Investigating the gap between citizens' sustainability attitudes and food purchasing behaviour: empirical evidence from Brazilian pork consumers

Consumers worldwide are increasingly concerned with sustainable production and consumption. Recently, a comprehensive study ranked 17 countries in regard to their environmentally friendly behaviour among consumers. Brazil was one of the top countries in the list. Yet, several studies highlight significant differences between consumers' intentions to consume ethically, and their actual purchase behaviour: the so‐called ‘Attitude‐Behaviour Gap’. In developing countries, few studies have been conducted on this issue. The objective of this study is therefore to investigate the gap between citizens' sustainability‐related attitudes and food purchasing behaviour using empirical data from Brazil. To this end, Brazilian citizens' attitudes towards pig production systems were mapped through conjoint analysis and their coexistence with relevant pork product‐related purchasing behaviour of consumers was investigated through cluster analysis. The conjoint experiment was carried out with empirical data collected from 475 respondents surveyed in the South and Center‐West regions of Brazil. The results of the conjoint analysis were used for a subsequent cluster analysis in order to identify clusters of Brazilian citizens with diversified attitudes towards pig production systems, using socio‐demographics, attitudes towards sustainability‐related themes that are expected to influence the way they evaluate pig production systems, and consumption frequency of various pork products as clusters' background information. Three clusters were identified as ‘indifferent’, ‘environmental conscious’ and ‘sustainability‐oriented’ citizens. Although attitudes towards environment and nature had indeed an influence on citizens' specific attitudes towards pig farming at the cluster level, the relationship between ‘citizenship’ and consumption behaviour was found to be weak. This finding is similar to previous research conducted with European consumers: what people (in their role of citizens) think about pig production systems does not appear to significantly influence their pork consumption choices. Improvements in the integrated management of this chain would better meet consumers' sustainability‐related expectations towards pig production systems.     

Retail ‘Quality Assurance’ Labels as a Strategic Marketing Communication Mechanism for Fresh Meat

Approximately 40 quality assurance labels are in operation throughout the UK, namely for meat, salmon, milk, cereals, eggs, fruit and vegetables. Fresh meat quality labels are the most prevalent, thus requiring consumers to recognize and learn not only about the many nationally organized quality labels, but also the in-house retail labels. This paper identifies the meat purchasing behaviour of consumers and their perceptions, attitudes and knowledge towards the main quality assurance labels. Results indicate consumers' purchase preferences to be more influenced by quality labels co-ordinated by producer-led organizations, and that recognition and knowledge of retail labels are low in comparison. This raises questions regarding the relevance and communication strategies of in-house retail ‘quality assurances’ to consumers.     

‘Blame it on marketing’: consumers' views on unsustainable consumption

This paper addresses consumers' attitudes towards consumption, the extent to which excessive consumption is perceived as an environmental problem and what consumers perceive as their personal responsibility vs. that of marketing for this consumption. Findings from a focus group and a survey administered to lecturers of a university in Portugal are reported. A critical reflection upon the findings reveals that participants view consumption as excessive and mostly due to marketing, but do not associate high levels of consumption with environmental damage. The consumers surveyed did not accept personal responsibility for excessive consumption, and many of them do not perceive their actions to have a significant impact on the environment. The high educational level of our sample makes these findings of particular concern. This paper feeds the debate on sustainable marketing and expresses the need to address consumers', as well as marketing's, place in sustainability. Implications of this study are drawn and directions for future research are suggested.     

Energy efficient household appliances in emerging markets: the influence of consumers' values and knowledge on their attitudes and purchase behaviour

This research integrates both motivational and cognitive approaches to better understand consumers' purchase behaviour of energy efficient household appliances in emerging markets. A unique values, knowledge, attitudes and behaviour model was developed, and then validated by obtaining data from Vietnamese consumers which yielded 682 usable responses. The findings confirm that consumers with stronger adherence to egoistic values are more likely to develop negative attitudes towards environmental protection, and they tend to formulate positive attitudes towards individual inconvenience associated with the purchase of energy efficient appliances. In contrast, biospheric and altruistic values facilitate consumers' purchase behaviour by enhancing their attitudes towards environmental protection, and by also reducing their attitudes in relation to individual inconvenience. Interestingly, consumers with high knowledge about energy efficient appliances tend to believe that the purchase of such products is important for environmental protection, and they are likely to negate the perception of inconvenience associated with the purchase. Attitudes were found to be significant determinants of both purchase intention and behaviour. The implications for policymakers, marketers and other stakeholders are discussed and future research directions presented.     

