Although previous studies have explored green involvement, health, and environmental awareness in isolation, there remains a critical gap in understanding how lifestyle factors such as sport and leisure involvement moderate these relationships (Ihle et al, 2024; Niu et al, 2024). This study proposes that lifestyle identity—reflected through sport and leisure engagement—may function as a motivational amplifier that conditions the strength of psychological predictors of sustainable food attitudes and intentions.

Accordingly, this study seeks to address the following research question:

How does sport and leisure involvement moderate the effects of green involvement, health awareness, and environmental awareness on attitudes and purchase intentions toward sustainable food?

Building on the identified research gap and the theoretical frameworks outlined above, this study seeks to empirically investigate the psychological and contextual mechanisms that influence sustainable food consumption. Specifically, the research aims to unpack how key antecedents—namely green involvement, health awareness, and environmental awareness—interact with lifestyle factors to shape consumer attitudes and behavioral intentions.

To answer this question, the study proposes three main objectives:

1. To examine the influence of green involvement, health awareness, and environmental awareness on sustainable food attitudes.

2. To assess the effect of sustainable food attitudes on purchase intentions.

3. To explore whether sport and leisure involvement moderates the relationships between psychological antecedents and sustainable food attitudes and intentions.

The study adopts a multidimensional perspective rooted in the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1991), while drawing on the Health Belief Model (Rosenstock, 1974) and Norm Activation Model (Jaffar and Latiff, 2024) to capture health-related and moral drivers. The integration of lifestyle segmentation builds on the Attitude–Behavior–Context (ABC) theory (Guagnano et al, 1995), positioning lifestyle as a contextual force shaping behavior.

In light of the rising complexity of consumer decision-making in the sustainable food domain, it is increasingly important for research to adopt integrative frameworks that reflect the interplay of values, identity, and lifestyle. Existing literature has predominantly focused on isolated predictors of green consumption, often overlooking the nuanced ways in which psychological antecedents interact with contextual and lifestyle variables. Against this backdrop, the present study makes a timely and meaningful contribution by offering a multi-layered approach that connects individual-level motivations with lifestyle segmentation.

This study contributes to the growing literature on sustainable consumer behavior in four key ways:

1. Integration of Psychological Antecedents: It unifies green involvement, health awareness, and environmental awareness into a comprehensive model, providing a more nuanced understanding of sustainable food attitudes.

2. Lifestyle-Based Moderation: It introduces sport and leisure involvement as a novel moderating variable, capturing lifestyle differences that influence how psychological drivers operate across consumer segments.

3. Clarification of Conceptual Distinctions: The study distinguishes between environmental awareness (cognitive) and environmental concern (affective), addressing a long-standing ambiguity in sustainability research.

4. Strategic Implications for Sustainable Marketing: By identifying high-involvement consumer subgroups (e.g., fitness-conscious individuals), this study offers actionable insights for green marketing strategies and sustainability policy design.

In sum, this research advances the theoretical and practical understanding of sustainable food consumption by embedding psychological and lifestyle dynamics within an integrated framework. It responds to calls for segmentation approaches that move beyond demographics toward psychographic and activity-based profiles, offering a richer understanding of when and why consumers choose sustainable food.

The remainder of this paper is organized as follows: Section 2 reviews the relevant literature and proposes the conceptual framework. Section 3 outlines the research design and methodology. Section 4 presents the empirical results. Section 5 discusses the key findings in relation to theoretical and practical implications. Section 6 concludes the paper with a summary of key findings, implications, and suggestions for future research.

Green involvement refers to an individual’s cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement with environmental issues, encompassing preferences for eco-friendly products, support for sustainable practices, and participation in environmental advocacy (Matthes et al, 2014). It reflects the extent to which sustainability values are internalized and expressed through daily consumption behaviors. Consumers with high green involvement often favor products with eco-certifications, avoid over-packaging, and remain loyal to brands that demonstrate a genuine commitment to sustainability (González-Viralta et al, 2023). These behaviors frequently extend beyond purchasing to include environmental advocacy and participation in corporate responsibility campaigns (Chen et al, 2024).

