How Warm Glow and Altruistic Values Drive Consumer Perceptions of Sustainable Meal-Kit Brands

Yoon Jung Jang ()
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Yoon Jung Jang: School of International Culinary Arts, Woosong University, Daejeon 34606, Republic of Korea

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 19, 1-16

Abstract: The contribution of meal kits to the waste problem has become a significant concern, leading consumers to demand sustainable practices from meal-kit companies. This study proposes a framework to understand customer behavior toward sustainable meal-kit brands that promote practices such as recycling and waste reduction. This study applies warm glow theory to investigate how pure and impure altruism affect consumers’ perceptions of a meal-kit brand’s sustainability, perceived price fairness, and continuance intention. The findings confirmed that meal-kit brands’ sustainable practices significantly enhanced consumers’ perceptions of brand sustainability, which in turn influenced their perceived price fairness and continuance intention. Furthermore, warm glow and altruistic values were found to significantly moderate the relationship between consumers’ perceptions of brand sustainability and their continuance intention. However, no significant moderating effects were observed between consumers’ perceptions of brand sustainability and perceived price fairness. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying consumer attitudes and behaviors toward meal-kit brands’ sustainability efforts.

Keywords: meal-kit; brand sustainability; warm glow; altruistic value; price fairness; continuance intention (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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