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Plant-based (PB) and meat-reduced (MR) diets have a positive impact on human and environmental health, yet consumer acceptance of such diets is relatively low. Research investigating factors influencing consumer behavior around PB and MR diets is emerging; however studies lack strong theoretically underpinned, comprehensive theoretical frameworks. In this paper we synthesize factors from current literature and propose a comprehensive theoretical model across different consumer dietary types (e.g. omnivore, flexitarian, pesco-vegetarian) and account for consumer cognitive dissonance to facilitate a transition to MR diets.

The factors are examined in a five-step integrative literature review of empirical literature about PB/MR-related consumer behavior since 1989. Studies are critically assessed across four theories commonly used to explain the different antecedents of sustainable consumer behavior. We focus on the theoretical domains framework with COM-B (capability, opportunity, motivation and behavior) framework, as it provides the strongest foundation for modelling the consumer behavior of interest.

107 studies have empirically investigated PB/MR consumer behavior. Of these, 81 studies applied some COM-B domains, but no study has captured all domains. Scant studies investigating cognitive dissonance in the PB/MR literature have been published. Different consumer dietary types are featured across 47 studies; however, none of the studies comprehensively capture all dietary types and psychological discomfort in different consumer dietary types and cognitive dissonance theory.

To synthesize the findings of the present study, we propose an alternative model to address the before-mentioned gaps identified in our critical analysis. The alternative model captures the relationships between the 12 domains of the COM-B model constructs, psychological discomfort and consumer dietary types in the PB/MR foods setting.

The proposed research model facilitates the transition from MB diets to PB diets in three ways: (1) By differentiating consumer dietary types in terms of the COM domains influencing their PB/MR behaviors, PB-producing businesses could better target their foods to hitherto overlooked consumer dietary categories, such as lacto-vegetarians or emerging categories, such as flexitarians, through more refined segmentation and sharper profiling of consumers. (2) Knowing the level of capabilities of consumers in respect of cooking skills and knowledge about purchasing and preparing PB foods could help marketers develop strategies to improve buyers' skills and knowledge. (3) With an understanding of the opportunities (from the Opportunity domain of the COM-B model), including environmental context and resources and social influences, PB food businesses could more effectively market their PB food products. (4) It provides an understanding of capability, motivation and opportunity factors separately but also the interrelationship between these COM domains, as all these variables are intertwined.

Our ILR with the proposed model and the resulting research helps facilitate progress in the transition to PB diets necessary for more sustainable global food production and consumption.

The paper is the first to critically assess existing PB/MR literature regarding each of the COM-B domains, psychological discomfort and the six dietary types. We propose an alternative research model to address the gaps in literature and explain the antecedents and moderators in PB/MR dietary transition. The proposed model may provide information for practitioners and future researchers to understand a wider range of relevant factors influencing consumer’s behavior in transitioning to PB/MR diets.

This chapter on animal ethics, animal rights, and animal welfare is a logical sequence to and ontological consequence of the arguments in earlier chapters. By respecting Mother Nature in all her ecosystems and biodiversity levels, especially by recognizing animal rights and their uniqueness, autonomy, and intrinsicality, we actively contribute to natural sustainability and animal welfare. Our anthropocentric economic models that are profoundly insensitive to the complex interdependencies between human and nonhuman behavior systems and their irreversible environmental challenges endanger both animal rights and global sustainability. Philosophically, we confront epistemological and anthropocentric structures that uncritically privilege humans disproportionately to nonhumans and unwittingly rationalize, moralize, and commodify meat production and consumption such that animal rights and welfare get seriously compromised. To achieve animal welfare, however, we need to seriously rescale Nature's hierarchies first by dethroning ourselves from self-appointed and self-serving, uncontested and critically unexamined presumed human superiority over the nonhuman world and restoring global equality of being an opportunity for all.

This paper analyses children's experiences of school or family visits to Hare Krishna eco-farms in Europe. The article evaluates the extent to which these encounters enable retention and recollection of memories and, consequently, trigger change towards more sustainable behaviour.

Participatory research, qualitative observations and theories of childhood memory are used to explore the nature of children's environmental encounters on Hare Krishna eco-tours.

Findings reveal that Krishna eco-tours offer a conducive environment for cerebral registering and future reminiscing through the following components: experiential learning of sustainable practices which are radically different to mainstream alternatives, sensory experiences, nature play and entertainment and freedom from everyday constraints.

The emerging literature on children's eco-tourism has largely focussed on market-related aspects and farmers' needs. In contrast, the authors’ conceptual framework, based on contemporary research in childhood memories, offers a tool to evaluate the impacts of eco-tourism from a more holistic perspective.

This paper aims to deepen the knowledge of consumer wellness by conceptualizing this construct in an everyday retail setting, specifically a health food store. With wellness seeking being a central theme in the positioning strategy of many food retail stores, this study aims to investigate the development of an everyday wellness pursuit in a retail setting, identify its underlying dimensions in a health food store setting and establish the key managerial drivers that nurture it in such context, from the consumer standpoint.

The research design uses a qualitative approach. In-depth interviews with 20 customers of six multibranch health food retailers were carried out.

The findings show the holistic and multidimensional nature of wellness in an everyday consumption setting and highlight the development of physical, emotional, intellectual, social and spiritual consumer wellness in this context. They also bring to light how, in an everyday activity such as a health food retail store visit, retailers can co-create and nurture consumer wellness through their product assortment, store environment and employees’ orientation toward customer wellness.

