Abstract
While many food producers invest in adopting sustainable and/or environmentally friendly packaging for regular foods, such as milk or juice, it remains unclear why consumers choose to buy regular food in such packaging, especially when it is more expensive and other alternatives are available. The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic literature review of all studies on the predictors of consumer food purchasing in environmentally friendly packaging published in the period 1994–2019. The guiding research question of this study is: Which factors influence the consumers’ decision to purchase food in environmentally friendly packaging? To review the extant research on the factors influencing consumers’ decision to purchase food in environmentally friendly packaging, we employed a systematic literature review methodology. The review revealed that, although the extant research is growing, it is very limited in terms of the theories utilized to explain consumer purchasing behavior and in the range of the tested predictors of consumers’ purchasing of foods in environmentally friendly packaging. Among the existing explanations are demographics, consumer attitudes, knowledge about the environmental effects of packaging, visual designs, functionality, cross-cultural differences, and affordability. The paper is concluded with a discussion of the implications of this systematic literature review for future research and practice. Among the leading recommendations are: (a) to go beyond Ajzen’s theoretical explanations of consumer purchasing behaviors; (b) to examine a broader set of predictors; (c) to draw on more interconnected complex models that include both internal and external factors; (d) to conduct cross-cultural comparative studies; (e) to address the gap between attitudes and behaviors; and (f) to consider the role of organizations and government in the transition to more sustainable consumer purchasing behavior, rather than only searching for individual predictors of behaviors.
Highlights
With a growing number of food producers adopting environmentally friendly packaging for regular food, such as milk or juice, a question remains regarding why consumers choose to buy regular foods in such packaging, preferring it to more affordable, traditional packaging alternatives
Considering that the research on environmentally friendly packaging is at its nascent stage, we review general theories explaining consumer motivations for pro-environmental behavior
The above-described models suggest that at least three sets of factors explain the individual’s motivations to act pro-environmentally: (a) Demographic factors, (b) external factors, and (c) internal factors [5]. We review how these factors have been accommodated by the research on environmentally friendly packaging
Summary
With a growing number of food producers adopting environmentally friendly packaging for regular food, such as milk or juice, a question remains regarding why consumers choose to buy regular foods in such packaging, preferring it to more affordable, traditional packaging alternatives. In the past two and half decades, much research has emerged to address this topic. Among the important factors predicting consumer purchases of food in environmentally friendly packaging are, for example, their positive attitude [1], concern for the environment [2], and functionality [3]. Despite a growing number of studies, an integrative perspective on the topic is still missing. This is especially problematic because the research evidence shows that for almost two decades, researchers have been utilizing one theory—i.e., Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior [4]—to explain consumer purchasing behaviors. Not many of these theories are used to explain consumer preferences for foods in environmentally friendly packaging. A clear overview of what has been done in this area of research is missing at present
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