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UK consumer attitudes concerning environmental issues impacting the agrifood industry
Author(s) -
Walley Keith,
Custance Paul,
Parsons Stephen
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
business strategy and the environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.123
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1099-0836
pISSN - 0964-4733
DOI - 10.1002/1099-0836(200011/12)9:6<355::aid-bse263>3.0.co;2-h
Subject(s) - order (exchange) , marketing , agriculture , business , space (punctuation) , consumer behaviour , geography , archaeology , finance , linguistics , philosophy
Consumer concern for the environment has been on the increase in recent years. This concern has created many opportunities, as well as threats, for all businesses but particularly for those involved in the agrifood industry. These concerns can and do change considerably in a short space of time so it is essential that consumer surveys are conducted on a frequent basis to monitor these changes. This paper presents the findings of one such survey based on the findings of a consumer attitude study concerning environmental issues relating to the agrifood industry. The data is subjected to a cluster analysis in order to segment the respondents and make the findings more meaningful. The paper concludes that there are four groups of consumers (the ‘angries’; the ‘not‐quite‐so‐angries’, the ‘anxious‐but‐amiables’ and the ‘Panglossians’) and that while a number of subjects constitute issues for consumers the one that unites most consumers, and which will probably have the greatest impact on the environment, is genetic modification. Consumer resistance to genetic modification is found to be high and it is suggested that as a result farmers will continue to employ traditional farming practices in the future. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment.