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Abstract
In 2006, there were approximately 16.5 million children in the U.S. under the age of four, each needing food necessary for development and growth. By making products which satisfy these needs, the baby food industry achieves annual sales of almost $3.7 billion. Due to a stagnant birth rate, growth in the industry is slow, and niche markets are growing in importance. Organic baby food is one such market niche with $116 million in sales in 2006, an increase of 21.6% from the previous year. The purpose of this thesis has been to identify important consumer characteristics that are associated with organic baby food consumption and investigate their affects on consumption, using switching regression analysis. Price, choice of brand and store, and demographic characteristics such as age, race and education, have all been identified as factors influencing organic consumption.