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Introduction
So far, most research relating to the extension of the organic food market has dealt with the "diversification of consumers", that is, the retrieval of potentially new organic consumers, in order to increase the sales volume of organic products. This study, however, adopts a different approach and concentrates on consumers who are accustomed to purchasing organic food on a regular basis.
Although global organic food sales slowed since 2008, the market has increased over three-fold between 2000 and 2010. In 2010, the countries with the largest organic markets were the US, Germany, and France, while the highest per capita consumption was found in Switzerland, Denmark, and Luxemburg ([24] Willer and Kilcher, 2012). In 2011, sales volume of the German organic food market was 6.6 billion [euro] of which 54 per cent were sold through conventional supermarket chains (including discounters and drugstores), 31 per cent through specialised organic food stores and 15 per cent through other sales channels as, e.g. bakeries, butchers, health food shops, and direct sales of farmers ([18] Schaack et al. , 2012a). Growth in the German organic food market was due to successful marketing strategies in specialised organic food stores, while demand in conventional supermarket chains remained stable. The five most important product groups covering more than 50 per cent of the total organic sales volume in Germany in 2011 were: dairy products (14.8 per cent), bread and cereals (10.8 per cent), vegetables (10.8 per cent), fruit (9.1 per cent) and baby food (5.2 per cent) ([19] Schaack et al. , 2012b).
In Germany, 3 per cent of all households generate 39 per cent of the turnover of organic products; a further 14 per cent of all German households account for an additional 37 per cent of the total ([5] Buder, 2011). Both of these consumer groups offer great potential for increasing organic market share, as they are already in favour of organic food products and need no convincing with regard to the general value of organic food. Nevertheless, their purchasing behaviour raises the question of why such consumers still buy many products from the conventional food sector. Moreover, German shoppers state that they will choose organic products more often in the future ([4] Bundesprogramm Ökologischer Landbau und andere Formen Nachhaltiger...