Organic food consumer profile in the Republic of Serbia

Abstract

© 2016, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Purpose – Having the discrepancies between different descriptions of an organic food consumer profile in various researches worldwide as well as the causes of their emergence as a starting point, the purpose of this paper is to apply the method of preference-based market segmentation (by means of conjoint and cluster analysis) to Serbian organic food market, searching for advantages of using that methodological approach and deepening knowledge about specific organic food market. Design/methodology/approach – The research was conducted from May to July 2014 with 400 respondents participating (aged 18-30). Primary data were gathered by means of focus groups and a survey – structured personal interviews by using a questionnaire. Findings – When applying conjoint and cluster analysis to data about Serbian consumers’ preferences towards researched product, it is possible to identify a segment that prefers organic food the most. Compared to other segments, these consumers are predominantly female, somewhat more mature, with the highest proportion of employed and near the top by the percentage of respondents who are married and have children. They strongly value the importance of diet for health, a number of them have experience with a disease of a close person, which is believed that could be prevented by proper diet, but they do the least sports. Practical implications – The authors give managerial recommendations to actors operating at domestic organic food market. Originality/value – According to the authors’ knowledge, the first application of preference-based market segmentation by conjoint and cluster analysis to organic food market, performed in Serbia, generally characterised by scarce food consumer research.