Organic tomatoes versus canned beans: How do consumers assess the Environmental Friendliness of Vegetables?
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Author (Corporation)
Publication date
09.01.2011
Typ of student thesis
Course of study
Type
01A - Journal article
Editors
Editor (Corporation)
Supervisor
Parent work
Environment and Behavior
Special issue
DOI of the original publication
Link
Series
Series number
Volume
43
Issue / Number
5
Pages / Duration
591–611
Patent number
Publisher / Publishing institution
SAGE
Place of publication / Event location
London
Edition
Version
Programming language
Assignee
Practice partner / Client
Abstract
The assessment of a food product’s environmental friendliness is highly challenging for consumers because such an assessment requires the consideration of various product characteristics. Furthermore, products often show conflicting features. This study uses a choice task and a questionnaire to examine how consumers judge the environmental friendliness of several vegetables. The consumers’ assessment is compared with life cycle assessment (LCA) results, which represent the overall environmental impact of a product throughout its lifespan. In contrast to the LCA, consumers consider transportation distance rather than transportation mode and perceive organic production as very relevant for the environmental friendliness. Furthermore, consumers assess the environmental impact of packaging and conservation as more important than the LCA results show. Findings also suggest the current product information for vegetables is insufficient for judging their environmental friendliness. Implications for information campaigns and ecological food labeling are discussed.
Keywords
Environmental knowledge, Food choice, Sustainable consumption, Life cycle assessment
Event
Exhibition start date
Exhibition end date
Conference start date
Conference end date
Date of the last check
ISBN
ISSN
0013-9165
1552-390X
1552-390X
Language
English
Created during FHNW affiliation
No
Strategic action fields FHNW
Zero Emission
Publication status
Published
Review
Peer review of the complete publication
Open access category
Closed
License
Citation
Tobler, C., Visschers, V., & Siegrist, M. (2011). Organic tomatoes versus canned beans: How do consumers assess the Environmental Friendliness of Vegetables? Environment and Behavior, 43(5), 591–611. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916510372865