Flemish consumer attitudes towards more sustainable food choices

doi:10.1016/J.APPET.2012.11.003

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Flemish consumer attitudes towards more sustainable food choices

Journal Article•DOI•

Flemish consumer attitudes towards more sustainable food choices

Filiep Vanhonacker¹, Ellen J. Van Loo¹, Xavier Gellynck¹, Wim Verbeke¹•Institutions (1)

Agricultural & Applied Economics Association¹

01 Mar 2013-Appetite (Appetite)-Vol. 62, pp 7-16

TL;DR: This study investigates consumer opinions towards a series of food choices with a lower ecological impact, which range from well-known meat substitutes to alternatives which are more radical or innovative and that require an adaptation of food habits and cultural patterns.

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About: This article is published in Appetite.The article was published on 2013-03-01. It has received 327 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Food choice & Sustainability.

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Journal Article•DOI•

Consumer preference, behavior and perception about meat and meat products: an overview.

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Maria Font-i-Furnols, Luis Guerrero

01 Nov 2014-Meat Science

TL;DR: This paper focuses on features that might influence consumer behavior, preferences and their perception of meat and meat products with respect to psychological, sensory and marketing aspects.

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630 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Profiling consumers who are ready to adopt insects as a meat substitute in a Western society

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Wim Verbeke¹•Institutions (1)

Agricultural & Applied Economics Association¹

01 Jan 2015-Food Quality and Preference

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the readiness of consumers in a Western society, where traditional meat consumption prevails, to adopt insects as a substitute for meat and identified gender, age, familiarity, food neophobia, convenience and environmental food choice motives, as well as meat-related attitudes and future meat consumption intentions as significant predictors.

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522 citations

Cites background or result from "Flemish consumer attitudes towards ..."

...A first possible explanation for the difference between our study’s findings and the findings reported by Vanhonacker et al. (2013) is related to the timing of the studies....
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...The data from Vanhonacker et al. (2013) were collected almost two years before the collection of the present data and the time interval between both studies has been marked by substantial negative mass media coverage relating to animal welfare in livestock production, fraud and contamination in the…...
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...In the study of Vanhonacker et al. (2013), about 13% of participants claimed to be neutral towards the idea of consuming insects, while 5% said that they were willing or very willing to eat insects....
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...Vanhonacker et al. (2013) reported that consumers in Flanders (Belgium) demonstrated a very low willingness to consume insects and concluded that adopting insect protein was generally perceived as a rather unrealistic, unacceptable and ineffective way to improve dietary sustainability....
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...The share of one out of five people claiming to be ready to adopt insects contrasts with Vanhonacker et al. (2013) who found only five percent of a sample of consumers with similar socio-demographic characteristics and from the same study region to be definitely willing or willing to eat protein…...
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Journal Article•DOI•

Sustainable food consumption: an overview of contemporary issues and policies

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Lucia A. Reisch¹, Ulrike Eberle, Sylvia Lorek•Institutions (1)

Copenhagen Business School¹

01 Jul 2013-Sustainability : Science, Practice and Policy

TL;DR: In the face of demographic change and a gr... as mentioned in this paper argues that contemporary food production and consumption cannot be regarded as sustainable and raises problems with its wide scope involving diverse actors, and furthermore, it cannot be considered as sustainable.

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Abstract: Contemporary food production and consumption cannot be regarded as sustainable and raises problems with its wide scope involving diverse actors. Moreover, in the face of demographic change and a gr...

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480 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Consumer perception and behaviour regarding sustainable protein consumption: A systematic review

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Christina Hartmann¹, Michael Siegrist¹•Institutions (1)

ETH Zurich¹

01 Mar 2017-Trends in Food Science and Technology

TL;DR: In this paper, a systematic review identified 38 articles to answer the following three research questions: 1) are consumers aware that meat consumption has a large environmental impact? 2) Are consumers willing to reduce meat consumption or substitute meat with an alternative? 3) Are they willing to accept meat substitutes and alternative proteins, such as insects or cultured meat?

