Self‐determination, clean conscience, or social pressure? Underlying motivations for organic food consumption among young millennials

Abstract

[EN] The present world has led in individuals to become ever more interested in the consumption of organic food. Accordingly, companies are incorporating these worries in their managerial decisions by paying special attention to market segmentation. In this context, a relevant target audience is that conformed by young Millennials, a group defined by its growing purchase power, its intense influence on societies, but also by its inconsistency in terms of pro-environmental behaviors. In order to understand the mechanisms that rule the human behavior, motivations emerge as fair predictors of sustainable products consumption. Therefore, the present study aims at analyzing the motivations that stimulate young Millennials to purchase organic food. Hence, itwas conducted a survey study with a total sample of 378 college students. After-wards, once executed a cluster analysis, four differentiated groups were highlighted: amotivated (23.02%), who have no intention to perform any sort of organic purchase; socially-influenced (24.34%), motivated to purchase organic due to social acceptance; self-determined (25.92%), mainly autonomous in their organic food consumption; and conscience-affected (26.72%), who behave organic for self-esteem. Although data reveal the existence of an overall organic concern among the sample, only self-determined individuals may be prone to maintain their behaviors among time since the intrinsic motivation they show is higher than that of the other groups. These findings are of undeniable interest. The study of the motivational system of young Millennials will allow companies in the organic food sector to adjust their offer to the relevant target and achieve an enduring organic consumption.