Certification Labels in Shaping Perception of Food Quality—Insights from Polish and Belgian Urban Consumers

The role of green finance in mitigating climate change risks: a quantitative analysis of sustainable investments

The dire problem of climate change has garnered more attention in recent years and, with it, the necessity of reducing its damaging effects on the environment. Nevertheless, despite the green finance index's (GFI) potential advantages in combating climate change, empirical studies on the subject's consequences have been few, mostly because of the index's restricted data availability. This study's primary goal is to close this gap by employing panel data analysis to investigate the environmental effects of GFI in China between 2004 and 2021. Econometric methods like the Driscoll-Kraay standard error and other robustness test models are used to look into the links between political risk, green finance, the ecological footprint, and the economic complexity index. According to the research findings, there is a 0.31% and 0.81% decrease in ecological footprint resulting from the implementation of GFI and rises in GDP (gross domestic product). These results suggest that these strategies could play a major role in establishing a sustainable environment. However, in the chosen countries, the ecological footprint increases by 0.81% and 0.80%, respectively, due to the presence of political risk and economic complexity. This study suggests that government involvement is necessary to reduce carbon footprints and protect the ecosystem, based on these empirical findings. Implementing green financing initiatives, fostering technological development, economic diversification, and fostering a stable political environment are all ways to achieve sustainable investments.

Exploring the Impact of Human-Animal Connections and Trust in Labeling Consumers' Intentions to Buy Cage-Free Eggs: Findings from Taiwan

Recently, interest in animal welfare has steadily increased, driven by a growing focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. This trend aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations. This underscores the importance of comprehending consumer attitudes towards products that are respectful to animal welfare. This research aims to employ the Value-Attitude-Behavior (VAB) model as a theoretical basis to explore the behavioral intentions of Taiwanese consumers to buy cage-free eggs. To provide comprehensive insights into consumer behavior in this domain, the study examines key variables such as 'human-nature connectedness', 'trust in labels', and 'attitude towards animal welfare'. By addressing an existing research gap in the literature and exploring consumer behavior in relation to animal welfare-friendly products, the research contributes to an area that has received limited attention. We gathered a total of 341 valid questionnaires for this research. Employing Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) along with Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE), we investigated the causal connections between variables. The study presents three key observations: First, consumers who value sustainability and ethics tend to maintain a positive perspective on free-range eggs. Second, a favorable stance towards cage-free eggs directly correlates with positive future behaviors. Lastly, label trustworthiness and a supportive view towards animal welfare heavily affect behavioral intentions in consumers. Given these insights and the growing significance of animal welfare in consumer choices, we recommend that participants in the food and livestock sector earnestly advocate for and back practices that prioritize animal well-being.

Choice Experiment Assessment of Consumer Preferences for Yogurt Products Attributes: Evidence from Taiwan

Previous studies on consumer yogurt preferences have mainly focused on added sugar, nutrient content, and health claims, leaving several knowledge gaps that should be filled through in-depth research. In this study, a more complete multi-attribute preference model was developed using the number of probiotic types, type of milk source, presence of edible gels (GEL), and usage of health food labels as the main yogurt attributes. A choice experiment (CE) was then conducted to investigate the relationship between multiple attribute preferences and willingness-to-pay (WTP). A total of 435 valid questionnaires were collected by the convenience sampling method. The results show that (1) respondents highly value the health food label (HEA), followed by the number of probiotic types (PRO); (2) the highest WTP in the conditional logit (CL) model was New Taiwan Dollar (NTD) (USD 10.5 for HEA, and the lowest was NTD 1.0 for 100% milk powder (MLK2); (3) in the random-parameter logit (RPL) model, the highest WTP was NTD 14.6 for HEA, and the lowest was NTD 2.8 for GEL; (4) the most preferred attribute combination of yogurt was “8 or more probiotic types”, “a blend of raw milk and milk powder”, “the absence of edible gels”, “the presence of a health food label”, and “a price premium of NTD 6–10”; (5) married respondents with children were more willing to pay extra for yogurt products with a higher number of probiotic types and a health food label. The results may help the food industry understand and pay attention to consumer needs, which will, in turn, provide a reference for future product development and marketing strategies.

Healthy and Sustainable Food: A Cross-Cultural Study among Spanish and Italian Consumers

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the perception of environmental attributes and food safety in Italy and Spain and how these different perceptions influence the importance of various attributes and certifications related to food. These two countries have a common root and some undeniable similarities, but there are two completely distinct individualities. Three main research questions have, thus, been identified: attention to food safety regarding Italian and Spanish consumers; the role of ecological certifications in the perception of health in the two countries; the role of the brand and the choice of organic products in the perception of food safety. To answer the research questions, a questionnaire was administered, face to face, to a sample of both Spanish consumers and Italian consumers. The analysis of the data collected through the questionnaires was administered using two logistic regressions to identify which variables influence issues concerning the health and safety of food products. A Spanish consumer interested in ecological certifications is also a consumer who is attentive to the safety and health of food consumption. Looking at Italian consumers, it is highly probable that a consumer who assesses ecological certifications positively is also a consumer concerned about food safety, but this probability increases the likelihood this consumer’s choices are guided by brands and frequent consumption of organic products. This research has allowed us to highlight sharp differences in the approach to consumption in these two countries, which, despite similar cultures and the same sensitivity to environmental and food safety issues, exhibit marked differences in the selection of food products.

