Digital innovation for sustainable consumption
Studies within the project
Lotte Horikx investigates how consumers process and use information with the help of digital services. More about Lotte's research.
Tazrin Hassan will design a digital service for sustainable food consumptions based on what influences our decision-making. More about Tazrin's research.
About the project
The main objective of the project Digital innovation for sustainable consumption (DISCO) is to examine factors affecting consumers towards more “sustainable smart” behaviour before, during and after purchase and how digital technology can be designed to motivate consumers towards such behaviour. The intention is to give the consumer centre stage, in order to make sure that the designed application will be tailored to the consumer’s particular situation, preferences and decision-making processes. Thus, the research question in this project is:
How can data-driven consumer-focused digital technology aid consumers to make more sustainable decisions in their grocery purchases?
Lotte Horikx
The project Digital Innovation for Sustainable Consumption will focus on how digital services can help consumers make more sustainable grocery choices. My part in the project will focus more specifically on consumer decision-making, namely looking at how consumers process and use different kinds of information, both before and during grocery shopping, with the help of digital services. The needs and beliefs of the consumer are given centre stage when it comes to the digital solutions as sustainable behavioural change should not have negative physical or psychological consequences for the consumer. This will provide a better understanding of what drives consumers to make sustainable choices, consciously or unconsciously.
About Lotte
Coming from the Netherlands, I did my Bachelor’s in Business Administration at the University of Amsterdam, where I continued with a Master’s in Strategy. After that I moved to Sweden to do a second master’s in Sustainable Management at Campus Gotland, Uppsala University. My field of interest has always been sustainability with a particular focus on its slightly more intangible aspects, such as gender, ethics and decision making. Which in turn has led me to the PhD project of Digital Innovation for Sustainable Consumption (DISCO) at Campus Gotland research school.
Supervisors
- Anna-Carin Nordvall, Department of Business Studies
- Mathias Cöster, Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering
- Pär Ågerfalk, Department of Informatics and Media
Tazrin Hassan
The PhD project (DISCO) will focus on how digital services can help the customers to act more sustainably in their purchase decisions. My part in the project is to investigate the factors influencing consumers’ information processing, both in planning food purchases and in buying opportunites in stores and online. Building on knowledge of such factors, I will design a digital service to support sustainable consumer decision-making. A digital service will be created based on the theories, related stakeholders’ feedback, experience, and evaluation results to satisfy the goals of the project. Thus, my main part is to make a digital system that is simple and easy to use, by developing knowledge about what influences consumers’ food purchasing decision-making, so that consumers find the system useful and helpful to make sustainable decisions in food consumptions.
About Tazrin
I am Tazrin Hassan, coming from Bangladesh. I completed my Bachelor’s in Electrical & Electronic Engineering at Independent University, Bangladesh. Then I did my first Master’s in Economics at Independent University, Bangladesh to acquire a diverse knowledge. Later I came to Sweden to do my second Master’s in Sustainability Engineering & Management at Linköping University to broaden my perspective and knowledge. I realized quite early during my studies that I am interested in Sustainability and its different aspects, and my interest and studies have helped me greatly to gain more knowledge and get more invested and interested in this area. Now the PhD project of Digital Innovation for Sustainable Consumption (DISCO) at Uppsala University Campus Gotland research school is a great direction to go with my interest and existing knowledge and experience.
Supervisors
- Jonas Sjöström, Department of Informatics and Media
- Per Ågerfalk, Department of Informatics and Media
- Anna-Carin Nordvall, Department of Business Studies
