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Personal and Social Factors Influencing Consumers Attitudes and Behaviors toward...
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Personal and Social Factors Influencing Consumers Attitudes and Behaviors toward Sustainable Foods

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Food".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2024 | Viewed by 2847

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Yam B. Limbu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Marketing, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ 07043, USA
Interests: food and nutrition; consumer behavior
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Christopher McKinley

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Communication and Media, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ 07043, USA
Interests: food and health; health communication

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce this Special Issue in Sustainability titled: Personal and social factors influencing consumers’ attitudes and behaviors toward sustainable foods. Sustainable foods may refer to the foods that are produced, processed, packaged, transported and traded with respect for people, animals, and the environment, without compromising future generations (Verain et al. 2021). Although policies and regulatory bodies are central to access to sustainable foods, a range of individual nutrition/diet motivations may ultimately drive behaviors (e.g., Brunin et al., 2022; Hopwood and Buggy, 2022; Lema-Blanco et al., 2023). In particular, demographics, culture, socio-economic status, media, unique personal attributes, psychological influences, and social norms/influences may serve as either barriers or positive influences on sustainable food consumption. Given the diversity of motivations for sustainable food consumption, isolating the relevance of personal and social factors is critical to health promotion initiatives targeting these populations.

Drawing from these arguments, we seek investigations highlighting the distinct relationship between sustainable food attitudes/behaviors and personal and social factors. Altering perceptions and lifestyles of large populations to increase sustainable food consumption reflects one of the critical public health challenges facing the global community. Therefore, we seek innovative research that explores how these factors operate individually and in combination with other key mechanisms to change both sustainable food perceptions and actions. Our goal is to gather the most novel and comprehensive investigations that prioritize personal and social factors driving sustainable food consumption.

In this Special Issue, original research articles. systematic reviews, and meta-analyses are welcome. Research areas may include (but not limited to) the following:

  • Conceptualizations/theoretical models driving sustainable food consumption;
  • Studies examining the impact of personal/social factors on sustainable food consumption;
  • Studies exploring processes linking personal/social factors and environmental mechanisms;
  • Sustainable food literacy;
  • Persuasive sustainable food messaging targeting personal/social attributes;
  • Social norms driving attitudes/behaviors toward sustainable foods;
  • Data-analytic approaches to identify social support/norms of online communities regarding sustainable foods;
  • Barriers to adopting sustainable food consumption;
  • Factors influencing consumers’ attitudes and behavioral intentions toward organic, vegan, and plant-based foods;
  • Socioeconomic factors;
  • Psychological individual differences;
  • Cross-cultural and geographic differences;
  • Media preferences/patterns/habits driving knowledge/perceptions of sustainable foods.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

References

  1. Brunin, J.; Allès, B.; Péneau, S.; Reuzé, A.; Pointereau, P.; Touvier, M.; Hercberg, S.; Lairon, D.; Baudry, J.; Kesse-Guyot, E. Do individual sustainable food purchase motives translate into an individual shift towards a more sustainable diet? A longitudinal analysis in the NutriNet-Santé cohort. Clean. Responsible Consum. 2022, 5, 100062. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.clrc.2022.100062.
  2. Hopwood, C.J. Individual differences in eating motives and environmental attitudes. Sustain. Environ. 2022, 8, 2121206. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1080/27658511.2022.2121206.
  3. Lema-Blanco, I.; García-Mira, R.; Muñoz-Cantero, J.-M. Understanding Motivations for Individual and Collective Sustainable Food Consumption: A Case Study of the Galician Conscious and Responsible Consumption Network. Sustainability 2023, 15, 4111. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15054111.
  4. Verain, M.C.; Snoek, H.M.; Onwezen, M.C.; Reinders, M.J.; Bouwman, E.P. Sustainable food choice motives: The development and cross-country validation of the Sustainable Food Choice Questionnaire (SUS-FCQ). Food Qual. Preference 2021, 93, 104267. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.foodqual.2021.104267.

Prof. Dr. Yam B. Limbu
Dr. Christopher McKinley
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • personal factors
  • social factors
  • social norms
  • social influence
  • demographics
  • culture
  • psychological individual differences
  • media preferences
  • consumer behavior

