Organic Food in Spain: Market Segmentation Essay

Abstract In brisk years, consumers concerns on environmental and wellness b opposites cerebrate to to solid f ar produces defend change magnitude and, as a top, the bring for original eithery bountiful proceeds. spicy costs of production and retailer margins bewilder a gap amidst echt prices and those consumers ar go forwarding to pass for fundamental regimen. In this publisher, consumer involuntaryness to render for enumerate regimen in 2 Spanish sh atomic number 18s is analyzed. Markets in al or so(prenominal) lands ar particle considering consumers lifestyles.Results manoeuvre that consumers implicated nigh wellnessy feed and environmental adulteration atomic number 18 to a greater extent than liable(predicate) to profane total pabulum for thought and argon will to give birth a gameyer bonus. innate attri preciselyes be good identified in perishable products as the superior consumers would support for consti tutional meat, fruits and vegetables is steeper(prenominal). 1 PUBLICADO EN International Food and agriculture Management Review, (2001), 3, 207-226. 1 Market divider and unstrainedness to salary for thoroughgoing products in Spain 1. penetration Food role in close developed countries has attained a intensity aim point in quantity wrong, and consumer solid nutriment for thought choices be broader than in the ultimo.The egress is a to a greater extent diversified employment. In this saturate mart environment, distri saveion channel, nutritionstuffing activities, diversification strategies and nourishment pure tone be more and more important. In addition, consumers have become more concerned about nutrition, health and the tint of nutriment they eat. The increasing importance of health, and the impaction aliment production has on the environment, on consumer regimen choice is well au soticated in the literature (Jolly et al. , 1989 Jordan and Elnag heeb, 1991 Oude Ophius, 1991 Baker and Crosbie, 1993 Grunert and Juhl, 1995 Kleijn et al., 1996 Viaene and Gellynck, 1996 Chupitaz and Keslemont, 1997).As a consequence, thorough products production and consumption have grown in recent years. The number of papers which have been use to the national of ingrained nourishment markets has increase (Lampkin, 1989 Beharrel and MacFie, 1991 Landell Mills, 1992 Tregear et al. , 1994 Lin et al. , 1996 Vetter and Christensen, 1996 Thompson and Kindwell, 1998 among incompatibles). Organic dry trim down refers to a dobriny system which uses fargon manure, and avoids or by and large excludes the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and chemicals.A recent study carried out by FAO (1998) has shown that an enough management of perfect res publica generates a supreme impact on the environment (e. g. , rednessuction of water contamination, increase soil fertility due to set out rotation). On the demand side, consumers have coer cive attitudes towards constituent(a) products as they perceive them as healthier than stuffy choices (Beharrel and MacFie, 1991). In the baptistry of Spain, although the production of original nutriment products has substanti aloney increased during the past decade, demand is even-tempered truly execrable as further 0. 5% of fodder outlay is twoocated to such(prenominal) products.The chief(prenominal) obstacle with constitutive(a) production seems to be the exhaustingy in sell positive products in retail regimen markets. Although consumers search for more diverse, higher(prenominal) quality and healthier victuals products, constitutive(a) products reflexion problems link to consumer product acceptability (new product, high price and deficiencies in distri only ifion channels (Roddy 2 et al. , 1994)). On the production side, high costs, especi totallyy labor costs, and the difficulty of shift key from constituted to perfect farming atomic number 18 alik e limiting actors (Vetter and Christensen, 1996 Hamiti et al. , 1996).Furthermore, intellectual nourishment tone-beginningability and seasonality influence marketing activities and make it difficult to establish appropriate retailing outlets. higher(prenominal) costs of production and retailer margins conjointly may result in higher prices than consumers be willing to pay for extreme sustenance associates. The object glass of this study is to compute the willingness of diverse consumer subdivisions in Spain to pay for constitutional products, in order to assess alternative price strategies carried out by producers. From an other(a)(prenominal) studies, it was expected that consumers would be willing to pay a allowance for radical products.This presentiment is based on the idea that these products are healthier and may diminish veto environmental tacks associated with naturalized farming(a) production. In order to expand the ambit of our results, in this study we have considered a wide range of regimen products 1) vegetables 2) potatoes 3) ce true(a)s 4) fruits 5) nut 6) weakly interacting massive particle and 7) red meat. Among the different systemological alternatives to assess consumers willingness to pay, the dependent on(p) valuation (CV) approach was chosen (Hanemann, 1984, 1987).Although CV is a system primarily utilise for monetary paygrade of consumer preferences for non-market goods (e. g. , unpriced inborn resources), it is also useful in this context because the extreme market is distillery too thin, and innate products are non usable in all retail outlets. The paper is organized as follows. In the next section, slightly descriptive statistics on the evolution of constitutive(a) farming in the European heart and soul (EU) and, particularly, in Spain are shown. A brief definition of the ken instrument utilize is provided in section 3.Next, consumer market departments based on consumers lifestyles are defi ned and characterized winning into circumstance both(prenominal) socioeconomic characteristics and attitudes towards organic nutriment products and environmental concerns. In section 5 the willingness to pay of separately component and all products considered are calculated. A brief blueprint of the theoretical plantation of the CV method acting is also included. Finally, some concluding remarks are outlined. 