From the value-belief-norm (VBN) perspective, green involvement is interpreted as an activated personal norm shaped by biospheric and altruistic values. This normative orientation leads to actions such as waste reduction, plant-based diets, and support for organic agriculture. Importantly, this form of involvement often reflects a convergence of environmental and health concerns. Environmentally engaged consumers frequently choose organic or chemical-free products not only to reduce ecological harm but also to avoid potential health risks (Gubricka et al, 2023), reinforcing a dual consciousness that integrates planetary and personal well-being (Castellini et al, 2023).

Recent studies further suggest that this green-health synergy operates through behavioral spillover effects—where environmental motivations reinforce health consciousness, particularly among younger consumers who see eco-friendly practices as both ethically sound and physically beneficial (Hafeez et al, 2023; Salameh et al, 2021). Concurrently, green involvement is also a key antecedent of environmental awareness, promoting value internalization and ecological information-seeking (Nguyen et al, 2023; González-Viralta et al, 2023). Such moral engagement fosters heightened personal relevance and urgency toward environmental issues (Gao et al, 2021).

In summary, green involvement functions as a foundational driver of sustainability-oriented consumption. It not only shapes product preferences but also enhances both health and environmental awareness by embedding sustainability into identity and lifestyle.

H1: Green involvement positively influences health awareness.

H2: Green involvement positively influences environmental awareness.

Recent developments in behavioral models have expanded TPB by integrating ecological concern and perceived consumer effectiveness, thereby improving its predictive validity in sustainable food choices (Mouloudj et al, 2025; Liu and McCarthy, 2023). These extensions emphasize the role of health awareness in shaping sustainable attitudes and behaviors.

According to HBM, individuals are more likely to adopt health-promoting behaviors when they perceive personal vulnerability and believe that specific actions—such as consuming healthier foods—can mitigate health risks (Rosenstock, 1974). Health-conscious consumers thus gravitate toward organic, minimally processed foods free from synthetic additives, which are associated with enhanced immunity, energy levels, and disease prevention (Castellini et al, 2023).

Sustainable food options—often organic, locally sourced, or non-GMO—commonly referred to as GOM (Green/Organic/Minimal-processed) foods—closely align with these health priorities. Health-aware individuals tend to view these products not only as nutritionally superior but also as ethically sound, given their associations with reduced chemical exposure, animal welfare, and transparent sourcing (Do Paco et al, 2019). This convergence of personal wellness and ecological responsibility enhances the appeal of sustainable food choices.

Under the TPB framework, health awareness informs behavioral beliefs—namely, expectations that healthy consumption yields positive life outcomes such as vitality, longevity, and quality of life. These beliefs are reinforced by social networks and value-based communities that encourage health-conscious behavior.

Supporting this view, recent empirical evidence indicates that health-aware consumers increasingly associate sustainable food with holistic well-being, including disease prevention and sustained energy (Sun et al, 2023). TPB extensions further confirm that health values influence not only product preference but also intention formation, particularly in societies undergoing dietary transitions (Kim et al, 2022; Contreras-Manzano et al, 2024).

In sum, health awareness significantly shapes sustainable food attitudes by integrating individual health concerns with broader ethical and environmental considerations.

H3: Health awareness positively influences sustainable food attitude.

Environmental awareness encompasses an individual’s cognitive understanding of ecological challenges—such as climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss—along with a sense of moral responsibility to respond through sustainable actions (Kayani et al, 2023). It is essential to distinguish awareness (knowledge-based evaluation) from concern (emotion-driven urgency); this study focuses on awareness as the rational and cognitive foundation for sustainable food choices (Abdelhady et al, 2021).

Both direct experiences (e.g., environmental volunteering) and indirect channels (e.g., education, media, and public campaigns) contribute to the formation of environmental awareness, which in turn increases the likelihood of pro-environmental behaviors (Kollmuss and Agyeman, 2002). Green involvement, as discussed earlier, plays a critical role in nurturing environmental awareness by encouraging daily eco-friendly actions that reinforce personal accountability (Castellini et al, 2023).

In the context of food consumption, environmental awareness leads individuals to reject industrial food systems characterized by high environmental costs and to favor alternatives such as organic, local, or plant-based foods (Liang et al, 2024). These choices are increasingly seen not as mere lifestyle expressions but as ethical imperatives.

