Consumer attitudes towards organic vegetables: Segmentation and market potential

Carmen Fortea Millán

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9935-4524

Spain

Universidad de Zaragoza image/svg+xml

 

Departamento de Ciencias Agrarias y del Medio Natural

Azucena Gracia

Spain

Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria de Aragón image/svg+xml

Unidad de Economía Agroalimentaria

Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón – IA2 (CITA-Universidad de Zaragoza)

María Teresa Maza Rubio

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2266-4655

Spain

Universidad de Zaragoza image/svg+xml

Departamento de Ciencias Agrarias y del Medio Natural

Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón – IA2 (CITA-Universidad de Zaragoza)

|

Accepted: 2024-10-03

|

Published: 2025-06-16

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7201/earn.2025.01.08
Funding Data

Downloads

Keywords:

Factorial analysis, Aragón, concern, cluster, intention to purchase

Supporting agencies:

This research was not funded

Abstract:

The aim of this study is to analyse the attitudes of Aragonese consumers towards organic vegetables and to segment them according to these attitudes. To this end, an online survey was carried out among vegetable consumers over 18 years of age in Aragon. The results indicate that attitudes can be grouped into two factors, one reflecting positive aspects and the other negative. Two consumer segments were obtained, one of which was that of potential consumers of organic vegetables, showing a greater willingness to buy them and a greater concern for their health and the environment.

Show more Show less

References:

AC consultores. (2023). Estudio de la demanda de productos ecológicos de alimentación en España - Diciembre 2023. Obtenido de: Comité Aragonés de Agricultura Ecológica. https://aragonecologico.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/informe-consumidor-2023-optm.pdf

Alagarsamy, S., Mehrolia, S. & Mathew, S. (2021). “How green consumption value affects green consumer behaviour: The mediating role of consumer attitudes towards sustainable food logistics practices”. Vision: The Journal of Business Perspective, 25(1), 65-76. https://doi.org/10.1177/0972262920977986

Álvarez-González, P., López-Miguens, M.J. & González-Vázquez, E. (2015) “El perfil del consumidor ecológico en España”. ESIC MARKET Economic and Business Journal, 46(2), 269-297. https://doi.org/10.7200/esicm.151.0462.1e

Aragón Ecológico. (2024). El valor de la producción hortofrutícola española supone el 53% de la producción vegetal española. Obtenido de: Aragón Ecológico. https://aragonecologico.com/el-valor-de-la-produccion-hortofruticola-espanolasupone-el-53-de-la-produccion-vegetal-espanola/

Bernabéu, R., Brugarolas, M., Martínez-Carrasco, L., Nieto-Villegas, R. & Rabadán, A. (2023). “The price of organic foods as a limiting factor of the European Green Deal: The case of tomatoes in Spain”. Sustainability, 15(4), 3238. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043238

Bhagavathula, A.S., Vidyasagar, K. & Khubchandani, J. (2022). “Organic food consumption and risk of obesity: A systematic review and Meta-Analysis”. Healthcare, 10(2), 231. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10020231

Caliński, T. & Harabasz, J. (1974). “A dendrite method for cluster analysis”. Communications in Statistics, 3(1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1080/03610927408827101

Carzedda, M., Gallenti, G., Cosmina, M. & Nassivera, F. (2021). Green consciousness as a determinant of organic food purchase intention: Evidence from a case study in Italy. Obtenido de: Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202105.0263.v1

Chen, M.-F. (2007). “Consumers attitudes and purchase intentions in relation to organic foods in Taiwan: Moderating effects of food-related personality traits”. Food Quality and Preference, 18(7), 1008-1021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2007.04.004

Comisión Europea. (2019). El Pacto Verde Europeo. Comunicación de la Comisión al Parlamento Europeo, al Consejo Europeo, al Consejo, al Comité Económico y Social Europeo y al Comité de las Regiones. Obtenido de: EUR-Lex. https://eurlex.europa.eu/legal-content/ES/ALL/?uri=celex:52019DC0640

Darmon, N. & Drewnowski, A. (2008). “Does social class predict diet quality?”. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 87(5), 1107-1117. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/87.5.1107

Díaz de Rada, V. (2002). Técnicas de Análisis Multivariante para Investigación Social y Comercial. Madrid: Ra-Ma.

DOUE. (2017). Reglamento UE 2017/625 del Parlamento Europeo y del consejo, relativo a los controles y otras actividades oficiales realizados para garantizar la aplicación de la legislación sobre alimentos y piensos, y de las normas sobre salud y bienestar de los animales, sanidad vegetal y productos fitosanitarios. Obtenido de: Diario Oficial de la Unión Europea. http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2017/625/oj

Ecovalia. (2024). Informe anual de la producción ecológica en España 2024. Obtenido de: Ecovalia - Asociación profesional española de la producción ecológica. https://www.ecovalia.org/informe-anual/

EUROSTAT. (2023). Population Aged 25–64 by Educational Attainment Level, Sex, and NUTS 2 Regions (%). Obtenido de: Eurostat. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/edat_lfse_04__custom_8704981/default/table?lang=en

