Consumers' literacy and preferences for sustainability labels: An exploratory analysis on Italian young adults

Abstract: Activists and policy makers strongly encourage consumers to act as responsible citizens when purchasing everyday products. Accordingly, retailers and brands are competing on the market introducing a plethora of sustainability labels that should address increasing customer demand. Nevertheless, the usefulness of these labelling schemes in aiding consumers to make informed purchase decisions is still heavily debated. Results of a survey on Italian young consumers (N = 500) reveal low levels of individuals’ familiarity with sustainability labels and highlight that several socio-demographic characteristics and food habits have a significant impact on consumers’ knowledge of these labels. Keywords: sustainability labels; consumers; multivariate probit; Italy.