Barriers to Environmentally Sustainable Food Choice: Insights Using the COM-B Behaviour Change Framework and Transtheoretical Model of Behaviour Change

Consumers face increasing pressure to choose more environmentally sustainable foods and evidence-based behavioural interventions can support consumers in this task. This study seeks to provide insight into intervention design in the Australian context using two behavioural frameworks: the Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation Model of Behaviour Change (COM-B) and the Transtheoretical Model of Behaviour Change (TTM). Consumer data were collected through an online survey conducted by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) from November 2021 to February 2022 (n = 1307). Behavioural barriers affecting environmentally sustainable food choice (based on COM-B) were assessed, and chi-square tests of independence were used to identify barriers and other participant variables associated with different ‘stages of change’ (based on TTM). The top three barriers reported were: “know how to identify these food products” (n = 837, 64%); “have more information about these food products” (n = 640, 49%); and “have more access to these food products” (n = 614, 47%). Regarding intent to make environmentally sustainable food choices, the most common ‘stages of change’ were ‘Action’ (n = 573), ‘Maintenance’ (n = 411), and ‘Pre-Action’ (n = 266). These groups were found to be significantly associated with participant characteristics, including age, diet quality, and climate concern, as well as specific COM-B barriers. For example, Action-stage individuals were found to have a statistically significant and strong association with statements relating to product identification (χ2(2) = 43.54, p = 0.017, V = 0.19) and requiring more triggers to prompt action (χ2(2) = 28.67, p = 0.017, V = 0.15). Based on the presented findings, which were collected using a dual COM-B and TTM framework, a range of behaviour-stage tailored behavioural intervention approaches are discussed that may ease the consumer transition to more consistent environmentally sustainable food choices.