Is it recycled or recyclable? Improving consumers' perceptions of recycled plastic packages for food products

Sustainable strategies for food packaging often focus on circularity, proposing “recycled” or “recyclable” solutions. Previous research demonstrated that food products in recycled packages are negatively evaluated because of contamination inferences, that in turn, represent a primary obstacle to the adoption of recycled materials in FMCGs. Building on the theory of time perspective and cognitive evaluation processes we develop an intervention to mitigate this negative effect. We tested our hypotheses using a mixed-method design consisting of a qualitative study and three experimental studies. Our findings reveal that (1) although consumers are not fully aware of the differences between recycled and recyclable plastic packaging, they perceive food quality more negatively when presented in recycled packaging compared to recyclable packaging, due to contamination perceptions (Studies 1a and 1b); (2) when consumers are more present-focused, the negative effect of recycled packaging on perceived food quality is mitigated (Study 1b); and (3) the presence of a temporal appeal, emphasizing that the sustainable action has already been performed, reduces contamination inferences and mitigates negative quality perceptions (Studies 2a and 2b). Our findings contribute to the theoretical understanding of consumer responses to circular claims on food packages providing some useful managerial insights to improve consumers' evaluation of food presented in recycled packages.