In the BRIGADE project, information concerning what is considered socially, environmentally and ethically preferable food consumption structure and what are possible institutional constraints restricting sustainable food consumption is gathered both from experts and consumers.
Scenarios of possible food consumption structures will be developed. Scenarios will include for example possible foodstuffs and the role of organic products in future food consumption. Role of institutional constrainers and values concentrating in food consumption will be assessed in these scenarios. The scenarios will then be presented to another group of experts, who will give their opinions about them, after which the scenarios can be adjusted accordingly.
Consumers will be asked about their willingness and possibilities for influencing the future. Next, scenarios will be presented to consumer focus groups. They will be asked how the scenarios affect their level of interest in influencing the future with regard to food consumption. Also, their views on the possible value-action gap will be gathered. Further, this research will focus on finding recommendations for improvements in sustainable marketing practices that could promote sustainable food consumption patterns. This will be based on analysing: 1) current methods used to promote sustainable food consumption in Finland based on theme interviews with Finnish food marketers 2) value-action gap in food consumption using information from Delphi expert panels and consumer focus group discussions, and 3) link between expressed consumer values and values promoted in food advertisements using content analysis.
The project is coordinated by University of Jyväskylä, School of Business and Economics and the project leader is Professor Hanna-Leena Pesonen. In Turku School of Economics and Business Administration project is led by Professor Markku Wilenius from the Finland Futures Research Centre. Third partner in the project is National Consumer Research Centre. Duration of the project is 1.1.2006-31.12.2009 and it is funded by Academy of Finland.
Further information:
> Finland Futures Research Centre