1. ORGANIC FOOD:
May 1st
, 2013 - May 1st
, 2015
Unbranded Conversation
to Inform Brand Strategy
2. 2 ORGANIC FOOD: Unbranded Conversation to Inform Brand Strategy
Introduction
Millions of people share their opinions, actions, emotions, and views
publicly on social media every day. For this reason, social media listening
can not only uncover what people think about a specific brand and/or its
competitors, but also the main themes of conversation around an industry
as a whole.
In this case study, we will examine the social media conversation around
organic food over a two year period. We will uncover the most-discussed
themes on social media regarding organic food, the reasons why people
choose to buy/eat organic food items, the profile of these consumers, and
other relevant insights.
The insights revealed in this study can help inform the brand strategy of
any company currently operating or looking to operate within the organic
food industry.
3. Topics of Conversation
Over the two years analyzed, organic food discussion on social media was
mainly driven by people discussing the health benefits of eating organic (35%).
The second and third largest topics of conversation were “Lifecasting: Shopping/
Need to Shop” (15%) and “Lifecasting: Eating” (14%). We can also see many users
(11%) expressing their desire to start eating organic food.
May 1st, 2013 - May 1st, 2015
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4. Cost Considerations
Interestingly, we found that 10% of the conversation comes from users who
believe that organic food is too expensive and do not understand why. Most
consumers feel that the price difference is too large and is unfair, since
staying healthy should be affordable.
May 1st, 2013 - May 1st, 2015
4 ORGANIC FOOD: Unbranded Conversation to Inform Brand Strategy
5. Negative Opinions & GMOs
The negative conversation around organic food was driven by users who were either talking
negatively about it or who did not believe that there were any benefits from consuming it
(8%). To support these findings, we also analyzed the social media conversation specifically
around GMOs over a one year period (May 1st
, 2014 to May 1st
, 2015).
We found the conversation around GMOs to be mostly negative (56%), with consumers
saying they are unhealthy or cause diseases accounting for 23% of the total conversation.
The positive conversation accounted for 31% and was driven by consumers who believe
that those against GMOs are anti-science or are fearmongering (28%).
May 1st, 2013 - May 1st, 2015
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6. Reasons for Buying or Eating
Organic Food
We took a deeper dive into the specific reasons why people on social media buy or
eat organic food and found “Health Benefits” to be the largest category once again
(77%). The second most shared reason why people choose to buy or eat organic
food is “Environmental/Sustainability”, accounting for 16% of the total conversation.
5% of the conversation came from users who prefer to buy or eat organic food
because it tastes better. Finally, “Weight Loss” and “Nutrition” account for less than
3% of the total conversation.
May 1st, 2013 - May 1st, 2015
6 ORGANIC FOOD: Unbranded Conversation to Inform Brand Strategy
7. What is social media telling us?
Social media tells us that most people have negative opinions toward GMOs (56%)
and that this is driven by a belief that they are unhealthy and cause diseases. By
tying this data in with the social data on the reasons why people choose to buy or
eat organic food, we can clearly see that health is by far their prime consideration.
People avoid GMOs and favor organic food because they believe this will keep them
healthier and disease-free.
In the following pages, we will explore the demographic profile and interests of the
consumers engaged in the organic food conversation.
According to the FDA, genetically modified foods (GMOs) are safe and do not harm
humans’ health. However, there is still a lot of controversy and skepticism around
their use and the consequences. Many countries have completely or partially
banned GMOs (including France, Germany, Italy, China, India, and Australia), and
activists have been asking for regulations that require labeling for foods that
contain them.
On the one hand, people and organizations that oppose the use of GMOs claim
that the risk of consuming them has not been adequately studied and question
the objectivity of the regulatory authorities. On the other hand, people that
support their use argue that GMOs pose no risk to our health and that they could
potentially help feed people in impoverished countries.
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8. Health Benefits
As we mentioned before, in both the overall social media conversation around
organic food and the conversation around the specific reasons why people buy or
eat it, health benefits is the most widely discussed topic. When buying or eating
organic food, most people are looking to start a healthier lifestyle and feel better
physically and mentally, while things like weight-loss, taste, and general nutrition
are not nearly as important.
