Integrating sustainability into food marketing: A design-based extension of the food well-being paradigm

This dissertation examines the integration of sustainability in food marketing from three core perspectives: food retailers, food manufacturers and producers, and consumers. It explores how these perspectives can shape consumer eating behaviors to promote contributions to society and the environment, ultimately advancing key indicators that promote food well-being towards sustainability. Although the importance of food well-being has grown in recent decades, its conceptualization remains hindered by a lack of coherent frameworks and standardized measures. This study proposes a consumer-centric, bottom-up approach to sustainability marketing, which underscores consumer benefits while aligning with broader sustainability goals. To advance this agenda, the research posits an expanded paradigm of food well-being, redefining it as a holistic concept that integrates individual, societal, environmental, and economic dimensions. This refined concept seeks to align consumer-driven preferences with broader societal and environmental contributions, creating a synergistic path toward sustainable food systems.

By validating and implementing the Food Well-Being Index (FWBI) through Composite-Based Structural Equation Modeling (cSEM), the dissertation makes significant contributions to both theoretical advancements and practical applications within food retailing, manufacturing, product design, food service, and consumer behavior domains. It demonstrates how researchers and food marketing practitioners can integrate sustainability into food marketing practices, establishing the FWBI as a composite measure encompassing individual, social, environmental, and economic dimensions of well-being. The research consists of five independent studies, each focusing on distinct facets of food well-being and sustainability in marketing, thereby providing a comprehensive framework for understanding and applying the FWBI across diverse food industry contexts.