Meyer Kathrin Barbara, Simons Johannes
Department of Agricultural and Food Market Research, Institute for Food and Resource Economics, University of Bonn, Nussallee 21, 53115 Bonn, Germany.
Foods. 2021 Jun 8;10(6):1317. doi: 10.3390/foods10061317.
This research explores reasons for the attitude-behavior gap of consumers involved with sustainable food choice. For this purpose, the Food Choice Process Model by was applied. The study follows a qualitative approach. Data were collected through ethnographical fieldwork. Over the course of nine months, researchers repeatedly accompanied six families. Each visit lasted several hours and included multiple in-depth discussions, food shopping observations and participation in everyday food behavior. Findings show that beliefs, positive attitudes, and behavioral intentions do play an important role for sustainable choice. Rooted in one's personal life course experiences and the socio-cultural conditions one grew up in, however, their determinacy is heavily impaired by household realities and by various personal and situational factors. Sustainability attributes, even if dominant on an abstract level, tend to be inferior for actual choice, especially when competing with the taste, price, and preferences of other household members. Product evaluation and food choice are seldomly a result of comprehensive information processing, but rather based on simplifications and strategies. Conflicts are aggravated by competing sustainability values and attributes. Confronted with diverse product-related, personal, external, and situational influences, sustainable choices come with conflicts, tensions, and ambivalences forcing participants to make compromises and remain flexible in their decisions. However, participants were aware of their inadequacies and accept personal inconsistencies, without showing much dissonance. This research extends current knowledge about the impact and the origin of attitudes towards and barriers for sustainable food choice behavior that help to understand the complexity of the phenomena in its natural setting. It points out practical implications for practitioners, updates the theoretical framework, and can widen researchers' perspective on sustainable food choice behavior.
本研究探讨了参与可持续食品选择的消费者态度与行为差距的原因。为此，应用了[具体名称未给出]的食品选择过程模型。该研究采用定性研究方法。数据通过民族志实地调查收集。在九个月的时间里，研究人员多次陪同六个家庭。每次访问持续数小时，包括多次深入讨论、食品购物观察以及参与日常食品行为。研究结果表明，信念、积极态度和行为意图确实对可持续选择起着重要作用。然而，由于个人生活历程经历以及成长所处的社会文化条件，它们的决定性受到家庭现实以及各种个人和情境因素的严重影响。可持续性属性，即使在抽象层面占主导地位，在实际选择中往往处于劣势，尤其是在与其他家庭成员的口味、价格和偏好相竞争时。产品评估和食品选择很少是全面信息处理的结果，而是基于简化和策略。相互竞争的可持续性价值观和属性加剧了冲突。面对各种与产品相关、个人、外部和情境的影响，可持续选择伴随着冲突、紧张和矛盾，迫使参与者做出妥协并在决策中保持灵活性。然而，参与者意识到自己的不足并接受个人的不一致，并未表现出太多的认知失调。本研究扩展了关于可持续食品选择行为的态度影响、起源及障碍的现有知识，有助于理解自然环境中该现象的复杂性。它指出了对从业者的实际意义更新了理论框架，并拓宽了研究人员对可持续食品选择行为的视角。