May 1st, 2013 - May 1st, 2015
8 ORGANIC FOOD: Unbranded Conversation to Inform Brand Strategy
9. How Are People Talking?
The list below shows the top hashtags being used alongside Twitter users’ mentions
of reasons why they buy or eat organic food. We can see that #gmo is used more
commonly than #health.
The word cloud represents the most frequently used words within the conversation.
May 1st, 2013 - May 1st, 2015
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10. Demographic Profile
Out of the total users talking about buying or eating organic food, 59% are female
and 41% male. In terms of age groups, more than half of these users are 35 years
old and above (51%). 27% are between 18 and 24 years old, 14% are 17 years old
and below, and 8% are between 25 and 34 years old.
The conversation coming from users who are 17 years old and below consists
mostly of comments about the food their parents buy.
May 1st, 2013 - May 1st, 2015
10 ORGANIC FOOD: Unbranded Conversation to Inform Brand Strategy
11. Affinities
Using our Affinities™ feature, we were able to explore the interests of the people
talking about shopping and eating organic food over social. We found that these
users are 124 times more interested in Monsanto and 52 times more interested in
farming than the average Twitter population.
They are also 30 times more interested in agriculture, 21 times more interested
in sustainability, 16 times more interested in climate change, 10 times more
interested in self improvement, 9 times more interested in health food, 7 times
more interested in parenting, and 4 times more interested in being a mom and
healing than the average Twitter population.
May 1st, 2013 - May 1st, 2015
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12. Exploring the Organic Food
Interest Segment:
What’s Trending?
Crimson Hexagon’s Affinities allows you to look at the top hashtags and
influencers, as well as the trending multimedia within any of the interest
segments (for example: sustainability or parenting) of the audience that you
are analyzing. For the purpose of this study, we will explore the organic food
interest segment.
We can see that the most relevant hashtags used by users interested in organic
foods within the last week are: #sowtheseed (4,751 times more common than
on Twitter overall), #stoptpp (2,670x more common than on Twitter overall),
#hempweek (1,258x more common than on Twitter overall), #organic (296x
more common than on Twitter overall), #crazyhealthy (255x more common
than on Twitter overall) #energy (204x more common than on Twitter overall),
and #recipe (203x more common than on Twitter overall).
Furthermore, the top three influencers within the Organic Food interest
segment are:
Vote Hemp Dr. Bronner’s The Organic View
12 ORGANIC FOOD: Unbranded Conversation to Inform Brand Strategy
13. Exploring the Organic Food
Interest Segment:
What’s Trending?
Finally, we looked at the trending multimedia within users interested in organic
foods. We found the following videos and articles to be trending:
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14. Conclusion and Takeaways
This study shows the depth of insights that social media listening can offer to any
company about a particular interest group or industry. By analyzing the general
conversation around organic food, we were able to find the major themes of
conversation that surround it, how people feel in regards to it, and why they
choose to buy or eat organic. We also uncovered important audience insights: their
demographic information, interests, the people who influence them, and the way
they talk about organic food.
The biggest takeaways of this study are:
• The most relevant and determining factor why people are against GMOs and
choose to shop and eat organic food is their health.
• Cost considerations are an important reason why many people do not buy
organic food as much as they would like. Many consumers do not understand
why there is a cost difference at all. For this reason, organic food companies
should focus their marketing efforts on demonstrating the value in eating
organic.
• Most people talking about organic food are 35 years old or above and are very
interested in ecology-related and liberal topics, as well as in parenting.
This study showcased how unbranded conversation can be found by analyzing
social media data, which can then inform brand strategy for companies operating,
or looking to operate, within any industry.
14 ORGANIC FOOD: Unbranded Conversation to Inform Brand Strategy
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Crimson Hexagon
Crimson Hexagon is a leading provider of social media
analysis software. Powered by patented technology and
an in-house data library of more than 500 billion posts,
Crimson Hexagon’s ForSight™ platform helps hundreds of
brands and agencies answer critical business questions
through the insights derived from social data. Clients include
leading global organizations such as General Mills, Starbucks,
Paramount Pictures, Microsoft, and Twitter, and leading
agencies such as Translation, Edelman, and We Are Social.
Find us on Twitter @crimsonhexagon.
16. 16 ORGANIC FOOD: Unbranded Conversation to Inform Brand Strategy
17. See the technology in action.
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Schedule a demo today:
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