The weekly/daily, however you do it, shop is a huge struggle. Not only are you trying to resist the urge to buy 10 packets of Hobnobs and a five kilos of cheese and call that dinner for the next week, there's also the decision of what kind of produce to buy: do you go organic? Fair trade? Value? Vegan?
However new research published in Journal of Marketing Management, shows that us young people aren't actually shopping ethically in the supermarket. According to the survey, ethical shoppers are more likely to be middle aged, with young people and old people less likely to buy fair-trade and organic produce. This created a 'curvilinear' relationship between age and the likelihood of buying them. Men and women were found to be equally ethical.
As well as that researchers said that whilst young people talked a lot about buying ethical goods, this didn’t translate into actions. Basically, we're all chat. Accoring to the Western Daily Press, researcher Professor Morrell, said that ‘The findings may reflect that both younger and older consumers have less disposable income, especially as fairtrade and organic goods are often more expensive.’
‘Our work shows that values play an important part in how many consumers shop, with many aware that their buying habits can have a direct impact on people's working conditions or the environment,’ he went on. ‘We know a lot of decision-making in supermarkets is almost sub-conscious and so ethical shopping could be enhanced by useful visual cues and subtle features in the layout of the store that could align with these values.’
Organic and fair trade products are invariably more expensive, but there are actually ways to eat organically without hammering your overdraft. You can also be more mindful of the kind of food you're buying and the quantity – rather than buying bulk just because its cheap and eventually having to throw it away, buy less food that's better quality and make it go further.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.