Recent study shows that environmental awareness enhances sustainable food attitudes by increasing both cognitive evaluation and moral sensitivity to the environmental consequences of consumption (Pfeiffer et al, 2021). Consumers with high environmental awareness are more likely to adopt sustainable dietary practices—such as plant-based eating or reduced food waste—as a form of ecological responsibility (Culliford and Bradbury, 2020; Venter de Villiers et al, 2024; Verain et al, 2021).

In conclusion, environmental awareness provides a vital cognitive and ethical basis for forming positive attitudes toward sustainable food.

H4: Environmental awareness positively influences sustainable food attitude.

Sustainable food attitude refers to consumers’ evaluations of food produced in environmentally responsible and ethically sound ways (Rusyani et al, 2021). These attitudes are shaped by deeply held values and lifestyle preferences that emphasize both personal health and ecological sustainability. According to the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), such attitudes are informed by behavioral beliefs—such as the belief that sustainable food consumption generates both individual and societal benefits (Ajzen, 1991; Mouloudj et al, 2025).

Recent literature identifies three primary antecedents that shape sustainable food attitudes:

• Health awareness, which drives preferences for natural, minimally processed foods associated with disease prevention and vitality (Castellini et al, 2023; Sun et al, 2023).

• Environmental awareness, which motivates consumers to reject industrial agricultural practices and support eco-friendly alternatives (Liang et al, 2024; Culliford and Bradbury, 2020).

• Green involvement, which fosters increased attention to eco-labels and encourages decisions aligned with personal environmental values (Chen et al, 2024).

In addition, green trust—defined as belief in the credibility and transparency of sustainability claims—plays a moderating role. Prior work has shown that consumer trust in organic and sustainable claims reinforces both environmental and health motivations in purchase decision-making (Lazaroiu et al, 2019). When consumers perceive authenticity and consistency in brand messages, their attitudes toward sustainable food tend to be more favorable (Do Paco et al, 2019).

Among these factors, green involvement has been shown to be particularly influential. It reinforces eco-centric identity and enhances the perceived congruence between consumer values and product attributes (Kamboj et al, 2022). Highly involved consumers not only pay close attention to environmental indicators such as certifications and origin labels, but also develop stronger emotional and moral attachments to sustainability principles (Nguyen et al, 2023).

Furthermore, demographic factors such as age and cultural context also shape sustainable food attitudes. For example, Kowalska et al. (2021) found that young consumers in both Poland and the United Kingdom exhibit favorable perceptions of organic food and report corresponding purchasing behaviors, emphasizing the role of generational and regional influences in green consumption.

In summary, sustainable food attitude is a multidimensional construct rooted in ethical identity, environmental values, and health motivations. It serves as a critical bridge between personal beliefs and sustainable consumption behaviors.

H5: Green involvement positively influences sustainable food attitude.

Sustainable food purchase intention refers to an individual’s willingness to buy food products that align with environmental, health, and ethical standards. It reflects a broader commitment to values such as climate responsibility, animal welfare, and personal well-being (Ajzen, 1991; Lin and Niu, 2018; Niu et al, 2024).

Under the TPB framework, purchase intention is shaped by three elements: attitude toward the behavior, perceived social norms, and perceived behavioral control. When consumers believe that purchasing sustainable food contributes meaningfully to both personal health and ecological goals, their intention to act increases (Dangelico and Pontrandolfo, 2010; Niu et al, 2024).

Empirical evidence suggests that sustainable food is often perceived as both safe and socially responsible, particularly among younger, educated, and health-conscious consumers (Kowalska et al, 2024). However, the well-documented attitude–behavior gap persists, in which favorable attitudes do not always translate into actual purchasing behavior. Barriers contributing to this gap include:

• High price sensitivity.

• Skepticism toward green claims or labels.

• Limited product availability.

• Perceived inconvenience or effort.

To bridge this gap, scholars recommend interventions such as behavioral nudges, clearer label transparency, and stronger social norm reinforcement (e.g., peer endorsements or community validation) (Liu and McCarthy, 2023). Moreover, enhancing consumers’ perceived behavioral control—by improving access, affordability, and product visibility—has been shown to align intention more closely with action.

