This study examines the behavior and attitudes of adult Generation Z cohort members in relation to entomophagy. Specifically, it explores their familiarity with insect consumption, prior experience, and willingness to consume certain insect-based foods and drinks. Lastly, the Z cohort is segmented based on their behavior and attitudes. Through online quantitative research, a valid sample of 742 questionnaires was collected. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, factor, hierarchical cluster, and K-means cluster analysis, as well as chi-square tests. Results revealed that 41.4% are familiar with what insect consumption is, and no one had previously engaged in entomophagy. The insect-based food that the Z cohort is most willing to try is bakery products containing insect flour. The 88.5% of the Z cohort is not willing to replace meat protein with insect protein, and 20.4% are interested in obtaining more information about entomophagy. Moreover, 6.3% of the Z cohort is “willing” to participate in sensory tests, but when contact information was requested, only one factual name with phone number was provided. Segmentation of the Z cohort’s behavior was performed based on eight variables and four segments were identified: the “Future potential insect consumers” (29.1%), the “Rejecters” (26.7%), the “Disgusted, prefer to starve” (22.2%), and the “Inconsistent” (22.0%). Overall, the Z cohort is not food neophobic, but is unwilling to engage in entomophagy. Communication strategies are suggested to increase awareness and provide information about entomophagy and its benefits.

This study presents the results of a research addressing generation Z cohort’s barriers to practice entomophagy and also examines existing gender differences based on barriers to engage in entomophagy. The study used an online questionnaire that included 15 barriers adopted from literature. In a timeframe of approximately one month, 742 usable questionnaires were collected using a convenient and snowball sampling procedure. Analysis revealed that the three main barriers of entomophagy from this cohort are disgust, texture, and food safety concerns. The t-tests revealed that male and female subjects differ in what they consider as a barrier to entomophagy for six of the 15 barrier statements offered. Specifically, statistical differences were found between males and females of the generation Z cohort on the following barriers: disgust, unfamiliarity, food safety concerns, religion, high price, and “nothing prevents me”. Based on these outcomes, generation Z education and marketing communication strategies to increase consumer awareness of the benefits of entomophagy are discussed.

The aim of this paper is to explore the Greek Generation Y cohorts’ food neophobia, intention to engage in entomophagy, self-assessed environmental concern, and intention to recommend entomophagy as an alternative to meat protein intake. Lastly, it groups participants based on the abovementioned variables. An online questionnaire applying a convenient sampling method collected data from 234 members of the Generation Y cohort. Regarding food neophobia, mean values (MVs) revealed that the statement “If I don’t like the look/appearance of a food/dish I won’t try it” was the highest rated (MV = 4.72 on a 7-point Likert scale). As to acceptance of entomophagy, the highest rated statement was “I would only try insect-based foods abroad (e.g., in the Far East)” with MV = 3.98 on a 7-point Likert scale. As to self-assessed environmental concern, the results revealed that participants answered that “I am quite interested in environmental issues, but they are not my immediate priority” (MV = 3.00 on a 5-point Likert-type scale) and they are not likely to recommend entomophagy to others (MV = 1.69 on a 5-point Likert-type scale). A K-means cluster analysis provided three clusters. Communication marketing and sustainability education are discussed to raise awareness of entomophagy and possible acceptance.

Purpose: Conceptual understanding is essential for effective sustainability education, yet students often hold alternative conceptions about key environmental issues. The water footprint (WF), a multifaceted indicator of water use, is increasingly included in sustainability curricula but remains conceptually challenging. This study aims to describe the development and validation of the Water Footprint Diagnostic Instrument (WFDI), a multi-tier diagnostic test designed to assess undergraduate primary education students’ scientific and alternative conceptions of the WF. Design/methodology/approach: The construction of the instrument followed Treagust’s principles for developing multi-tier tests and involved three phases: defining propositional knowledge statements, identifying students’ alternative conceptions through two qualitative pilot studies (n = 64; n = 94) and developing the final multi-tier tool. The WFDI was piloted with 56 students, after which minor wording revisions were made before its final administration to 238 students from three Greek universities. Findings: The reliability of the WFDI was acceptable (Cronbach’s a = 0.866), and item analysis showed an appropriate spread of difficulty and discrimination values. The results indicate that the tool successfully exposes a sharp misalignment between student accuracy and confidence, revealing that pre-service teachers’ knowledge is often context-dependent and fragmented rather than structurally unified. Practical implications: The WFDI provides Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) with a data-driven pathway to reform teacher-training curricula and to target specific sustainability competencies. Specifically, it is valuable for identifying undergraduate students’ initial ideas, developing and evaluating targeted instructional interventions, informing curriculum design and supporting future research on WF-related sustainability topics. Originality/value: This study addresses a significant gap in sustainability education by developing the first validated multi-tier diagnostic instrument designed to assess a core and complex sustainability concept, that of Water Footprint. By explicitly linking psychometric data to conceptual change learning theories, the instrument moves beyond purely descriptive testing to reveal structural flaws in future educators’ systemic thinking about complex, global water-use systems.

This research is part of a larger study and focuses on university students’ perceptions of five behaviors (conserving water at home, conserving water outdoors, using a gasoline-powered car, conserving electricity, and purchasing new clothes) in the context of their generated individual water footprint (WF). Using an online questionnaire and data collection with a non-probability sampling method, a total of 694 university students were recruited and their responses were analyzed. Data analysis included frequencies, percentages, mean scores (MS), hierarchical, and K-means cluster analyses, for a first-level segmentation approach. The results of this study are preliminary results of a larger study. They show that university students (on a 7-point Likert-type scale), perceive that all five actions neither increase nor decrease their WF. Students perceive that using a gasoline-powered car leads to the highest personal WF (MS = 4.44). The segmentation analysis resulted in a two-group solution, the “Overly sensitive” (N = 313), and the “Somewhat knowledgeable” (N = 381). Results suggest that most participants are unaware of the impact of basic behaviors on a person’s WF. These findings propose that sustainability education for university students and younger generations needs to be improved and that policymakers need to fully incorporate sustainability and environmental education issues into university and school curricula. In addition, there is a need for intensive social marketing campaigns through various channels involving university students.