From diet to behaviour: exploring environmental- and animal-conscious behaviour among Austrian vegetarians and vegans

Abstract

Purpose: Vegetarian and vegan dietary practices have recently moved from being marginal activities to occupying a more mainstream position. While the reasons for this have been analysed by many researchers, the extent to which the underlying motives may influence other behavioural contexts remains relatively unexplored. The present research thus analyses the degree to which vegetarians and vegans also act in an environmental and animal-conscious manner. Design/methodology/approach: A self-administered survey was conducted among omnivores, conscientious omnivores, vegetarians and vegans in Austria. The research design is embedded in an extended version of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). A mixed-mode sampling strategy resulted in 556 completed surveys. Findings: The TPB correlation analysis shows that there are significant relations between dietary motives, subjective norms, attitudes, behavioural intentions and the behaviour in question. When considering all dietary groups, the results indicate that the differentiation in behaviour is impacted by dietary identity: the stricter the diet, the stronger the behaviour related to animal-wellbeing and environmental protection. Originality/value: First, this research evaluated motivational drivers through a pairwise comparison, which resulted in strength factors instead of single motivational driver. Second and foremost, this research draws a connection between dietary categories and the wider behavioural implications related to these identities and their underlying motivational drivers.