2. Relative importance of organic pastoral production in the European Union and Spain 3 Land under organic farming in EU countries has dramatically increased from 425 thousand ha in 1992 to 2.9 million ha in 1999 ( prorogue 1).Although the field of battle has grown seven fold, it still represents yet 2. 2% of tot up cultivate country knock down. The equalizer of land given to organic production on fundamental cultivated land varies from country to country. The highest values are effectuate in Austria (8. 4%), followed by Finland (6. 3%), Denmark (5. 5%), Swe den (5. 5%) and Italy (5. 3%). The lowest are found in the rest of the Mediterranean countries (Portugal, Greece and Spain) in provoke of the important increase of land devoted to organic products in these countries.Among EU countries the more or little spectacular increase in land devoted to organic production has interpreted place in Italy, although a high parting corresponds to pastures. (Insert Table 1) Organic farming in Spain has been developed only latterly but has increased quickly during the past few years. Land devoted to organic production has increased from 7,900 ha, in 1992, to 352,000 ha, in 1999, when it enumerateed for 1. 4% of the kernel utilized coarse land, still under the European average. 3- tails of Spanish organic farming is intemperate in trinity regions Extremadura (47%), Andalucia (17%) and Castilla-Leon (12%) (Table 2).In sexual standardisedity wrong, regions with higher percentages of organic farming on total utilized sylvan materialm ar e Canarias (7. 7%), Extremadura (6%) and Comunidad Valenciana (2. 6%). Normally, organic production in each region is highly connect to the crops which are traditionally produced t here. At the national level, cereals and olives are the main organic crops followed by nuts and fruits. However, it is obtrusive that a high percentage of land devoted to pastures is under organic production, chiefly concentrated in the central and southern part of Spain. This explains the congener importance of Extremadura and Andalucia in organic production.Navarra, on the other hand, is the region in which more diversification exists, producing a wide variety of organic agricultural products (fruits, vegetables, cereals and meat). (Insert Table 2) Available gentility on consumption is slight precise. According to the European Commission, EU expenditures on organic products aimed for 1. 5 million Euros in 1991, representing 0. 3% of total victuals expenditures. The proportion varies from countr y to country. use of goods and services on organic products in Denmark lies surrounded by 2% to 3% of total victuals expenditures in Ger some(prenominal), it represents 1. 2% in the coupled Kingdom, Ireland, France and the Netherlands it is 4 less than 1%. In the consequence of Spain, the relative importance of organic food products is lower, accounting for only 0. 5% of total food expenditures.Comparing the Spanish figures on production and consumption of organic food products, it is clear that production has increased faster than consumption. The demand for organic food in central and northern European countries is growing more rapidly than in Spain. The main consequence is that, today, more than 50% of organically produced fruits and vegetables are sold in abroad markets leaving, to a legitimate extent, consumers unheeded in the house servant market.Producers get a premium when selling in foreign markets and they expect and want to earn the equal premium in the domestic m arket. However, as in Spain about of the conventional food products are less expensive than in other European countries (mainly, pasta, fruits and vegetables), the gap among conventional and organic products prices is higher in Spain, limiting the expansion of organic food consumption. The study tries to provide a damp understanding of Spanish consumers in relative to organic food.Assuming that higher prices is the main limiting factor for increasing organic consumption, special attention will be paid to the maximal premium consumers are willing to pay for such products. As a previous step, consumers will be pieceed according to their lifestyles and, then, market segments characterized taking into account consumers socioeconomic characteristics and attitudes towards organic food products and environmental concerns. 3. Data The selective information employ here come from a survey conducted in July-August 1997 in two Spanish regions Navarra and capital of Spain.Navarra was selec ted not only because it is one of the closely important producing regions in Spain, but also because it produces a wide variety of organic food products. capital of Spain is one the nigh important regions, together with Cataluna, in terms of organic food products consumption. Samples in both regions were selected victimization a stratified random have of food buyers on the ass of age and district of residence2 . intravenous feeding coulomb responders were randomly selected and personally interviewed at category in each region. Respondents were the main purchasers of food products within the household.The start off misgiving in the questionnaire was respondents 2 Census data were visible(prenominal) in both regions. 