Consumer value systems and insights into sustainable food behaviour across generational cohorts

This article aims to determine the hierarchy of consumers’ values belonging to three generational cohorts (X, Y, Z) and examine the strength of the link between the value system and sustainable eating habits. A quantitative survey utilising the CAWI technique was conducted among a representative sample of Polish Internet users aged 18–59 (N = 639). The empirical results indicate that societal security represents the primary value priority for Gen X and Gen Y, whereas benevolence-dependability holds the highest importance for Gen Z. Furthermore, sustainable food behaviours (meat reduction and food waste avoidance) exhibit stronger correlations with core value systems in younger generations than in Gen X, where routine and economic pragmatism dominate. Given that gender acts as a vital intragenerational differentiator, value-based marketing communications promoting sustainability should be highly tailored to these demographic variations.