UK consumer attitudes concerning environmental issues impacting the agrifood industry
✍ Scribed by Keith Walley; Paul Custance; Stephen Parsons
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2000
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 196 KB
- Volume
- 9
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0964-4733
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
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.