Sustainability seen from the perspective of consumers

An important step in promoting sustainable consumption is to find out how consumers understand the concept of sustainability. In this paper, we report on a study among Norwegian consumers in which we explored their understanding of sustainability at two levels. First, we investigated consumers' understanding of the general sustainability concept; specifically, we studied how important the following five sustainability dimensions are in consumers' conception of sustainability: the environmental, social, economic, temporal and the developmental dimension. Second, we investigated how consumers' understanding of sustainability manifests itself in consumption decisions: We studied consumers' opinions about how important various attributes are for sustainable products and which product labels they consider indicative of sustainable products. We found that all five sustainability dimensions occurred as elements of consumers' understanding of the sustainability concept. The environmental dimension, the social dimension and the developmental dimension were particularly outstanding. With regard to attributes that are important for sustainable products, consumers placed high emphasis on recyclability of the packaging, fair payment of producers, low energy use and low carbon dioxide emissions during production and shipping. Humane animal treatment was also considered an important attribute of sustainable products. The product labels that were considered most indicative of sustainable products were the Nordic Swan and the Norwegian Debio label. Consumers' judgments of how indicative the labels are of sustainable products were related positively to familiarity with the labels.     

(Mis)trust in marketing: a reflection on consumers' attitudes and perceptions

Consumers are at the focal point of marketers' attention. However, while extensive research is devoted to understanding consumers' motivations, attitudes and behaviour, surprisingly little attention is given to the consumers' views of marketing itself. This paper explores consumers' attitudes towards marketing and their perceptions of it, reflecting critically upon their views. Since much criticism of marketing focuses on its role in promoting consumption, we also consider perceptions of current levels of consumption and the extent to which marketing is held responsible for them. Based on 29 in-depth interviews we find evidence suggesting the prevalence of negative attitudes towards marketing, especially associated with deceptive or dishonest campaigns, although marketing's informative role is acknowledged. Importantly, findings reveal a limited understanding of the discipline, suggesting a gap between the concept of marketing and consumers' perceptions of it. This paper sends marketers important messages from consumers and offers grounds for further debate.     

Effects of in-store live stream on consumers’ offline purchase intention

Live stream marketing through social media has attracted the attention of digital retailing marketers in recent years. However, there is a lack of evidence in understanding the influence of in-store live stream on offline purchase intentions. This study aimed to investigate the influence patterns of environmental stimuli on consumers' intention to purchase offline/in-store after watching an in-store live stream session. The Stimuli-Organism-Response (SOR) model was employed as the theoretical framework, and a structured questionnaire was used to collect data from individuals who had previous experience with in-store live stream marketing. Structural equation modelling was then applied for data analysis, with a total of 234 valid responses. The findings revealed that environmental stimuli have a significant positive effect on consumers' intentions to make in-store purchases, and the attitudes towards influencers and products substantially mediate the relationship between stimuli and purchase intention. More specifically, consumer attitude towards products has a pronounced effect on whether they will make an in-store purchase. The novelty of this research lies in its investigation of the impact that live stream marketing has on offline or in-store shopping experiences. This contrasts with the majority of existing live stream studies, which focus on consumers’ online shopping experiences. In addition, this study broadens the scope of the application of the SOR model to contribute to the growing body of literature on live stream marketing.     

Research on the influencing factors of consumers’ green purchase behavior in the post-pandemic era

The severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world has caused consumers to think about environmental issues. Although green products are very important to environmental sustainability, the factors that influence consumers' purchase behavior of green products is unclear. This study aims to explore the impact mechanism of social media marketing on consumers' green product purchase behavior in the post-pandemic era. Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study constructs an extended TPB model to understand the influencing factors of Chinese consumers' green product purchase behavior in the post-pandemic era. The empirical results of 489 questionnaires show that social media marketing, product knowledge and crisis awareness have a direct or indirect positive influence on purchase intentions. Perceived behavioral control and intentions have positive effects on behavior. The attribution of responsibility facilitates the relationship between intentions and behaviors. The results have important implications for enterprises’ sustainability strategies and provide a framework for investigating green buying behaviors in Chinese culture in the post-pandemic era.     

Consumers' perceptions of individual and combined sustainable food labels: a UK pilot investigation

Consumers are faced with an increasing number of sustainable food labels. These different labels may be complementary or add to the increasing competition of product information in consumers' minds. We investigate: (1) the perceptions that consumers in the UK have about sustainable labels vs. other labels, such as origin or nutrition labels; and (2) consumers' reactions to combinations of different sustainable labels. Overall, the findings from two focus groups conducted in the UK indicate that consumers have positive perceptions of organic and fair trade labels but tend to be sceptical about unfamiliar labels and general claims such as ‘climate friendly’. The results also indicate the importance of familiarity, trust and fit between combinations of labels as well as between associating a label with a brand. While the combination of certain labels can enhance the value of a food product, this study also indicates that other label combinations (e.g. private and sustainable label) can detract from a label's value. Implications and recommendations are suggested for managers to counter the image of greenwashing, and for policy makers to facilitate sustainable food choices.     

