2026-10-06T20:31:13Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/33885364 2026-09-17T11:34:02Z category_25951 category_25954 category_25966 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

Narrowing consumers’ supply-demand knowledge gap: Impact of health or sustainability information interventions in driving food loss reduction 诗雨 刘 (25013959) Agricultural economics Behavioural economics Experimental economics health information intervention sustainability information intervention consumer preference food-loss reduction label discrete choice experiment <p dir="ltr">Imperfect information about supply-side food-loss reduction benefits may reduce consumers’ demand for food-saving products, exacerbating food insecurity issues. Health and sustainability information interventions are increasingly integrated into effective policy designs driving sustainable food transformation, but the ways in which consumer preferences for supply-side food-loss reduction are shaped, and to what extent, requires further investigation. Given the lack of comparative studies, this study systematically compares the effects of health-oriented versus sustainability-oriented information interventions on the preferences for food-loss reduction labeled rice. To identify the effects, we employ randomized information interventions and discrete choice experiments, covering 1,469 rice consumers in China. The results indicate that: (1) Both types of information interventions notably enhance consumers’ preferences for low-loss labeled rice, but through varying pathways. Health information increases consumers’ valuation of health attributes, whereas sustainability information primarily strengthens preferences for the food-loss reduction technology itself. (2) Consumer characteristics significantly moderate these effects. Health information is particularly effective for high-income and older consumers, while sustainability information exerts stronger incentives for households with more members. (3) The interventions exhibit heterogeneous effects across a range of psychological dimensions. Health information demonstrates broad applicability, enhancing preferences across groups with varying attitudes toward food conservation and perceived efficacy, whereas sustainability information mainly benefits consumers with strong pro-environmental attitudes. This study underscores the differential pathways through which self-oriented versus altruistic information shapes consumer preferences. These findings provide empirical guidance for designing targeted information interventions to foster food loss reduction and support efficiency improvements across the food supply chain from the demand side.</p> 2026-09-17T11:34:02Z Dataset Dataset 10.6084/m9.figshare.33885364.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Narrowing_consumers_supply-demand_knowledge_gap_Impact_of_health_or_sustainability_information_interventions_in_driving_food_loss_reduction/33885364 CC BY 4.0