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Consumer segmentation based on three dimensions of sustainable food consumption: a simultaneous analysis of meat, organic food, and sweet snack purchases based on household panel data in Germany

The literature on sustainable food consumption laments two major gaps: First, the majority of previous studies analyzed consumer behavior based on survey data on consumers’ self-reported behaviors and attitudes. Second, most existing studies focused on one dimension of sustainable food choices. This...

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Autores principales: Schäufele-Elbers, Isabel, Janssen, Meike
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10335000/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37441520
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2023.1140636
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author Schäufele-Elbers, Isabel
Janssen, Meike
author_facet Schäufele-Elbers, Isabel
Janssen, Meike
author_sort Schäufele-Elbers, Isabel
collection PubMed
description The literature on sustainable food consumption laments two major gaps: First, the majority of previous studies analyzed consumer behavior based on survey data on consumers’ self-reported behaviors and attitudes. Second, most existing studies focused on one dimension of sustainable food choices. This paper identifies and analyzes consumer segments based on the actual purchases of 8,400 households recorded in the GfK household panel data from Germany. We used three indicators of sustainable food consumption behavior: (1) the purchase of organic products as a proxy for the environmental impact of diets, (2) the purchase of meat as a proxy for the climate impact of diets, and (3) the purchase of sweet snacks as a proxy for the healthiness of a diet. The analysis yielded two larger segments with high expenditure shares for one type of unsustainable food (meat/sweet snacks, respectively), two small segments with above average (medium/high) expenditure shares for organic food, and a large ‘mainstream’ segment. The five consumer segments were further analyzed regarding the observed attitude-behavior gap, and the actual prices paid in different product categories. Clear gaps between stated and actual behavior were revealed with interesting differences between the five segments and the three sustainability characteristics. The analysis is a vital starting point for designing a holistic policy instrument mix to close the gaps and to reach a sustainable transformation of the food system.
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spelling pubmed-103350002023-07-12 Consumer segmentation based on three dimensions of sustainable food consumption: a simultaneous analysis of meat, organic food, and sweet snack purchases based on household panel data in Germany Schäufele-Elbers, Isabel Janssen, Meike Front Nutr Nutrition The literature on sustainable food consumption laments two major gaps: First, the majority of previous studies analyzed consumer behavior based on survey data on consumers’ self-reported behaviors and attitudes. Second, most existing studies focused on one dimension of sustainable food choices. This paper identifies and analyzes consumer segments based on the actual purchases of 8,400 households recorded in the GfK household panel data from Germany. We used three indicators of sustainable food consumption behavior: (1) the purchase of organic products as a proxy for the environmental impact of diets, (2) the purchase of meat as a proxy for the climate impact of diets, and (3) the purchase of sweet snacks as a proxy for the healthiness of a diet. The analysis yielded two larger segments with high expenditure shares for one type of unsustainable food (meat/sweet snacks, respectively), two small segments with above average (medium/high) expenditure shares for organic food, and a large ‘mainstream’ segment. The five consumer segments were further analyzed regarding the observed attitude-behavior gap, and the actual prices paid in different product categories. Clear gaps between stated and actual behavior were revealed with interesting differences between the five segments and the three sustainability characteristics. The analysis is a vital starting point for designing a holistic policy instrument mix to close the gaps and to reach a sustainable transformation of the food system. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-06-27 /pmc/articles/PMC10335000/ /pubmed/37441520 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2023.1140636 Text en Copyright © 2023 Schäufele-Elbers and Janssen. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Nutrition
Schäufele-Elbers, Isabel
Janssen, Meike
Consumer segmentation based on three dimensions of sustainable food consumption: a simultaneous analysis of meat, organic food, and sweet snack purchases based on household panel data in Germany
title Consumer segmentation based on three dimensions of sustainable food consumption: a simultaneous analysis of meat, organic food, and sweet snack purchases based on household panel data in Germany
title_full Consumer segmentation based on three dimensions of sustainable food consumption: a simultaneous analysis of meat, organic food, and sweet snack purchases based on household panel data in Germany
title_fullStr Consumer segmentation based on three dimensions of sustainable food consumption: a simultaneous analysis of meat, organic food, and sweet snack purchases based on household panel data in Germany
title_full_unstemmed Consumer segmentation based on three dimensions of sustainable food consumption: a simultaneous analysis of meat, organic food, and sweet snack purchases based on household panel data in Germany
title_short Consumer segmentation based on three dimensions of sustainable food consumption: a simultaneous analysis of meat, organic food, and sweet snack purchases based on household panel data in Germany
title_sort consumer segmentation based on three dimensions of sustainable food consumption: a simultaneous analysis of meat, organic food, and sweet snack purchases based on household panel data in germany
topic Nutrition
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10335000/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37441520
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2023.1140636
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