Table_1_The beauty in imperfection: how naturalness cues drive consumer preferences for ugly produce and reduce food waste.DOCX

PurposeAn important reason for food waste is the rejection of ugly produce by consumers. Most previous research has examined the absolute negative impacts of ugly produce on consumers’ preferences, no research has examined the conditions in which consumers prefer ugly (vs. typical) produce instead.This research investigates the circumstances under which these aesthetic imperfections become advantageous.
MethodsWe conducted two between-subject design randomized experiments featuring two produce categories to examine when and why consumers prefer ugly produce.
ResultsWe found that naturalness cues boost and even reverse consumers’ preferences for ugly produce when combining ugly appearance with naturalness cues. The subtyping effect mediates the interaction of appearance (typical vs. ugly) of produce and naturalness cues (present vs. absent) on produce’s evaluations.
DiscussionOur findings provide more cost-effective strategies for retailers to reduce food waste. This paper fills in the research gaps on taping into the novel condition in which consumers prefer ugly (vs. typical) produce and the psychological mechanism behind this process. Based on schema incongruity theory, we argue that naturalness cues, as an enabler corresponding to the incongruous features of ugly produce, facilitate consumers to resolve the schema incongruity triggered by the ugly appearance and, in turn, boost consumers’ preferences for ugly produce.

研究背景与目的：食品浪费的重要诱因之一，是消费者拒绝购买外观瑕疵农产品（ugly produce）。既往多数研究均聚焦于外观瑕疵农产品对消费者偏好的绝对负面影响，但尚未有研究探讨消费者更偏好外观瑕疵而非常规农产品的具体情境。本研究旨在揭示此类美学缺陷转变为优势特征的条件。
研究方法：本研究采用两因素被试间设计的随机对照实验，涵盖两类农产品品类，以探究消费者更偏好外观瑕疵农产品的时机与内在动因。
研究结果：本研究发现，当将外观瑕疵与自然属性线索（naturalness cues）相结合时，自然属性线索不仅会强化，甚至会逆转消费者对外观瑕疵农产品的偏好。农产品外观（常规vs.瑕疵）与自然属性线索（存在vs.缺失）的交互效应对农产品评价的影响，由亚型化效应（subtyping effect）所中介。
讨论：本研究结果为零售商降低食品浪费提供了更具成本效益的策略。本研究填补了相关研究空白——此前尚未有研究探讨消费者更偏好外观瑕疵而非常规农产品的新型情境，以及该过程背后的心理机制。基于图式不一致理论（schema incongruity theory），本研究提出：自然属性线索作为与外观瑕疵农产品的不一致特征相匹配的激活因素，可帮助消费者化解由瑕疵外观引发的图式不一致问题，进而提升消费者对外观瑕疵农产品的偏好。