Exploring Consumer Perceptions of the Value Proposition Embedded in Vegan Food Products Using Text Analytics

Kelly Cooper, Ozgur Dedehayir, Carla Riverola, Stephen Harrington and Elizabeth Alpert
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Kelly Cooper: School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane 4059, Australia
Ozgur Dedehayir: Faculty of Business and Law, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane 4000, Australia
Carla Riverola: Department of Business Strategy and Innovation, Griffith University, Nathan 4111, Australia
Stephen Harrington: Creative Industries Faculty, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane 4000, Australia
Elizabeth Alpert: Digital Observatory, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane 4000, Australia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 4, 1-16

Abstract: Given the increasing interest in sustainable food consumption and production, this study aims to understand how consumers perceive the value proposition of vegan food. Over 120,000 tweets relating to veganism were extracted from Twitter, which were then analysed using the text analytics tool Leximancer to ascertain the predominant themes of conversation taking place around vegan food. Our results show that, in light of the three main drivers for vegan food choice—ethical, personal health, and environmental—surprisingly, we see a limited number of environmental or sustainability motivated tweets. This is a significant finding, as, while vegan food consumption is reported to be sustainable, this is not a preferred topic of conversation for consumers. Value propositions communicated with respect to personal health attributes (e.g., dairy free, gluten free, and nutrition), and consumption benefits (e.g., tasty, delicious) are more likely to resonate with consumers and motivate increased consumption while concurrently delivering environmental benefits as a positive side-effect. Furthermore, the polarity of the attitudes and conversations taking place between vegans and non-vegans on Twitter underscores that a single value proposition is unlikely to reach both groups simultaneously and that different value propositions are likely to be required to reach these respective groups.

Keywords: vegan; value proposition; food choice; text analytics; sustainability; business (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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