What drives the acceptability of a sustainable food production technology? Modeling psychological factors

Abstract

Innovative and resource-efficient food production technologies are essential to meet the food security and ecological challenges of the future. Understanding the psychological factors that determine the acceptability of ecologically more sustainable systems is crucial for the development of theoretically and empirically derived measures to minimize the risk of the public's rejection of such food production methods. Therefore, a questionnaire study was conducted using the multitrophic interconnected food production system CUBES Circle as object of investigation. CUBES Circle is a research project investigating an innovative farming technique that combines hydro- and aquaculture with insect farming in a controlled environment. A structural model was proposed based on the Technology Acceptance Framework and evaluated using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Data collection was carried out in two waves: The first was used for scale development (N = 305) and the second for SEM (N = 485). Due to an unsatisfactory model fit of the initial model, it was adjusted based on theory- and data-driven considerations. The resulting model had a good model fit in both independent samples. The most important determinants of acceptance intentions were the perceived problem-solving efficacy of the technology (outcome efficacy), believed social pressure from relevant people (subjective norm), positive affect towards the technology and the trust in the stakeholders. This implies, for example, that stakeholders and policy makers aiming to increase acceptance are advised to focus on conveying the concrete way of how the technology is more sustainable instead of merely drawing attention to the problems associated with current food production methods.