Danske forbrugeres adfærd overfor klimavenlige fødevarer: En mixed-method undersøgelse af, hvilke faktorer der påvirker danske forbrugeres opfattelse af klimavenlige fødevarer

Abstract

The climate crisis has manifested itself in the consumer consciousness the past years. The need for change in consumption is a necessity for avoiding a climate disaster. When measuring emission of greenhouse gases, food consumption appears as the second largest category in Denmark. In Denmark, the concept of environmentally sustainable consumption attracts more awareness than previously, which is highly affected by a greater demand from Danish consumers. Thus, a change in food consumption towards sustainable alternatives can help counter the overall emissions in Denmark. However, a discrepancy appears between the intention and the actual buying behavior of the Danish consumers regarding climate friendly foods. Hence, this paper seeks to investigate the influencing elements of the consumers’ perception of food as climate friendly in a purchase situation. The theoretical foundation of the thesis is based on consumers’ perspective, primarily using the framework of Ajzen’s (1991) Theory of Planned Behavior to provide insight in consumers’ psychology. To do so, a mixed method approach has been applied for this thesis. This included qualitative interviews with Danish consumers, an expert within the Danish food industry, and furthermore statistical testing based on a conducted survey with 472 Danish respondents. This paper shows moderate indications and connectedness between age and purchase intention, however no significant connections between income, education or gender and the purchase intention of climate friendly foods were found. The human value Universalism showed significant effects on the consumer purchase intention as well as an interconnectedness with the consumer attitude towards the behavior. Consumer attitude towards purchasing climate friendly foods showed significant influence on the purchase intention. Subjective norms showed moderate influence on consumer behavior generated through family norms. Consumers’ perceived behavioral control showed moderate levels of connections but is considerably important due the general lack of clarification of the concept climate friendly in the food industry. Thus, the importance of a climate label on the food packaging to guide consumers in the purchase situation.