The Role of the Ecological Awareness and the Influence on Food Preferences in Shaping Pro-Ecological Behavior of Young Consumers

Bogdan Wierzbiński, Tomasz Surmacz, Wiesława Kuźniar and Lucyna Witek
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Bogdan Wierzbiński: Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship, Institute of Economics and Finance, University of Rzeszow, 35-601 Rzeszow, Poland
Tomasz Surmacz: Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship, Institute of Economics and Finance, University of Rzeszow, 35-601 Rzeszow, Poland
Wiesława Kuźniar: Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship, Institute of Economics and Finance, University of Rzeszow, 35-601 Rzeszow, Poland
Lucyna Witek: Department of Marketing, The Faculty of Management, Rzeszow University of Technology, 35-959 Rzeszów, Poland

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 4, 1-14

Abstract: Pro-ecological behavior of consumers on the food market is conditioned by many factors, among which the literature on the subject particularly indicates, is high environmental awareness. Among other factors, the influence of social groups is also emphasized, in relation to young consumers; these are mainly peers and friends, which was confirmed by the authors’ research. The aim of the research was to identify the role of ecological awareness and influence on the food purchasing habits of young consumers in shaping their pro-ecological behavior. Based on the literature on the subject, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the empirical material, reducing the number of dimensions through the use of factor analysis. Analyzing the collected material, the authors proposed three latent variables—ecological awareness (EA), impact on food preferences (IFP), and ecological behavior (EB). Hidden variables were defined by explicit variables, and the whole was characterized in the light of the literature. The research results indicated that there are significant correlations between all latent variables, however the strongest one could be observed between EA and EB. This proves that the ecological behavior of young consumers is strongly determined by their environmental awareness.

Keywords: ecological consumer behavior; ecological awareness; ecological food consumption; dietary habits; youth (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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