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 926 KiB  
Article
Influencer Marketing Platforms’ Effect on Light Meal Purchase Intention and Behavior
by Zhaoyue Qin, Yiming Chen, Yue Yan and Yi Huang
Sustainability 2024, 16(11), 4369; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su16114369 - 22 May 2024
Viewed by 339
Abstract
Given the heightened awareness of health and sustainable development in contemporary society, light meals have become a popular dietary choice with considerable momentum. This study focuses on the role of influencer marketing platforms in promoting consumer purchasing intentions towards light meals. By conducting [...] Read more.
Given the heightened awareness of health and sustainable development in contemporary society, light meals have become a popular dietary choice with considerable momentum. This study focuses on the role of influencer marketing platforms in promoting consumer purchasing intentions towards light meals. By conducting a sample survey of 654 consumers in Suzhou City and employing Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) for empirical analysis, the findings indicate that the intervention of influencer marketing platforms has a significant positive impact on both the purchase intention and purchasing behavior towards light meals, and that purchase intention has a mediating effect between influencer marketing platform intervention and purchase behavior. This research further reveals that while influencers share more lifestyle displays and light meal recipes, marketing platforms should strengthen the integration of sustainable development concepts with the light meals industry to enhance product exposure and promote the spread of ideas. In addition, consumers can reinforce this trend by actively participating in social media, sharing purchasing experiences, and proactively seeking information about light meals and sustainable living, thus achieving a beneficial mutual promotion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Personal and Social Factors Influencing Consumers Attitudes and Behaviors toward Sustainable Foods)
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21 pages, 3273 KiB  
Article
Consumers’ Risk Perception of Triploid Food: Empirical Research Based on Variance Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling
by Qi Qi, Taoyang Cai, Keyu Zhou, Zhitao Hu, Fanjie Hao, Yutong Wei, Shangjie Ge-Zhang and Jingang Cui
Sustainability 2024, 16(9), 3872; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su16093872 - 5 May 2024
Viewed by 751
Abstract
With the advancement of new food processing technology, triploid technology has emerged as a viable option to enhance plant yield and improve crop stress resistance. However, like many emerging technologies, food produced using triploid technology has sparked controversy regarding its safety since its [...] Read more.
With the advancement of new food processing technology, triploid technology has emerged as a viable option to enhance plant yield and improve crop stress resistance. However, like many emerging technologies, food produced using triploid technology has sparked controversy regarding its safety since its inception. Particularly, consumers generally have a limited understanding of new technologies employed in food production, leading to concerns about potential risks and uncertainties associated with these technologies. Such concerns can significantly impact consumers’ acceptance and purchasing intentions toward foods modified using new technologies. This study collected 375 questionnaires from both online and offline sources and conducted a detailed analysis of consumers’ demographic variables, fear degree regarding triploid food, social trust, and concerns about food safety. SPSS and AMOS software were utilized for reliability and validity analysis, variance analysis, multiple comparisons, and confirmatory factor analysis. A structural equation model was developed to comprehensively examine consumers’ risk perception of triploid food and its influencing factors. The results indicate that consumers’ risk perception of triploid food is influenced by various factors. Notably, significant differences were found in consumers’ risk perception of triploid food based on age, educational background, residency, and employment status. Additionally, this study identified a negative correlation between consumers’ risk perception of triploid food and their levels of fear and social trust. Conversely, a positive correlation was observed between risk perception and the degree of attention given to food safety. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Personal and Social Factors Influencing Consumers Attitudes and Behaviors toward Sustainable Foods)
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16 pages, 619 KiB  
Article
Examining How and When Knowledge and Motivation Contribute to Organic Food Purchase Intention among Individuals with Chronic Diseases: Testing a Moderated Mediation Model
by Yam B. Limbu, Christopher McKinley, P. Ganesan, Tianfu Wang and Junzhou Zhang
Sustainability 2023, 15(19), 14584; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su151914584 - 8 Oct 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1093
Abstract
Prior research underscores a need for applying theoretical frameworks to understand the factors influencing diverse populations’ organic food purchase intentions. The objectives of this study are threefold. First, we evaluate the applicability of the information–motivation–behavioral skills model for predicting organic food purchase intention [...] Read more.
Prior research underscores a need for applying theoretical frameworks to understand the factors influencing diverse populations’ organic food purchase intentions. The objectives of this study are threefold. First, we evaluate the applicability of the information–motivation–behavioral skills model for predicting organic food purchase intention in adults with chronic conditions. Second, we examine the indirect effects of organic food knowledge, attitudes toward organic food purchase, and subjective norms on purchase intention through self-efficacy. Third, we examine whether these indirect effects are moderated by gender and educational attainment. Data were collected from Indian adults with chronic conditions using a self-administered questionnaire. The results show significant indirect effects of organic food knowledge, attitude toward organic food purchase, and subjective norms on organic food purchase intention through self-efficacy. Moreover, the mediating effect of knowledge was moderated by gender and educational attainment, with the effect being stronger for females and among individuals with a lower level of education. Organic food marketers, social marketers, and public health agencies promoting organic food consumption to people with chronic conditions should aim to increase their confidence in comprehending organic food. This study contributes to the literature by assessing the applicability of the information–motivation–behavioral skills model in understanding behavioral intentions toward organic food. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Personal and Social Factors Influencing Consumers Attitudes and Behaviors toward Sustainable Foods)
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