Preference for imperfect produce: The influence of political ideology and openness to experience.

Food waste is a critical global issue, posing substantial environmental, social, and financial challenges, even as millions continue to face uncertainty regarding their next meal source. The seriousness of this problem necessitates a closer look into ways to reduce food waste. In this investigation, we identify a key factor which contributes to food waste-imperfect fruits and vegetables (FaVs), defined as foods that are non-uniform in shape, color, or texture.

Sustaining Livelihoods or Saving Lives? Economic System Justification in the Time of COVID-19.

Unlabelled: An ongoing debate in the United States relating to COVID-19 features the purported tension between containing the coronavirus to save lives or opening the economy to sustain livelihoods, with ethical overtones on both sides. Proponents of opening the economy argue that sustaining livelihoods should be prioritized over virus containment, with ethicists asking, "What about the risk to human life?" Defendants of restricting the spread of the virus endorse saving lives through virus containment but contend with the ethical concern "What about people's livelihoods and individual freedoms?" A commonly held belief is that political ideology drives these differential preferences: liberals are more focused on saving lives, whereas conservatives favor sustaining livelihoods with no additional government intervention in the free-market economy. We examine these lay beliefs among US residents in four studies and find that economic system justification (ESJ), an ideology that defends the prevailing economic system when under threat, is a reliable psychological predictor beyond political ideology.

Perceived financial constraints and normative influence: discretionary purchase decisions across cultures.

Unlabelled: Five studies examine how perceived financial constraints and abundance determine when consumers will engage in solitary or social purchases. When financially constrained, consumers prefer solitary (vs. social) purchases.

Pandemics and marketing: insights, impacts, and research opportunities.

Pandemics have been an unfortunate but consistent facet of human existence over centuries, threatening lives as well as livelihoods globally. Disconcertingly, their frequency persists, with four "major" pandemics disrupting the planet in the last 65 years and more expected in the future. While many of the economic and health consequences of pandemics are well-documented, their marketing implications are less understood.

Selective assessment and positivity bias in environmental valuation.

The need to determine the value of environmental entities has generated substantial research regarding optimal methods for obtaining valuations from survey respondents. The literature suggests the importance of providing clear, complete descriptions of the entity being valued prior to respondents indicating their valuations. The target entity's attributes are often presented in isolation or in greater detail compared with other entities.