IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/rug/rugwps/04-268.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Sustainable Food Consumption: Exploring The Consumer Attitude – Behaviour Gap

Author

Listed:
  • I. VERMEIR
  • W. VERBEKE

Abstract

Although public interest in sustainability increases and consumer attitudes are mainly positive, behavioural patterns are not univocally consistent with attitudes. The presumed gap between favourable attitude towards sustainable behaviour and behavioural intention to purchase sustainable food products is investigated in this study. The impact of involvement, perceived availability, certainty, perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE), values, and social norms on consumers’ attitudes and intentions towards sustainable food products is analysed. The empirical research builds on a survey with a sample of 456 young consumers, using questionnaire and an experimental design with manipulation of key constructs through showing advertisements for sustainable dairy. Involvement with sustainability, certainty, and PCE have a significant positive impact on attitude towards buying sustainable dairy products, which in turn correlates strongly with intention to buy. Low perceived availability of sustainable products explains why intentions to buy remain low, although attitudes might be positive. On the reverse, experiencing social pressure from peers (social norm) explains intentions to buy, despite rather negative personal attitudes. This study shows that more sustainable and ethical food consumption can be stimulated through raising involvement, PCE, certainty, social norms and perceived availability.

Suggested Citation

  • I. Vermeir & W. Verbeke, 2004. "Sustainable Food Consumption: Exploring The Consumer Attitude – Behaviour Gap," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 04/268, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    • Handle: RePEc:rug:rugwps:04/268
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://wps-feb.ugent.be/Papers/wp_04_268.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gary D. Thompson & Julia Kidwell, 1998. "Explaining the Choice of Organic Produce: Cosmetic Defects, Prices, and Consumer Preferences," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 80(2), pages 277-287.
    2. P. De Pelsmacker & L. Driesen & G. Rayp, 2003. "Are fair trade labels good business ? Ethics and coffee buying intentions," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 03/165, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    3. I. Vermeir & W. Verbeke, 2005. "Sustainable food consumption, involvement, certainty and values: an application of the theory of Planned Behaviour," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 05/352, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    4. Grunert, Suzanne C. & Juhl, Hans Jorn, 1995. "Values, environmental attitudes, and buying of organic foods," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 39-62, March.
    5. E. DuPuis, 2000. "Not in my body: BGH and the rise of organic milk," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 17(3), pages 285-295, September.
    6. Maignan, Isabelle & Ferrell, O. C., 2001. "Antecedents and benefits of corporate citizenship: an investigation of French businesses," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 37-51, January.
    7. Diamantopoulos, Adamantios & Schlegelmilch, Bodo B. & Sinkovics, Rudolf R. & Bohlen, Greg M., 2003. "Can socio-demographics still play a role in profiling green consumers? A review of the evidence and an empirical investigation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 56(6), pages 465-480, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Vermeir, Iris & Verbeke, Wim, 2008. "Sustainable food consumption among young adults in Belgium: Theory of planned behaviour and the role of confidence and values," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 542-553, January.
    2. Galbreath, Jeremy, 2017. "Drivers Of Environmental Sustainability In Wine Firms: The Role And Effect Of Women In Leadership," Working Papers 253851, American Association of Wine Economists.
    3. Kuhar, Ales & Juvancic, L., 2012. "Determinants of purchasing behaviour for organic and integrated fruits and vegetables in Slovenia," Agricultural Economics Review, Greek Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 11(2), pages 1-14.
    4. Starr, Martha A., 2009. "The social economics of ethical consumption: Theoretical considerations and empirical evidence," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 916-925, December.
    5. Gil, Jose Maria & Gracia, Azucena & Sanchez Garcia, Mercedes, 2000. "Market Segmentation And Willingness To Pay For Organic Products In Spain," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 3(2), pages 1-20.
    6. Chad M. Baum, 2013. "The Missing Link between Research and Reality: the significance of the relationship between retail format and organic food consumption," Jena Economics Research Papers 2013-049, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    7. Yam B. Limbu & Christopher McKinley & P. Ganesan & Tianfu Wang & Junzhou Zhang, 2023. "Examining How and When Knowledge and Motivation Contribute to Organic Food Purchase Intention among Individuals with Chronic Diseases: Testing a Moderated Mediation Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-16, October.
    8. Nambiar, Padmanand Madhavan & Florkowski, Wojciech J. & Suh, Dong-Kyun, 2012. "Attitudes of Urban Female Consumers Toward Food Production Practices in the Republic of Korea," 2012 Annual Meeting, August 12-14, 2012, Seattle, Washington 124811, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. Entem, Alicia, 2007. "Do environmental attitudes predict organic purchasing and environmental organization involvement?," SS-AAEA Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 2007, pages 1-23.
    10. Vishal Kumar Laheri, 2017. "Impact of Demographic Variables for Purchase of Green Products," Indian Journal of Commerce and Management Studies, Educational Research Multimedia & Publications,India, vol. 8(1), pages 69-76, January.
    11. Manuela Vega-Zamora & Manuel Parras-Rosa & Francisco José Torres-Ruiz, 2020. "You Are What You Eat: The Relationship between Values and Organic Food Consumption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-13, May.
    12. 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.
    13. Islam, Towhidul & Meade, Nigel & Carson, Richard T. & Louviere, Jordan J. & Wang, Juan, 2022. "The usefulness of socio-demographic variables in predicting purchase decisions: Evidence from machine learning procedures," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 324-338.
    14. Ilaria Mancuso & Angelo Natalicchio & Umberto Panniello & Paolo Roma, 2021. "Understanding the Purchasing Behavior of Consumers in Response to Sustainable Marketing Practices: An Empirical Analysis in the Food Domain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-22, May.
    15. Smith, Samantha & Paladino, Angela, 2010. "Eating clean and green? Investigating consumer motivations towards the purchase of organic food," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 93-104.
    16. Gleim, Mark R. & Smith, Jeffery S. & Andrews, Demetra & Cronin, J. Joseph, 2013. "Against the Green: A Multi-method Examination of the Barriers to Green Consumption," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 44-61.
    17. Kuhar, Ales & Juvancic, Luka, 2010. "Determinants of purchasing behaviour for organic and integrated fruits and vegetables in Slovenia," Agricultural Economics Review, Greek Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 11(2), pages 1-14, August.
    18. Madhaven-Nambiar, Padmanand & Florkowski, Wojciech J. & Suh, Dong-Kyu, 2016. "Attitudes Of Urban Female Consumers Toward Food Production Practices In The Republic Of Korea," Journal of Central European Green Innovation, Karoly Robert University College, vol. 4(1), pages 1-13.
    19. Malin Jonell & Beatrice Crona & Kelsey Brown & Patrik Rönnbäck & Max Troell, 2016. "Eco-Labeled Seafood: Determinants for (Blue) Green Consumption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-19, September.
    20. Frenkel Ter Hofstede & Michel Wedel & Jan-Benedict E.M. Steenkamp, 2002. "Identifying Spatial Segments in International Markets," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(2), pages 160-177, July.

    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:rug:rugwps:04/268. 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: Nathalie Verhaeghe (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ferugbe.html .

    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.