Among all predictive variables, attitude consistently emerges as the strongest determinant of sustainable food purchase intention, especially when reinforced by behavioral control and social support (Kowalska et al, 2024; Liu and McCarthy, 2023; Niu et al, 2024). Furthermore, attitude persistence—the ability of values to withstand external challenges such as price or product limitations—plays a critical role in maintaining intention over time (Nanu and Rahman, 2023; Niu et al, 2024).

H6: Sustainable food attitude positively influences sustainable food purchase intention.

H7: Green involvement positively influences sustainable food purchase intention.

Sport and leisure involvement refers to individuals’ engagement in physical and recreational activities that reflect a health-oriented and active lifestyle (Kim et al, 2021). This includes both structured activities (e.g., gym training, yoga classes) and informal pursuits (e.g., hiking, cycling), which are closely associated with personal wellness and energy maintenance.

Numerous studies have found that individuals with high sport and leisure involvement tend to be more nutritionally aware and prefer foods perceived as natural, functional, and performance-enhancing (Liu and McCarthy, 2023; Venter de Villiers et al, 2024). For example, endurance athletes may favor organic proteins or energy-dense whole foods, while outdoor sports enthusiasts often develop a stronger emotional bond with nature. This ecological connection can reinforce environmental awareness and increase preference for sustainable food (Kowalska et al, 2024).

However, this relationship is not homogeneous. Some sport-involved individuals may prioritize performance efficiency or convenience over sustainability. For instance, bodybuilders might prefer high-protein processed products for their utility, even if they conflict with environmental principles (Grosso and Turco, 2025).

Therefore, sport and leisure involvement may moderate the effect of health awareness on sustainable food attitude. Consumers with strong value–health integration are more likely to translate awareness into sustainable preferences, whereas those driven by performance or aesthetic goals may not.

This segmentation perspective highlights the nuanced impact of lifestyle factors on consumption behavior. While some physically active individuals align food choices with sustainability values, others do not, resulting in a fragmented relationship (Su et al, 2022; Grosso and Turco, 2025).

H8: Sport and leisure involvement moderates the relationship between health awareness and sustainable food attitude.

Sustainable consumption has transitioned from a peripheral concern in environmental psychology and consumer behavior to a central strategic imperative in business management. Amid increasing demands for ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) disclosure, supply chain compliance, and brand differentiation, firms now view consumer sustainability behaviors as a source of competitive advantage (Gubricka et al, 2023).

This study contributes to this strategic conversation by demonstrating that consumer lifestyle segmentation—specifically sport and leisure involvement—can shape green food purchase intentions. These insights offer valuable implications for product positioning, market entry strategies, and sustainability communication. In particular, sustainable brand management has been identified as critical in enhancing food consumers’ willingness to support green labels and certifications (Majerova et al, 2020).

The findings are also consistent with the Resource-Based View (RBV) and Dynamic Capabilities Theory, which emphasize the strategic value of intangible assets. Health and environmental values held by consumers can be transformed into organizational resources such as green brand trust, supply chain transparency, and third-party certifications—all of which are difficult for competitors to replicate and can contribute to sustained differentiation (Kayani et al, 2023; Alkaraan et al, 2024).

Recent research further underscores the importance of aligning product innovation with health-based motivations. For example, Kowalska et al. (2024) found that attitudes toward functional beverages are heavily influenced by perceived health benefits and lifestyle fit—findings echoed in this study’s results regarding green food. Such insights enable companies to craft functionally aligned, value-driven marketing strategies for health- and sport-oriented consumers.

This study addresses three strategic challenges facing modern firms:

1. ESG Disclosure and Brand Trust: Sustainable food consumption provides tangible proof of environmental commitment, enhancing brand credibility and fulfilling ESG requirements (Springmann et al, 2021).

2. Supply Chain Compliance: Transparent labeling and certified sustainable practices (e.g., organic or carbon footprint labels) improve both regulatory compliance and consumer confidence (Venter de Villiers et al, 2024; Verain et al, 2021).

3. Market Differentiation: Targeting low-involvement consumers with emotional, value-based messages, while appealing to high-involvement consumers through performance-aligned and functional benefits, enables more effective segmentation strategies (Kim et al, 2021).

