Barriers of organic food purchase : Segmentation of young consumers

Abstract: The growing trend in organic consumption has lead us to develop a research about barriers that influences young consumer’s beliefs and attitudes toward organic food. The study is based on results of a survey conducted in a supermarket from Malmo on a sample of 270 occasional and non-organic young consumers aged 18-36 years. The data collected was analyzed with SPSS 23.0 by carrying out hierarchical and non -hierarchical (K-means) cluster analysis to identify the young consumers segments according to perceived barriers. The findings bring valuable insights about the main barriers among each segment that influence organic purchase and lead to less frequency in organic buying. Four groups of consumers were found: unconvinced organic consumer, discount price hunters, unconscious habitual consumers, habitual consumers. A clear overview of the low frequent organic consumers profile was drawn by making a connection to future development of organic consumption. This research contributes to the theoretical and practical understanding of young consumer’s perception of barriers and offers an input to marketers and retailers on how to approach different segments among the organic market.