Aylin Aydinli - On campus - Room T022

Marketing Research Seminar

Speaker: 
Aylin Aydinli
Associate Professor of Marketing - Vrije University in Amsterdam.

Absctract:

Responsible Wastefulness: When Wasting Food Boosts Parental Self-Concept

Food waste is typically seen as irresponsible and morally wrong, negatively reflecting on the self. However, this research demonstrates that food waste can also be motivated by care and 

strengthen the self-concept. Across six studies using both real-life data and controlled experiments, we show that parents deliberately discard food they perceive as inappropriate for their child’s well-being (e.g., unhealthy snacks or expired but still-edible food). This strengthens their parental self-concept as responsible caregivers and reduces the negative emotions associated with food waste. Importantly, we find that parenting motivation increases parents’ inclination to waste food in protective contexts. The current research contributes to the food waste literature by identifying the parental role as a novel social driver that can make food waste a deliberate and responsible choice. It also adds to the growing literature on how parenting motivation influences consumption decision.