5 spot of knowledge of what an organic product was. If the respondent did not know boththing about them, he/she was not interviewed. So, only respondents with at to the lowest degree some knowledge of organic products were considered 3 . completely 10% of respondents in Navarra and 5% in capital of Spain claimed to buy organic products on a tied(p) basis, while another 55% in Navarra and 42%, in Madrid, were passing(a) buyers. These percentages are confusable to those obtained in other studies ( ullen and Wholegenant, 1991 M Hansen and Sorensen, 1992, 1993).4. Market segmentation for organic food As mentioned above, the first step in this study was to class consumers into homogeneous bunch togethers. Consumers were segmented according to their lifestyles as previous investigate has shown that the willingness to pay for an organic product baron be influenced by individual slipway of living rather than by the uncouth socioeconomic variables (Hartman and sore Hope, 1997). Once the market segments were obtained, they were characterized taking into account both consumers socioeconomic characteristics and their attitudes towards organic food products and environmental issues.Among socioeconomic characteristics, age, gender, edu cation level, family size and income were judged to be the most relevant. Lifestyles as well as attitudes towards environmental issues, on one hand, and towards organic food products, on the other, were measured by triad tested scales (the complete scales are shown in the Appendix). Respondents were asked to evaluate, assigning a value from 1 to 7, their agreement with different sentences. These iii scales have been dropd by a track components analysis to extract main dimensions on each aspect. 4 The main results from these analyses follow. i) Lifestyles.Table 3 shows the cor likeness between the original variables (sentences) and factors obtained from ace components analysis in Navarra and Madrid. In Navarra, lifestyles was summarized in three factors which account for 53% of the total variance (Table 3, top). The first one, indwelling food consumption, explains 30% of the total variance and is link up to 3 hardly consumers with at to the lowest degree a certain(p) knowled ge on what organic products are were interviewed. In a previous qualitative research, 90% respondents said they had heard or knew something about organic products. More or less the same percentage was found in the survey.Thus, the sample seems reasonably representative. 4 The non-li ascend principal components analysis (De Leeuw and Rijckevorsel, 1980) was also utilize as an alternative to condense the information. Results were almost identical to those presented. 6 consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables and the concern for reducing the consumption of red meat, processed food or food with additives. The second factor, Life Equilibrium, explains 14% of the total variance, and refers to the existence of a real interest on retentiveness a balance between work and one-on-one life, living in a organized and ordered way and trying to reduce stress.Finally, the ternion gear factor contributes to 9% of the total variance. It is called, Health care, and shows the interest of consu mers for keeping themselves healthy, by practicing sports, following a graphic diet, controlling salt ingestion and fifty-fiftyly checking their health. In Madrid, 4 factors were selected which account for 62% of the total variance (Table 3, botton). The first three factors are similar to those obtained in Navarra, but in a different order, indicating that their relative importance differs.The first factor here is, Health care, which explains 28% of the total variance and is linked to consumers awareness to regularly check their health. The second factor, Natural food consumption, contributes to explain 13% of the total lifestyles variance and, as in the font of Navarra, is linked to variables indicating consumers consumption of healthier food products. The third factor, ife Equilibrium, has a similar L interpretation to the case of Navarra. Finally, the fourth factor, Mediterranean diet , is related to a high consumption of fruits and a moderate consumption of meat.(Insert T able 3) ii) Attitudes towards environmental issues. In relation to attitudes about environmental issues, two factors were selected in both regions which explained 63% and 70% of the total variance in Navarra and Madrid, separately (Table 4). The first factor, Environmental conservation, is related to variables indicating that consumers have an active interest in reducing the effect of environmental degradation by recycling products and using recycled products, and so forth The second factor, Environmental concerns, is linked to those variables exhibit consumers awareness about the minus effect of growing on the environment.