Recommendations that matter: personalized suggestions for sustainable consumer choices in online supermarkets

Summary

Our food choices affect climate change and public health. Online supermarkets can influence these choices through personalized product recommendations that integrate sustainability criteria while maintaining relevance to individual preferences. This thesis deepens the understanding of how such recommendations can be developed and implemented into an online grocery shopping environment. Findings show that sustainability-focused recommendations promote sustainable choices, especially when accompanied by a personalized justification, while maintaining accuracy comparable to preference-based recommendations. Consumers appreciated support in identifying sustainable products and were willing to share data for more relevant recommendations. Experiments in a realistic online setting confirmed the behavioral impact of strategies such as prefilled baskets and landing pages featuring healthy products, with the latter also eliciting positive consumer perceptions. In conclusion, product recommendations can help mitigate the environmental and health impacts of food choices, making them a valuable tool for online supermarkets and policy initiatives that promote planetary and human well-being.