Comportamentos pró-ambientais de agregados familiares com crianças

Abstract

Agriculture is one of the most polluting sectors of the environment, due to the release of the greenhouse gases and the extensive need of energy, water and soil resources. However, organic farming emerges as a more sustainable alternative. Households with children are those that are most susceptible to changes towards pro-environmental behavior. The main objective of this research, inserted in the project "Healthy Soils for Healthy Food" (HSoil4Food) is to analyze the perceptions, behaviors and attitudes towards organic food of Portuguese consumers with children compared to those who do not have children in the household. In addition to this, the objectives of the present study are also to understanding whether the pattern of consumption of organic foods of participants changed from the moment they started to have children, which organic food products are most consumed, what is the perception and knowledge of consumers regarding organic agriculture and food and what attributes consumers prioritize in the moment of purchasing food. In order to meet the objectives, an online questionnaire was made to 295 Portuguese people, aged between 18 and 65 years old, in which 43.7% have children in the household. The analysis of the results concluded that consumers with children in household do not seem to have, in a significant way, a different perception and different behaviors associated with greater environmental awareness. However, at the time they had children they also changed the pattern of purchase of organic foods, since 47.3% of the Portuguese began to prefer to buy organic products. Understanding the pro-environmental behavior of Portuguese consumers with and without children is fundamental so that it is possible to increase pro-environmental literacy and access to more sustainable food.

Date of Award	3 Apr 2023
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Elisabete Pinto (Supervisor) & Patrícia Oliveira-Silva (Co-Supervisor)