“I’m buying organic, but not like you….” Multiple ways of being an organic food consumer

Understanding the attitudes and behaviours of organic consumers is vital for implementing strategies, at both producer and policy levels, to foster an expansion of the organic sector. In this study, we aim to identify the most relevant attitudinal profiles of organic consumers, and study how these profiles affect consumer behaviours on the market for organic products. A questionnaire was administered to a sample of 847 Italian consumers and a three-step latent class procedure was implemented to identify attitudinal profiles and connect them with individual behaviours. While the organic sector can count on quite a large base of committed consumers, the potential for further development is still important. While the focus on a western country might have affected the results, this can be addressed,especially by communicating the individualist benefits of organic foods, since self-oriented attitudes appear more able to stimulate pro-organic behaviours on the market.