In conclusion, sustainable consumption should not be viewed merely as a branding initiative or a component of corporate social responsibility. Rather, it represents a strategic fulcrum for business transformation, stakeholder alignment, and long-term competitiveness. By integrating consumer lifestyle variables into strategic planning, firms can unlock deeper behavioral insights and build meaningful engagement with sustainability-oriented consumers.

This study recruited adult participants residing in Taiwan, aged between 18 and 79 years, all of whom were required to have sufficient disposable income to ensure purchasing capability relevant to the study’s focus on green/sustainable food consumption. A total of 577 questionnaires were distributed using a non-probability, convenience sampling method, primarily through online platforms and community-based networks. This approach was selected for its practicality and accessibility, enabling the researchers to reach a diverse consumer base with varying degrees of experience in green consumption.

Although convenience sampling does not involve randomization and may limit the generalizability of the findings, it is a widely accepted method in exploratory consumer behavior studies (Etikan et al, 2016). To mitigate potential sampling bias, the study intentionally targeted a heterogeneous participant pool across age groups, educational levels, and lifestyle profiles, including both experienced and inexperienced green consumers.

After excluding 44 incomplete or invalid responses, a total of 533 valid questionnaires were retained, yielding an effective response rate of 95.6%. The demographic characteristics of the final sample are summarized as follows:

• Gender: 61% female, 39% male.

• Age: 24.8% under 20; 32.5% aged 21–30; 15.2% aged 31–40.

• Education: 74.9% held a college degree or higher.

• Marital Status: 72% were unmarried.

• Green Consumption Experience: 73% reported prior purchase of sustainable products.

• Top Physical Activities: jogging, fitness training, and cycling.

Overall, the sample was young, well-educated, and health- and environmentally conscious—characteristics that align well with the target consumer segment for sustainable food behavior research.

All constructs were assessed using multi-item Likert-type scales, with responses ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). The use of a 6-point scale was intentional, aimed at eliminating the neutral midpoint to reduce central tendency bias and encourage more decisive responses. Prior research has validated this format for producing clearer attitudinal distinctions, especially in studies related to sustainability and health-related behavior (Weijters et al, 2010; Rezaei, 2015). Maeda (2015) also notes that midpoint-free scales enhance measurement precision by minimizing interpretive ambiguity.

The measurement instruments used in this study are described below:

• Sport and Leisure Involvement: Measured using five items adapted from Zaichkowsky’s (1985) Personal Involvement Inventory (PII) and modified for the context of physical activity and leisure (Niu et al, 2024). The original semantic differential format was transformed into declarative statements to better suit this context. This scale captures respondents’ psychological involvement and affective orientation toward sport and leisure activities. Sample items include: “Sport and leisure activities are important to me” and “I am passionate about sport and leisure activities”.

• Health Awareness: Assessed using eleven items originally developed by Ellen (1994) and revised by Niu et al. (2024) to reflect attentiveness to personal health behaviors. Representative items include: “I take personal responsibility for my health” and “Maintaining good health requires my active involvement”.

• Environmental Awareness: Measured using three items adapted from Schlegelmilch et al. (1996) and revised by Niu et al. (2024). This scale evaluates environmental concern and awareness. Sample items include: “I care about environmental issues” and “I believe I should be informed about eco-friendly and environmental issues”.

• Sustainable Food Attitude: Measured using five items adapted from Al-Swidi et al. (2014) and revised by Niu et al. (2024) to reflect general perceptions toward sustainable food products. Items include: “I believe green products are healthy” and “I believe green products taste good”.

• Sustainable Food Purchase Intention: Measured using three items adapted from Dodds et al. (1991), and later modified by Lin and Niu (2018) for the sustainable consumption context. This scale evaluates respondents’ likelihood and intent to purchase sustainable food. Items include: “I intend to buy sustainable food products in the near future”.

• Green Involvement: Measured using ten items adapted from Zaichkowsky’s (1985) Personal Involvement Inventory, revised for green consumption contexts by Niu et al. (2024). The scale captures emotional and cognitive engagement with green food purchasing. Sample items include: “Purchasing green food is important to me”, “Purchasing green food is valuable”, and “I am eager to engage in purchasing green food”.

A complete list of scale items and references is provided in Appendix A.

