IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v9y2017i9p1550-d110395.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Less Meat Initiatives at Ghent University: Assessing the Support among Students and How to Increase It

Author

Listed:
  • Benjamin De Groeve

    (Center for Persuasive Communication, Department of Communication Sciences, Ghent University, Korte Meer 7-9-11, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
    Department of General Economics, Ghent University, Tweekerkenstraat 2, 9000 Ghent, Belgium)

  • Brent Bleys

    (Department of General Economics, Ghent University, Tweekerkenstraat 2, 9000 Ghent, Belgium)

Abstract

In this study, we conducted a survey among Business Administration students at Ghent University to assess their support for six less meat initiatives (LMIs) to be implemented in student restaurants. We examined associations between the support and variables related to meat curtailment and additionally examined the effect of providing information about the climate impact of meat on the support for the LMIs. We find that the support is rather limited among the students we surveyed. Students have different appraisals of the different LMIs, which may be due to differences in intervention strength and types of meat curtailment. We found that higher environmental concern is associated with a higher support for all LMIs. Female students and students with lower meat consumption levels indicate a higher support for four of six LMIs. Simply providing information about the climate impact of meat had no remarkable effect on the support. More integrated approaches are recommended to inform students.

Suggested Citation

  • Benjamin De Groeve & Brent Bleys, 2017. "Less Meat Initiatives at Ghent University: Assessing the Support among Students and How to Increase It," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-13, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:9:p:1550-:d:110395
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/9/1550/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/9/1550/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Luchs & Todd Mooradian, 2012. "Sex, Personality, and Sustainable Consumer Behaviour: Elucidating the Gender Effect," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 127-144, March.
    2. de Boer, Joop & Aiking, Harry, 2011. "On the merits of plant-based proteins for global food security: Marrying macro and micro perspectives," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(7), pages 1259-1265, May.
    3. Cordts, Anette & Nitzko, Sina & Spiller, Achim, 2014. "Consumer Response to Negative Information on Meat Consumption in Germany," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 17(A), pages 1-24, March.
    4. Austgulen, Marthe H. & Skuland, Silje & Schjøll, Alexander & Alfnes, Frode, 2015. "Consumer readiness to reduce meat consumptions and eat more climate friendly," 143rd Joint EAAE/AAEA Seminar, March 25-27, 2015, Naples, Italy 202757, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. Muriel C. D. Verain & Siet J. Sijtsema & Hans Dagevos & Gerrit Antonides, 2017. "Attribute Segmentation and Communication Effects on Healthy and Sustainable Consumer Diet Intentions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-19, May.
    6. Alexandra Jurgilevich & Traci Birge & Johanna Kentala-Lehtonen & Kaisa Korhonen-Kurki & Janna Pietikäinen & Laura Saikku & Hanna Schösler, 2016. "Transition towards Circular Economy in the Food System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-14, January.
    7. Fiala, Nathan, 2008. "Meeting the demand: An estimation of potential future greenhouse gas emissions from meat production," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 412-419, October.
    8. Stefan Wahlen & Eva Heiskanen & Kristiina Aalto, 2012. "Endorsing Sustainable Food Consumption: Prospects from Public Catering," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 7-21, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Pasi Pohjolainen & Pekka Jokinen, 2020. "Meat Reduction Practices in the Context of a Social Media Grassroots Experiment Campaign," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-19, May.
    2. Irene C. Kamenidou & Spyridon A. Mamalis & Stavros Pavlidis & Evangelia-Zoi G. Bara, 2019. "Segmenting the Generation Z Cohort University Students Based on Sustainable Food Consumption Behavior: A Preliminary Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-22, February.
    3. Claudia Valli & Małgorzata Maraj & Anna Prokop-Dorner & Chrysoula Kaloteraki & Corinna Steiner & Montserrat Rabassa & Ivan Solà & Joanna Zajac & Bradley C. Johnston & Gordon H. Guyatt & Malgorzata M. , 2022. "People’s Values and Preferences about Meat Consumption in View of the Potential Environmental Impacts of Meat: A Mixed-methods Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-25, December.
    4. Alice Wistar & Marissa G. Hall & Maxime Bercholz & Lindsey Smith Taillie, 2022. "Designing Environmental Messages to Discourage Red Meat Consumption: An Online Experiment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-14, March.
    5. Marthe Hårvik Austgulen & Silje Elisabeth Skuland & Alexander Schjøll & Frode Alfnes, 2018. "Consumer Readiness to Reduce Meat Consumption for the Purpose of Environmental Sustainability: Insights from Norway," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-24, August.
    6. Ruben Sanchez-Sabate & Joan Sabaté, 2019. "Consumer Attitudes Towards Environmental Concerns of Meat Consumption: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-37, April.
    7. Patrick Schenk & Jörg Rössel & Manuel Scholz, 2018. "Motivations and Constraints of Meat Avoidance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-19, October.
