Shelf Labeling of Organic Foods: Customer Response

In the past 10 years, growth in the organic food industry has been tremendous. Retail grocers and organic food supporters are interested in effective promotion techniques that increase sales of organic food products in mainstream grocery stores. An experimental study was designed to test the effectiveness of two levels of point-of-purchase (POP) signage to influence customer perceptions and to promote sales of organic food products in two grocery store environments in the Twin Cities metropolitan area in Minnesota. Customer intercept interviews and sales data showed that POP signage can be effective in promoting organic foods and in influencing sales but may be dependent on store environment/format. Exposure to signage and trial behavior may lead to increased attention to organic food labeling and expanded organic food purchasing. Introduction revenue. Several recent studies have increased the understanding of consumers ' underlying motiva-Sales of organic foods have increased more tions, attitudes, and preferences for organic foods. than 20 percent each year for the past six years A range of attitudinal groups representing portions (Markle, 1997) as organic foods have become of the U.S. population in relation to their concer