Socially responsible food behavior: Perspectives from empirical evaluations

Abstract

The present research aimed to study the consumption of socially responsible food consumption products in order to identify the elements on which European companies must base their success strategies in the next future. This research suggests both information about this particular kind of consumption and factors that determine their purchase through statistical techniques for testing and estimating causal relations, using data derived from carried out sample survey. Above all, the factor analysis and the cluster analysis are used for the aim of the study. The proposed study shows that socially responsible consumption is especially linked to knowledge and impact on socio-environmental context. Moreover, it was possible to identify three kinds of consumer under investigation: the agree one (41% of the sample), with highest level of perceived expectation about salubrity and willingness to pay; the half-agree one (13%), with lowest level of knowledge on socio-environmental policies but highest level of satisfaction; the disagree one (46%), with negative relationship with all of the factors, particularly with salubrity. The research considers a topic not addressed in details; moreover, it is also based on own previous research and is its natural continuation and deepening, but also important for future researches.

Keywords: Added value; Attitude; Cluster analysis; Corporate social responsibility; Label; Risk.