Fostering more sustainable food choices : Can Self-Determination Theory help?

Title data

Schösler, Hanna ; de Boer, Joop ; Boersema, Jan J.:
Fostering more sustainable food choices : Can Self-Determination Theory help?
In: Food Quality and Preference. Vol. 35 (31 July 2014) . - pp. 59-69.
ISSN 0950-3293
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2014.01.008

Project information

Abstract in another language

Food production, especially meat, is one of the main pressures on the environment and
experts agree that diets have to change into a more sustainable direction. The present
paper examines whether Self-Determination Theory (SDT) can be of help in fostering
more sustainable food choices by taking a closer look at the relationship between foodrelated
types of motivation and different aspects of meat consumption, based on a survey
among 1083 consumers in the Netherlands. SDT appeared to be useful for studying why
consumers can be motivated to make more sustainable food choices and also why these
preferences are not shared by all consumers. Consumers with different types of
motivation differed in their level of meat consumption (frequency and portion size),
reasons for not frequently eating meat, frequency of buying carefully produced meat,
frequency of buying meat substitutes, and preferences in favour or not of plant-based
protein products. Internalized motivation was the main factor that made a difference, but
intrinsic enjoyment of cooking and eating also played a role. The conclusion is that SDT
provides both theoretical and policy-oriented insights into fostering more sustainable
food choices.