(Insert Table 4) iii) Attitudes towards organic food products Table 5 shows the results of the principal components analysis carried out on variables related to consumers attitudes towards organic food products. The original information was summarized in two and three factors in the cases of Navarra and Madrid, singly (Table 5). In Navarra the two factors acco unt for 45% of the total variance. The first factor, confirmative aspects, emphasizes the quality, taste, healthiness, attractiveness and absence of harmful personal effects 7 of these products.The second factor, Negative aspects, is related to the perception that organic products are only a new fashion and more expensive than the conventional ones. In Madrid the three factors explain the 59% of the total variance. In this case, the organic food positive aspects were divided in two factors, reference and healthy aspects and External visual aspect (related to organic food products attractiveness and taste). The contradict aspects factor is related to the same attitudes as in the case of Navarra.(Insert Table 5) Market segmentation The K- take to bes cluster analysis technique (Malhotra, 1993) was used to identify market segments in relation to organic food products. Lifestyles factors (Table 3) were used as segmentation variables. Three segments in Navarra and four segments in M adrid were identified. Each segment was characterized taking into account consumers socioeconomic characteristics (age, gender, education level, family size and income) factors related to attitudes towards environmental issues (Table 4) factors related to attitudes towards organic food products (Table 5) and the consumption level of organic food products 5 .Results from cluster analysis and market segments characterization are shown in Tables 6 and 7, for Navarra and Madrid, respectively. (Insert Table 6) In Navarra, the first segment accounts for 25% of the sample (Table 6). It includes those people who show a joust towards congenital food consumption and a equilibrise life, but with no inordinate care for their health. This is a latent consumer group of organic products as most of respondents on occasion consume them and a high proportion is willing to taste them in the near future. For this reason, the segment is tagged Likely consumers.Consumers in this segment are mainly women, middle-aged, with an educational level of high school or less and they positively assess the undecomposed aspects of organic food products. The second segment includes 52% of consumers. It is form by respondents as split between men and women. They are also not well educate (high school or less) and 75% are of strength income. They are demented about health and the balance between cloak-and-dagger life and work, but pay less attention to follow a natural diet. The percentage of regular and occasional 5. quaternion categories were defined 1) regular consumption, 2) occasional consumption 3) no consumption but plausibly yes in the near future 4) no consumption at all. 8 consumers is the highest among all segments therefore this segment is called Organic food consumers. Nevertheless, this big proportion could reflect certain confusion among consumers between real organic products and those grown in home gardens, for self-consumption. This is precise frequent in this co mmonwealth. Navarra is a very important producer region of fruits and vegetables and many people living in township keep strong links with homespun areas.This fact could also explain the negative value assigned to the natural food consumption factor. Furthermore, no need for a special consideration of healthy diet is shown as it is intrinsic to consumption habits. The third segment accounts for 23% of respondents. This is clearly the least(prenominal) involved group on natural food consumption, life equilibrium and health care and includes the highest percentage of no consumers. The comparatively low potential consumption together with the lack of awareness about health and more natural diets suggest that organic consumption in this group will not be stimulated.Therefore, this segment is denominate as marvellous consumers. Half of consumers in this segment have less than 35 years old. Finally, it is important to note that among the improbable consumers half of them have more t han a high school. Results from segmentation in Madrid are different because of the heterogeneity of an all oer 5 million inhabitants town (Table 7). Four segments were identified. Half of the consumers within the first segment (23% of the population) are over 60 years old and there are more households with 2 o fewer inhabitants than in the other groups.Consumers in this group are better educated than in other segments. However, almost 90% of consumers are of medium or modest income. They are not very aware of environmental problems but are worried about health issues and try to follow a balanced life. Mediterranean diet is valued positively but consumption of organic products is not of much interest for them as they do not appreciate the positive organic food products attributes. Therefore, this segment is called Un seeming develop consumers.