COMMENTS AND ANALYSIS

Geography Just One Key Variable For Marketing Produce

By Jim Prevor

Knowing that different products are popular in different parts of the country is valuable information. Shippers can know where to focus their marketing while retailers know what to stock.

In some cases, it is not the people but the situation that leads to variations in purchasing habits. For example, it is no shock that in urban areas, fresh-cut items and various salad kits are more popular. This author grew up in the suburbs, and we had a double Sub-Zero refrigerator/freezer in the kitchen, another large refrigerator/freezer unit in the basement, a third in a garage and a fourth out by the pool in a small cabana. When we moved to Manhattan, we just had one side-by-side refrigerator unit, literally less than a fifth of the refrigerator capacity we had back on Long Island. It is no surprise that we bought products that had already been cut and trimmed and took up as little space as possible.

There is also a chicken or the egg conundrum when evaluating consumer purchase practices. It may be true that consumers in the northeast are more likely to buy bulk produce. Perhaps, though, retailers are more likely to display bulk produce in that region. Is that a retail response to consumer demand? Or a consumer response to retail display practices? Just as they look for more fresh-cut items to avoid storing bulk produce, perhaps consumers in more urbanized areas also prefer to buy the amount they need to avoid storing things and filling up tight storage areas.

There is also a possibility of demographic differences. We shouldn’t assume that the desire to avoid packaging always has to do with the environment. Tight urban apartments tend to have more single people or couples without children. Anyone who has had teenagers who bring over friends after practice or other activities knows there is no limit to demand. So if you have the room, and you have the teenagers, buying a package of produce is not a problem. If, however, you are a single person living in a small apartment, you may prefer to buy exactly what you want. A related issue for the produce industry is that bulk purchases can allow a small household to buy a variety: One red apple, one green apple, one yellow apple, one pear, one peach, etc. The variety may actually encourage consumption.

An issue for future research is that geography is not the only variable differentiating consumers. For example, the population in the Northeastern United States has the highest percentage of college graduates among U.S. regions. Is the focus on sustainability a function of geography? Education? Or is the obtaining of higher education partly a result of class norms and this corresponds with emphasis on environmental sustainability? It is very difficult to know the extent to which various expression

of interest actually alters behavior. When consumers answer a survey and claim they seek to purchase local, what does that mean? Do they switch retailers because one has more local choice than another? And what, exactly, is the motivation? We’ve done some studies that indicated that consumers thought local produce should be less expensive, figuring that less transportation would be required. Would the same consumers who claim they seek local continue to do so if they were informed that the cost would be higher because more efficient growing areas are further away, or that local transportation in less-than-trailer-load shipments is more expensive? Plus what about variety? Does preference for local mean they won’t buy bananas or pineapples or counter-seasonal produce? A related question is whether what consumers say on subjects such as this is actually true. Survey In marketing, research alone can’t answer every question. If we actually looked at purchase data, it would geography is be interesting to see whether consumers who important – but claim to value local actually buy much more local than other people. geographical The unaided brand recognition numbers seem differences are unusual to us, with proprietary research we have done for others, showing even relatively new often caused by brands such as Cuties and Halos scoring higher. demographic It might be, though, that “unaided recognition” is not very important in selling produce anyway. differences in It is rare for retailers to sell multiple brands of the resident the same item, so the issue is how consumers react when they see Sunkist, or another label, population. on the shelf. Consumers being “brand loyal” in produce may just mean they keep shopping at the same store and that store continues to buy, and display, the same brands. If one is loyal to Tesla, because one thinks it is the best car, that person will probably stick with Tesla, even if the local dealership moves a few miles away. Most people don’t buy cars very frequently, so it is no big deal. Produce is bought, typically, more than once a week. So, even if a consumer in a survey expresses a general preference for a particular brand, our experience is that as long as the retail outlet offers a competitive product of good quality, the consumer buys it. Comparing urban vs. suburban vs. rural brand loyalty involves many different things. A consumer in Manhattan may walk by three fruit stores between work and home, so it easy to stop and buy an item that one prefers, such as a brand. Immigration levels are also heavier in urban areas, and immigrants may have less English fluency and thus rely on brands in a way those more fluent in English don’t need to. In marketing, geography is important – but geographical differences are often caused by demographic differences in the resident population. pb