Beef versus tofu: Consumer perception of food sustainability

Abstract

Food production and consumption have major impacts on the environment, society, and human health. Consumers could help to mitigate negative effects by adopting more sustainable diets. To this end, they need to accurately choose sustainable food products during purchase. It is often suggested that consumers lack the necessary knowledge to choose sustainable food products, and if they were better informed, sustainable food choices could be increased. However, most consumers spend very little time examining product-related information in the store, and their choices are mainly driven by easy heuristics. Therefore, more knowledge about consumers’ ability to assess the sustainability of food is needed. The present thesis aimed to identify the main indicators laypeople use to assess sustainability of different food products and related misconceptions. An additional goal was to test the effectiveness of different information strategies in enabling consumers to choose sustainable food products. To this end, three studies were conducted. In the first study, consumers’ perception of environmental friendliness and healthiness of animal- and plant-based protein-rich foods was examined. Relevant indicators of perceived environmental friendliness and healthiness were identified. The results showed a strong correlation between perceived healthiness and perceived environmental friendliness. Nevertheless, these perceptions were not in line with objective measures and revealed a number of misconceptions. The environmental impact of meats especially seemed to be underestimated by respondents. The second study addressed consumers’ perception of environmental and social sustainability of plant-based foods. Environmental and social sustainability seemed to be correlated in consumers’ minds. Respondents mainly based their sustainability assessment on the country of production, the presence of an organic seal and a fair-trade label. They appeared to be aware of seasonality; however, consumers underestimated the related environmental impact. The third study was dedicated to the influence of a virtual eco-label and guidelines on consumers’ environmental sustainability judgment. Respondents’ accuracy appeared to be only marginally influenced by the eco-label and the guidelines. Yet, guidelines led to choices with a lower overall environmental impact than the eco-label. A higher resistance against the use of the eco-label and guidelines was identified when choosing among protein products compared to vegetables and fruits. The present thesis shows that consumers use a few simple criteria to assess sustainability, which lead to reasonably sustainable food choices. However, there are a number of misconceptions, which should be addressed. Particularly, the awareness regarding meat’s environmental impact should be raised. Furthermore, information related to production and transportation should be improved, to enable consumers to include them in their purchase decision. Guidelines for sustainable food choices led to a more environmentally friendly product choice than the eco-label. Thus, the introduction of such guidelines should be considered in the current discussion regarding consumer information. Further research is necessary to identify the most effective information strategies and communication channels.