Sustainable food packaging: engagement through the public discourse on social networks
| Date | 14 August 2024 |
| Pages | 251-264 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-10-2023-4768 |
| Published date | 14 August 2024 |
| Author | Salvador Ruiz-de-Maya,Elvira Ferrer-Bernal |
Sustainable food packaging: engagement
through the public discourse on social networks
Salvador Ruiz-de-Maya and Elvira Ferrer-Bernal
Grupo de Investigaci
on Comportamiento del Consumidor, Departamento de Comercializaci
on e Investigaci
on de Mercados,
Facultad de Economía y Empresa, Universidad de Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, Murcia, España
Abstract
Purpose –This study aims to examine the public discourse on sustainable food packaging, evaluating the main characteristics of that discourse and
how risk and analytical message content influence consumer engagement.
Design/methodology/approach –The authors use two studies with databases built from messages posted on Twitter (now X). Study 1
explores the discourse of sustainable food packaging by conducting a content/sentiment analysis. Study 2 examines more than four million
messages posted by or mentioning the world’s most relevant food companies. Hypotheses aretested through censored regression analyses.
Findings –The results show that plastic is the term that can better classify how we talk about sustainable food packaging.The authors
also show that food packaging messages related to sustainability, compared to those not related to sustainability, are composed using
more analytical language, contributing to generating greater engagement. Moreover, social network users remain skeptical about food
companies, as the latter messages on packaging sustainability generate less engagement (likes 1retweets) than when other users post
these messages.
Originality/value –This study addresses important points in the public discourse on social networks about the sustainability of food
packaging and its language features. First, the data are representative of the food market with posts from leading worldwide food compani es.
Second, identifying the hot topics of the discussion on sustainabilit y packaging on social media provides a new perspective on how companies
and society view sustainable food packaging. Third, the authors show how the source of the message moderates the impact of sustainability
on engagement.
Keywords Packaging, Sustainability, Food industry, Social networks, Customer engagement, Consumer
Paper type Research paper
The Food Waste Index Report releasedby the United Nations
(United Nations Environment Programme, 2021) reveals that
more than 930 million tons of food sold in 2019 were dumped
(around 17% of the food produced in the world), with
subsequent environmental consequences. In that vein,
researchers point to packagingas a critical factor in the pursuit
of food waste reduction and sustainable food consumption
(Licciardello, 2017). However, packaging is also usually
considered as a component with a significant impact on the
environment(Otten et al., 2018).
Associated with product disposal, packaging is a kind of
leftover that implies additional actions by the consumer such as
trashing or recycling. As such, consumers have developed
negative perceptions of packaging, mainly due to a lack of interest
in and/or understanding of its purpose (Herbes et al.,2018)in
addition to its impact on waste and the environment. However,
its role in the food industry is essential. For example, food
packaging in different sizes allows for a better distribution and
amount of food for families of different sizes and preferences,
date labels facilitate safer consumption and better food
management and different materials extend the shelf life of food
products (Licciardello, 2017). Packaging is also a relevant
product attribute that contributes to the brand experience.
Nowadays, packaging in the food industry faces challenges
linked to sustainability with regard to packaging materials, their
composition, how they are manufactured and incorporated into
production processes and recyclability and biodegradability (Stark
and Matuana, 2021). In the marketing field, recent packaging
studies have focused on food as an industry with high interest in
packaging, the market agents whose decisions influence packaging
(e.g. producers, retailers and consumers), and sustainability and
health as the main topics (Vila-Lopez and Küster-Boluda, 2020).
Extant research has highlightedthe impact of food packaging
on consumer attitudes, taking into consideration the effect of
The current issue and full text archiveof this journal is available on Emerald
Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
34/2 (2025) 251–264
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-10-2023-4768]
The authors gratefully acknowledge funding from the grants ECO2017-
83999-Rand PID2020-116247GB-I00from the Spanish Agencia Estatal de
Investigaci
on (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) and the European
Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Authors also thank the support
providedby Fundaci
on Cajamurcia.
Conflict of interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Salvador
Ruiz de Maya, Department of Marketing, Faculty of Economics and
Business, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30110, Murcia,
Spain. Email: salvruiz@um.es.
Received 6 October2023
Revised 13 March 2024
7 May 2024
7 July 2024
Accepted 8 July 2024
251
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