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Sustainability
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Sustainability for Food Consumers: New Consumption Attitudes and Orientations
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Sustainability for Food Consumers: New Consumption Attitudes and Orientations

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2022) | Viewed by 4725

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Valentina Maria Merlino

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural, Forestry and Food Sciences, University of Turin, Grugliasco 10095, Italy
Interests: agricultural economics; agri-food products market evolution, demand and supply trends in terms of quality and quantity; consumer preferences evaluation and analysis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The concept of sustainability is increasingly present among the drivers of choice and purchase in the consumer decision-making process. In the food sector and, in particular, in the agro-food sector, the impacts of social, environmental, and economic sustainability on the creation of the product image and value are increasingly evident. How do these sustainability aspects affect different consumer targets? How does the consumer interpret sustainability? The aspects of sustainability and their correct promotion to the consumer, for example, have facilitated the recovery of some markets that had been experiencing critical moments for years. From market analysis, in fact, products such as red meat and cow's milk, after years of crisis in terms of consumption, are showing signs of recovery; however, consumers have returned not to buy a generalized or conventional product but to choose a local product, therefore sustainable and safe. The aim of this Special Issue is to collect original contributions that consider consumer behavior, perception, and attitude towards aspects of sustainability that affect food product choice and agro-food chain evaluation. In addition, this Special Issue also welcomes research on strategies to enhance and promote sustainable production, as well as consumer acceptability of sustainability-oriented process/product innovations. This Special Issue will also provide a platform for presenting results related to the demand composition and heterogeneity in relation to an aspect such as sustainability that in the consumer's mind takes on different meanings and interpretations depending on the kind of food product and the geographical area of origin and sociodemographic characteristics of the individual.

Dr. Valentina Maria Merlino
Guest Editor

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

  • environment
  • tradition
  • local
  • consumer targets
  • acceptability

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 905 KiB  
Article
“Local Production”: What Do Consumers Think?
by Valentina Maria Merlino, Alessandro Sciullo, Giacomo Pettenati, Francesco Sottile, Cristiana Peano and Stefano Massaglia
Sustainability 2022, 14(6), 3623; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14063623 - 19 Mar 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1996
Abstract
Since the mid-1990s, there has been a growing interest among consumers and producers in downscaling to a local level the length of the agri-food chains as a solution for fairer and more sustainable food production systems. From the point of view of consumption, [...] Read more.
Since the mid-1990s, there has been a growing interest among consumers and producers in downscaling to a local level the length of the agri-food chains as a solution for fairer and more sustainable food production systems. From the point of view of consumption, the attribute “local” is assuming an important role in defining food purchasing preferences, both in terms of expectations of product quality and in terms of its perceived relevance in determining the supply chain sustainability. This research aims to define how individuals’ perception of local production influences the definition of “local” among consumers based on a survey submitted to a sample of 500 consumers in North-Western Italy. The paper provides: (i) a semantic map built on keywords adopted by the respondents to describe local production; (ii) a categorization of food consumers divided in clusters on the basis of their eating styles; and (iii) a characterization of consumers clusters according to the preferences and knowledge expressed towards local production. The results show that consumers’ awareness and attitudes towards the concept of the “local” are influenced by the joint effect of their socio-demographic profile and their food consumption style, with some unexpected evidences that would deserve to be deepen with further research. However, given this uncertainty, three main traits seem to characterize the consumers attitude towards the “local”: a positive relation among the dimensions of environment, local development and product quality and the strength of the link between local production and the reduction of the length of the supply chain. Ultimately, territoriality is perceived as an index of higher product quality (seasonal, therefore fresh and genuine). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability for Food Consumers: New Consumption Attitudes and Orientations)
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16 pages, 5856 KiB  
Article
Guilt and the Consumption of Products with an Unhealthy Image
by Jaeho Yang and Bokyeong Kim
Sustainability 2021, 13(21), 11953; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su132111953 - 29 Oct 2021
Viewed by 2187
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of nutrition labeling on consumers’ guilt when they consumed products with an unhealthy image. The first investigation was conducted to examine direct effect according to the types of nutrition labeling (adding healthy ingredients/reducing [...] Read more.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of nutrition labeling on consumers’ guilt when they consumed products with an unhealthy image. The first investigation was conducted to examine direct effect according to the types of nutrition labeling (adding healthy ingredients/reducing unhealthy ingredients) by independent samples t-test. The findings show that consumers felt less guilty when the number of unhealthy ingredients was reduced, compared to when healthy ingredients were added. The second investigation tested the effects of goal activation types (utilitarian/hedonic) and nutrition labeling on consumers’ guilt by independent samples t-test and ANOVA. Goal activation was added as an independent variable, and hypothetical scenarios and stimulants were used. The experiment was designed with a focus on goal activation (utilitarian/hedonic) × nutrition labeling (adding healthy ingredient/reducing unhealthy ingredient). The findings reveal that the utilitarian goal activation group felt less guilty about the products with the reduction in the number of unhealthy ingredients than the products with the addition of healthy ingredients. The hedonic goal activation group felt less guilty about the products with the addition of positive nutrients compared to the products with the reduction in the number of negative nutrients. The third investigation tested consumer guilt in situations that create anxiety about food by independent samples t-test and ANOVA, based on Study 2. Unlike in Study 2, there was no interaction effect between product-nutrition labelling and goal activation. These results suggest that, when consumer anxiety increases, in relation to unhealthy foods that already invoke guilt and anxiety, the motivation—namely, goal activation when consuming food—plays a main role in causing anxiety, regardless of nutrition. Based on these experimental results, the investigator discussed the academic and practical implications of the present study. Finally, a couple of proposals were made for the direction of future study. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability for Food Consumers: New Consumption Attitudes and Orientations)
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