Who buys ugly produce? A systematic scoping review and bibliometric analysis of intersectional consumer patterns towards sustainable food purchasing
Who buys ugly produce? A systematic scoping review and bibliometric analysis of intersectional consumer patterns towards sustainable food purchasing
Food waste represents a critical retail challenge, with 25 % of farm produce rejected due to cosmetic standards. Despite various retail initiatives, consumer acceptance of suboptimal agri-foods (SA-F), which are the visually imperfect produce retaining full nutritional value, remains limited. This systematic scoping review employing bibliometric analysis to map thematic structures of the literature (2014–2024) reveals that traditional demographic segmentation approaches overlook the complex, interconnected effects of consumer characteristics on SA-F purchasing behaviour. Employing an intersectional lens to synthesise existing evidence, we reveal that environmental sustainability commitment, education level, and perceived food skills emerge as powerful predictors, whilst age, gender, and income show contradictory effects across contexts. Notably, younger, female, educated consumers exhibit stronger environmental preferences, whilst food waste awareness creates bidirectional effects, encouraging SA-F purchases whilst deterring over-purchasing. Our findings challenge conventional market segmentation by identifying patterns suggesting that overlapping demographic and attitudinal factors create distinct consumer response patterns that are unpredictable through single-variable analyses. We propose an evidence-based six-segment framework for retailers and provide actionable recommendations for tailored marketing interventions. This research advances sustainable consumption theory by introducing an intersectional approach to food retail behaviour and offers practical guidance for optimising SA-F retail strategies in an era of increasing food waste and cost-of-living pressures.
Tsakiridi, Anastasia
431bba1c-90cd-4e38-9577-cb4919ad2a70
Tsimpida, Dialechti
2fff4517-3c8e-445b-8646-7f645fa36b0a
Walker, Dawn-Marie
5d4c78b7-4411-493e-8844-b64efc72a1e8
Hezarkhani, Behzad
ae3fc227-94dc-47bd-b52c-2fdf90277bef
Alwan, Nisreen A.
0d37b320-f325-4ed3-ba51-0fe2866d5382
21 January 2026
Tsakiridi, Anastasia
431bba1c-90cd-4e38-9577-cb4919ad2a70
Tsimpida, Dialechti
2fff4517-3c8e-445b-8646-7f645fa36b0a
Walker, Dawn-Marie
5d4c78b7-4411-493e-8844-b64efc72a1e8
Hezarkhani, Behzad
ae3fc227-94dc-47bd-b52c-2fdf90277bef
Alwan, Nisreen A.
0d37b320-f325-4ed3-ba51-0fe2866d5382
Tsakiridi, Anastasia, Tsimpida, Dialechti, Walker, Dawn-Marie, Hezarkhani, Behzad and Alwan, Nisreen A.
(2026)
Who buys ugly produce? A systematic scoping review and bibliometric analysis of intersectional consumer patterns towards sustainable food purchasing.
Strategic Business Research, 2 (1), [100063].
(doi:10.1016/j.sbr.2026.100063).
Abstract
Food waste represents a critical retail challenge, with 25 % of farm produce rejected due to cosmetic standards. Despite various retail initiatives, consumer acceptance of suboptimal agri-foods (SA-F), which are the visually imperfect produce retaining full nutritional value, remains limited. This systematic scoping review employing bibliometric analysis to map thematic structures of the literature (2014–2024) reveals that traditional demographic segmentation approaches overlook the complex, interconnected effects of consumer characteristics on SA-F purchasing behaviour. Employing an intersectional lens to synthesise existing evidence, we reveal that environmental sustainability commitment, education level, and perceived food skills emerge as powerful predictors, whilst age, gender, and income show contradictory effects across contexts. Notably, younger, female, educated consumers exhibit stronger environmental preferences, whilst food waste awareness creates bidirectional effects, encouraging SA-F purchases whilst deterring over-purchasing. Our findings challenge conventional market segmentation by identifying patterns suggesting that overlapping demographic and attitudinal factors create distinct consumer response patterns that are unpredictable through single-variable analyses. We propose an evidence-based six-segment framework for retailers and provide actionable recommendations for tailored marketing interventions. This research advances sustainable consumption theory by introducing an intersectional approach to food retail behaviour and offers practical guidance for optimising SA-F retail strategies in an era of increasing food waste and cost-of-living pressures.
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Who buys ugly produce A systematic scoping review and bibliometric
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Accepted/In Press date: 16 January 2026
e-pub ahead of print date: 18 January 2026
Published date: 21 January 2026
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 509796
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/509796
ISSN: 3051-0643
PURE UUID: 261f5b38-e1cb-4e4e-b686-27ac675384f1
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Date deposited: 05 Mar 2026 23:06
Last modified: 07 Mar 2026 04:18
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