COVID-19, social identity, and socially responsible food consumption between generations

Sandra Nelly Leyva-Hernández; Antonia Terán-Bustamante; Antonieta Martínez-Velasco

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1080097

COVID-19, social identity, and socially responsible food consumption between generations

Front Psychol. 2023 Mar 8:14:1080097. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1080097. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Sandra Nelly Leyva-Hernández^{1

2}, Antonia Terán-Bustamante², Antonieta Martínez-Velasco³

Affiliations

¹ Facultad de Ingeniería y Negocios San Quintín, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, San Quintín, Mexico.
² Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City, Mexico.
³ Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City, Mexico.

Abstract

Introduction: The objective of the research was to analyze the effect of COVID-19 with the predictors of the health belief model (perceived severity, perceived benefits, and cue to action) on the social identity of the consumer and the social identity of the socially responsible food consumption among four generation groups of adults based on the stimulus-organism-response model.

Methods: The study had a quantitative approach explanatory design and a cross-sectional temporal dimension. A total of 834 questionnaires were collected from adults in the metropolitan area of Mexico City, and the data were analyzed through partial least squares structural equation modeling.

Results: The results indicated that perceived severity, perceived benefits, and cue to action positively and significantly influenced social identity, and this positively and significantly influenced socially responsible consumption. In addition, identity was found to be a variable that had a total mediation effect between perceived severity and socially responsible consumption, perceived benefits and socially responsible consumption, and cue to action and socially responsible consumption. While the perceived barriers only had a direct effect on socially responsible consumption. Likewise, a difference was found between generation X and Y, generation Z and X, and generation Y and X in the relationship between cue to action, belonging to a social network group, and social identity.

Discussion: In this sense, these results allow us to consider that when environmental stimuli (predictors of the health belief model) affect the organism (social identity), it will respond with socially responsible food consumption. This type of consumption is explained through social identity and is modified according to the age of the consumers due to the effects of social networks.

Keywords: environment; generation X; generation Y; generation Z; health belief model; stimulus-organism-response; sustainability.