A profile of the Brazilian consumers of organic products

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to describe the lifestyle of consumers of organic products in Brazil and identify the clusters within that market. To that end, ​​a quantitative and descriptive study was carried out among 400 people responsible for buying food for their families, during June 2010. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and cluster analysis. The respondents were found to believe that organic products are tastier, safer for health and hygiene and look better than conventional products. Furthermore, some features of organic products were found to be rooted in the perceptions held by the respondents, such as the idea that consuming organic products would be good for the health and that their production would respect the preservation of the natural environment. The factors influencing the consumption of these products are: participation in social or environmental projects, level of information about proper nutrition and disease prevention and health, which is the most relevant issue in the consumption of these products. Organic products were found to be better evaluated in accordance with increasing levels of education, income and frequency of consumption. The results indicate the existence of four clusters: the “indifferent sick”, “convinced user”, “occasional user” and “aware rich non-user”. Key words: Applied marketing, market segmentation, food, organic vegetables, health, natural environment, Brazil.