Consumer attitudes towards sustainability attributes on food labels in the UK and Japan
Date
2011-04
Type
Conference Contribution - published
Collections
Keywords
sustainability, cross-country comparison, United Kingdom, consumer attitudes, food labelling, carbon footprint, Japan, food labelling, discrete choice modeling, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty, Health Economics and Policy
Fields of Research
Abstract
With current concerns about climate change and the general status of the environment, there is an
increasing expectation that products have sustainability credentials, and that these can be verified.
Labelling is a common method of communicating certain product attributes to consumers that may
influence their choices. There are different types of labels with several functions. The aim of this study
was to investigate consumers‟, attitudes, knowledge and preferences towards certain sustainability claims
on food products across countries; particularly attitudes towards the display of the reduction of carbon
emissions were examined in this research. A web-based consumer survey undertaken in the United
Kingdom and Japan showed similarities between consumers in the UK and Japan regarding desired label
claims of environmental product information. Differences across these countries were observed in terms
of the knowledge about certain environmental and social issues such as carbon footprint and
sustainability. This information on consumers‟ attitudes will assist industries and firms to identify market
opportunities, in particular assessing the methods by which carbon footprinting measures can be
incorporated alongside information on other sustainability criteria in product marketing.
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Rights
Copyright 2010 by Saunders, C., Guenther, M., Tait, P., Kaye-Blake, W., Saunders, J., Miller, S., Abell,
W., Lincoln University, PO Box 84, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand. All rights reserved. Readers may make
verbatim copies of this document for non-commercial purposes by any means, provided that this
copyright notice appears on all such copies.