Italian baby-boomers and ethical behavior: a qualitative research in the food and grocery Industry

• Autor(a) principal: Verga, Beatrice
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/69622
• topic: Ethical behaviour; Baby-boomers; Food shopping; Environmental concerns; Domínio/Área Científica::Ciências Sociais::Economia e Gestão

This study aims to explore the shopping behavior of Italian baby-boomers in the food and grocery industry and to assess if this behavior can be considered ethical. A qualitative methodology was used: semi-structured in-depth interviews have been conducted among 19 individuals, responsible for the grocery in their households. Results, analyzed based on the principles of grounded theory, suggested that the participants are generally loyal shoppers looking mainly for quality. Their behavior can be considered ethical and tends to be proenvironmental, respondents have in fact showed some concerns about the environment. However, the study highlighted a general lack of knowledge of the ethical issues in the food and grocery industry among Italian baby-boomers. Practical implications of this study can be considered by responsible corporations in order to target baby-boomers. Three major recommendations are made: a) make ethical products more straightforward, b) differentiate the marketing strategies c) communicate clearly the ethical practices adopted by the corporation.