【公开学术报告】When Evaluation Decreases with Duration of Ownership: How Duration-of-Ownership Affects Food Waste Behavior

When Evaluation Decreases with Duration of Ownership: How Duration-of-Ownership Affects Food Waste Behavior

Guest Speaker:         Dr. Vivian (Jieru) XIE (Virginia Tech)

Date & Time:            9:30-11:00, Mon. 15th, Nov. 2021

Zoom Meeting:        830 9500 2457（Password:283200）

Click Link:                https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83095002457

ABSTRACT

Ownership and duration-of-ownership are generally recognized to have positive effects on evaluations and valuation. Can ownership also have deleterious effects? In four controlled experiments, we investigate how duration of ownership affects food waste behaviors. We demonstrate that, even though two packaged food products are otherwise identical (i.e., same manufacturing/expiration dates, not expired, previously unopened), the mere difference in duration of ownership affects wastage—products are more likely to be wasted and wasted more when they are owned for longer (vs. shorter) durations. The duration-of-ownership has an independent effect over and above those due to manufacturing/expiration dates, and these effects persist in both single and joint evaluation, suggesting that they are quite robust. These effects emerge because of perceptions of “psychological freshness”—products owned for longer (vs. shorter) durations are perceived as being lower in “psychological freshness” and are therefore wasted more. This research reveals the potential perverse side of ownership and duration of ownership.

Keywords: Food Waste, Duration of Ownership, Psychological Freshness, Endowment Effect, Evaluations

Guest Bio

Vivian (Jieru) Xie is a Doctoral Candidate in the Marketing Department (Consumer Behavior) at Virginia Tech. Prior to joining VT, Vivian received a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (with honors), and a master’s degree in Marketing from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China.