The Organic Effect on Consumer Purchases

By Laurie Demeritt


One of the significant challenges I’ve found in my dialogues with marketers, analysts and retailers surrounding organics is that many hold very narrow, restrictive views of the organic proposition—views shaped by the industry but which have little in common with actual consumer perceptions. Often this narrow view of the organic proposition goes something like the following:

“The term organic is applied to distinguish foods grown without use of conventional chemical-based pesticides or fertilizers. This process is more costly and time-consuming than conventional farming methods, often resulting in higher prices —and associated price premiums—for these products.”

Unfortunately for many in the industry, this particular view shares little in common with the increasingly disparate views held by actual consumers.

In fact, our most recent research reveals that as consumer involvement with organics has grown, we encounter an ever-expanding body of interpretations, understanding and practice all focusing around the notion “organic.” Currently we’re finding that many consumers rely on organic as shorthand for a variety of attributes, including “better tasting,” “healthier,” “more real,” “less processed,” “fresh,” or “local.” Others rely on organic products as a means of addressing a multitude of food allergies and fears—be they rational or otherwise. Still others equate organic with notions such as “sustainable.” And somewhere in the mix is a small body of consumers who happen to share the traditional industry perspective.

The point is that the phrase “organic” no longer denotes an obscure lifestyle practiced by a homogenous group of like-minded consumers. Instead, it serves a multifaceted symbol representing everything from quality to health to ideology and everything in between. Put simply, organic now means many, many things to many different people.

While there are undoubtedly some ideologically driven folks in the industry who will shudder at our conclusion, all we can say is that ultimately this has little to do with us, our beliefs or convictions. As with most things in our society, for better or worse it’s always about the consumer.

Who’s Buying Organic in 2006?
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. 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’ levels 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 more than 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 that 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.

Figure 1. Organic Ethnic Purchase Index.
Base: All respondents with charted ethnicity (n=2106, 99 Asian Americans, 272 Latino Americans, 251 African Americans, 1748 Caucasian Americans in non-exclusive categories). Base for Native Americans (n=36) was too small to provide reliable result.
Source: The Hartman Group, Organic2006 Survey, December 2005.

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 group than Caucasian Americans (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Core Organic Consumer Index.
Base: All respondents with charted ethnicity (n=2106, 99 Asian Americans, 272 Latino Americans, 251 African Americans, 1748 Caucasian Americans in non-exclusive categories). Base for Native Americans (n=36) was too small to provide reliable result.
Source: The Hartman Group, Organic2006 Survey, December 2005.

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) lays with other ethnic groups, some of whom actually exhibit higher levels of organic purchasing or core organic involvement. Given that Latino Americans are the fastest growing ethnic group in the U.S. and 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 is probably myriad reasons for this intensity, one of which is Latinos’ historical connection with organics. For generations in the Latino culture, “conventional” foods have in fact been organic, while close connections to the land and the authenticity of agricultural 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 multidimensional 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 children under the age of 5 are core users (compared to 30% among those without children under the age of 5).

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

Table 1 depicts the organic effect on purchasing by food category. On average, Latino Americans tend to buy more organic food categories compared to other ethnic groups. Another way to look at this, for example, is that the typical Latino American buys over a third (37.2%) of their fresh vegetables as organic as opposed to Caucasian Americans who purchase under one-fourth (22.7 %) of their fresh vegetables as organic.



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 the organics marketplace is multicultural and different cultural heritages provide different motivations for organic use, marketers can learn to appreciate the complex relationships between ethnicity and organics and see the effect of organic on their products and retail experiences.

Laurie Demeritt is President and COO of The Hartman Group, a leading consulting and market research firm. The Hartman Group specializes in the analysis and interpretation of consumer lifestyles and how these lifestyles affect the purchase and use of health and wellness products and services. Their client base includes a number of Fortune 500 consumer packaged goods companies, pharmaceutical firms, and mass and natural food retailers. She can be reached at laurie@hartman-group.com.

Editor’s note: To learn more about the recently completed report, Organic2006: Consumer Attitudes & Behavior, Five Years Later & Into the Future, visit hartman-group.com.