Young People's Propensity to use Sustainability Labels on Food Products: A Case Study in the South of Italy

This study analyses young people’s awareness of and attitudes towards environmental sustainability labels on food products as a basis for suggesting recommendations to promote a more widespread use of such labels in the future. To achieve this aim, a survey was conducted on a sample of 400 university students in Naples (South of Italy). The data were processed in two different stages. First, we performed descriptive analysis to determine: (i) socio-demographic aspects; (ii) students’ propensity to read labels before consuming food products; (iii) the degree of knowledge regarding sustainability labels. A multivariate analysis approach was then implemented. We adopted a segmentation approach, performing factorial and cluster analysis to identify different segments of students based on their attitude to using sustainability labels.