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Of Waste and Waists: The Effect of Plate Material on Food Consumption and Waste

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  • Sara Williamson
  • Lauren G. Block
  • Punam A. Keller

Abstract

Two lab studies and three field studies indicate that plate disposability influences the amount of food wasted. The first lab study indicates that more food served on disposable (i.e., paper) plates is wasted than when the same food is served on permanent (i.e., hard plastic) plates. Study 2 employs an implicit association test (IAT) to confirm that disposable plates are strongly associated with behavior to stop eating while, simultaneously, permanent plates are more strongly associated with a keep eating behavior. Three field studies (3A, 3B, and 3C) indicate that this effect maintains when instead of being served a fixed quantity of food, participants select the amount and type of food.

Suggested Citation

  • Sara Williamson & Lauren G. Block & Punam A. Keller, 2016. "Of Waste and Waists: The Effect of Plate Material on Food Consumption and Waste," Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(1), pages 147-160.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jacres:doi:10.1086/684287
    DOI: 10.1086/684287
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    Cited by:

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    15. Ludovica Principato & Stefano Marchetti & Marco Barbanera & Luca Ruini & Leonardo Capoccia & Camilla Comis & Luca Secondi, 2023. "Introducing digital tools for sustainable food supply management: Tackling food loss and waste in industrial canteens," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(4), pages 1060-1075, August.
    16. Jessica Aschemann‐Witzel & Ana Giménez & Alice Grønhøj & Gastón Ares, 2020. "Avoiding household food waste, one step at a time: The role of self‐efficacy, convenience orientation, and the good provider identity in distinct situational contexts," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 581-606, June.
    17. Dhruv Grewal & Abhijit Guha & Stephanie M. Noble & Kara Bentley, 2024. "The food production–consumption chain: Fighting food insecurity, loss, and waste with technology," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 52(5), pages 1412-1430, October.
    18. Qi, Danyi & Li, Ran & Penn, Jerrod & Houghtaling, Bailey & Prinyawiwatkul, Witoon & Roe, Brian E., 2022. "Nudging greater vegetable intake and less food waste: A field experiment," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    19. Stephen S. Holden & Natalina Zlatevska & Chris Dubelaar, 2016. "Whether Smaller Plates Reduce Consumption Depends on Who's Serving and Who's Looking: A Meta-Analysis," Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(1), pages 134-146.
    20. Zhang, Jin & Huang, Yidi & Zhu, Junming & Zhao, Lijun, 2023. "A meta-analysis on the effectiveness of food-waste reducing nudges," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    21. Yu Zhang & Danyi Qi, 2024. "How to reduce household food waste during and after the COVID‐19 lockdown? Evidence from a structural model," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 68(3), pages 628-652, July.
    22. Reynolds, Christian & Goucher, Liam & Quested, Tom & Bromley, Sarah & Gillick, Sam & Wells, Victoria K. & Evans, David & Koh, Lenny & Carlsson Kanyama, Annika & Katzeff, Cecilia & Svenfelt, Åsa & Jack, 2019. "Review: Consumption-stage food waste reduction interventions – What works and how to design better interventions," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 7-27.

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