The Natural Marketing Institute (NMI), a market research and strategic consulting firm specializing in health, wellness and sustainability, reported that its recent Health & Wellness Trends Database survey revealed consumer integration of organic into their lifestyles is growing. New data shows total organic household penetration across six product categories is up from 57% in 2006 to 59%, but some categories are experiencing significant penetration growth while others are flat.
More importantly the number of core users, called "devoteds", has grown from 16% in 2006 to 18% in 2007. Devoteds, as their name implies, are the most committed to organic and its ideals and are most likely to have changed their lifestyle to integrate organic. The more a category is used, the more it has to be organic.
"Temperates," which have stayed constant at 22% from 2006 to 2007, have modern organic attitudes and fit organic into their lifestyle; the more they use a category, the more an organic version becomes a treat.
"Dabblers" are non-committal about organic—they can take it or leave it, and their numbers have seen a small drop from 44% in 2006 to 41% in 2007. For them, buying organic is more about being hip than the health benefits.
"Reluctants," a segment that grew from 18% in 2006 to 19% in 2007, are the least trustful of organic and believe that conventional products are just as good, if not better, than organics. They also find that organics are not worth the extra cost.
According to NMI President Maryellen Molyneaux, “NMI research shows that the number of "devoteds" is up, and "dabblers" are down, which indicates that consumers are moving up the ladder of organic lifestyles. They are learning more about organics, which is leading to increased usage. This reflects the mainstreaming of the organic marketplace and the opportunity that brands have to attract the most loyal segment of organic users—"devoteds.”
More information can be found in NMI’s upcoming 2008 Health & Wellness Trends Report, which will be published in April or in the 2007 Organic Consumer Trends Report, which contains more than 200 pages of charts, graphs and insights related to the organic category. Also, more information can be found on NMI’s Web site at www.nmisolutions.com/r_organic.html.
