Consumerism News

June 26, 2025

Top Headlines

The EU Should Allow Gene Editing to Make Organic Farming More Sustainable, Researchers Say

May 30, 2025 — To achieve the European Green Deal's goal of 25% organic agriculture by 2030, researchers argue that new genomic techniques (NGTs) should be allowed without pre-market authorization in organic as ...

Household Action Can Play Major Role in Climate Change Fight

May 20, 2025 — Encouraging people in North America and Sub-Saharan Africa to adopt a low-carbon lifestyle could help to cut global household emissions of planet-warming carbon dioxide by up to two-fifths, a new study ...

Agrivoltaics Enjoys Comparatively High Acceptance

May 20, 2025 — Photovoltaic systems are increasingly being installed not only on roofs but also on open land. This does not always meet with citizens' approval. What is known as agrivoltaics (Agri-PV), however, is viewed more favorably, as researchers have now ...

How We Think About Protecting Data

May 14, 2025 — A new game-based experiment sheds light on the tradeoffs people are willing to make about data ...

Cannabis Study: Legalization Reduces Problematic Consumption, Particularly Among Certain Individuals

May 9, 2025 — Researchers are investigating how the legal supply of cannabis affects consumption and mental health among participants. In a first academic publication, the study team has now reported on the direct ...

How to Reduce Global CO2 Emissions from Industry

May 8, 2025 — Global emissions of carbon dioxide from industry can be reduced by five per cent. But that requires companies and policy makers to take a holistic approach to energy efficiency and energy management and not solely focus on technological ...

Why People Reject New Rules -- But Only Until They Take Effect

May 8, 2025 — From seatbelt laws to new speed limits -- many people soon stop resisting policy changes that restrict their personal freedom once the new rules come into force. Researchers also identified the underlying psychological mechanism to gain important ...

Social Media Platform Tailoring Could Support More Fulfilling Use, Study Finds

May 8, 2025 — Redesigning social media to suit different needs of users could make their time online more focused, according to new ...

The World's Wealthiest 10% Caused Two Thirds of Global Warming Since 1990

May 7, 2025 — Wealthy individuals have a higher carbon footprint. A new study quantifies the climate outcomes of these inequalities. It finds that the world's wealthiest 10% are responsible for two thirds of observed global warming since 1990 and the resulting ...

Is Virtual-Only Couture the New Clothing Craze?

May 7, 2025 — As fast fashion continues to fill wardrobes and landfills at a staggering pace, new research suggests that the future of fashion might lie not in fabric, but in ...

Essay Challenge: ChatGPT Vs Students

May 1, 2025 — Researchers have been putting ChatGPT essays to the test against real students. A new study reveals that the AI generated essays don't yet live up to the efforts of real students. While the AI essays were found to be impressively coherent and ...

Finding 'Win-Win-Wins' for Climate, Economics and Justice

Apr. 25, 2025 — In examining how different countries have rolled out climate change mitigation strategies, research has found reasons to be optimistic about preserving our environment while promoting prosperity and ...

Latest Headlines

updated 2:46pm EDT

Scientific Path to Recouping the Costs of Climate Change

Apr. 23, 2025 — A new study lays out a scientific framework for holding individual fossil fuel companies liable for the costs of climate change by tracing specific damages back to their emissions. The researchers ...

Government Urged to Tackle Inequality in 'Low-Carbon Tech' Like Solar Panels and Electric Cars

Apr. 14, 2025 — The UK government needs to go beyond offering subsidies for low-carbon technologies (LCTs) like electric cars and solar panels for energy and ...

When It Comes to Obesity-Related Cancers, Where You Shop for Food Matters

Apr. 2, 2025 — Obesity is at epidemic proportions in the United States where more than 40% of adults are obese and more than 70% are overweight. One common policy intervention to tackle this urgent issue is to try ...

Renting Clothes for Sustainable Fashion -- Niche Markets Work Best

Mar. 28, 2025 — Renting clothes can reduce the fashion industry's enormous environmental impact, but so far, the business models have not worked very well. The best chance of success is for a rental company to ...

Is Your Job Making You Happy? Insights from Job Satisfaction Data

Mar. 26, 2025 — New research has found that employers and policymakers might want to start paying attention to how workers are feeling, because employee happiness contains critical economic ...

Growing Consumption of the American Eel May Lead to It Being Critically Endangered Like Its European Counterpart

Mar. 10, 2025 — To investigate the prevalence and consumption of endangered eels, a research team examined 327 individual eel products purchased across 86 retailers ...

'Loot Box' Virtual Rewards Associated With Gambling and Video Game Addiction

Feb. 24, 2025 — A new study of more than 1400 adults who gamble and play online video games has found loot box buying is associated with real-world gambling, video ...

Telemedicine May Help Reduce Use of Unnecessary Health Tests

Feb. 24, 2025 — A research team has found that telemedicine may help to reduce the use of low-value ...

Rooftop Panels, EV Chargers, and Smart Thermostats Could Chip in to Boost Power Grid Resilience

Feb. 21, 2025 — After a cyber attack or natural disaster, a backup network of decentralized devices -- like residential solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles, ...