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Abstract: Background Our daily food choices have a huge impact on the environment. Production of meat has a much larger impact compared with the production of vegetable-based proteins. In order to create a food production and supply system that is more sustainable and environmentally friendly, food consumption behaviour needs to change. A reduction of meat intake is necessary. The introduction of alternative protein sources (e.g., insects or cultured meat) might be one possibility to replace meat. Scope and approach The present systematic review identified 38 articles to answer the following three research questions: 1) Are consumers aware that meat consumption has a large environmental impact? 2) Are consumers willing to reduce meat consumption or substitute meat with an alternative? 3) Are consumers willing to accept meat substitutes and alternative proteins, such as insects or cultured meat? Key findings and conclusion Consumer awareness of the environmental impact of meat production is surprisingly low. This is true for consumers in various European countries. Likewise, willingness to change meat consumption behaviour in terms of reducing or substituting meat (e.g., by eating insects or meat substitutes) is low as well. How people can be motivated to decrease their meat consumption behaviour has been underexplored. In particular, experimental studies are lacking and further investigations should focus on strategies (e.g., nudging interventions) that might help to motivate pro-environmentally friendly meat consumption behaviour. Moreover, population-based studies are scarce, and we need more in-depth studies on the factors that increase people's willingness to reduce or to substitute meat consumption.

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459 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Eating like there's no tomorrow: Public awareness of the environmental impact of food and reluctance to eat less meat as part of a sustainable diet.

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Jennie I. Macdiarmid¹, Flora Douglas¹, Jonina Campbell¹•Institutions (1)

University of Aberdeen¹

01 Jan 2016-Appetite

TL;DR: The study highlights the role meat plays in the diet for many people, beyond nutritional needs, and how cultural, social and personal values around eating meat must be integrated into the development of future dietary recommendations.

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370 citations

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References

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Open Access

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Book•

Marketing Research: An Applied Approach

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Naresh K. Malhotra¹, Daniel Nunan, David F. Birks²•Institutions (2)

Georgia Institute of Technology¹, University of Winchester²

05 Jan 2000

1,940 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Sustainable Food Consumption: Exploring the Consumer “Attitude – Behavioral Intention” Gap

[...]

Iris Vermeir¹, Wim Verbeke²•Institutions (2)

Hogeschool Gent¹, Agricultural & Applied Economics Association²

01 Apr 2006-Journal of Agricultural & Environmental Ethics

TL;DR: In this article, the impact of involvement, perceived availability, certainty, perceived consumer effectiveness, values, and social norms on consumers' attitudes and intentions towards sustainable food products is analyzed. But, behavioral patterns are not univocally consistent with attitudes.

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Abstract: Although public interest in sustainability increases and consumer attitudes are mainly positive, behavioral patterns are not univocally consistent with attitudes. This study investigates the presumed gap between favorable attitude towards sustainable behavior and behavioral intention to purchase sustainable food products. 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 analyzed. The empirical research builds on a survey with a sample of 456 young consumers, using a 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 side, 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.

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1,906 citations

"Flemish consumer attitudes towards ..." refers background in this paper

...Higher PCE associates with more sustainable behavior (Vermeir & Verbeke, 2006) and pro-animal-welfare behavior (Vanhonacker & Verbeke, 2009) and can be positively influenced through education, communication and targeted information provision (Vermeir & Verbeke, 2006)....
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Our ecological footprint

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Mathis Wackernagel, William E. Rees

01 Jan 1996

1,047 citations

"Flemish consumer attitudes towards ..." refers background in this paper

...It is expressed in terms of hectares and represents the area of the Earth’s surface necessary to sustain levels of resource consumption and waste discharge by that population or individual (Wackernagel & Rees, 1996)....
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...First the concept ‘ecological footprint’ was introduced to the participants by providing them with the definition from Wackernagel and Rees (1996)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Sustainable food consumption among young adults in Belgium: Theory of planned behaviour and the role of confidence and values

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Iris Vermeir¹, Wim Verbeke²•Institutions (2)

Hogeschool Gent¹, Agricultural & Applied Economics Association²

15 Jan 2008-Ecological Economics

TL;DR: In this paper, a study was conducted in which attitudes and behaviour as well as the role of individual characteristics like confidence and values related to sustainable products are analyzed. But the focus of the analysis is on exploring the influence of determinants as hypothesised by the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) on sustainable food consumer behavior in Belgium.

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914 citations

Additional excerpts

...…including vegetarian diets and more sustainable food consumption (e.g. de Bakker & Dagevos, 2012; Hoek, Luning, et al., 2011; Hoek, van Boekel, et al., 2011; Ruby, 2012; Ruby & Heine, 2011; Schösler, de Boer, & Boersema, 2012; Tobler, Visschers, & Siegrist, 2011; Vermeir & Verbeke, 2008)....
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Book•

Livestock's Long Shadow

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Henning Steinfeld, Pierre J. Gerber, Tom Wassenaar, V. Castel, Mauricio Rosales, C. de Haan - Show less +2 more

01 Jan 2006

888 citations