Brock University: Graduate Student Research Sheds Light on Sustainable Consumer Choices

Sanjida Amin wants to know why consumers choose organic food and wine.

The Master of Sustainability candidate in Brock’s Environmental Sustainability Research Centre (ESRC) is moving into the third and final phase of her thesis research on the behaviour of consumers related to organic food in North America, working under the supervision of Associate Professor Todd Green in the Goodman School of Business and the ESRC and Professor Antonia Mantonakis in the Goodman School of Business and Brock’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute.

Amin’s previous studies, conducted online, involved organic tomatoes and chocolate, but she is now turning her attention to wine.

“The results of the three studies will provide important insights for marketers and decision-makers to develop strategies regarding communication messages in order to understand consumer response towards organic food products,” she says.

The study is taking place in the Physical, Augmented and Virtual Reality Consumer Lab, also know as R3CL, on the second floor of the Rankin Family Pavilion in the Brock LINC.

Participants must be 19 years of age or older to take part, even though the study does not involve tasting wine.

Instead, participants will look at bottles of wine and answer questions on their opinions and purchase behaviour, including their willingness to pay extra for wine that is organic.