A hierarchical analysis of the green consciousness of the Egyptian consumer

This study investigates the influence of various cultural values and psychological factors on the green purchase behavior of Egyptian consumers. Using a large sample of 1093 consumers, a conceptual model has been developed. The survey results provide reasonable support for the validity of the proposed model. Specifically, the findings from the structural equation model confirm the influence of the consumers' natural environment orientation, ecological knowledge, and environmental concern on their attitudes towards green purchase. Consumers' attitudes toward green purchase, in turn, are also found to affect their actual green purchase behavior via the mediator role of green purchase intention. However, one of the other important findings suggests that the link between intention and actual purchase is weak. In other words, on a declarative level, more and more consumers in Egypt express their concern over the ecological situation and declare their willingness to contribute somehow to the protection of environment by buying green products. However, in reality this concern may not be manifested consistently. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Consumers' perception of and attitudes towards organic food in Galicia (Northern Spain)

Although the organic sector is still relatively small, the demand for organic food is increasing throughout the world. The characterization of consumers' perception of and attitudes towards organic food is important to enable the development of marketing policies aimed at attracting conventional consumers to the sector. Consumers' behaviour studies must be conducted specifically for different regions and countries as perceptions and attitudes vary across the world. In the present study, a questionnaire was designed for administration to consumers in Galicia (Northern Spain). The questionnaire was administered to 830 consumers in 200 establishments to obtain data about the consumers' perception of and attitudes towards organic food. The survey results showed that one‐third of responders consume organic food and that the typical profile of a consumer of organic food is a middle‐aged, medium‐high class, university‐educated female living in a large village, who shops in supermarkets and preferably consume vegetables, fruits and eggs. Most people who declared that they consume organic products confuse these with home and locally produced food, indicating the potential for growth of the organic sector by providing such consumers with appropriate information. Most consumers (including conventional consumers) have a good opinion of organic food and consider that it is better for health, is of better quality than conventional food and avoid pesticide residues. However, price continues to be a barrier to the consumption of organic produce. Most respondents stated that they would consume more organic food if the price was only between 10% and 30% higher than the conventional equivalent. Finally, organic consumers in Galicia showed positive attitudes towards using local breeds in organic agriculture, both for producing food and for ecotourism and educational activities. Such activities could contribute to conserving breed biodiversity and adding value to organic farming.     

Identifying the critical factors of customer behavior: An integration perspective of marketing strategy and components of attitudes

The purpose of this empirical study is to operationalize the relationship of green marketing's influence on consumer attitudes via the mediating role of marketing mix towards green products to validate the proposed research model in the Taiwanese context of explaining consumers' willingness to be environmentally friendly. The model is based on structural equation modeling (SEM) from data collected from 977 online consumers. The findings revealed that green consumption intention was significantly and indirectly driven by attitude to green products. Additionally, the effect of perceived quality on marketing mix and consumer willingness in environmental concern is both significant and positive. However, when a restaurant has high consumer social responsibility (CnSR) for marketing mix, the consumer attitudes of cognitive, affective, and behavioral model (C-A-B model) is less effective. These findings have contributed to the revival of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and offer a comprehensive understanding of consumer attitude, consumer social responsibility, marketing mix and perceived quality impact that a restaurant has on the ability to raise consumer willingness to purchase green products or food. We provides valuable suggestions to marketers to design from the perspective of green marketing policies and strategies in order to accommodate Taiwan's indigenous green restaurants.     

Eating out,nutrition, education and the consumer: a case study from Alabama

Increasingly, there is agreement that the hospitality industry, particularly the restaurant sector, can significantly impact people's eating behaviour. This impact includes the nutritional intake of meals many restaurants sell that may lead to problems such as the growing obesity epidemic. This preliminary study investigates consumers' attitudes towards their eating out experience as it relates to their reasons for eating out and the importance that nutrition may place in their experience when eating out. Findings suggest differences in consumer attitudes towards these issues based on their gender, educational achievement level and type of restaurant they frequent. Nutritional awareness and education strategies do not appear to be reaching groups that are more exposed and/or more prone to unhealthier food consumption. Overall, consumers do not seem interested in education or involvement in healthier consumption.     

