“Young and Green” a Study of Consumers’ Perceptions and Reported Purchasing Behaviour towards Organic Food in Poland and the United Kingdom

Aleksandra Kowalska,Louise Manning,Monika Ratajczyk,Radosław Mącik,Milena Bieniek

doi:10.3390/su132313022

Aleksandra Kowalska, Louise Manning + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313022

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Abstract

Globally, the organic food market is the most successful green market. Young consumers, the decision-makers of the future, are perceived as being more environmentally concerned than older cohorts. The aim of this study was to consider young consumers’ attitudes and behaviours concerning organic food, where the organic food market in the UK is more mature than in Poland. Empirical research was conducted using a web-based survey questionnaire (CAWI) with consumers (n = 973) in both countries. The associations between four constructs (general pro-social attitudes, green consumption values, receptivity to green communication, and buying behaviour) were considered using CB-SEM. We extended the model with two new constructs to explain young consumers’ purchases of organic food. UK respondents are significantly more conscious green consumers with higher environmental attitude intensity than Polish residents. Intensity of pro-environmental attitude components influences directly and indirectly the choice of organic food. People with a higher intensity of pro-environmental attitudes are significantly more likely to choose organic food. Perception of organic food influences purchases only in Poland. The components of pro-environmental attitudes and perception of organic food alone do not explain the variability in behaviour, despite a good fit of the model. This suggests that other independent variables may be of influence.

Highlights

In the Anthropocene, a geological epoch, the resource-intensive lifestyle of consumers, consumption-related choices, and behaviour have been recognised as key drivers of environmental degradation and unsustainable development [1–4]
Using a questionnaire on-line survey, this study examined links between constructs to first test the model of do Paço et al [32] for young consumers from the UK and Poland in order to evaluate its applicability in different generational cohorts and countries
The PCA results were confirmed by the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)

Summary

Introduction

In the Anthropocene, a geological epoch, the resource-intensive lifestyle of consumers, consumption-related choices, and behaviour have been recognised as key drivers of environmental degradation and unsustainable development [1–4]. Unsustainable development practices have resulted in global environmental changes, including poorly planned urbanisation, climate change, deforestation, changes in hydrological systems, land degradation, ecosystem impairment, and loss of biodiversity [5–9]. These changes have had a tremendous impact on ecosystem health and the physical and mental health of global society, affecting the well-being of people [10] and their economies. Food systems, considered as all elements and activities that relate to production, processing, distribution, preparation, and consumption of food, support human health and environmental sustainability [13,14]. They create the largest, human-related pressure on Earth [14].

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