Chapter 2. Methodology

The data for this study was collected in the eight Nordic-Baltic countries (Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) in August - September 2022 by means of an online questionnaire. The sample of respondents was recruited in collaboration with the market agency Norstat.

The questionnaires were translated to the national languages and translations were checked by native speakers before collecting the data.

Surveys are commonly used to assess individual perceptions and behaviour. Survey answers can be affected by social desirability, people’s bias in providing answers that would make them look good. Self-reported measures can be biased estimates of actual behaviour. However, for concepts that are difficult to observe such as the meanings that people attach to sustainability or their perceptions about sustainability issues, asking people directly is a commonly used way to gather such information. In surveys oftentimes, it is people’s interest in an object (e.g., sustainability label) or intention to engage in a behaviour that is assessed, and these motivations might not always translate in actual behaviour due to other factors with importance for individuals.

2.1 Participants

The target sample was representative per country in terms of age, gender, region and education, except in Iceland, where it was not possible to achieve representativeness. The questionnaire was targeted towards people between 18 and 75 years of age. Overall, there were about 600 participants per country, except in Iceland where there were only 109 participants.

Due to the issues in achieving a similar sample size and representativeness in Iceland as compared to the remaining countries, the results are focusing on the Nordic-Baltic countries excluding Iceland. Selected results for Iceland can be found in Chapter 8 as the sampling issues do not allow comparison with the remaining countries.

The median time it took respondents to complete the questionnaire was between 18 and 23 minutes. Respondents who answered the questionnaire in less than 6 minutes were excluded from the study (between 2 and 8 participants per country, none in Iceland), as that was considered too little time to go through the questions.

Table 1. Socio-demographic characteristics of respondents across countries

	Denmark	Finland	Norway	Sweden	Lithuania	Latvia	Estonia
Age (%)
18-39	37.9%	38.9%	40.7%	39.0%	36.4%	42.3%	41.7%
40-59	37.4%	35.8%	37.9%	36.1%	41.1%	36.2%	35.2%
60-75	24.8%	25.3%	21.5%	24.9%	22.5%	21.5%	23.1%
Gender (%)
Male	49.5%	49.9%	50.9%	50.2%	47.3%	44.8%	47.2%
Female	50.5%	50.1%	49.1%	49.8%	52.7%	55.2%	52.8%
Education (%)
Less than primary, primary and lower secondary education (levels 0-2)	25.4%	12.7%	20.5%	20.2%	6.3%	6.3%	11.4%
Upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education (levels 3 and 4)	40.2%	45.2%	39.2%	40.8%	51.6%	56.9%	49.7%
Tertiary education (levels 5-8)	34.2%	40.9%	39.2%	38.0%	41.8%	36.9%	38.4%
Place of residence (%)
Metropolitan or big city	52.3%	54.3%	47.6%	44.2%	55.7%	54.9%	45.9%
Small town or rural	47.7%	45.7%	52.4%	55.8%	44.3%	45.1%	54.1%
Perceived income level (%)
There is enough money to buy the foods I want	50.2%	40.4%	46.2%	59.5%	44.1%	33.6%	27.5%
There is some need to consider prices, which limits some choices when buying food	36.5%	37.5%	38.5%	30.6%	44.6%	48.9%	45.9%
There is a need to consider prices carefully, which limits many choices when purchasing food	13.3%	22.1%	15.3%	9.9%	11.3%	17.5%	26.5%
Number of adults in household (%)
1 adult	33.2%	41.5%	30.1%	26.9%	23.5%	19.0%	28.3%
2 adults	54.7%	51.6%	53.3%	58.3%	56.1%	60.5%	57.5%
3 or more adults	12.1%	6.9%	16.6%	14.9%	20.5%	20.5%	14.2%
Presence of children in household (%)
No children	77.1%	68.7%	68.3%	68.9%	62.2%	56.0%	61.1%
With children	22.9%	31.3%	31.7%	31.1%	37.8%	44.0%	38.9%
Diet style (%)
I never eat meat, fish, dairy products or eggs	0.7%	0.5%	0.2%	1.5%	0.2%	0.2%	0.3%
I never eat meat and fish	1.0%	2.3%	0.8%	1.8%	0.5%	1.2%	0.3%
I never eat meat, but eat fish	1.3%	2.8%	1.8%	1.5%	1.3%	1.8%	1.0%
Primarily I eat plant based, and low amounts of meat and moderate amounts of fish, eggs and dairy products	7.0%	13.2%	9.1%	9.1%	18.1%	19.2%	11.7%
Basically, I do not eat meat, but it happens at special occasions	2.5%	3.4%	1.8%	3.1%	1.7%	2.6%	2.4%
I eat no meat once or more days a week	34.6%	29.5%	52.7%	39.8%	36.9%	24.1%	32.4%
As a rule, I eat meat each day	53.0%	48.2%	33.7%	43.4%	41.3%	50.9%	51.8%

2.2 Questionnaire measures

The questionnaires consisted of one open-ended question in the beginning, and then a range of closed-ended questions regarding respondents’ understanding of sustainability in general and in food as well as background measures regarding motivation to process sustainability-related information and socio-demographics. The full questionnaire in English can be found in Appendix A.

Introduction

Introduction to the study and informed consent

Sustainability understanding in general

Associations with sustainability (open-ended)
Understanding of sustainability statements

Sustainability understanding in food

Ranking of sustainability dimensions
Food sustainability understanding statements
Ambiguity between sustainability dimensions
Sustainability understanding in product categories
Perception of sustainability of various food product categories (i.e., meat products, dairy products, fresh fruits and vegetables, sweet and savoury snacks)
Sustainability understanding in food products
Comparisons between products in terms of sustainability

Sustainability labelling and Hypothetical unified label perceptions

Interest in sustainability labels
Subjective knowledge regarding sustainability labelling
Attitude towards a hypothetical unified label
Willingness to use a hypothetical unified label

Motivation to process sustainability information

Socio-demographics

Country
Age
Gender
Education
Place of residency
Household size
Dietary habits
Economic status
Income

Table 2. Food sustainability understanding questionnaire overview