Restoring Wildlife Habitats in Wealthy Nations Could Drive Extinctions in Species-Rich Regions, Experts Warn

Feb. 15, 2025 — Researchers call on the international community to recognize and start tackling the 'biodiversity ...

Stars or Numbers? How Rating Formats Change Consumer Behavior

May 19, 2025 — Researchers found that consumers tend to overestimate fractional star ratings and underestimate fractional numerals. In either case, the ratings can be misleading, potentially causing a company to ...

Study Finds Consumer Openness to Smoke-Impacted Wines, Offering New Market Opportunities

Feb. 11, 2025 — Certain groups of consumers appear to be open to drinking smoke-impacted wines, a finding in a new study that could provide market opportunities for winemakers increasingly dealing with the effects ...

Brain Waves Measure the Effect of Anti-Alcohol Campaigns

Feb. 7, 2025 — To evaluate the effectiveness of public video campaigns against risky alcohol consumption, psychologists used EEG measurements to examine the synchronization of brain activity in groups of viewers. ...

Nutrition Labels Meant to Promote Healthy Eating Could Discourage Purchases

Feb. 6, 2025 — As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration weighs whether to require front-of-package food labels, a new study shows some food labels designed to nudge Americans toward healthier food choices can have ...

Wealth Is Strong Predictor of Prosocial Behavior Around the World, Study Suggests

Feb. 5, 2025 — Wealthy people are more likely to engage in prosocial behavior such as donating money or volunteering, according to a new global ...

Forest Landowner Motivation to Control Invasive Species Depends on Land Use, Study Shows

Feb. 4, 2025 — Many U.S. forests are privately owned, particularly in the Eastern and North Central part of the country. This makes control of invasive plants and pests challenging because efforts must be ...

The Cost of Preventing Extinction of Australia's Priority Species

Feb. 3, 2025 — A new study has estimated it would cost $15.6 billion per year for 30 years to prevent extinction for 99 of Australia's priority species. The research highlights the urgent need for increased ...

Building a Circular Future: Study Reveals Key Organizational Capabilities for Sustainability

Feb. 3, 2025 — A recent study by management scholars underscores the importance of organizations' dynamic capabilities for greener business practices. Analyzing data from 139 manufacturing companies, the ...

Freshwater Alga Could Be the Next Superfood That Feeds the World

Jan. 30, 2025 — A green alga that grows in lakes and rivers could be the next 'superfood' -- helping scientists to tackle global food security challenges while promoting environmental ...

Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility Can Create Social, Economic Value

Jan. 28, 2025 — Strategic corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts that are directly related to a hospitality company's core business operations and competencies can help companies create both social and ...

UMaine-Led Team Develops More Holistic Way to Monitor Lobster Industry

Jan. 23, 2025 — After two years of data collection, quantitative and qualitative analyses, meetings and stakeholder interviews, a team of researchers developed new socioeconomic indicators to holistically monitor ...

How Households Can Cut Energy Costs

Jan. 13, 2025 — Giving people better data about their energy use, plus some coaching, can help them substantially reduce their consumption and costs, according to a new ...

Climate Fee on Food Could Effectively Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Agriculture While Ensuring a Social Balance

Jan. 10, 2025 — Greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture could be significantly reduced in a socially equitable way through a climate fee on food, combined with climate dividends. A new study suggests that pricing ...

Medicare Rules May Reduce Prescription Steering

Jan. 10, 2025 — Researchers have found that pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) -- organizations that negotiate access to medicines for most patients in the United States -- steer patients to use their own pharmacies. ...

How We Classify Flood Risk May Give Developers, Home Buyers a False Sense of Security

Jan. 6, 2025 — Traditional methods of communicating how likely an area is to flood focus on designating which zones are 'high risk.' This study suggests that this framing may give developers and ...

Growing Divide: Agricultural Climate Policies Affect Food Prices Differently in Poor and Wealthy Countries

Jan. 3, 2025 — Farmers are receiving less of what consumers spend on food, as modern food systems increasingly direct costs toward value-added components like processing, transport, and marketing. A study shows ...

How Good Are AI Doctors at Medical Conversations?

Jan. 2, 2025 — Researchers design a new way to more reliably evaluate AI models' ability to make clinical decisions in realistic scenarios that closely mimic real-life interactions. The analysis finds that ...

Africa: Better Roads Promote Greater Dietary Diversity

Jan. 2, 2025 — A balanced diet is important for reducing hunger and malnutrition. Researchers thus advocate that small farmers in low- and middle-income countries should try to produce as many different foods as ...

Construction Materials and Household Items Are a Part of a Long-Term Carbon Sink Called the 'Technosphere'

Dec. 20, 2024 — We know a lot about how much fossil-derived carbon is emitted to the atmosphere but less about how much is stored in human-made products. Ecological economists estimate that each year, humans add ...

Evaluating Food Safety Control Strategies for Produce Industry

Dec. 12, 2024 — Leafy greens can become contaminated with pathogenic E. coli or other bacteria through splashes of soil or contaminated irrigation water in the field, or through processing and handling. Growers and ...