Organic Food Market: Who's Buying And Why? - Essay Sample

Introduction

The Organic Food Market is a tough place for everyone at once. Every buyer has their motivations and pitches that convince them to purchase more. Just from physical, demographic characteristics, one can gauge the types of people who visit organic grocery stores and restaurants. There are die-hard advocates as well as skeptical consumers who place themselves in recognizable groups. From my field visit, I opted to determine these groups of people and delineate them from the larger population through their characteristics. I visited a fancy grocery store (place x) that sells organic foods and another vegan restaurant within the city (place y) for my analysis.

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I observed a group of similar people who visited place x. Most of the consumers from this place were middle-aged men and women who had fancy dressings with well-kempt hair. Out of class, I thought, most of them wore designer clothing. This drew me to the conclusion that they were high-income earners. Besides household income, I could as well differentiate the consumers from the greater population by their education and marital status. The grocery visitors consisted of young couples who wanted to maintain a healthy lifestyle at their young marriages. Some other middle-aged persons who were not married also purchased organic foods to maintain a healthy lifestyle before their marriages. Nonetheless, the visitors seemed educated on the benefits of organic food consumption.

Additionally, I did not realize any person of color goes to purchase organic food from the store. At some point, I could feel odd having to accept the fact that I was surrounded by white men and women for all the time I spent at the store. As a woman of color, I concluded that culture was the main attribute of this behavior as the people of color do not consume organic foods more than whites. I tend to place my firmest belief concerning healthy eating on conventionally grown produce. For the people of color to fit into the organic food consumers, the retailer could also consider broadening their product selection. The main foods offered in the store were not attractive, if not well-known to the people of color. The whites' attributes proved a difference in food quality in organic foods by the way they selected their most favorite. For us, the people of color, little consumer awareness is done through the provision of information on the benefits of consuming organic foods. The primary consumers consisting of white men and women, possessed a collection of attributes that maximized their utility.

Customers at place y also had similar aspects in terms of demography. The first glance made me classify the consumers of the products as young girls who seemed to be in their early twenties. These consumers were vegan, and their consumption was influenced by how conscious they were in consuming healthy diets. At their age, they probably should have gotten information on healthy eating to keep up with healthy lifestyles and maintain their bodies. Such knowledge spurs a higher probability of consuming organic food products from the restaurant. From another perspective, the young girls have different philosophies from those of another age group. Their consciousness draws them to care a great deal about products such as genetically modified foods that could ruin their health statuses. Even so, there are no differences among men and women, only that women are more sensitive to their appearances, placing their greater focus on vegan foods.

Additionally, the young girls at the restaurant seemed to come from families of good financial background. It is evident that organic food is expensive and, as such, discourages consumers from low-income opportunities. The price premiums on organic food could also be more affordable to the young women who had little to input into their families. Their consumption was also influenced by their ideologies, which connected to good food-purchasing habits. The way young girls think about organic food is different from how the elderly belief. Even though the elderly could receive high financial returns, they would tend to believe purchasing such products as a waste of money; hence, they would go for alternatives instead. Young consumers also have greater positive attitudes towards vegan food compared to other age groups. They have greater self-responsibility and could show such behavior due to preventative health action.

Organic food products from place x and vegan food from place y had consumers with almost similar characteristics. The motivation of consumers was mostly founded on the beliefs on healthy eating as well as a positive attitude. Besides, knowledge and public understanding of the multiple benefits of organic food are more evident on the educated persons, white people, as well as young men and women. Being sustainable products, organic foods, and vegan products are expensive hence, draw in people living in middle-to-high income families. Young people are also affluent and are more conscious in terms of the foods that could either benefit or harm their bodies. Therefore, consumers from both places x and y have a sensory and emotional appeal of food and are more concerned with green consumption practices.