Generation Z Food Waste, Diet and Consumption Habits: A Finnish Social Design Study with Future Consumers

Abstract

This article presents a Finnish social design study that was targeted at future Generation Z consumers. The main objective was to gain understanding of the target group’s attitudes, routines and skills relating to food consumption, diets and food waste within their households. The sustainability framework studied the Generation Z experience, obstacles and opportunities relating to behavior patterns, in addition with current habits—with respect to planning, shopping, cooking, eating and storing—and future motivations. The aim of the social design investigations was to provide contributions to the design outcome: a behavior change application that steered young consumers’ behavior patterns towards a more sustainable direction. The design framework was applied in two case studies that focused on 17–26-year-old consumers in Finland. The main method was qualitative online focus group discussions. Based on the results, the most important behavior change opportunities related to social aspects, the role of company sponsoring, localization and context-awareness potential in young consumers’ close environment and the need to engage wider sustainability aspects—such as carbon footprint, comparison of diets and financial savings—to the behavior change framework. Based on the results, the participants took the climate change challenge associated with food waste and biased diets very seriously.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Customer Loyalty in Food Chains—Mediating Role of Customer Satisfaction and Corporate Reputation

“…To satisfy customers' needs, companies, including restaurants and hotels, create many social and environmental problems such as air and noise pollution, waste generation, and loss of biodiversity [1][2][3][4]. It has been estimated that food contributes 26% to global GHG emissions [5], and this ratio is expected to grow with the increase in the world population.…”

Future Primary School Teachers’ Digital Competence in Teaching Science through the Use of Social Media

“…In addition to the positive assessment of the networks as a teaching resource, the participants recognized that in order to bring social media to the educational field, both initial and continuous training is very necessary. These data can be understood by assuming that young teachers in training belong, for the most part, to what Herrero-Diz et al (2016) [61] called "Millennials", "Digital Natives", "Generation Y", "Generation Z", "Google Generation", "Interactive Generation", "App Generation", or "Selfie Generation". The common link between all of the different denominations of this generation, which would include people born from 1990 onward, is the fondness and interest in technology and its use in the development of everyday life [62].…”

Smart Mobility in a Smart City in the Context of Generation Z Sustainability, Use of ICT, and Participation

“…They can use available technologies effectively and are open to new developments [130,131]. They are early adopters of various new technology-based solutions and gadgets, and using them is an integral part of their lives [17,132]. ICT is also an important factor influencing other areas of their lives, such as patterns of thinking and communicating, the need for control and personal and social values [105].…”

“…Generation Z is sometimes referred to as the "Green Generation" because they have a high environmental awareness and try to consider the good of the environment in their consumption. For example, they have a positive attitude to electric cars; they try to buy local and seasonal food products and choose those producers who implement CSR strategies [17,107,140]. Although, sometimes, they have difficulties with some areas because they lack appropriate knowledge and experience [141].…”

“…They have constant access to information, thanks to which they are more aware of the changes taking place in the world around them [11][12][13][14][15]. Therefore, the issues related to the natural environment and the phenomena that occur in it are important to them [16][17][18]. That is because it is they who will experience them to the greatest extent in the years to come.…”