Consumerism News

December 22, 2024

Top Headlines

Plastic Bag Bans Have Lingering Impacts, Even After Repeals

Nov. 18, 2024 — A new study found that policies to curtail the use of single-use plastic bags in grocery stores and other retail outlets in Austin and Dallas, Texas, resulted in people buying more plastic bags, a behavior that continued after the rules were no ...

Sweetened Beverage Taxes Decrease Consumption in Lower-Income Households by Nearly 50%

Oct. 21, 2024 — New research investigated responses to sweetened beverage taxes using the purchasing behavior of approximately 400 households in Seattle, San Francisco, Oakland and Philadelphia. Researchers found ...

Cheese of the Future: Consumers Open to Animal-Free Alternatives

Aug. 1, 2024 — Companies and institutes are currently working on biotechnological processes for the production of 'dairy products' without the use of cows: In so-called precision fermentation, egg and milk proteins are produced with the help of bacteria, yeasts or ...

Does the Onset of Daylight Saving Time Lead to an Unhealthy Lifestyle?

July 23, 2024 — Consumers' attitudes and health behaviors respond negatively to the switch to daylight saving ...

Latest Headlines

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Global Warming's Economic Blow: Risks Rise More Rapidly for the Rich

Sep. 13, 2024 — Researchers analyzed how erratic weather events, increasingly intensified by global warming, affect global production and consumption across different income ...

Using the Term 'Artificial Intelligence' in Product Descriptions Reduces Purchase Intentions

July 30, 2024 — Companies may unintentionally hurt their sales by including the words 'artificial intelligence' when describing their offerings that use the ...

Targeted Home Systems to Remove PFAS More Cost-Effective Than System-Wide Solutions

July 11, 2024 — PFAS, the potentially cancer-causing chemicals known as 'forever chemicals', have become an increasing concern in home drinking water. Solutions to ...

AI Poised to Usher in New Level of Concierge Services to the Public

May 23, 2024 — Concierge services built on artificial intelligence have the potential to improve how hotels and other service businesses interact with customers, a new paper ...

Study Reveals Consumers Value Animal Welfare More Than Environmental Sustainability When Buying Meat and Dairy Products

May 16, 2024 — The treatment of animals rates higher than green issues when consumers choose meat and dairy products. That's according to a new study, which ...

Nudging in a Virtual Supermarket for More Animal Welfare

Apr. 4, 2024 — It may be possible to change the purchasing behavior of consumers noticeably using some simple strategies. At least this is what a new study indicates. The researchers investigated the effect of ...

Circular Take-Back Programs: Popular and Environmentally Responsible

Nov. 1, 2023 — Consumers exhibit a higher willingness to pay for products that are part of a circular take-back ...

Power of the Pictogram: Researcher Finds That Sorted Graphics Make Consumers Feel Optimistic

Oct. 31, 2023 — Sometimes, how the information is presented is as important as the information itself. Graphics, icons, and pictograms are increasingly popular ...

Pig Welfare Outweighs Climate Concerns for Consumers

Oct. 25, 2023 — Consumers would rather pay more for higher-welfare pork than for pork with a reduced climate footprint, according to a new ...

More Animal Welfare or More Environmental Protection?

Oct. 24, 2023 — Which sustainability goals do people find more important: Animal welfare? Or environmental protection? Human health is another one of these competing sustainability goals. A team of researchers have ...

Peer Influence Can Promote Healthier Shopping Habits, Study Reveals

July 30, 2024 — A randomized trial conducted by health economists found that a bit of peer influence can nudge us to select healthier ...

Exploring the Dynamics of Combatting Market-Driven Epidemics

July 25, 2024 — A case definition of market-driven epidemics (MDEs) could help address critical barriers to timely, effective prevention and mitigation, according to a new ...

Companies That Mitigate Climate Change Reduce Their Cost of Capital

July 8, 2024 — A recent study explored the relationship between corporate climate change mitigation actions and the cost of capital for 2,100 Japanese listed companies from 2017 to 2021. The findings reveal that ...