The Impact of Green Marketing on Consumer Behavior in the Market of Palm Oil Products

The aim of the article is to examine the impact of green marketing on consumer behavior in the market for products containing palm oil. The first chapter addresses the theoretical approach—the impact of green marketing on consumer behavior. We considered a questionnaire survey to be the most appropriate method to conduct our research. In order to test our hypotheses, we applied Crosstab and Pearson’s chi-square test. The strength of the relationship between the variables was measured using Cramer’s V. The third chapter presents the research results based on the processed information of 527 obtained datasheets from the respondents. The data were collected from Slovak consumers in the summer of 2021. Hypotheses H1 (There is a significant relationship between the opinion of the consumer regarding purchasing products containing palm oil and the knowledge that the product does contain palm oil.) and H2 (There is a relationship between the consumer willingness to refuse the purchase of certain products if it has negative impact on the environment and the generational group the consumer belongs to.) were approved, however the relationship proved to be weak in both cases. The research makes it clear that the majority of consumers do not spend time reading descriptions on product packaging. It might be helpful for companies to make it clear and visible on the packaging that their product does not contain palm oil, informing the consumer and influencing them with the negative emotional message of the advert. The obtained research results are useful both for the producers and the customers.

Sustainability Labels on Olive Oil: A Review on Consumer Attitudes and Behavior

Product labeling is a way to inform consumers and increase their awareness about sustainability attributes of products. It guarantees the use of specific production conditions, promotes market incentives and highlights environmental, social and/or ethical product attributes. This study provides a literature review of sustainability labels on olive oil including consumer attitudes and behavior towards this product. Results show that consumers have positive attitudes towards olive oil carrying sustainability labels and are willing to pay more for olive oil carrying those labels. However, the major drivers of this behavior are far from being related to sustainability. This insight jeopardizes the main objective of those labels and suggests more clarifications about the information delivered by them. More in-depth investigations are needed about the drivers of consumer behavior towards olive oil carrying sustainability labels.

Determinants of economic motivations for food choice: insights for the understanding of consumer behaviour

Food consumption involves several dimensions, being some of them directly associated with the consumers' characteristics. The interrelationships between these domains impact consumer behaviour for food choice and the consequent decisions for food consumption. In these frameworks, economic motivations are determinant. On the other hand, the scientific literature highlights that the economic-based stimuli to choose food is still underexplored. In this perspective, the objective of this study was to assess the main sociodemographic and anthropometric determinants of the economic motivations for food choice. For that, a questionnaire survey was carried out involving 11,919 respondents from 16 countries. A validated questionnaire was used, translated into the native languages in all participating countries, using a back-translation process. First, the information obtained was assessed through factor analysis to reduce the number of variables associated with the economic motivations and to identify indexes. After, and considering the indexes obtained as dependent variables, a classification and regression tree analysis was performed. As main insights, it is highlighted that the main determinants of the economic motivations are country of residence, age, gender, civil state, professional activity, educational level, living environment, responsibility for buying food, weight, height, body mass index, healthy diets and physical exercise practices. Additionally, the results also reveal that economic motivations may be associated with two indexes, one related to convenience attitudes and the other to quality concerns. Finally, the younger persons and the women are the social groups more concerned with healthy diets and food quality. In conclusion, this work confirmed that food choice is to a high extent influenced by several sociodemographic and behavioural factors.

Perceived Consequences: General or Specific? The Case of Palm Oil-Free Products

Palm oil production and consumption involve several consequences, the perception of which are significant factors that influence consumer behavior. The aim of our research is to explore which health, environmental, or social consequences associated with palm oil influence consumers most in their behavior to avoid palm oil. We examined the three risk types from two approaches: from the viewpoint of generally perceived consequences, and the viewpoint of consequences perceived specifically in relation to palm oil. We collected data through an online consumer survey (n = 336), and we applied the method of structural equation modeling to achieve our research aim. According to our results, depending on the approach, all three consequence types influence consumer purchase intentions. Of them, the perceived effects of palm oil on health have the strongest influence on consumption intent, followed by environmental damage caused by palm oil production. The effect of general health consequences show indirect significance through information seeking, which also indicates the importance of the approach to consequence perception. Indirectly or directly, only general social consequences influence purchase intent. Our research suggests that companies developing palm oil-free products could benefit from a label on the product stating their palm oil-free nature.