Investigating the intention to reduce palm oil consumption

Palm oil is well known to be a versatile and multi-purpose vegetable oil with products ranging from food to cosmetics and fuel, yet there are a lot of concerns surrounding its production and consumption. As a matter of fact, since the nineties a debate has flourished about the possible negative effects of the accelerated growth of palm oil production and consumption, and three types of risks have been identified by the researches: environmental, health and social risks. Several contributions have underlined the destruction of rainforests in Indonesia and Malaysia, the negative social impacts of palm oil production due to, labour abuses and gender discrimination, and finally, the health impact of palm oil. The present paper has studied this complex issue from a consumer point of view analysing the effect of two kinds of factors on consumers' intention to reduce the consumption of food products containing palm oil. By means of a regression model, the study explored the influences of objective factors, already identified by researchers as influential in relation to novel food consumption, green and ethical consumerism, and controversial products. Similarly, also the effect of individual beliefs, which are psychological latent variables have been considered, namely the effects of palm oil consumption on human health; the effect of palm oil consumption on the environment and, finally, the effect in term of social inequalities. Results suggest that consumers are almost concerned by the negative consequences that consuming palm oil could determine for one’s own health and environment, whereas they are less concerned about the possible social negative consequences. Moreover, the study adds new empirical evidences about the role of egoistic vs. altruistic motivations in green consumerism and sustainable food consumption.