Going from attitude to action: Analyzing how the orientations of sustainable food businesses influence their business strategies

Abstract

AbstractFollowing an increasing interest in sustainable food systems, businesses have begun to look for ways to incorporate sustainability practices into their business models and strategies. However, the ability to follow through with their ambitions is obstructed by the attitude–behavior gap, a phenomenon that refers to the discrepancy between a decision‐maker's attitudes and beliefs and their resulting actions. This research studies the attitudes (including motives and intentions) of food‐related businesses in Thailand and their subsequent business decisions by conducting semi‐structured interviews with companies of varying sizes and types. The aim is to analyze possible gaps between attitudes and behaviors along the value chain management and explore relevant business practices. This study categorizes firms into profit, performance, and partnership orientations towards sustainability and concludes that different orientations result in differing degrees of attitude–behavior gap and divergent business strategies. Furthermore, business strategies in various markets are proposed to transition between sustainability orientations.