Consumer Perspectives on Bio-Based Products and Brands: A Regional Finnish Social Study with Future Consumers
Year of publication
2022
Authors
Kymäläinen, Tiina; Vehmas, Kaisa; Majaniemi, Sami; Vainio-Kaila, Tiina; Kangas, Heli
Abstract
This article presents a Finnish social design study that focuses on consumer perspectives and future expectations related to bio-based products and brands. The qualitative regional study addresses the global concern associated with sustainability of the bioeconomy. Because a gap in research was identified from the regional consumer perspective, the article presents a case study that was held with 50 consumers in Finland. The main research method was qualitative online focus group discussions, with an objective to gain an understanding of consumer behavior, motivations, concerns, and intentions related to bio-based products and brands. The results are presented according to the sustainability framework, which was constructed around four topics: (1) consumer awareness, (2) illustrated examples and their consumer acceptance, (3) consumption habits, and (4) future<br/>consumption behavior. The main findings indicate that Finnish consumers were extremely well informed on the bio-based concept, and they trusted domestic regional brands the most. Throughout the research, Nordic consumers highlighted the role of companies and urged sensible science-based communication on the sustainability aspects. Finally, the results led to consider how the valuesensitive consumer insights may be utilized by proposing prominent impact assessment methods for decision-making in both the business and consumer sectors.
Show moreOrganizations and authors
Publication type
Publication format
Article
Parent publication type
Journal
Article type
Original article
Audience
ScientificPeer-reviewed
Peer-ReviewedMINEDU's publication type classification code
A1 Journal article (refereed), original researchPublication channel information
Journal
Volume
14
Issue
6
Article number
3665
ISSN
Publication forum
Publication forum level
1
Open access
Open access in the publisher’s service
Yes
Open access of publication channel
Fully open publication channel
License of the publisher’s version
CC BY
Self-archived
No
Article processing fee (EUR)
1623
Year of payment for the open publication fee
2022
Other information
Fields of science
Business and management
Keywords
[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]
Language
English
International co-publication
No
Co-publication with a company
No
DOI
10.3390/su14063665
The publication is included in the Ministry of Education and Culture’s Publication data collection
Yes