Understanding Green Food Consumption Behavior

Abstract

Food consumption is one of the most significant contributors to global environmental problems being responsible for a large share of greenhouse gas emissions, water scarcity, and soil pollution, among others. The demand for unsustainable food contributes to the food sector's environmental burden. Consequently, there has been a surge in research on green food consumption in the last ten years. Still, our understanding of green food purchase behavior is rather rudimentary and needs a comprehensive view. For this reason, the current study aims to understand green food purchase behavior through a literature review approach. The study explored and analyzed relevant theories and determinants in explaining green food purchase behavior. Additionally, the study also investigated the literature to identify research suggestions given by authors to improve future studies. The current review applied key term searches on the "Web of Science" database to find related literature. The search results found 69 articles published between 2015 and 2021 in peer-reviewed English-language journals. The findings include important descriptive bibliographical analysis and patterns and trends in green food consumption. Additionally, the research identified categories of determinants explaining green food purchase behavior. The review summarized the suggestions given by scholars in the literature to help future researchers for improvement.