Gil, J.M., Gracia, A. & Sánchez, M. (2000). “Market segmentation and willingness to pay for organic products in Spain”. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 3(2), 207-226. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1096-7508(01)00040-4

Glibowski, P. (2020). “Organic food and health”. Annals of the National Institute of Hygiene, 71(2), 131-136. https://doi.org/10.32394/rpzh.2020.0110

Gobierno de Aragón. (2024). Producción ecológica. Obtenido de: Gobierno de Aragón. https://www.aragon.es/-/produccion-ecologica

IAEST. (2022). Ficha autonómica. Aragón. Estadística Local. (2022). Obtenido de: Instituto Aragonés de Estadística. https://www.aragon.es/-/estadistica-local

INE. (2022). Estadística del Padrón Continuo Obtenido de: Instituto Nacional de Estadística. https://www.ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/es/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736177012&menu=ultiDatos&idp=1254734710990

Izagirre-Olaizola, J., Fernández-Sainz, A. & Vicente-Molina, M.A. (2013). “Antecedentes y barreras a la compra de productos ecológicos”. Universia Business Review, 38, 108-127. https://journals.ucjc.edu/ubr/article/view/883

Lamonaca, E., Cafarelli, B., Calculli, C. & Tricase, C. (2022). “Consumer perception of attributes of organic food in Italy: A CUB model study”. Heliyon, 8(3), e09007. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09007

Li, M. (2020). “Review of consumers’ green consumption behavior”. American Journal of Industrial and Business Management, 10, 585-599. https://doi.org/10.4236/ajibm.2020.103039

Ma, H., Chen, W., Ma, H. & Yang, H. (2021). “Influence of publicity and education and environmental values on the green consumption behavior of urban residents in Tibet”. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(20), 10808. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182010808

Madureira, T., Nunes, F., Veiga, J. & Saralegui-Diez, P. (2021). “Choices in sustainable food consumption: How Spanish low intake organic consumers behave”. Agriculture, 11(11), 1125. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11111125

MAPA. (2021). Producción ecológica, Estadísticas 2020. Obtenido de: Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación. https://www.mapa.gob.es/es/alimentacion/temas/produccion-eco/estadisticas_pe_2020_tcm30-564465.pdf

MAPA. (2023). Informe Anual de Consumo de Alimentos 2023. Obtenido de: Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación. https://www.mapa.gob.es/eu/alimentacion/temas/consumo-tendencias/informe_2023_baja_tcm35-685878.pdf

Mazur-Włodarczyk, K. & Gruszecka-Kosowska, A. (2022). “Conventional or organic? Motives and trends in Polish vegetable consumption”. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(8), 4667. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19084667

Medina, L.P.B., Barros, M.B.A., Fisberg, R.M., de Assumpção, D. & Barros Filho, A.A. (2021). “Sociodemographic inequalities in eating practices and concerns”. Public Health Nutrition, 24(14), 4514-4521. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980020003638

Melovic, B., Cirovic, D., Dudic, B., Vulic, T.B. & Gregus, M. (2020). “The analysis of marketing factors influencing consumers’ preferences and acceptance of organic food products - Recommendations for the optimization of the offer in a developing market”. Foods, 9(3), 259. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9030259

Nunes, F., Madureira, T. & Veiga, J. (2021). “The organic food choice pattern: Are organic consumers becoming more alike?”. Foods, 10(5), 983. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10050983

Parlamento Europeo. (2018). Reglamento (UE) 2018/848 del Parlamento Europeo y del Consejo, de 30 de mayo de 2018, sobre producción ecológica y etiquetado de los productos ecológicos y por el que se deroga el Reglamento (CE) nº 834/2007 del Consejo. Obtenido de: EUR-Lex: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/848/2023-02-21

Peattie, K., (2001). “Golden goose or wild goose? The hunt for the green consumer”. Business Strategy and the Environment, 10(4), 187-199. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.292

Pérez, C. (2013). Análisis Multivariante de datos. Aplicaciones con IBM SPSS, SAS y STATGRAPHICS. Madrid: Ibergarceta Publicaciones.

Rodríguez-Bermúdez, R., Miranda, M., Orjales, I., Ginzo‐Villamayor, M.J., Al‐Soufi, W. & López‐Alonso, M. (2020). “Consumers’ perception of and attitudes towards organic food in Galicia (Northern Spain)”. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 44(3), 206-219. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12557

Roininen, K., Tuorila, H., Zandstra, E.H., de Graaf, C., Vehkalahti, K., Stubenitsky, K. & Mela, D.J. (2001). “Differences in health and taste attitudes and reported behaviour among Finnish, Dutch and British consumers: a cross-national validation of the Health and Taste Attitude Scales (HTAS)”. Appetite, 37(1), 33-45. https://doi.org/10.1006/appe.2001.0414

Statista. (2017). Consumers attitudes toward organic food in United States as of 2016, by age. Obtenido de: Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/316247/us-attitudes-toward-organic-food-in-diet-by-age/

Tan, B.C., Pang, S.M. & Lau, T.C. (2022). “Marketing organic food from millennials’ perspective: A multi-theoretical approach”. Foods, 11(18), 2721. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11182721

Show more Show less