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Australian Consumers’ Perceptions of Environmental and Agricultural Threats: The Associations of Demographic and of Psychographic Variables

Received: 13 December 2013     Published: 30 January 2014
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Abstract

Currently little is known about the ways consumers perceive the issues and threats facing the agricultural sector. Understanding of the sector among the general community is important for its continued economic, social and environmental sustainability. Therefore we conducted an on-line survey among 1026 respondents drawn from each State and Territory in Australia. Initial examination of the responses showed most respondents held protectionist views about issues such as coal seam gas mining, imported food products and subsidies for agriculture and were aware of environmental and other threats. There were few city-country differences. Tertiary educated respondents tended to hold firmer opinions and more laissez-faire views than other respondents. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed two threat dimensions, one relating to threats to soil quality, the other about pollution and the survival of native animals. Stepwise multiple regression analyses of these dimensions showed that universalist values and trust in independent scientific information sources were positively associated with threat perceptions. The findings suggest that consumers generally are aware of agricultural issues, particularly those who hold strong universalist values. The respondents’ views of policy issues diverge in several respects from prevailing views of economic orthodoxy. Future consumer communication and research opportunities are discussed.

Published in American Journal of Environmental Protection (Volume 3, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.12
Page(s) 10-18
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Agriculture, Environment, Consumers, Survey, Australia

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Anthony Worsley, Wei Wang, Stacey Ridley. (2014). Australian Consumers’ Perceptions of Environmental and Agricultural Threats: The Associations of Demographic and of Psychographic Variables. American Journal of Environmental Protection, 3(1), 10-18. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.12

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    ACS Style

    Anthony Worsley; Wei Wang; Stacey Ridley. Australian Consumers’ Perceptions of Environmental and Agricultural Threats: The Associations of Demographic and of Psychographic Variables. Am. J. Environ. Prot. 2014, 3(1), 10-18. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.12

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    AMA Style

    Anthony Worsley, Wei Wang, Stacey Ridley. Australian Consumers’ Perceptions of Environmental and Agricultural Threats: The Associations of Demographic and of Psychographic Variables. Am J Environ Prot. 2014;3(1):10-18. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.12,
      author = {Anthony Worsley and Wei Wang and Stacey Ridley},
      title = {Australian Consumers’ Perceptions of Environmental and Agricultural Threats: The Associations of Demographic and of Psychographic Variables},
      journal = {American Journal of Environmental Protection},
      volume = {3},
      number = {1},
      pages = {10-18},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajep.20140301.12},
      abstract = {Currently little is known about the ways consumers perceive the issues and threats facing the agricultural sector. Understanding of the sector among the general community is important for its continued economic, social and environmental sustainability.  Therefore we conducted an on-line survey among 1026 respondents drawn from each State and Territory in Australia. Initial examination of the responses showed most respondents held protectionist views about issues such as coal seam gas mining, imported food products and subsidies for agriculture and were aware of environmental and other threats. There were few city-country differences. Tertiary educated respondents tended to hold firmer opinions and more laissez-faire views than other respondents. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed two threat dimensions, one relating to threats to soil quality, the other about pollution and the survival of native animals. Stepwise multiple regression analyses of these dimensions showed that universalist values and trust in independent scientific information sources were positively associated with threat perceptions. The findings suggest that consumers generally are aware of agricultural issues, particularly those who hold strong universalist values. The respondents’ views of policy issues diverge in several respects from prevailing views of economic orthodoxy. Future consumer communication and research opportunities are discussed.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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    T1  - Australian Consumers’ Perceptions of Environmental and Agricultural Threats: The Associations of Demographic and of Psychographic Variables
    AU  - Anthony Worsley
    AU  - Wei Wang
    AU  - Stacey Ridley
    Y1  - 2014/01/30
    PY  - 2014
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.12
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.12
    T2  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
    JF  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
    JO  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
    SP  - 10
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5699
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20140301.12
    AB  - Currently little is known about the ways consumers perceive the issues and threats facing the agricultural sector. Understanding of the sector among the general community is important for its continued economic, social and environmental sustainability.  Therefore we conducted an on-line survey among 1026 respondents drawn from each State and Territory in Australia. Initial examination of the responses showed most respondents held protectionist views about issues such as coal seam gas mining, imported food products and subsidies for agriculture and were aware of environmental and other threats. There were few city-country differences. Tertiary educated respondents tended to hold firmer opinions and more laissez-faire views than other respondents. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed two threat dimensions, one relating to threats to soil quality, the other about pollution and the survival of native animals. Stepwise multiple regression analyses of these dimensions showed that universalist values and trust in independent scientific information sources were positively associated with threat perceptions. The findings suggest that consumers generally are aware of agricultural issues, particularly those who hold strong universalist values. The respondents’ views of policy issues diverge in several respects from prevailing views of economic orthodoxy. Future consumer communication and research opportunities are discussed.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 1
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Author Information
  • Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research, Deakin University

  • Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research, Deakin University

  • Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research, Deakin University

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