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Climate Change in the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Region pp 365–393Cite as

Consumption Patterns and Public Attitudes Toward Organic Foods: The Role of Climate Change Awareness

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Part of the book series: Climate Change Management ((CCM))

Abstract

Consumer demand for environmentally-friendly food options is considered the crucial step in the transitions to sustainable production and climate change mitigation and adaptation. The present study sought to investigate attitudes toward climate change and the organic food production system and also explore consumption patterns for organic foods after adjusting for various socio-demographic characteristics and food choice indicators. Individual-level data for 807 adults were selected via a formal questionnaire in supermarkets and food stores in Northern Greece. Factor and cluster analysis elicited consumer behavior toward climate change and organic foods. The methodological approach also employed a univariate ordered probit model to estimate consumption behavior for organic foods and distinguish purchase patterns among non-consumers, occasional and regular consumers. Two segments were identified with differences in the level of climate change awareness (climate change concerns, climate change skepticism, and activity involvement) and the level of support toward organic agro-food networks (price fairness of organics, organic foods benefits, healthy food-choice habits and suspicion toward the organic food control system). Furthermore, estimations of the univariate ordered probit model and the calculated marginal effects showed that consumers who acknowledged the benefits of the organic foods production system had a higher likelihood by 4.4% to purchase organics on a regular basis. Similarly, consumption of organic foods was positively associated with health consciousness (β = 0.150, p < 0.10) and climate change concerns (β = 0.277, p < 0.01). On the other hand, non-consumers were more likely to raise considerable doubts over the reliability of food control in organics produce by 10.3% and express skepticism on climate change (β = −0.306, p < 0.01). Overall, this study suggested that established attitudes toward climate change and environmentally-friendly food products seem to be the key factor in purchase and consumption behavior. In order to increase green products acceptance, policy makers and stakeholders should better focus on the emotional-evoked attributes of organic foods rather their sensory characteristics and link sustainable foods with consumer altruism and social responsibility.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural Development, School of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, 193 Pantazidou Street, 68200, Orestiada, Greece

    Elena Raptou

  2. Department of Forestry and Management of the Environment and Natural Resources, School of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, 193 Pantazidou Street, 68200, Orestiada, Greece

    Evangelos Manolas

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  1. Elena Raptou
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  2. Evangelos Manolas
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Correspondence to Evangelos Manolas .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. FTZ-ALS, HAW Hamburg, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  2. Department of Forestry and Management of the Environment and Natural Resources, Democritus University of Thrace, Orestiada, Greece

    Evangelos Manolas

Appendix

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Appendix 1 Climate change awareness
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Appendix 2 Attitudes toward the organic food production system
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Raptou, E., Manolas, E. (2022). Consumption Patterns and Public Attitudes Toward Organic Foods: The Role of Climate Change Awareness. In: Leal Filho, W., Manolas, E. (eds) Climate Change in the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Region. Climate Change Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78566-6_18

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