Sustainable by Choice: What Influences University Student Consumption of Local Products?

Authors

  • Adilah Md Ramli Universiti Malaysia Sabah

Keywords:

Sustainable, Attitudes factors, Consumer behaviour, Local food product

Abstract

The study aims to identify the factors influencing consumption of local sustainable food products. A survey was conducted involving 411 students using questionnaires. Descriptive statistics and Spearman’s Correlation were used for data analysis. 240 respondents exhibited high attitudes toward local sustainable food. The findings indicated that ethical labels on food packaging (  = 4.13 ± 0.18) and actual consumption (  = 4.21 ± 0.14) received the highest agreement. The correlation test revealed a significant positive relationship between all five attitude factors and consumption behaviour, indicating that local food producers should align their offerings with consumers preferences

Author Biography

Adilah Md Ramli, Universiti Malaysia Sabah

Foodservice department

References

Ahamad, N. R., & Ariffin, M. (2018). Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice towards sustainable consumption among university students in Selangor, Malaysia. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 16, 88-98.

Ahmed, T., Rahman, M. M., Aktar, M., Das Gupta, A., & Abedin, M. Z. (2023). The impact of economic development on environmental sustainability: evidence from the Asian region. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 25(4), 3523-3553.

Annunziata, A., & Scarpato, D. (2014). Factors affecting consumer attitudes towards food products with sustainable attributes. Agricultural Economics/Zemědělská Ekonomika, 60(8).

Aprile, M. C., & Punzo, G. (2022). How environmental sustainability labels affect food choices: Assessing consumer preferences in southern Italy. Journal of Cleaner Production, 332, 130046.

Azzurra, A., Massimiliano, A., & Angela, M. (2019). Measuring sustainable food consumption: A case study on organic food. Sustainable production and consumption, 17, 95-107.

Bauerné Gáthy, A., Kovácsné Soltész, A., & Szűcs, I. (2022). Sustainable consumption–examining the environmental and health awareness of students at the University of Debrecen. Cogent Business & Management, 9(1), 2105572

.

Burkert, M., Gil Roig, J. M., Rahmani, D., & Hüttl-Maack, V. (2023). The influence of green consumption values on how consumers form overall sustainability perceptions of food products and brands. Journal of Sustainable Marketing, 1-19.

Clonan, A., Holdsworth, M., Swift, J., & Wilson, P. (2010). UK consumers priorities for sustainable food purchases.

Dupuits, C., Mooney, E., & McCloat, A. (2024). Consumer Knowledge and Willingness Pertaining to the Adoption of a Sustainable Diet: A Scoping Review. Nutrients, 16(24), 4254.

Ganesh, A. P., Mohamed, M., Naba, A. A., & Jaafar, S. N. A. (2021) Consumers’ Knowledge, Attitude, Consumption, and Purchase Intention towards Green Foods in Selected Area in Selangor.

Jaafar, N. A. A., Sulaiman, N., Badari, S. A. Z., & Sabran, M. R. (2024) Sociodemographic Variations in Organic Food Consumption and Food Choice Motives among Malaysian Adults: A Study between Organic and Non-Organic Food Consumers.

Kalyana Sundram, L., & Matthew, N. K. (2025). Klang consumer’s willingness to pay (WTP) for Malaysian good agricultural practices (myGAP) certified vegetables. SAGE Open, 15(1), 21582440251318487

.

Lago, N. C., Marcon, A., Ribeiro, J. L. D., de Medeiros, J. F., Brião, V. B., & Antoni, V. L. (2020). Determinant attributes and the compensatory judgement rules applied by young consumers to purchase environmentally sustainable food products. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 23, 256-273.

Rasool, S., Cerchione, R., Salo, J., Ferraris, A., & Abbate, S. (2021). Measurement of consumer awareness of food waste: construct development with a confirmatory factor analysis. British Food Journal, 123(13), 337-361

.

Singh, A., & Verma, P. (2017). Factors influencing Indian consumers' actual buying behaviour towards organic food products. Journal of cleaner production, 167, 473-483.

Vargas, A. M., de Moura, A. P., Deliza, R., & Cunha, L. M. (2021). The role of local seasonal foods in enhancing sustainable food consumption: A systematic literature review. Foods, 10(9), 2206.

Downloads

Published

2025-07-28

How to Cite

Md Ramli, A. (2025). Sustainable by Choice: What Influences University Student Consumption of Local Products? . Environment-Behaviour Proceedings Journal, 10(33). Retrieved from https://ebpj.e-iph.co.uk/index.php/EBProceedings/article/view/7132

Most read articles by the same author(s)