Table Of ContentGREEN RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENTS, AND PROGRAMS
D O F
ECIPHERING RGANIC OODS
A C G
OMPREHENSIVE UIDE TO
O F P ,
RGANIC OOD RODUCTION
C , P
ONSUMPTION AND ROMOTION
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G R ,
REEN ESEARCH
D , P
EVELOPMENTS AND ROGRAMS
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GREEN RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENTS, AND PROGRAMS
D O F
ECIPHERING RGANIC OODS
A C G
OMPREHENSIVE UIDE TO
O F P ,
RGANIC OOD RODUCTION
C , P
ONSUMPTION AND ROMOTION
IOANNIS KAREKLAS
AND
DARREL D. MUEHLING
EDITORS
New York
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CONTENTS
Preface vii
Chapter 1 Consumer Awareness and Motivation for Organic
Food Consumption: Exploring the Environmental
and Health Considerations Surrounding the
Production of Organic Food; Understanding
Perspectives on Organic Products from the
Consumer, Producer and Retailer 1
Mark R. Mulder and Richie L. Liu
Chapter 2 Pricing Disparities: When Is It Worth Paying a Price
Premium for Organic versus Conventional Food? 29
Kim Sheehan and Charles Deitz
Chapter 3 Consumer Decision-Making Process for
Organic Food 53
Jyoti Rana
Chapter 4 Promotional Strategies for Organic Food Marketing 79
Hayk Khachatryan, Alicia L. Rihn, Chengyan Yue
and Benjamin Campbell
Chapter 5 Selling Organic Foods through Conventional
Retail Stores 105
Shahidul Islam and Varghese Manaloor
vi Contents
Chapter 6 Cracking the Code of Organic Food Labels –
Consumer Confusion about Label Claims and
Practitioner Guidelines 151
Jeffrey R. Carlson and Bill Bergman
Chapter 7 Catching and Keeping Consumers’ Attention:
Incorporating Eye Tracking into Organic
Marketing Research 167
Hayk Khachatryan, Alicia L. Rihn, Ben Campbell
and Chengyan Yue
Chapter 8 Introduction to Global Markets and Marketing
of Organic Food 187
Susanne Padel
Chapter 9 U.S. Organic Production and Marketing 217
Catherine Greene
Chapter 10 Organic Pet Food – Is It Worth It? 225
Jennifer C. Kareklas
About the Editors 239
Index 241
PREFACE
When one considers the term “organic,” a number of images and/or
reference points come to mind. For example, “organic” is often thought of as a
label, a seal, a standard, a regulation, a requirement, a farming practice, a
production process, an operation, a market, a type of food, meat, or good, a
chemical composition of foodstuffs, a nutritional quality, a safe and healthy
alternative, and/or a contributor to a clean and healthy environment. For some,
it is considered a fad, a trend, or a marketing ploy. For others, it describes a
choice, a decision factor, a cause, a lifestyle, or perhaps, even a principle that
guides our everyday lives.
No matter how it is perceived, there is little question that organic is big
business. Consider the following:1
In 2015, American consumers spent more than $43 billion on
organic products.
Consumer demand has grown by double-digit margins nearly every
year since the 1990s.
In 2015 alone, organic food sales grew 10.9% (compared to 3.3%
growth for the overall food market).
From 2011-2015, organic fruits and vegetables sales have doubled.
13% of all fruit and vegetable sales are now organic.
The average U.S. household spends $323 annually on organic
produce alone.
Organic is the fastest growing sector of the U.S. food industry, and
is one of the fastest growing segments of U.S. agriculture.
viii Ioannis Kareklas and Darrel D. Muehling
Growth in organic acreages and farming practices is strong (a
recent survey indicated that more than 5000 U.S. producers intend
to increase organic production over the next five years).
Since 2002, there has been a 300% increase in the number of firms
certified organic.
Market penetration (the percentage of American households that
purchase organic) is now estimated to be 75%.
Organic consumers are becoming more mainstream (e.g., more than
half of all parents who buy organics are Millennials – the coveted
18-34 year-old age range for marketers).
Many consumers are willing to pay a price premium when
purchasing organic.
Health, environmental concerns, and animal welfare are the primary
reasons consumers choose organic.
In the chapters that follow, a variety of topics related to organic food
production, consumption, and promotion are covered. Some of the key topics
in the organics domain that are discussed include: (a) consumer motivations to
purchase and consume organic products, as related to the environmental and
health benefits of organic consumption (Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, and 10), (b) how
organic foods are produced and distributed (Chapters 1, 2, 5, and 9), (c) how
organic food is marketed (Chapters 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9), (d) consumer confusion
regarding the plethora of organic labels that have emerged, and insights
regarding what they mean and how they are used by consumers in their
decision making process (Chapters 2, 5, 6, and 10), (e) pricing disparities
between organic and conventional foods and the reasons driving the organic
price premiums (Chapters 2, 9, and 10), and (f) insights for pet owners
considering organic pet food (Chapter 10).
It is our hope that readers will be enlightened and informed, and perhaps
some myths associated with organic will be dispelled. And, while we trust that
many questions associated with organic will be answered, we acknowledge
here that the chapters are designed to raise additional questions in the reader’s
mind which will require further inquiry and empirical investigation.
