RT journal article
T1 Motivations to consume ecological foods in alternative food networks (AFNs) in southern Spain
A1 Escobar López, Sttefanie Yenitza
A1 Espinoza-Ortega, Angélica
A1 Lozano-Cabedo, Carmen
A1 Aguilar-Criado, Encarnación
A1 Amaya Corchuelo, Santiago
A2 Economía General
K1 Motives
K1 consumers
K1 ecological
K1 food choice questionnaire
AB PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the motivations to consume ecological foods in alternative food networks (AFNs).Design/methodology/approachIn total, 150 questionnaires were applied; the questionnaire was adapted from Food Choice Questionnaire (Steptoe et al., 1995). Data were analyzed by means of multivariate statistics with factor and cluster analysis. In order to identify statistical differences (p<0.05), Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney nonparametric tests were performed.FindingsTen factors or motivations were found: social ecological concern, nutritional content, sensory aspects, certifications, naturalness, specialized consumption, trust in the seller, economic aspects, health and availability. Four groups were obtained and called: citizen consumers, in-process citizen consumers, conscious social consumers with no interest in certifications and conscious pragmatic consumers. It is concluded that differentiated consumers visit these establishments and their motivations are diverse, albeit they concur, to a varying extent, with the objectives of AFNs, finding a mixture of hedonic and ethical motivations.Practical implicationsThis sort of works about specific places of consumption as well as specific consumers, in this case ecological, contributes to the development of future social research on other contexts, different consumers and products.Originality/valueThis sort of research has been carried out in various European cities, with a number of foods and over various sales channels; however, at present there is a debate around AFNs and the veracity of their goals. This way, the present work can contribute with an answer to whether the goals match the motivations of consumers.
PB Emerald Publishing Limited
SN 0007-070X
YR 2019
FD 2019-09
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/22279
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/22279
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 08-nov-2026