The main contribution of this study lies in the conceptualization of the retail wellnesscape, defined as a retail space that consumers choose to visit in their daily lives that contribute to their holistic wellness journey. This paper emphasizes both the importance and the feasibility of cultivating consumer wellness on an everyday basis, for both consumers and retailers, while it has traditionally been associated with more occasional and out of the ordinary settings such as wellness tourism.

This chapter focuses on ecofeminism that primarily refers to feminist theory and activism informed by ecology. Ecofeminism is concerned with real connections between humans and Nature, as also by the domination of Nature by man and, specifically, by women's subservience to men. The foundational ecofeminist assumption is that environmental issues are basically feminist issues, and vice versa. It believes that ecofeminism, best understood and operationalized, can restore Mother Nature (endangered by industrial extraction and exploitation) and reassure rights to animals (deanimalized and threatened by factory farming). Although ecofeminism is a diverse movement, ecofeminist theorists share the presupposition that social transformation is necessary for ecological survival, that intellectual transformation of dominant modes of thought must accompany social transformation, that Nature teaches and reveals nondualistic, nonhierarchical systems of relations that are models for social transformation of values, and that human and cultural diversity are values in social transformation; some of these values and movements even influenced the world via the UN. Accordingly, this chapter highlights major positive contributions of ecofeminism.

This study aims to combine two theories, the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and the Norm Activation Model (NAM), to investigate the relationship between the awareness of reducing single-use plastic waste's environmental cost and the behaviour to limit the use of single-use plastic products (SUPPs) by FPT university students.

Quantitative research methodologies were employed on a sample of 506 university students. The survey data was then examined using SPSS, SPSS AMOS and SmartPLS software.

The overarching conclusion of the study is that awareness of reducing single-use plastic waste's environmental cost has a positive impact on FPT university students' behaviour to reduce their use of single-use plastic products. Another intriguing discovery is how socialisation of responsibility affects pro-environmental behaviour through the interplay between personal norms, subjective norms and behavioural intention.

This study on the relationship between SUPP low-consumption awareness and behaviour and mediating factors is a necessary foundation for future studies related to changing the behaviour of students using SUPPs. That will also be a solid foundation for practical plans to change behaviour using SUPPs through communication campaigns to increase awareness.

This article explores in a qualitative manner the motivations of women entrepreneurs who start and run ethnic food businesses in London.

Our approach is qualitative and deploys phenomenographical analysis of interview narratives around categories of motivation.

We find that women ethnic food entrepreneurs are driven by a combination of desire for self-actualisation, identity-maintenance and community considerations. We demonstrate that women ethnic food entrepreneurs often go against the logic of the market, and they do so not because they lack other options, but for reasons that have to do with their (self-)identification as women and professionals, their prerogatives as mothers and daughters, their ethnic heritage, their emplacement in urban and global communities and their need to contribute. Our findings enrich understanding of female-led ethnic food entrepreneurship not as a demanding, overall unproductive undertaking for women with no other options, but as a realm of inspiration, community engagement and female-led innovation.

Our main contributions are the qualitative interrogation of perceptions and experiences of identity and difference in urban entrepreneurship from the point of view of our interviewees; providing concrete empirical evidence for it through our sample and proposing an approach to thinking women-led ethnic food entrepreneurship as a vehicle for translating urban superdiversity into social interactions across barriers of difference. We speak to the field of women entrepreneurship studies but specifically to the understudied realm of women-led food entrepreneurship, and to the cross-disciplinary field of (im)migrant entrepreneurship.

This study aims to evaluate the knowledge structure of halal certification in food and beverages. The growth of the Muslim population and the expanding economic activities among the Muslim community have necessitated extensive and comprehensive halal certification, particularly in food and beverage products.

Through a science mapping approach, this study explores the knowledge structure based on past publications in food and beverages and its association with halal certification, logos and brands. Applying bibliographic coupling and co-word analysis, the present and future trends of halal certification in food and beverages are explored by presenting a network visualization to present the underlying themes and research streams.

The main finding from recent and emerging themes shows that the pivotal perspective is increasing consumers’ knowledge and awareness of halal-certified food products. Future trends stemming from the co-word analysis suggest the importance of exploring consumer halal food product determinants.

This study is relevant to stakeholders, scholars and practitioners, particularly in disseminating information and voice on the importance of halal-certified food products that are recognized as having better quality and contributing to environmental sustainability.

This was an explorative study, the purpose of which was to understand how Chinese flexitarians were motivated to reduce their animal-based food consumption and specifically to explore why and what was behind these changes. Further, this study provides insights into how a transition towards a more plant-based diet might occur.

This study conducted 30 in-depth online interviews with Chinese flexitarians from two major Chinese cities. Interview transcripts were analysed through the lens of the Food Choice Process Model.

Participants adopted flexitarian diets due to health (n = 22), sustainability (n = 5) or ethical (n = 3) concerns. Many participants stated that they still enjoyed animal-sourced foods, were uncomfortable talking about their dietary transition and needed more social support. Consequently, most participants were unlikely to progress to vegetarian or vegan diets. While there are some commonalities between these findings and the results of similar studies with Western consumers, the many culturally and context-specific results revealed herein make an important contribution to the sustainability literature.

This is the first study exploring Chinese consumers’ flexitarianism experiences. These findings can be used by the food industry and interested business actors to improve communication and promotional strategies that encourage consumers to make healthier and more sustainable food choices.