Consumer Happiness and the Mediterranean Diet: A Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis
Year: 2025
Type: conference-paper
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: [EN] The Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) is widely acknowledged as one of the healthiest and most sustainable dietary patterns. Beyond its nutritional benefits, the MedDiet has the potential to foster consumer happiness, understood as a construct that includes hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. This study investigates how adherence to the MedDiet contributes to consumer happiness among young consumers of Generation Z, a cohort whose food choices and well-being outcomes are increasingly relevant for both academic and societal debates. Consumer well-being research distinguishes between hedonic well-being (short-term enjoyment) and eudaimonic well-being (meaning and self-realisation). Studies show that eating habits can deliver both, and the MedDiet provides a unique context where they converge (Martínez-González et al., 2017). Understanding Generation Z’s food choices is key for effective interventions (Arenas-Gaitán et al., 2021), yet evidence directly linking MedDiet adherence with both forms of well-being remains scarce. A quantitative survey was conducted with young adult consumers (Generation Z) in Andalusia, Spain. A total of 379 valid responses were collected through an online questionnaire. The dataset was calibrated to perform Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). Four causal conditions were included in the analysis: level of adherence to the MedDiet, level of physical exercise, hedonic well-being, and eudaimonic well-being. This research is still in progress. Final findings are not yet available. In the fsQCA, consumer happiness is defined as the outcome, and the analysis will test necessary conditions. In addition, it will examine sufficient conditions that may explain consumer happiness. This study contributes by framing consumer happiness through hedonic and eudaimonic perspectives in the context of the MedDiet. It highlights how cultural, sustainable, and lifestyle practices may foster long-term well-being, with managerial and policy implications for promoting health and happiness among Generation Z. This research is limited to a regional Generation Z sample. Future studies should expand to cross-cultural contexts and examine lifestyle and contextual factors.
Source: Buleria (Universidad de León)
Language: English
Topic: Nutritional Studies and Diet
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7130637669