The Approach of Social Practice Theory Towards Sustainable Food Consumption: An Analysis of a Questionnaire Survey on Purchasing Behavior

• Published in: Journal of Environmental Sociology Vol. 26; pp. 95 - 110
• Main Author: FUJIWARA, Natsumi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Japanese Association for Environmental Sociology 05.12.2020; 環境社会学会
• Subjects: Lost in Sustainability; Questionnaire Survey; Social Practice Theory; Sustainable Food Consumption; アンケート調査; サステナビリティ迷子; 持続可能な食消費; 社会的実践理論
• ISSN: 2434-0618
• DOI: 10.24779/jpkankyo.26.0_95

Several studies（Hirose 1995 ; Kollmuss and Agyeman 2002, etc.）have pointed out that although consumers’ attitudes towards sustainability have gradually become more positive, their behavior is not consistent with their attitudes. This circumstance is commonly referred to as the "attitude-behavior gap." As the name suggests, the gap concerns the attitudes and behavior of individuals.However, it is sometimes difficult to understand and account for inconsistencies in behavior, if we adopt a perspective focusing solely on individuals.A more promising way to understand this phenomenon has appeared as a new trend in sustainable consumption studies in sociology based on "social practice theory." Shove et al. （2012）consider consumption to be a "social practice" linking three elements, materials, meanings, and competences, from the perspective of the interaction between individuals and social structures, rather than from the perspective of individuals engaging in rational decision-making processes.The discussion of the research presented in this article, considers consumers who are inclined towards sustainable consumption, but who are not acting in accordance with their inclinations, in a state the article refers to as "lost in sustainability." The research employed a questionnaire survey and the results were analyzed based on social practice theory, in order to clarify the background and reasons why people become lost in sustainability, and to obtain suggestions for effective interventions leading to sustainable consumption in the future.As a result, the practice of purchasing sustainable agricultural products in Japan can be shown to have multiple elements which lead people to become lost in sustainability. Three elements focused on in this research are :（1）how to provide information（from the viewpoint of materials）,（2）recognition of sustainability in agricultural products（from the viewpoint of meanings）,（3）consumers’ lack of knowledge（from the viewpoint of competences）.The article demonstrates that the three elements are linked to each other, and lead people to become lost in sustainability through social practice. The article concludes that sustainable consumption would be better understood when viewed from the perspective of "lost in sustainability," rather than the "attitude-behavior gap."