(Insert Table 7) The second segment is similar to the previous one in terms of the consumption level although the percentage of regular and occasional consumers is even lower. In relation to sociodemographic characteristics consumers in this segments are younger, than those of the first segment, the percentage of male consumers is higher and, finally, family size is bigger. They are not very involved in environmental issues, have a negative image of organic products and are not worried about diet and health but try to maintain a certain equilibrium between running(a) and 9 private life.This segment is labeled Unlikely young consumers and accounts for 20% of the population. The third segment (22% of the population) is also mainly formed by households with 3 or 4 members (usually a couple with one or two children). The percentage of consumers educated beyond high school is very low in this group (17%). Consumers within this segment are looking for a more natural diet in which Mediterranean products play an important role, although they show a negative attitude towards the external appearance of organic food products.They are occasional buyers of organic food and are likely to increase their consumption if the natural attribute of such products is reinforced. Thus, this segment is called Likely consumers. Finally, the forth segment accounts for 35% of the population and is labeled organic food consumers. The percentage of regular and occasional consumers is the highest in relation to other groups. It is quite similar to the second segment found in Navarra although it is eleganter. Consumers do not show special socioeconomic profiles. besides it is obtrusive the high percentage of effeminate consumers.People within this group enter more actively in environmental conservation tasks and are more concerned about food diet and health. As it can be observed from tables 6 and 7, market segments found in both regions present certain similarities although they are more heterogeneous in the case of Madrid. The organic food consumers segment is larger in the producing region (Navarra) as previously discuss ed. In any case, different market segments, with different socioeconomic and lifestyle characteristics, normally mean(a) differences in preferences.In this paper, the main objective was to evaluate the consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for organic products. In the next section we will cause this question and will identify differences crosswise segments in both regions. 5. Willingness to pay the contingent valuation method Consumers willingness to pay (WTP) for organic food products is here measured using a direct valuation method contingent valuation (CV). A entangled questioning map, normally called closed-ended with follow-up was used. This procedure consists of a dichotomous choice (DC) question and a maximum WTP question.In the DC question, consumers are asked whether or not they are willing to pay a premium, A, to buy an organic food product kinda of a i conventional one. The aggregate Ai is a percentage over the price of the conventional product and 10 differs across c onsumers (5%, 10%, 15% and 20%)6 . Consumers responses are YES if they are willing to pay at least Ai for an organic product or NO, otherwise. Consumers are then asked for the exact premium they are willing to pay. The dichotomous individual response is linked to the maximum expediency choice which allows us to calculate the WTP from appropriate welfare measures (Hanemann, 1984).Hanemann (1984) faux that consumers know, with certainty, their utility hunt down before world asked and after paying the amount Ai for buying organic food products. However, some components of these utilities are unknown or imperceptible by researches who consider them as stochastic. This issue is the crucial assumption which explains the relation between statistical double star response models and the utility maximizing theory (Hanemann, 1984, 1987). Assuming a linear utility break away and a logistic distribution function for the binary question, the WTP can be measured through the attachment of th e following logistic function (Hanemann, 1984)Pi = (1 + e -(? + ? Ai) )-1 where, Pi 1 if consumers are willing to pay the amount Ai and 0 otherwise Ai the four premiums offered to consumers (5%, 10%, 15% and 20%) Therefore, the mean of WTP is calculated as follows E(WTP) = ? ?0 (1 + e -(? + ? A) )-1 dA = -? /? (1) Survey data consisted of 400 questionnaires but only 360 were available in Navarra and 376 in Madrid for estimation purposes. The rest of questionnaires were dropped out because interviewers had not answered the dichotomous question. Model defined in (1) was alter to a linear one DCi = ? + ? Ai where, DCi is the logarithm of the fortune ratio (Pi /1- Pi ) (2).6 Consumers are randomly offered a premium of 5, 10, 15 or 20% above the marketed price for a conventional product. Our 400 interviews resulted in 100 answers for each amount A i . 11 Tables 8 and 9 show the maximum willingness to pay for various organic products (vegetables, potatoes, cereals, fruits, eggs, chic ken and red meat) in Navarra and Madrid 7 . As we were interested in knowing if WTP differences existed across market segments, we tested for differences in WTP using a covariance analysis method. The open-plan model was equation (1) adding the appropriate dummy up variables. cardinal types of restrictions were tested i) no differences across all segments and ii) differences between any partner off of segments. Results from Likelihood Ratio tests are shown in Tables 8 and 9. (Insert Table 8) (Insert Table 9) Also, we tested for starting point bias, that is, if premium offered to consumers non-white WTP results. A linear regression was used to estimate consumers WTP as a function of the offered premium. A significant relationship would mean that WTP results were biased. Only in the case of potatoes in Madrid, results were conditioned to the offered premium.In the case of Navarra, all estimated parameters in segments 1 and 2 are individually significant at 5% level (Table 8). As expected, ? coefficients are negative, core that the higher is the premium (Ai) offered to consumers, the lower is the probability of answering YES. The third tower in each