Generation Z Food Waste, Diet and Consumption Habits: A Finnish Social Design Study with Future Consumers
Year of publication
2021
Authors
Kymäläinen, Tiina; Seisto, Anu; Malila, Roosa
Abstract
This article presents a Finnish social design study that was targeted at future Generation Z consumers. The main objective was to gain understanding of the target group’s attitudes, routines and skills relating to food consumption, diets and food waste within their households. The sustainability framework studied the Generation Z experience, obstacles and opportunities relating to behavior patterns, in addition with current habits—with respect to planning, shopping, cooking, eating and storing—and future motivations. The aim of the social design investigations was to provide contributions to the design outcome: a behavior change application that steered young consumers’ behavior patterns towards a more sustainable direction. The design framework was applied in two case studies that focused on 17–26-year-old consumers in Finland. The main method was qualitative online focus group discussions. Based on the results, the most important behavior change opportunities related to social aspects, the role of company sponsoring, localization and context-awareness potential in young consumers’ close environment and the need to engage wider sustainability aspects—such as carbon footprint, comparison of diets and financial savings—to the behavior change framework. Based on the results, the participants took the climate change challenge associated with food waste and biased diets very seriously.
Show moreOrganizations and authors
Publication type
Publication format
Article
Parent publication type
Journal
Article type
Original article
Audience
ScientificPeer-reviewed
Peer-ReviewedMINEDU's publication type classification code
A1 Journal article (refereed), original researchPublication channel information
Journal
Volume
13
Issue
4
Article number
2124
Pages
1-14
ISSN
Publication forum
Publication forum level
1
Open access
Open access in the publisher’s service
Yes
Open access of publication channel
Fully open publication channel
License of the publisher’s version
CC BY
Self-archived
No
Article processing fee (EUR)
1496
Year of payment for the open publication fee
2021
Other information
Fields of science
Business and management
Keywords
[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]
Language
English
International co-publication
No
Co-publication with a company
No
DOI
10.3390/su13042124
The publication is included in the Ministry of Education and Culture’s Publication data collection
Yes