Digital platforms for food waste reduction: The promise and pitfalls of food sharing apps

While the sharing economy literature focuses on durable goods, retailers are increasingly using food sharing apps as a preventive cleaner production strategy to share perishable leftovers to minimize food waste. Drawing on signaling theory, this study fills the literature gap regarding the marketing implications of sharing perishable goods by newly examining the online and offline marketing effects of different elements of a retailer's app-based food sharing strategy across different consumer segments. Using experimental data from 812 consumers in Japan, hypothesis tests show that in-app food sharing (i.e., offering leftover food online at a discount) has positive online marketing effects and generates online sales for retailers across different food types. These effects are stronger for consumers with stronger environmental concerns and those with larger households to feed. However, in-app food sharing, which consumers associate with a lack of freshness, also has negative offline marketing effects, reducing consumers' brand attitudes and offline shopping intentions. Furthermore, retailers' use of an in-app plea to prevent food loss fails to affect consumers' online purchase intentions, but improves consumers' attitudes toward the retailer's brand. Thus, food sharing apps are a cleaner production-oriented digital innovation that contributes to circular resource flows while introducing marketing trade-offs. • Offering food on food sharing apps generates additional online sales for retailers. • The effect is stronger for consumers with greater environmental concerns. • The effect is stronger for consumers with larger households to feed. • But using food sharing apps has negative offline marketing effects for retailers. • It reduces consumers' brand attitudes and offline shopping intentions.