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Segmentation of Food Consumers Based on Their Sustainable Attitude

Author

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  • Michał Gazdecki

    (Department of Economics and Economy Policy in Agribusiness, Poznań University of Life Sciences (PULS), Wojska Polskiego Str. 28, 60-637 Poznań, Poland)

  • Elżbieta Goryńska-Goldmann

    (Department of Economics and Economy Policy in Agribusiness, Poznań University of Life Sciences (PULS), Wojska Polskiego Str. 28, 60-637 Poznań, Poland)

  • Marietta Kiss

    (Faculty of Economics and Business, Institute of Marketing and Commerce, University of Debrecen (UD), 4032 Debrecen, Hungary)

  • Zoltán Szakály

    (Faculty of Economics and Business, Institute of Marketing and Commerce, University of Debrecen (UD), 4032 Debrecen, Hungary)

Abstract

The proposed study aims to segment consumers based on a sustainable approach to the consumption of food. The shift in consumers’ attitudes towards more balanced food consumption can be one of the sustainability drivers for entire food chains and may result in more sustained energy usage in the whole food chain and implementation of farm to fork strategy to the practice. We considered consumers’ attitudes as a multidimensional construct. Under this assumption, we asked respondents a series of questions related to the cognitive, behavioral, and affective components of an attitude. Data were collected from a market survey run among 433 consumers. We identified three consumer segments. The “Doers” segment exhibits sustainable behavior to a greater extent than the others. At the same time, they have less knowledge about the concept of food sustainability while the affective dimension was developed on an average level. The “Conscious” segment had well-developed cognitive and affective dimensions (which might indicate their openness to the information about sustainability positive feelings), however, it was not reflected in their behavior. Finally, the “Reluctant” segment, did not show a sustainable attitude towards food consumption in any of the analyzed dimensions. Answering the question of how common sustainable attitudes are may help in determining the market potential and in developing product and promotion strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Michał Gazdecki & Elżbieta Goryńska-Goldmann & Marietta Kiss & Zoltán Szakály, 2021. "Segmentation of Food Consumers Based on Their Sustainable Attitude," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-28, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:11:p:3179-:d:564890
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