Food: Not Only Safety, but Also Sustainability. The Emerging Trend of New Social Consumers

Abstract

Consumers’ purchasing choices are no longer based only on economic factors but also on ethical reasons related to environmental sustainability and food safety. However, nutritional information on food labels is underused by consumers. Often the lack or incompleteness of information available on the market obstructs the complex transition towards sustainable consumption patterns. This empirical study analysed a sample of 359 consumers from an area in Southern Italy (city of Naples) to identify homogeneous consumer clusters with respect to the assessment of the level of consumer attention to sustainable environmental, social behaviours in daily life, and also to safety attributes. The most important sources of information influencing the consumers’ choices, food safety knowledge, and future purchasing behaviour were analysed. The research sample was self-selected, and the questionnaire for the survey was administrated through a non-probability sample from a reasoned choice. The results indicate that the ideal solution is a five-cluster partition that confirms a good level of attention to intrinsic attributes, in particular food expiry, transparency of food information, food traceability, and seller confidence. In addition, the research could provide an opportunity to consider collaborative actions between policy makers and industries to increase consumer awareness of environmental attributes.

Habits, Health and Environment in the Purchase of Bakery Products: Consumption Preferences and Sustainable Inclinations before and during COVID-19

“…Today, consumers are more attentive and inclined to make purchasing decisions with greater awareness. They are more informed and prefer food that meets the requirements of food safety and environmental, social and economic sustainability without neglecting the ethical aspects related to the protection of territory, biodiversity, working conditions and, in general, the resources to be handed over to future generations [ 20 ]. The new characteristics of the demand (based on a vast range of food products that focus on quality) have been implemented by the players in the supply chain who have adapted to the new market conditions to create products that meet the new needs of consumers [ 21 , 22 , 23 ].…”

“…Many researchers have explored a number of factors that influence people’s perception of their inclination toward sustainable food and environmental and social sustainability [ 20 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ]. Some studies have attempted to combine various psychological determinants into a predictive model of behavioral intentions [ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ].…”

Land footprint and GHG emissions from global food loss

“…Consumer choices, especially regarding food products, are increasingly based on ethical considerations related to environmental sustainability and food safety. [88][89][90] As a result, best practices from the private sector, combined with better market regulation and policy making, especially focused on agriculture and nutrition, can help promote collaborative actions to increase consumer awareness of the environmental attributes of food products in general, including FLW, land use, and GHG emissions. 88,91,92…”

“…Consumer choices, especially regarding food products, are increasingly based on ethical considerations related to environmental sustainability and food safety 88‐90 . As a result, best practices from the private sector, combined with better market regulation and policy making, especially focused on agriculture and nutrition, can help promote collaborative actions to increase consumer awareness of the environmental attributes of food products in general, including FLW, land use, and GHG emissions 88,91,92 …”

Conflicting Issues of Sustainable Consumption and Food Safety: Risky Consumer Behaviors in Reducing Food Waste and Plastic Packaging

“…Food-related consumer decisions, such as choosing what to eat, where to purchase, how much to consume, and what handling and disposal practices to use, clearly have an impact on the environment [ 1 , 2 ]. Sustainable consumption has recently become a dominant issue in consumer decisions in which both personal needs and social responsibility are considered [ 3 ]. Many factors contribute to consumption patterns; convenience, habits, value for money, health concerns, health risk perception, hedonism, and individual responses to social norms all have an impact to some extent [ 4 ].…”