    8. Anna Birgitte Milford & Charlotte Kildal, 2019. "Meat Reduction by Force: The Case of “Meatless Monday” in the Norwegian Armed Forces," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-13, May.
    9. Josephine Mylan, 2018. "Sustainable Consumption in Everyday Life: A Qualitative Study of UK Consumer Experiences of Meat Reduction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-13, July.
    10. Yufan Jian & Irina Y. Yu & Morgan X. Yang & Kevin J. Zeng, 2020. "The Impacts of Fear and Uncertainty of COVID-19 on Environmental Concerns, Brand Trust, and Behavioral Intentions toward Green Hotels," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-14, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marthe Hårvik Austgulen & Silje Elisabeth Skuland & Alexander Schjøll & Frode Alfnes, 2018. "Consumer Readiness to Reduce Meat Consumption for the Purpose of Environmental Sustainability: Insights from Norway," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-24, August.
    2. Austgulen, Marthe H. & Skuland, Silje & Schjøll, Alexander & Alfnes, Frode, 2015. "Consumer readiness to reduce meat consumptions and eat more climate friendly," 143rd Joint EAAE/AAEA Seminar, March 25-27, 2015, Naples, Italy 202757, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    3. Marthe Austgulen, 2014. "Environmentally Sustainable Meat Consumption: An Analysis of the Norwegian Public Debate," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 45-66, March.
    4. Bose, Neha & Hills, Thomas & Sgroi, Daniel, 2020. "Climate Change and Diet," IZA Discussion Papers 13426, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. John Thøgersen & Ulf Schrader, 2012. "From Knowledge to Action—New Paths Towards Sustainable Consumption," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 1-5, March.
    6. Elina Lehikoinen & Arto O. Salonen, 2019. "Food Preferences in Finland: Sustainable Diets and their Differences between Groups," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-18, February.
    7. Michelle S. Segovia & No‐Ya Yu & Ellen J. Van Loo, 2023. "The effect of information nudges on online purchases of meat alternatives," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 45(1), pages 106-127, March.
    8. Mechthild Donner & Anne Verniquet & Jan Broeze & Katrin Kayser & Hugo de Vries, 2021. "Critical success and risk factors for circular business models valorising agricultural waste and by-products," Post-Print hal-03004851, HAL.
    9. Federico Cuomo & Stefania Ravazzi & Federico Savini & Luca Bertolini, 2020. "Transformative Urban Living Labs: Towards a Circular Economy in Amsterdam and Turin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-19, September.
    10. Marianne Ryghaug & Michael Ornetzeder & Tomas Moe Skjølsvold & William Throndsen, 2019. "The Role of Experiments and Demonstration Projects in Efforts of Upscaling: An Analysis of Two Projects Attempting to Reconfigure Production and Consumption in Energy and Mobility," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-15, October.
    11. Lam-Huu-Phuoc Nguyen & Nguyen-Bich-Thy Bui & Thi-Ngoc-Cam Nguyen & Chin-Fei Huang, 2022. "An Investigation into the Perspectives of Elementary Pre-Service Teachers on Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-22, August.
    12. Pascale Bazoche & Nicolas Guinet & Sylvaine Poret & Sabrina Teyssier, 2021. "Does the provision of information increase the substitution of animal proteins with plant-based proteins? An experimental investigation into consumer choices," Working Papers SMART 21-07, INRAE UMR SMART.
    13. Henrik Haller & Anna-Sara Fagerholm & Peter Carlsson & Wilhelm Skoglund & Paul van den Brink & Itai Danielski & Kristina Brink & Murat Mirata & Oskar Englund, 2022. "Towards a Resilient and Resource-Efficient Local Food System Based on Industrial Symbiosis in Härnösand: A Swedish Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-17, February.
    14. Baraldi, Anna Laura & Fosco, Giovanni, 2024. "Clearing the Air: Women in Politics and Air Pollution," MPRA Paper 121377, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Caroline Ignell & Peter Davies & Cecilia Lundholm, 2013. "Swedish Upper Secondary School Students’ Conceptions of Negative Environmental Impact and Pricing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(3), pages 1-15, March.
    16. Marek Zborowski & Anna Mikulec, 2022. "Dietary Catering: The Perfect Solution for Rational Food Management in Households," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-10, July.
    17. Daniel Baier & Theresa Maria Rausch & Timm F. Wagner, 2020. "The Drivers of Sustainable Apparel and Sportswear Consumption: A Segmented Kano Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-21, April.
    18. Aida Hosseinian & Jenni Ylä-Mella & Eva Pongrácz, 2021. "Current Status of Circular Economy Research in Finland," Resources, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-16, April.
    19. Emiko Fukase & Will Martin, 2016. "Who Will Feed China in the 21st Century? Income Growth and Food Demand and Supply in China," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(1), pages 3-23, February.
    20. Catarina Lourenço-Lopes & Maria Fraga-Corral & Cecilia Jimenez-Lopez & Antia G. Pereira & Paula Garcia-Oliveira & Maria Carpena & Miguel A. Prieto & Jesus Simal-Gandara, 2020. "Metabolites from Macroalgae and Its Applications in the Cosmetic Industry: A Circular Economy Approach," Resources, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-30, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:9:p:1550-:d:110395. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.