The Role of Green Self-Identity and Self-Congruity in Sustainable Food Consumption Behaviour

Abstract


 
 
 The aim of this paper is to explore the role of green self-identity and self-congruity with green food products in predicting consumers’ sustainable food consumption behaviour. Previous research suggests that there is a relationship between individuals’ self-identity and the consumption of products. However, when it comes to the realm of sustainable food consumption, those relations are not unambiguous. This study employs a survey with a sample of 837 respondents in Lithuania. The findings confirm that green self-identity and self-congruity with green food products positively influence subsequent sustainable food consumption behaviour both directly and indirectly. The implications of this study can be used to better understand green consumer behaviour and provide useful information to marketers and policymakers by suggesting that the promotion of sustainable food consumption behaviour should highlight not only functional but symbolic benefits as well.
 
 

Unveiling Millennials’ Perceptions of Organic Products: A Grounded Theory Analysis in Ecuador and Peru

“…Second, concerning intrinsic factors, the findings indicate that factors motivating Ecuadorian and Peruvian college millennials to consume organic products include health, habits, environmental awareness, and environmental knowledge. These findings are consistent with other researchers', who found that consumers purchase these products for health reasons [6,38,55,57], habits [6,56], awareness [19,[60][61][62], and knowledge [27,[63][64][65]. Additional research supports the other two intrinsic factors (attitudes and values), indicating that attitude is a significant predictor influencing organic purchasing behavior [7,17,36,42,46] and that consumer values increase the willingness to buy organic products [43,71,72].…”

“…Mentioned twenty-seven times by Ecuadorian and Peruvian millennials, it indicates that awareness of environmental issues among this cohort encourages consumption behaviors that favor environmental protection. This aligns with research suggesting that environmental knowledge is a key factor that enhances consumer awareness, enabling them to understand the impact of human activities on the environment due to unchecked consumption [27]. Furthermore, conscious consumption is often influenced by the extent of a consumer's knowledge about the environmental consequences of their consumption choices [7,[63][64][65].…”

“…Habits operate along an impulsive pathway, eliciting responses swiftly and effectively, often bypassing deliberate thought processes [57]. Such habitual behaviors are characterized by automatic and repetitive actions enacted without conscious planning or effort, and once internalized by an individual, they provoke routine responses to familiar contexts [27,32].…”

“…Within the realm of organic consumption, individuals harboring positive sentiments towards organic food are inclined to view the purchase of organic products as both significant and judicious [7,10,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29]. Research has consistently demonstrated that such favorable attitudes can motivate consumers to form intentions to buy organic products.…”

Personal Variables in Attitude toward Green Purchase Intention of Organic Products

“…Meanwhile, the cognitive dimension is about the level of knowledge that a person has regarding the environmental degradation that occurs with each of the daily activities of human beings [42]. Several studies related to green consumption have incorporated GSI within their research models [29,43], which have determined that a common factor within this research is that an individual's self-perception can be an important determinant of green purchasing behaviors [45]. For example, Whitmarsh and O'Neill [46] identified that GSI is related to the intention to buy organic products.…”