Cited by 19Organic Food and AgricultureAgriculture Sustainability and Environmental ImpactConsumer Attitudes and Food Labeling

Perceptions of Vegan Food among Organic Food Consumers Following Different Diets

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Kilian, David, Hamm, Ulrich·2021·Sustainability

Abstract

This article identifies consumer segments for vegan food by analysing perceptions of vegan food among food organic consumers following different diets: vegans, vegetarians, former vegetarians, flexitarians, and omnivores. The analysis is based on responses to a quantitative consumer survey for which 503 participants were recruited from customers at German grocery stores by quota sampling according to diet and region. From the responses to an open-ended question eliciting the participants’ associations with vegan food, the analysis finds that vegans and vegetarians perceive vegan foods primarily as being beneficial for animal welfare, healthy, and environmentally friendly, while those who ate meat perceive vegan food primarily as containing no animal ingredients and as being healthy. The respondents’ varying assessments of the taste, diversity, and environmental benefits of vegan food were found to differ in relation to the various diets they followed, as did their assessments of how long the vegan trend is likely to last. A cluster analysis based on the consumers’ perceptions and attitudes revealed three consumer groups: “vegan fans”, “enjoyment sceptics”, and “originality-sceptics”. Scepticism about the originality of vegan food was found in all diet groups. These findings can help inform more effective targeting of consumer needs for vegan organic food.

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Crossref · 10.3390/su13179794

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  • The values of veganism play an important role in the transformation of tourism toward sustainability, with social media platforms often employed to promote vegan food choices available to tourists at a destination.

    “The values of veganism play an important role in this transformation of tourism toward sustainability (Kilian & Hamm, 2021;Niederle & Schubert, 2020) with social media platforms, such as Instagram, being often employed to promote vegan food choices available to tourists at a destination (Başol & Alvarez, 2024;Le Busque et al., 2022).”

    From Ethical Veganism as the Future of Tourist Consumption (2026) · cites this paper as Kilian & Hamm, 2021

    The Introduction describes vegan diets as particularly sustainable and says promoting vegan food can support a shift toward more sustainable diets. It does not address tourism or establish that veganism’s values play an important role in transforming tourism. The social-media clause is attached to other citations, not Kilian and Hamm. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. Oxford English Dictionary Online. Flexitarian, noun and adjective.; Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, 2019; Available online: www.oed.com/view/Entry/407583 (accessed on 26 August 2021).
  2. Kerschke-Risch, P. Vegan diet: Motives, approach and duration: Initial results of a quantitative sociologicalstudy. Ernahr. Umsch. 2015, 62, 98-103. [CrossRef] · DOI
  3. Cordts, A.; Spiller, A.; Nitzko, S.; Grethe, H.; Duman, N. Study image problems affect consumption carefree meat-eaters, flexitarian and vegetarians (for life). Fleischwirtschaft 2013, 93, 59-63.
  4. Hair, J.F. Multivariate Data Analysis: A Global Perspective, 7th ed.; Pearson: Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA, 2010; ISBN 9780135153093.

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Authors
Kilian, D., & Hamm, U.
Affiliations
University of Kassel (DE)
Corresponding author
Kilian, David
Venue
Sustainability
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2021-08-31
Volume
13
Issue
17
Pages
9794
ISSN
2071-1050 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3197276320
Cited by
19
References
92
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4
FWCI
1.65
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Sustainability (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Kobra (Universitätsbibliothek Kassel) (cc-by)
Funders
Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung (2815OE124)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Organic Food and Agriculture
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Consumer Attitudes and Food Labeling
Keywords
vegan food, organic food consumers, consumer perception, customer segmentation, vegetarian diet, flexitarianism, omnivores, animal welfare, environmental benefits, consumer skepticism, market targeting

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