Sustainable Agricultural Technologies of the Future: Determination of Adoption Readiness for Different Consumer Groups

Date
2024-11-01
Authors
Schnack, A
Bartsch, F
Osburg, VS
Errmann, A
Supervisor
Item type
Journal Article
Degree name
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Abstract

The rapid increase in population and unsustainable agricultural practices has significantly damaged the environment. Our study explores how to achieve food security through environmentally friendly methods such as controlled environment agriculture (CEA), genetic editing (GE), and farming automation (FA), with an emphasis on the importance of consumer acceptance of these technologies. Analyzing data from 2138 Australians and 1760 New Zealanders, we employ a two-step clustering method—(1) hierarchical clustering and (2) k-means clustering—to categorize consumers on the basis of their demographic and lifestyle preferences into three segments that capture differences in attitudes toward new agricultural technologies: “Green Urbanites,” “Environmentally Unconcerned,” and “Skeptical Foodie.” Our findings reveal that Green Urbanites are the most open to adopting CEA, GE, and FA, while Skeptical Foodies and Environmentally Unconcerned are more reluctant. We contribute to theory by studying a novel facet of consumer acceptance of sustainable technologies and revealing how consumption, living, and lifestyle patterns motivate new technology acceptance in the agricultural sector. To inform practice, we suggest tailored strategies to increase engagement of the identified segments and promote wider acceptance of sustainable agricultural practices for enhanced food security.

Description
Keywords
35 Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services , 3506 Marketing , 2 Zero Hunger , 10 Technology , 14 Economics , 15 Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services , Science Studies , 35 Commerce, management, tourism and services , 38 Economics
Source
Technological Forecasting and Social Change, ISSN: 0040-1625 (Print), Elsevier BV, 208, 123697-123697. doi: 10.1016/j.techfore.2024.123697
Rights statement
© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).