Gender differences in pro-environmental nutrition behavior among football fans

Abstract

AbstractConcerns about consequences of everyday nutrition have led to a gender gap in pro-environmental nutrition (PEN), implying that women decide more often to limit their meat consumption than men. For sport and football managers who increasingly deal with environmental sustainability while aiming to increase female audiences, the question arises of whether the gender gap in PEN also applies to football fans. Based on socialization theory, the safety-concerns hypothesis, ecofeminism, and a conceptual model on prosocial behavior, this study analyzed gender differences in environmental consciousness (EC) and everyday PEN and examined how gender moderates the impact of these two factors on the interest in vegan food in football stadiums. An online survey (n = 1605) of fans of a German Football League club was conducted to assess fans’ interest in the offer of a vegan sausage or burger. Empirical findings confirm the gender gap in EC. Women are significantly more likely to adopt PEN everyday if they have a high EC. Furthermore, women are significantly more likely to eat often/always a vegetarian diet everyday than men. Finally, women have a significantly higher interest in the offer of vegan food in the football stadium than men, irrespective of the EC level. Although we confirm the gender gap in EC and everyday PEN, sport managers learn from our findings that the growing female audience at football games is generally more interested in the availability of vegan food at the stadium than men are, irrespective of their EC or PEN in everyday life.