The impact of different types of concernment on the consumption of organic food

Previous research has mainly focused on consumers' environmental values and attitudes to explain green consumption. However, it has been neglected how situational factors like the way a consumer is affected by the impacts of environmental pollution influence environmental attitudes and the demand for organic food products. To fill this void, we firstly introduce a taxonomy of different types of factual concernment and perceived concern. Factual concernment describes the manner in which a person is affected by the negative consequences of environmental pollution, whereas perceived concern expresses an anxious sense of interest. Building on that taxonomy, an experimental study analyses how four types of factual concernment (direct vs. indirect; material vs. immaterial) influence consumers' perceived concerns (in terms of environmental and health concern) as well as the readiness to gather information, the readiness to make sacrifices, the willingness to pay higher prices and purchase intentions. The study reveals that particularly direct concernment fosters the consumption of organic food. However, the study did not find any differences between the influences of material and immaterial concernment on the organic food purchase decision.     

Understanding consumers' perspectives on food labelling in India

This study aims at identifying the factors influencing consumers' perception on food labelling and its impact on food purchase decision making, through personal interviews of 631 respondents using a structured questionnaire. To analyse the consumers' perceptions on food labelling, factor analysis has been carried out to identify the underlying dimensions among a set of food labelling attributes using the principal component analysis. Based on factor analysis, four sets of components/factors have emerged, that is, (i) serving method; (ii) quality and nutrition; (iii) production and storage; and (iv) product identification, which explain 66.271% of the variance. Logit regression analysis indicates that among the socio‐demographic indicators, the estimated coefficients for gender, education, income and location of residence are statistically significant. Similarly, information on quality and nutrition, production and storage processes, and basic information of the product is found to be significant, implying that these factors are more likely to influence the use of food labels in making informed purchase decisions by the consumers. The findings of the study give practical insights on food labelling issues for the food processors and policy makers.     

Market-Oriented New Product Design of Functional Orange Juice Beverages: A Qualitative Approach

Abstract

The functional beverages category is considered one of the most significant drivers of new product development (NPD) in recent years. Fifteen in-depth interviews and three focus groups were held between February and March 2003 to identify the most important attributes influencing consumers' purchase decisions for orange juice, and to explore consumers' attitudes towards existing and new functional orange juice beverages. The results suggested that functional food and beverage manufacturers should place a greater emphasis on the base product when evaluating new product concepts. This study highlighted the key role of qualitative research in facilitating the integration of consumers with the concept stage of the NPD process.     

Do environmental attitudes and food technology neophobia affect perceptions of the benefits of nanotechnology?

In recent years, a significant amount of research has focussed on the analysis of consumers' aversion to new technologies in food production and processing. At the same time, research has shown that environmental attitudes may be related to purchasing behaviour of consumers. This paper presents the result of an investigation into Canadian attitudes towards nanotechnology, in general, and in applications in the food industry. The relationship between the food technology neophobia scale, environmental attitudes and nanotechnology is examined. The results suggest that food technology neophobia is significant in explaining attitudes towards nanotechnology, in general, and for food packaging and foods. Environmental attitudes are important in explaining respondents' attitudes towards nanotechnology in general but not in explaining attitudes towards nanotechnology in food packaging or food applications. Survey respondents' views of the role of science and technology in society (makes society worse or better off) are a more important determinant of attitudes towards nanotechnology than whether they had heard of nanotechnology prior to the survey.     

Understanding consumption behaviours for fair trade non‐food products: focusing on self‐transcendence and openness to change values

Using the Schwartz value system, this study explored the personal values of consumers related to fair trade product consumption. This study further investigated how the values determine beliefs, attitudes and purchase intentions associated with fair trade non‐food products. Data were collected using an online survey from a random sample of 1824 nationwide consumers. The results of this study revealed that fair trade purchasers show a higher level of self‐transcendence (universalism, benevolence) and openness to change values (self‐direction, stimulation) than non‐purchasers. These values also have positive effects on the formation of beliefs, attitudes and purchase intentions pertaining to fair trade non‐food products. Fair trade purchasers were also found to possess distinctive socio‐demographic characteristics concerning age, education and income. Findings can offer marketers specific information regarding consumers' motivations to purchase fair trade goods, which can improve targeting of products and ultimately increase the business and benefits of fair trade.     

Struggles in optimal labelling: how different consumers react to various labels for genetically modified foods

The labelling of genetically modified (GM) foods is an important policy issue, as consumers' attitudes towards these foods appear to be quite sensitive to information about their potential benefits and risks. Because it is difficult for labels to differ across consumers, differences in reactions to label information could lead to conflicts across consumer groups or to different market outcomes. Using factor and cluster analysis, we uncover three consumer segments with different attitudes to the risks and benefits of GM foods. Our segmentation‐based analysis on consumer reactions to information points out important differences across consumers. Not only did we find differences across segments in how they view the credibility of GM‐related information, we also find differences in how information influences segments' perceptions of the product, and in their likelihood to buy.