DiSCoRetail: Digital and sustainable food consumption in grocery retail in the Nordics
Background and goals
In the face of escalating global environmental challenges, the need for innovative solutions has never been more urgent. One of the most promising avenues for driving positive change is the integration of technology with sustainability efforts (Fuentes et al., 2021; Fraccascia & Nastasi, 2023). Using technology to promote sustainability is not only transforming industries but also shaping the way we approach environmental conservation. From reducing waste and energy consumption to enhancing resource efficiency, technological advancements are enabling more sustainable solutions across industries. In particular, the retail and food industries have seen significant progress in leveraging technology to minimize their environmental impact, creating smarter, greener solutions that align with both consumer demands and ecological priorities (Eriksson et al., 2023).
This project focuses on three areas of food retail:
1. GreenBot: The green supermarket robot. We test social robot solutions that can promote and assist consumers toward greener and healthier choices in supermarkets.
2. EcoOnline: Sustainable online food shopping. We investigate what predicts food surplus application usage in the Nordics.
3. SusCheckout: Sustainable customer checkouts in supermarkets. We investigate how self-checkouts might impact the level of unethical, unhealthy or unsustainable consumer choices.
Objectives and benefits
The aim is to generate new knowledge about consumers' attitudes and preferences towards digital and sustainable food consumption, and it will contribute to designing innovative digital services and marketing communications to promote the use of and user engagement with sustainability-enhancing technologies in grocery retail.
We primarly examine the consumer's perspective on digitalization and sustainability. In the project, we work with both local retailers and with Nordic research partners.
Societal impact
The generated knowledge is important to practitioners (e.g. retailers, digital service providers) and regulators in the region to gain a holistic view of consumers in terms of digital platforms and sustainable food consumption.
Sustainable development goals
