Exploring External Factors Affecting the Intention-Behavior Gap When Trying to Adopt a Sustainable Diet: A Think Aloud Study

Abstract

Not least from an ecological and health perspective, it can be posited that a broader part of consumers should practice sustainable diets. People who are already willing to do so are often confronted with the intention-behavior gap, caused by a range of internal and external factors. To eliminate these barriers requires a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of these factors and their interplay. Therefore, a think aloud study with 20 adult German participants was conducted to explore the four chosen external factors of availability, education, advertising and price. Furthermore, questionnaires for all four factors were handed out and a follow-up interview was conducted to gain additional qualitative data. Results show that these four external factors seem to have a major impact on the intention-behavior relation. According to the participants all factors interact in some way with other internal and external factors, making practicing sustainable diets a complex activity. In conclusion, the four external factors availability, education, advertising and price need to be addressed by various stakeholders within our food systems in order to move forward in the process of making sustainable diets practicable and sustainable food systems firmly established.

Women’s Perception of and Readiness To Adopt a Sustainable Healthy Diet: A Cross-Sectional Survey in Enugu City, Nigeria

“…Although most consumers perceived plant-based diets as more bene cial than animal-based diets [36][37][38][39], adherence to sustainable dietary behaviours is low [40,41]. Adoption of SHDs is affected by food choice motives including availability [42], taste [43][44][45], price [42,43,45], health [45][46][47][48], weight control [45], and environmental consideration [39,43,44]. Willingness to adopt a sustainable healthy diet was not associated with socio-demographic characteristics [36,49].…”

“…Willingness to adopt a sustainable healthy diet was not associated with socio-demographic characteristics [36,49]. Conversely, females [39,49,50], young people [39,51], and high education [42,48,51] are more likely to adopt SHDs.…”

Women’s Perception of and Readiness to Adopt a Sustainable Healthy Diet: A Cross-sectional Survey in Enugu City, Nigeria

“…Although most consumers perceived plant-based diets as more bene cial than animal-based diets [36][37][38][39], adherence to sustainable dietary behaviours is low [40,41]. Adoption of SHDs is affected by food choice motives including availability [42], taste [43][44][45], price [42,43,45], health [45][46][47][48], weight control [45], and environmental consideration [39,43,44]. Willingness to adopt a sustainable healthy diet was not associated with socio-demographic characteristics [36,49].…”

“…Willingness to adopt a sustainable healthy diet was not associated with socio-demographic characteristics [36,49]. Conversely, females [39,49,50], young people [39,51], and high education [42,48,51] are more likely to adopt SHDs.…”

Sustainable diet and cruciform ethics during COVID-19

“… 9 At the individual level, ‘we need innovations for system improvements and different interacting strategies to promote a “behavior change” toward health-promoting and sustainable diets’. 10 Finally, the changes in the environment in the Anthropocene 11 also impact food production and diet so that a ‘cruciform ethics’ that proposes to curtail one’s desires can provide a kenotic element in sustainability. Cruciform ethics asserts self-emptying habits, such as lessening the consumption of human societies that practice ‘a gluttony of excessive or wasteful eating, or energy profligacy’.…”