Ethical Consumption and the Shift towards Sustainable Behaviour: A Comparative Approach between Pre and During Pandemic Consumers

Ensuring sustainable consumption is one of the goals of Agenda 2030. It is widely recognized that food is one of the consumption domains responsible for the largest impact of social, economic and environmental sustainability. The current food system is not sufficient to sustain rates in a sustainable manner, and thus is necessary to find sustainable alternative sources or strategies to actively promote and maintain ethical behaviour. In this context, consumers could serve as key agents for sustainable development, especially since changes in their eating styles and food consumption practices could have an important impact. Moreover, Covid-19 started a true sustainable consumption transition, forcing consumers to change their typical behaviours in response to the pandemic and government restrictions. Although sustainable food consumption is a priority in both theory and practice, the gap in the research is still quite large. Our study is general aimed at investigating the consumption behaviour of Italian consumers comparing the first and second phase of the pandemic in relation to the purchase of sustainable products in the food sector. In two different samples of Italian consumers, the role of consumer ethical beliefs, environmental consciousness and perceived consumer effectiveness is analysed on consumer ethical behaviour and attitudes towards business. It was also examined how Brand Commitment and Brand Trust acted as mediators in the abovementioned model. Results revealed that the abovementioned predicters had a positive impact on the outcomes and that Brand Commitment and Brand Trust had full and partial mediation, respectively. Furthermore, about the difference between the Covid-19 phases, the second group showed a greater attention and choice towards sustainable brands. Our results are relevant for developing effective communication strategies to promote sustainability in food consumption and/or maintain the sustainable behaviour already implemented.