In accordance with the two-step approach recommended by Anderson and Gerbing (1988), this study employed Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to examine the sequential relationships and validate the links between various independent and dependent constructs. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was conducted to assess the model’s goodness-of-fit and to establish the convergent and discriminant validity of the measurement model. The structural model was subsequently tested to clarify the causal relationships among the variables, and the moderating effects were examined in the second stage of the analysis.

The means, standard deviations, and reliability coefficients for the study variables are presented in Table 1. As shown in, the Cronbach’s $\alpha$ values for all measured variables in this study demonstrate a high level of internal consistency reliability. All variables exhibit Cronbach’s $\alpha$ values of 0.7 or higher, indicating good reliability.

Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to validate the conceptual framework of this study, as shown in Fig. 1. Following the recommendation of Bagozzi and Yi (1988), modification indices (MI) greater than 3.4 were used as the threshold for model refinement. During the iterative adjustment process, items with the highest MI values were sequentially removed to improve model fit. Specifically, four items (HA7, HA8, HA9, and HA10) from the health awareness construct were excluded. After these modifications, the revised structural model demonstrated acceptable goodness-of-fit.

Before conducting SEM analysis, it was necessary to evaluate model fit to confirm its appropriateness. The model yielded 338 degrees of freedom, and the chi-square value was 968.331 with a p-value less than 0.001. Although the significant p-value suggests rejection of the null hypothesis, the chi-square to degrees of freedom ratio ($\chi$²/df = 2.864) was below the commonly accepted threshold of 5.0, indicating a satisfactory level of fit.

Further assessment of model fit indices confirmed the adequacy of the model. The values were Goodness-of-Fit Index (GFI) = 0.882, Adjusted Goodness-of-Fit Index (AGFI) = 0.859, Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) = 0.066, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) = 0.059, Normed Fit Index (NFI) = 0.925, Non-Normed Fit Index (NNFI) = 0.950, Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = 0.950, Parsimonious Normed Fit Index (PNFI) = 0.827, Parsimonious Goodness-of-Fit Index (PGFI) = 0.735, and Critical N (CN) = 221. All indices met or exceeded standard criteria, demonstrating that the model achieved an ideal level of fit and providing strong support for the hypothesized structural relationships among the study constructs (Fig. 2).

Based on the SPSS 27.0 (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA) analysis and hypothesis testing results from the study model, as shown in Table 4, most hypotheses were supported. Specifically, the results indicate that most of the hypotheses in the research model are validated. The analysis revealed that sport and leisure involvement does not directly influence consumers’ attitudes toward green/sustainable products, suggesting that health awareness and environmental awareness serve as critical full mediators. Consequently, consumers’ participation in sport and leisure t activities can effectively influence their attitudes toward green/sustainable products through health awareness and environmental awareness, which ultimately leads to purchasing behavior for such products.

These results demonstrate that consumers’ green involvement can indirectly influence their attitudes and purchase intentions toward green products through health awareness and environmental awareness, thereby validating the hypotheses of the study model.

This study advances the theoretical understanding of sustainable consumer behavior by presenting a multi-dimensional psychological model that integrates green involvement, health awareness, and environmental awareness—moderated by sport and leisure involvement—to predict sustainable food attitudes and purchase intentions. This study advances the understanding of sustainable consumer behavior by presenting an integrated lifestyle-based model. It combines psychological predictors with a lifestyle-oriented moderator to better explain sustainable food attitudes and intentions.

Green involvement is reconceptualized as a foundational psycho-social orientation that activates other sustainability-related cognitions. This provides a new lens for interpreting sustainable behavior beyond attitudinal models. This perspective aligns with emerging views in moral psychology and consumer ethics, where value–identity congruence plays a central role in shaping eco-conscious behavior.

Second, by differentiating between environmental awareness (cognitive understanding) and concern (affective engagement), this study supports a more nuanced treatment of sustainability antecedents—a refinement that enhances the conceptual clarity between cognitive and affective drivers of sustainability behavior. Finally, the introduction of sport and leisure involvement as a contextual moderator offers a fresh dimension to behavioral modeling, emphasizing that personal lifestyles and identity pursuits can strengthen or weaken the impact of psychological determinants on consumer choice.

