U.S. Sustainable Food Market Generation Z Consumer Segments

Abstract

This study explores the interaction between environmental consciousness and sustainable food attributes as predictors in the market segmentation process for sustainable foods with respect to United States (U.S.) Generation Z (Gen Z) consumers. This study was executed using a cross-national, web-based survey to analyze and categorize Gen Z female (n = 435) and male (n = 377) consumers between 18 and 23 years of age living in the continental United States. The objectives of this study were to classify U.S. Gen Z consumers into unique segments based on their environmental consciousness and to assess the functional relationships among the following: (a) their degree of ecological awareness; (b) the importance of the perception of sustainable food attributes; (c) their food choices associated with healthy eating habits; and (d) sociodemographics. Survey data were analyzed using cluster analysis of consumer groups based on environmental consciousness. Environmental consciousness was measured using a composite score of the environmental involvement scale and the environmental values scale. Gen Z consumers with high environmental consciousness (sustainable activists) and moderate ecological awareness (sustainable believers) considered more eco-friendly and healthy product attributes when purchasing sustainable food, whereas Gen Z consumers with low environmental consciousness (sustainable moderates) considered more extrinsic product attributes (e.g., price and convenience). Furthermore, the results indicate that food choices associated with healthy eating habits could be used to develop a profile for different eco-conscious Gen Z consumer groups. The contributions of this study are twofold. First, for academic researchers, this paper extends marketing segmentation research concerning environmentally sensitive young consumers. Second, for industry professionals, this study provides food retailers or food service operators with sustainable consumer values that will aid in the development of effective, green marketing strategies to better attract and meet the sustainability expectations of Gen Z—the consumer segment with the most spending power of any generation.

Generational Differences toward Organic Food Behavior: Insights from Five Generational Cohorts

“…Su et al [114] Z Segmentation based on environmental consciousness and sustainable food attributes USA, N = 812 High, moderate, and low environmentally conscious groups were found. The first two groups considered health and environmental elements when purchasing sustainable food, and the third group considered elements such as price and convenience…”

“…Studies that have focused on or include generational cohorts and SFC, and/or organic food products in general or specifically, are limited (to our knowledge), and they emphasize on one generation, with a particular tendency to Gen Y/Millennials [11,34,57,[102][103][104][105][106][107][108][109][110][111][112][113][114]. Table 1 presents the studies that-to the author's knowledge-focus on SFC or OFB combined with generational cohorts.…”

Implications of Value Co-Creation in Green Hotels: The Moderating Effect of Trip Purpose and Generational Cohort

“…In the green context, several studies have examined the moderating role of age but have produced inconsistent findings: While some studies suggest that green consumers tend to be older-aged who are more ecologically conscious and have a greater tendency to purchase green products/services [40][41][42][43], others indicated that younger consumers tend to be more concerned about the environment and are known to actively adopt green products based on their intrinsic proenvironmental values [44,45]. In the green hotels context, authors in [41,42] have found that older tourists have stronger intentions to adopt proenvironmental behaviors, as well as to pay more for visiting the hotel.…”

“…Moreover, another moderating variable is consumers' age, which is considered as a strong criterion to explain differences in environmental context [40]. Several studies in the green tourism context have examined the moderating role of age but have produced different findings: While some studies suggested that older tourists have stronger intentions to adopt proenvironmental behaviors [40][41][42][43], others indicated that younger tourists tend to be more concerned about the environment [44,45]. Thus, we aim to analyze the moderating role of the guests' age in the causal relationships between the aforementioned constructs in four generational cohorts (Gen Z, Gen Y, Gen X, and Baby Boomers).…”

Entrepreneurship, Professionalism and Leadership Intention of Generation Z

“…Each of these generations is unique, liking and disliking, preferences, and work orientations (Betz, 2019). Su, Tsai, Chen, and Lv (2019) stated that the Gen Z population constituted 32% of the 7.7 billion global population in 2019. WHO (2017) report stated that the elderly population is increasing worldwide both in developed and developing countries. By 2050, the proportion of the elderly population globally is expected to increase to 22% (an estimated two billion older people) (Geyer & Louw, 2020).…”