Policy and Practice
Public Acceptance and Sustainability Perceptions of Food Produced with Innovative Weed Control Measures View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Rita Saleh
The present study investigates public acceptance and perceptions of the economic, environmental, and social sustainability of food produced with different weed control measures, namely traditional full-surface herbicide spraying and the use of herbicide-reduction and herbicide-free technologies. An online survey with a within-subject design was conducted with 485 respondents from the French- and German-speaking parts of Switzerland. Acceptance of food produced using the investigated measures and the social, economic, and environmental sustainability perceptions were assessed for full-surface herbicide spraying, herbicide reduction via the use of precision technologies (spot spraying and precise spraying), and herbicide removal via the use of a mechanical technology (hoeing machine). The importance of naturalness of food, chemophobia, perceptions of farmers, and sociodemographic variables were also recorded. The results reveal distinct trade-offs between the social, economic, and environmental sustainability perceptions of the investigated weed control measures, indicating that consumers assess the impacts of the measures based on their type (i.e., chemical, digital, and mechanical). Moreover, naturalness and sustainability perceptions, and thus acceptance of food produced, were significantly higher for herbicide-free and herbicide-reduction measures than for full-surface herbicide spraying. Among the herbicide-reduction measures, precise spraying was significantly perceived as more natural, sustainable, and acceptable than spot spraying. Overall, the findings suggest that communicating information on the type of weed control measure used, the quantity of herbicide applied, and the precision of the spraying technique might help increase public acceptance of plant protection measures applied by farmers and promote sustainability.
Generation Z's Loyalty to Sustainable Business Practices and Its Influence on Purchasing Behavior and Loyalty View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Samantha Bietsch, Sheila Viteri, Jennifer Egrie
This study aims to best understand the extent of Generation Z's loyalty to sustainable business practices and its influence on purchasing behavior and loyalty. This paper contributes to a better understanding of consumer behavior, particularly as it relates to Generation Z, and helps to encourage sustainable business practices. This paper also helps business professionals understand the newest generation entering the workforce. This research analyzes the current literature on sustainability as it influences Generation Z's shopping and loyalty behavior. It then makes conclusions and recommendations for best business practices given the information analyzed.
Identifying Power Dynamics among Actors of Strategic Environmental Assessment View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Margarida Pereira, Alexandra Polido
The Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) process is shaped by power dynamics that challenge the balance of good governance and stakeholders’ roles and participation. SEA includes actors from civil society, private and public organizations, from local to national level, that might be classified as decision-makers, practitioners, intermediate decision-makers or specific stakeholders. Each group of actors has a role and responsibility in SEA. The establishment of power relations among different actors hinders decision-making. However, the implications of such power dynamics are unclear, as well as the extent of its impact on SEA outcomes. Moreover, it is known that the different objectives, resources and knowledge of the actors might be an obstacle in pursuing of SEA purposes. In this study, a document analysis of four SEA reports was conducted, to identify the SEA actors, their roles and input to the report. SEA reports were analyzed for the type of information used, sources of information, guidelines used, assessment topics, methods used in the assessment, and public participation outcomes and integration. The results were inconclusive in determining the structures and power relations within the case-studies, mostly due to the lack of information. Among the information lacking in some reports are the sources of data and other relevant metadata that would aid a better understanding of the role of data ownership in the outcome of SEA. More transparency is needed to understand better power relations and their impact on SEA (in)effectiveness. This work is funded by Portuguese national funds through FCT (Ref. 2022.05161.PTDC).
