Sustainable consumption among children and adolescents

Abstract Young consumers (children and adolescents) play an increasingly important role in the functioning of the modern consumer market. Accordingly, it is becoming more important to promote sustainable, ecological consumption patterns among this group. The authors of the article analysed the results of a survey conducted on a group of 1326 children aged 9 to 15. The purpose was to diagnose the awareness and functioning patterns of consumption among the studied group of young consumers from the Polish market and to formulate a set of recommendations for the process of their ecological, economic and social education aimed at building sustainable consumption patterns. During the research process, an attempt was made to diagnose the ability to identify eleven selected, popular, pro-ecological graphic symbols placed on consumer products, aimed at assessing the skills of young consumers to identify products with better environmental parameters. The collected empirical data was analysed with the R-project program using the following methods: descriptive statistics, nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test and Pearson Chi-square test of independence. As a result of the use of the comparative analysis method, the results of research in individual age groups of young consumers were compared and interpreted. After the research, the authors concluded that the education system lacks actions to consolidate the acquired knowledge in the field of ecolabeling, which results in large disproportions in the recognition of eco-labels both in individual age groups and in relation to selected symbols. It is disturbing that only 12.2% of the interviewed learners indicated the eco-label as a decisive factor in purchasing a food product. The authors of the article believe that among the group of young consumers, actions should be taken to raise awareness of sustainable consumption, and this requires consistent and differentiated steps at all levels of their education.