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UK consumer attitudes concerning environmental issues impacting the agrifood industry

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  • Keith Walley
  • Paul Custance
  • Stephen Parsons

Abstract

Consumer concern for the environment has been on the increase in recent years. This concern has created many opportunities, as well as threats, for all businesses but particularly for those involved in the agrifood industry. These concerns can and do change considerably in a short space of time so it is essential that consumer surveys are conducted on a frequent basis to monitor these changes. This paper presents the findings of one such survey based on the findings of a consumer attitude study concerning environmental issues relating to the agrifood industry. The data is subjected to a cluster analysis in order to segment the respondents and make the findings more meaningful. The paper concludes that there are four groups of consumers (the ‘angries’; the ‘not‐quite‐so‐angries’, the ‘anxious‐but‐amiables’ and the ‘Panglossians’) and that while a number of subjects constitute issues for consumers the one that unites most consumers, and which will probably have the greatest impact on the environment, is genetic modification. Consumer resistance to genetic modification is found to be high and it is suggested that as a result farmers will continue to employ traditional farming practices in the future. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Keith Walley & Paul Custance & Stephen Parsons, 2000. "UK consumer attitudes concerning environmental issues impacting the agrifood industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(6), pages 355-366, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:9:y:2000:i:6:p:355-366
    DOI: 10.1002/1099-0836(200011/12)9:63.0.CO;2-H
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Roberts, James A., 1996. "Will the real socially responsible consumer please step forward?," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 79-83.
    2. Bonifant, Benjamin C. & Arnold, Matthew B. & Long, Frederick J., 1995. "Gaining competitive advantage through environmental investments," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 37-47.
    3. Cermak, Dianne S. P. & File, Karen Maru & Prince, Russ Alan, 1994. "A benefit segmentation of the major donor market," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 121-130, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. H. Trollman & J. A. Colwill, 2020. "A Transformational Change Framework for Developing Ecologically Embedded Manufacturing," Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Springer;Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management, vol. 21(4), pages 341-368, December.
    2. Galdeano-Gómez, Emilio & Céspedes-Lorente, José, 2008. "Environmental spillover effects on firm productivity and efficiency: An analysis of agri-food business in Southeast Spain," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 131-139, August.
    3. Xiaowei Chen & Tianyu Zhang & Fu Jia, 2020. "Industry convergence as a strategy for achieving sustainable development of agricultural complex: The case of Sandun‐Lanli in China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2679-2694, September.
    4. Rituraj Singh & Gourav Dwivedi, 2025. "Agri-food Supply Chain Management: A Review Using Bibliometric, Network, and Content Analyses," SN Operations Research Forum, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 1-48, June.
    5. Klara Fischer & Camilla Eriksson, 2016. "Social Science Studies on European and African Agriculture Compared: Bringing Together Different Strands of Academic Debate on GM Crops," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-17, August.
    6. Rieple, Alison & Singh, Rajbir, 2010. "A value chain analysis of the organic cotton industry: The case of UK retailers and Indian suppliers," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(11), pages 2292-2302, September.
    7. Andreas E. Fousteris & Eleni A. Didaskalou & Markos-Marios H. Tsogas & Dimitrios A. Georgakellos, 2018. "The Environmental Strategy of Businesses as an Option under Recession in Greece," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-19, November.
    8. Paul Custance & Keith Walley & Gaynor Tate & Goksel Armagan, 2015. "Agricultural Multifunctionality and Care Farming: Insight from the UK," South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases, , vol. 4(1), pages 74-86, June.

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