Research co-authored by the associate professor of marketing is published in the International Journal of Management Practice and the Handbook of Eating and Drinking.
Lawrence Garber, associate professor of marketing in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business, discusses his study of millennials’ perceptions and motivations in regards to purchasing and consuming organic food products in the International Journal of Management Practice and the Handbook of Eating and Drinking.
Garber and co-authors Lubna Nafees, Eva Hyatt and Neel Das, review the nascent but fast-growing Indian organic food market and discuss their use of focus groups to identify the needs and benefit attributes Indian millennial organic consumers consider when purchasing organic products.
In the International Journal of Management Practice article, “Exploration of the organic food-related consumer behavior in emerging and developed economics: The case of India and the U.S.,” and the Handbook of Eating and Drinking chapter, “Organic Food Perceptions of Indian Millennials, and the Growth of the Indian Organic Food Industry,” the authors share their Indian focus groups perceived organic products more holistically than their U.S. counterparts, felt a spiritual connection to organics, and focused more on the societal benefits of a cleaner environment, better treatment of animals and the improved health of farmers.
“They are traditionalists who see the organics movement taking them back to their agricultural roots and away from unhealthy Western influences,” the authors wrote. “Whereas U.S. focus groups view the U.S. diet as unhealthy and look to organics not as a way back but as a means to a healthier future, the Indian low-involvement focus groups view organic foods favorably but largely remain aspirational organic consumers only, due to issues of availability and price.”
Before joining Elon in 2006, Garber taught at Appalachian State University and held roles at Glaxo Pharmaceuticals and BBDO Advertising. He earned his doctorate in business administration with a concentration in marketing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research interests include visual information processing and persuasion, marketing communication and branding, nonprofit and arts marketing, marketing education and the visual presentation of statistical data.