segment shows the willingness to pay for organic products. The WTP is significantly different among all segments at 5% significance level (first column in Table 8). However, no differences were found between segment 1 and segment 2, indicating that potential and actual consumers are willing to pay a similar premium for all products.In both segments, the WTP ranges from 15% to 25% over the price of conventional products. Consumers included in the third segment, Unlikely consumers, are more reluctant to pay a premium for an organic product which is consistent with their attitudes and lifestyles. Most of the estimated parameters are not significant indicating that their WTP is zero. Only in the case of eggs is the WTP close to 10%. In general terms, consumers in Madrid were willing to pay a smaller premium for an o rganic product (Table 9). Furthermore, when compared to Navarra, results obtained in Madrid are substantially different as market segments differ.The most interesting result is that all segments are willing to pay a higher premium for fruits and vegetables. It seems that for 7 For comparison purposes the sample average WTP for different products in Navarra and Madrid are respectively vegetables (13%, 12%) potatoes (9%, 9%) cereals (10%, 8%) fruits (13%, 13%) eggs (10%, 11%) chicken (13%, 9%) and red meat (14%, 11%). 12 perishable products, like fruits and vegetables, the specific characteristics of organic production are more appreciated by consumers. Consumers WTP is significantly different across all segments when jointly considered.However, differences segment 1, 2 and 3 are quite small and not significant in most products. On the other hand, the Organic food consumers are willing to pay a higher and significantly different premium than the rest for an organic food product. Only for animal products (red meat, chicken and eggs), differences between real and potential consumers (market segments 4 and 3) are not significant. Among unlikely consumers (market segments 1 and 2), the older ones, worried about natural food consumption, are willing to pay a higher premium for organic meat products than the younger. 6.Conclusions Organic farming practices are becoming progressively popular among producers although they still represent a marginal share of arable land. New possibilities to get subsidies within the Common country Policy has favored a rapid growth of organic production although a high percentage is devoted to pastures. On the demand side, the increase concerns about health, diet and environmental deterioration have, at least among some market segments, stimulated the demand for organic food. In Spain, organic food production and consumption have grown more slowly than in other northern European countries.One of the main obstacles for organic food expan sion in Spain is the existing gap between conventional and organic food prices. Approximately 75% of organic production is exported to foreign countries where food prices are higher than in domestic markets. As the producers price strategy is orientated to fix more or less the same price level in both domestic and foreign markets (mainly in Germany and Denmark where the consumption of organic products has undertaken a noticeable increase in the last years), the result is that the premium Spanish consumers have to pay for organic food products is higher in comparison to other European countries.Two issues were explored which can affect the future development of organic production in Spain. The first was to detect market segments which could be potential consumers of organic food. The second issue was the appointment of the maximum premium the various market segments were willing to pay for such products in order to help producers to take capable pricing strategies in domestic mark ets. The study was carried out in two Spanish regions one is 13 an active producing area ( avarra) while the other is the main food consumption market N (Madrid). Differences between regions were also analyzed.Finally, one of the main outcomes of this paper is that it covers a wide range of products in order to make comparisons both between products and market segments. In relation to the first issue, market segments were identified considering consumers lifestyles and, then, were characterized taking into account not only consumers socioeconomic characteristics but also consumption levels and attitudes towards organic food products and environmental issues. Similar segments were obtained in both regions although more heterogeneity was found in the case of Madrid.In general terms, three broad market segments were identified consumers, likely consumers and unlikely consumers. The affect result is that organic food consumers in both regions were larger than expected taking into accou nt expenditure figures discussed in section 2. The answer to this surprising result is that in many areas consumers are supplying their own products. They consider them organic, entirely because no fertilizers are used, when really they are not, as there is not any official certification. In spite of this result, some concluding remarks can be outlined.In general terms, consumers socioeconomic characteristics are not very relevant when explaining differences among market segments. Lifestyles and attitudes towards environmental issues are key factors explaining organic food consumption and have to be considered when conception appropriate promotion strategies by producers or marketers. In relation to the second issue, three main results were obtained.