Health consciousness, environmental concern and animal welfare as key predictors of consumers' locus of control and attitudes towards meat consumption: a case of the Generation Y cohort, in South Africa
Date
2019
Authors
Khan, Mohammed Zayaad
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The twentieth-century dietary evolution has resulted in livestock being used as the primary source of protein in many countries. This has various implications on the wellbeing of humans, animals, and planet earth itself. The choices consumers make regarding food not only affect our personal health, but it also directly affects the wellbeing of our current ecosystems where modern meat production systems place a worrying burden on the environment. Sustainable consumption practice is often a result of two main driving forces, the first being individual or health (egoistic) motives and the second being animal welfare and environmental concern (altruistic) motives. The growing demand for meat products worldwide is unsustainable and there is a clear gap between our responsible intentions as citizens of the world and our hedonic needs as consumers referred to as the ‘Citizen-Consumer’ gap. Experts argue that technological innovations and more efficient production methods would serve as a future solution for the environmental and social implications of the livestock industry however current scholars emphasise that a technological fix will not be sufficient and that it is imperative for society to undertake a behavioural fix, such as lowering meat intake and discovering more sustainable means of protein consumption
Consequently, the purpose of this study is to assess health consciousness, environmental concern and animal welfare as key predictors of consumers’ locus of control and attitudes towards meat consumption among university students, in Johannesburg, South Africa. The study used a design that was quantitative in nature, which resulted in the researcher employing a deductive approach, using a positivistic method. Data was collected by means of a survey questionnaire and was used to test the hypotheses. By means of Partial Least Squares – Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), the significance of the hypotheses statements was determined from a sample of 172 students enrolled at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. The findings generated by SmartPLS 3 statistical software revealed that health consciousness was the key predictor of external locus of control and that external locus of control had the most significant relationship with consumers’ attitude toward meat consumption, as compared to the second mediator variable – internal locus of control.
It is anticipated that the findings of this study will contribute to both theory and practice in modern society, and it is trusted that the findings of this study will greatly inform future research endeavours.
Description
A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce (specialising in Marketing)
Keywords
Citation
Khan, Mohammed Zayaad (2019) Health consciousness, environmental concern and animal welfare as key predictors of consumers' locus of control and attitudes towards meat consumption:a case of the Generation Y cohort, in South Africa, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <http://hdl.handle.net/10539/29691>