We Spend More With Cashless Payments

June 11, 2024 — A study has found that when using cashless methods of payment, individuals tend to spend more when ...

When Consumers Would Prefer a Chatbot Over a Person

May 13, 2024 — Actually, sometimes consumers don't want to talk to a real person when they're shopping online, a new study suggests. In fact, what they really want is a chatbot that makes it clear that it ...

US Municipal Bond Market Pricing May Be Biased by Race, Unphased by Climate Risk

Aug. 9, 2023 — New research suggests that the US municipal bond market systemically misprices risk, as the pricing of municipal debt does not account for local physical climate risk, but does demand larger credit ...

Smart Devices: Putting a Premium on Peace of Mind

Aug. 7, 2023 — The White House has announced plans to roll out voluntary labeling for internet-connected devices like thermostats and baby monitors that meet certain cybersecurity standards. A new survey of U.S. ...

The Good Advice That Could Lift People out of Poverty

July 12, 2023 — Researchers have found that providing access to advice about housing, debt and benefits within food banks could help lift people out of poverty. The initiative meant that people forced to use a food ...

21st Century Economic Growth Will Be Slower Than We Thought

June 23, 2023 — The global economy will grow slower in the 21st century than economists have expected, a finding that has implications for our ability to adapt to climate change in the coming decades, according to ...

Dietary Education Leads to Healthier Lives, Study Finds

Dec. 13, 2022 — Initial data from a clinical research study aimed at increasing diet quality and decreasing cardiovascular risk shows positive results. The study, called Supermarket and Web-Based Intervention ...

Does Throwing My Voice Make You Want to Shop Here?

Dec. 12, 2022 — By breaking the laws of physics in a virtual reality environment, researchers find that changing the location of a virtual assistant's voice in specific ways can be used as a tool to build ...

Cancer and Diabetes Aren't the Only Conditions Driving Medical Debt

Sep. 22, 2022 — Expensive ongoing treatment for cancer and diabetes are the best-known drivers of the medical debt that contributes to two-thirds of personal bankruptcies, but a new study indicates other chronic ...

Cost of Cancer Treatment Can Impact Health of Survivors

Sep. 15, 2022 — A significant number of people who have survived cancer are living in poverty, which can have negative effects on their physical and mental health, according to ...

Local Food Boon Spurred by Pandemic May Be Short-Lived, New Research Reports

Sep. 6, 2022 — The COVID-19 pandemic affected American households in countless ways, but according to researchers, some of the most tangible shifts are taking place in the food ...

Hiding Chocolate Stashes or Online Purchases from a Partner? 'Guilty' Purchases May Have Benefits, Study Finds

Aug. 24, 2022 — Do you have a secret stash of chocolates that you keep from your partner, or do you intentionally keep your spouse from knowing about something you bought online? New research indicates that small ...

Maximizing Could Be Key to Minimizing Our Environmental Footprint

Aug. 22, 2022 — It is well documented that maximizers are less happy with their product-choices than are satisficers, but would this mean that maximizers use their products less? The authors conducted two studies ...

Smartphones Make Consumers Prefer Unique, Tailored Products

Aug. 22, 2022 — Using our own smartphone -- but not a stranger's phone -- pushes us into an individualistic mindset that has us prefer products and services that are rare, special or customized to our ...

'Nutri-Score' Label May Counter Misleading Sugar Claims on Groceries, Analysis Suggests

Aug. 17, 2022 — A new analysis suggests that the Nutri-Score -- a label indicating the overall nutritional quality of a food product -- can counteract the misleading effects of sugar ...

Carbon Emissions and Grocery Shopping: EVs and Home Delivery Better, 'Trip Chaining' and Robots Best

Aug. 8, 2022 — Researchers modeled emissions for a single 36-item grocery basket transported to the customer via dozens of traditional and e-commerce pathways. Of the various scenarios analyzed by the researchers, ...

Music Is Key to Converting Consumers' Good Intentions to Actual Purchases in Ethical and Sustainable Markets

June 29, 2022 — Companies selling ethical and sustainable products should use up-tempo major mode music in their marketing to help well-meaning consumers convert their good intentions into actual purchases, new ...