How does the environmental knowledge of Turkish households affect their environmentally responsible food choices? The mediating effects of environmental concerns

Abstract

The main objective of the present study is to examine whether Turkish households’ environmental knowledge effects environmentally responsible food choices through the mediating effect of households' environmental concerns. A face-to-face survey was conducted, resulting in 450 responses from households that have recently chosen environmentally responsible foods in Erzurum, Turkey. The hypotheses were tested using the partial least squares-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) technique to detect how the mediating role of environmental concerns plays in the relationships between environmental knowledge and households’ environmentally responsible food choices. The findings confirm that environmental knowledge and environmental concerns positively and significantly enhance households' environmentally responsible food choices. It is also the first study to examine the mediational effect of environmental concerns on environmental knowledge and households’ environmentally responsible food choice relations. The findings of the study and its implications are expected to benefit the development of environmentally responsible foods in the Turkish food industry.