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Promoting Food for the Trash Bin? A Review of the Literature on Retail Price Promotions and Household-Level Food Waste

Author

Listed:
  • George Tsalis

    (MAPP Centre—Research on Value Creation in the Food Sector for Consumers, Industry and Society, Department of Management, Aarhus University, Fuglesangs Allé 4, 8210 Aarhus V, Denmark)

  • Birger Boutrup Jensen

    (MAPP Centre—Research on Value Creation in the Food Sector for Consumers, Industry and Society, Department of Management, Aarhus University, Fuglesangs Allé 4, 8210 Aarhus V, Denmark)

  • S. Wiley Wakeman

    (Centre for Retailing, Department of Management and Organization, Stockholm School of Economics, Box 6501, SE-113 83 Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Jessica Aschemann-Witzel

    (MAPP Centre—Research on Value Creation in the Food Sector for Consumers, Industry and Society, Department of Management, Aarhus University, Fuglesangs Allé 4, 8210 Aarhus V, Denmark)

Abstract
Supermarkets receive criticism for irresponsible marketing practices, such as price promotions, that trigger over-purchasing and seemingly contribute to consumer waste. In the wake of this, retailers have abolished certain price promotions as part of an effort to meet corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals. We aim to investigate whether the underlying assumption that price promotions are positively related to consumer food waste needs to hold true. Through a review of the existing literature, we show that there is no scientific consensus on this assumption. Our findings show that half of the studies conclude that price promotions result in food waste by encouraging over-purchase, while the remaining conclude that consumers buying price-promoted food products show average or even lower levels of household food waste. Unraveling this inconsistency, we contribute by proposing a multi-level model of CSR behavior, where CSR actions at an institutional level (retailer) interact with individual characteristics at a micro (consumer) level leading to demonstrably different outcomes. We argue that the assumption that price promotions necessarily cause food waste has been overly simplistic, as it did not take into account the consumers’ role. We conclude that the relationship between price promotions and consumer food waste is conditional on price consciousness, attitudes, values, household identities, and household roles. Thus, we illustrate that CSR problems are often wicked ones, where first-order solutions often lead to secondary problems that stymie the progress of institutions and policy makers in addressing social needs in business. We derive specific recommendations for retailers seeking to meet CSR goals.

Suggested Citation

  • George Tsalis & Birger Boutrup Jensen & S. Wiley Wakeman & Jessica Aschemann-Witzel, 2021. "Promoting Food for the Trash Bin? A Review of the Literature on Retail Price Promotions and Household-Level Food Waste," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-21, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:7:p:4018-:d:530086
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

    1. Dimitris Skalkos & Zoi C. Kalyva, 2023. "Exploring the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Choice Motives: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-16, January.
    2. Stanley Y. B. Huang & Shih-Chin Lee & Yue-Shi Lee, 2021. "Constructing an Adoption Model of Proactive Environmental Strategy: A Novel Quantitative Method of the Multi-Level Growth Curve Model," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(16), pages 1-9, August.
    3. Dimitris Skalkos & Zoi C. Kalyva & Ioanna S. Kosma, 2023. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on College Students’ Food Choice Motives in Greece," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-11, June.
    4. Faith Samkange & Haywantee Ramkissoon & Juliet Chipumuro & Henry Wanyama & Gaurav Chawla, 2021. "Innovative and Sustainable Food Production and Food Consumption Entrepreneurship: A Conceptual Recipe for Delivering Development Success in South Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-20, October.
    5. Helander, Hanna & Schnepf, Simone & Stetter, Theresa & Ferrara, Francesca & Leipold, Sina, 2024. "Convenient solutions, inconvenient truths – Why supermarkets will not drive food system transformation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).

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