Increasing the Sales of Suboptimal Foods with Sustainability and Authenticity Marketing Strategies

To reduce food waste, it is essential to motivate consumers to purchase and consume products that deviate from optimality on the basis of only cosmetic specifications (also called suboptimal products). Previous research has shown it to be challenging to motivate consumers to buy such suboptimal products. Sustainability or authenticity positioning of suboptimal products may be a promising avenue, but no research to date has examined their effects on consumer behaviour. The current research examines whether sustainability and/or authenticity positioning increase the sales of suboptimal products and whether these strategies increase suboptimal product perceptions up to the level of optimal products. Two field experiments examined whether sustainability and authenticity positioning could increase the sales of suboptimal products in two settings: a daily market and a supermarket. They reveal that both types of positioning can increase the sales of suboptimal products. Moreover, in an online experiment, consumers were presented with suboptimal and optimal products with sustainability, authenticity, information, or no positioning, and consumers indicated their perceptions of and purchase intentions for suboptimal and optimal products. It demonstrates that the strategies motivate consumers to perceive suboptimal products as more similar to optimal products and can increase purchase intentions for suboptimal products. Together, these findings suggest that sustainability and authenticity positioning of suboptimal products can support the fight against food waste.