products, eggs and milk. The findings are: (i) choosing organic for one of the two items reinforces the probability of purchasing also the organic version of the second item; (ii) marginal reductions of the organic price have no impact on the decision of buying organic rather than conventional products; (iii) when people already purchase organic products, they may be price sensitive; and (iv) organic buyers' demographic profile is not related to income neither to age nor to family size, but to the educational level.

Can't Buy Me Green? A Review of Consumer Perceptions of and Behavior Toward the Price of Organic Food

“…However, Monier et al () conclude that organic price changes do not affect the general decision to buy organic, which is observed across several categories, probably because organic price changes are marginal compared with the price gap of organic versus conventional food. Moreover, evidence shows that price sensitivity differs between product categories.…”

Does education increase pro-environmental behavior? Evidence from Europe

“…For example, Blend and Van Ravenswaay (1999) find that higher levels of education increase the probability that a consumer would purchase eco-labeled apples. Several others find that education is associated with a higher probability of purchasing organics (Bellows et al, 2008;Monier et al, 2009;Zepeda and Li, 2007). Some studies have found that higher education levels are correlated with water saving behaviors (Berk et al, 1993;Gilg and Barr).…”

Consumer reactions to the availability of organic food in discount supermarkets

“…Experimental studies showed, for example, that the manipulation of pricing strategies can result in lower consumption of unhealthy food products and raise the demand for healthy ones (French et al ., 1997; French, 2003). The high cost of organic food has been identified as a factor inhibiting consumer decision in favour of organic products (Magnusson et al ., 2001; Zanoli and Naspetti, 2002; Shepherd et al ., 2005; Hughner et al ., 2007; Monier et al ., 2009). This is an especially salient argument in light of the economic financial crisis that started in 2008.…”