This approach contributes to a growing trend in sustainability research that moves beyond static predictors and incorporates dynamic, lifestyle-based segmentation as a theoretical lens for explaining variance in green behavior.

From a practical standpoint, the findings provide rich insights for marketers, policy planners, and sustainability-driven enterprises aiming to design tailored interventions for promoting sustainable food consumption.

First, the study identifies sport and leisure involvement as a strategic segmentation variable, offering a high-potential target group for green food marketing. Firms can position eco-friendly, organic, or plant-based products not only around environmental values but also around personal performance, vitality, and recovery—keywords that resonate strongly with sport-engaged consumers.

Second, the link between health awareness and sustainable food attitude suggests an opportunity for cross-sector collaboration between health and sustainability sectors. For example, health-focused platforms (gyms, wellness apps, sports clubs) could serve as dissemination channels for eco-food messaging, especially when integrated with personalized lifestyle content.

Third, green involvement and environmental awareness emerged as powerful attitude drivers, indicating that educational messaging and green labeling remain essential. However, the study also confirms that lifestyle congruence amplifies these effects. Therefore, marketers should reframe green messages through the lens of lifestyle benefits (e.g., active living, longevity, quality of life) rather than moral obligation alone.

Finally, for ESG-focused organizations, the study highlights how consumer-level sustainability orientation can translate into brand trust, transparency demands, and market loyalty, aligning with both regulatory and reputational imperatives in sustainable business practice.

Despite its contributions, this study is not without limitations, which offer fruitful directions for future research.

First, the study employed a convenience sampling method, which, while practical and common in exploratory consumer research, may limit the generalizability of findings. Although efforts were made to capture demographic diversity, future studies are encouraged to adopt probabilistic sampling techniques—such as stratified or panel-based designs—to enhance external validity and allow for cross-cultural comparisons. In particular, extending this research to Western markets or culturally diverse Asian populations could uncover meaningful differences in sustainability-related behaviors across sociocultural contexts.

Second, although our model focused on psychological and lifestyle drivers of sustainable food consumption, it did not incorporate market-driven constraints such as price sensitivity, product availability, or skepticism toward green claims. These factors have been shown to weaken the attitude–behavior relationship, especially when sustainable products are perceived as costlier or less accessible. Future research could investigate how perceived barriers—like green fatigue, greenwashing, or ethical confusion—influence intention formation and purchase behavior under real-world conditions.

Third, the study measured behavioral intention rather than actual purchasing behavior. While intention is a reliable antecedent of behavior, the well-documented attitude–intention–behavior gap suggests that future research should integrate behavioral tracking (e.g., purchase data, digital footprints, or mobile payment records) or experimental field studies to validate behavioral outcomes in real consumption settings. Longitudinal designs may also offer insights into how attitudes and behaviors evolve over time.

Fourth, while sport and leisure involvement was found to moderate the health awareness–attitude link, this construct was treated as a unidimensional lifestyle indicator. Future studies should explore how different types of physical activity—such as nature-based recreation vs. gym-based fitness—may yield contrasting effects on sustainable food attitudes. For example, outdoor enthusiasts may be more attuned to environmental concerns, whereas gym-goers may prioritize nutritional functionality over eco-ethics. Segmenting consumers by sport type could enrich understanding of differentiated green value preferences.

Fifth, future research could expand the lifestyle framework by incorporating additional psychographic and contextual variables. These might include sustainability literacy, digital health engagement (e.g., fitness tracking apps), climate anxiety, or green peer influence. Social norms, in particular, deserve more attention as emerging studies indicate they play a significant role in shaping sustainable behaviors, especially in collectivist cultures.

Finally, researchers may examine how green marketing appeals perform across multiple channels and contexts—from digital platforms and in-store environments to social influencer campaigns and community-based initiatives. A multi-channel approach could help determine the effectiveness of value-aligned messaging and better inform both academic theory and practitioner strategy.

In sum, this study lays the groundwork for a lifestyle-centered and psychologically integrated model of sustainable food behavior. By highlighting the dynamic interaction of personal values, health identity, and behavioral context, it invites deeper interdisciplinary inquiry into how sustainable choices emerge, consolidate, and evolve within complex consumer ecosystems.