Challenges of carbon labelling of food products: a consumer research perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to critically reflect on the effects that carbon labelling of food products will have on consumer purchasing behaviour and on reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.Design/methodology/approach – The paper summarises the findings from research on organic food‐purchasing behaviour and discusses how this can be applied to the new field of carbon labelling of food. Two consumer behaviour studies specifically examining carbon labelling are also reviewed.Findings – Although consumers have positive attitudes to preserving the environment, sales of organic products are low for several reasons: perceived high price, strong habits governing food purchases, perceived low availability, lack of marketing and information, lack of trust in the labelling system, and low perceived customer effectiveness. All these obstacles apply to the purchase of carbon labelled products and several are even greater for carbon‐labelled products, since these do not bring any personal benefits to the...

[1]  Emmanuel K. Yiridoe,et al.  Comparison of consumer perceptions and preference toward organic versus conventionally produced foods: A review and update of the literature , 2005, Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems.

[2]  Annik Magerholm Fet,et al.  LCA studies of food products as background for environmental product declarations , 2008 .

[3]  Susan Baker,et al.  Mapping the values driving organic food choice , 2004 .

[4]  I. Vermeir,et al.  Sustainable Food Consumption: Exploring the Consumer “Attitude – Behavioral Intention” Gap , 2006 .

[5]  I. Ajzen,et al.  Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research , 1977 .

[6]  I. Ajzen.  The theory of planned behavior , 1991 .

[7]  Wendy Wood,et al.  Habit and intention in everyday life: The multiple processes by which past behavior predicts future behavior. , 1998 .

[9]  Päivi Timonen,et al.  The role of consumers in product‐oriented environmental policy: can the consumer be the driving force for environmental improvements? , 2001 .

[10]  Charlotte Leire,et al.  Product-related environmental information to guide consumer purchases - a review and analysis of research on perceptions, understanding and use among Nordic consumers , 2005 .

[11]  G. Grankvist,et al.  Predictors of purchase of eco-labelled food products : A panel study , 2007 .

[12]  Niels Jungbluth,et al.  Food purchases: Impacts from the consumers’ point of view investigated with a modular LCA , 2000 .

[13]  R. Lawrence,et al.  Public health implications of meat production and consumption , 2005, Public Health Nutrition.

[14]  Laura Mørch Andersen,et al.  The character of demand in mature organic food markets: Great Britain and Denmark compared , 2008 .

[15]  Clifford J. Shultz,et al.  Who are organic food consumers? A compilation and review of why people purchase organic food , 2007 .

[16]  A. Carlsson-kanyama,et al.  Potential contributions of food consumption patterns to climate change. , 2009, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[17]  L. Åberg,et al.  Attitudes towards organic foods among Swedish consumers. , 2001 .

[18]  H. Steinfeld,et al.  Livestock's long shadow: environmental issues and options. , 2006 .

[19]  Wim Verbeke,et al.  Personal determinants of organic food consumption: a review , 2009 .

[20]  A. Nicholls.  Strategic Options in Fair Trade Retailing , 2002 .

[21]  Per-Anders Hansson,et al.  Uncertainties in the carbon footprint of food products: a case study on table potatoes , 2010 .

[22]  A. Carlsson-kanyama.  Climate change and dietary choices -- how can emissions of greenhouse gases from food consumption be reduced? , 1998 .

[23]  A. Speedy.  Global production and consumption of animal source foods. , 2003, The Journal of nutrition.

[24]  S. Padel,et al.  Exploring the gap between attitudes and behaviour: understanding why consumers buy or do not buy organic food , 2005 .

[25]  A. Williams,et al.  How low can we go? An assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from the UK foodsystem and the scope reduction by 2050. Report for the WWF and Food ClimateResearch Network , 2010 .