Anna de Visser-Amundson

As circular economy strategies gain momentum, upcycling food waste into consumer products, such as personal care items, offers a promising pathway toward more sustainable consumption. Yet, these innovations raise a fundamental question: how do consumers make sense of products derived from what was once considered waste? This (initial) research explores how consumers evaluate upcycled personal care products and, more specifically, how different market signals shape these evaluations. We focus on the interplay between brand cues and sustainability transparency, examining when and how the disclosure of upcycled ingredients influences consumer responses. The findings suggest that sustainability transparency does not operate in isolation. Instead, its effectiveness depends on the broader set of cues available to consumers. In contexts where brand cues are weak or absent, clearly communicating that ingredients are upcycled increases consumer evaluations. However, when strong brands are present, this additional information appears to play a more limited role. These insights contribute to ongoing discussions on sustainable consumption and market transformation.