05/12/2026
By Haoran WANG

The Department of Marketing, Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Manning School of Business invites you to attend a doctoral dissertation proposal defense by Haoran Wang on “Why doesn't all sustainable food activity work? Equity Sensitivity, Self-Determination, and Sustainable Food Behaviors.”

Date: Thursday, May 28, 2026
Time: 10 a.m. - noon
Location: Virtual via Zoom

Committee Members

  • Chair: Spencer M. Ross, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Marketing, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Manning School of Business, UMass Lowell
  • Michael Obal, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Marketing, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Manning School of Business, UMass Lowell
  • Stacey Finkelstein, Ph.D., Professor, College of Business, Stony Brook University

Abstract
This dissertation examines sustainable food behavior by integrating Equity Sensitivity Theory and Self-Determination Theory to explain how different consumers are motivated to engage in sustainability-oriented food decisions. The primary focus is on understanding sustainable food behavior as a person-specific motivational process rather than as a uniform outcome driven only by attitudes, norms, or pro-environmental intentions. Although prior research has generated important insights into sustainable consumption, much of the existing literature treats consumers as relatively homogeneous in their responses to sustainability appeals (Sheth, Sethia, and Srinivas 2011; White et al. 2019). However, food consumption often requires individuals to balance personal preferences, convenience, price, and taste against broader environmental and social consequences (Vermeir and Verbeke 2006; Grunert, Hieke, and Wills 2014).

These trade-offs suggest that sustainable food behavior is shaped not only by whether consumers care about sustainability, but also by how they interpret fairness, internalize sustainability demands, and regulate their behavior in everyday consumption contexts (Bagozzi 1975; Ryan and Deci 2000). At the conceptual level, Essay 1 develops the theoretical foundation for the dissertation through a systematic literature review and main path analysis of sustainable food behavior research. This essay synthesizes prior work on trait-level moral and justice orientations, motivational regulation, and psychological mechanisms linking motivation to behavior. The review shows that sustainable food research has gradually moved from broad attitudinal explanations toward more differentiated accounts involving moral identity, resistance, self-regulation, and social influence (Aertsens et al. 2009; Dowd and Burke 2013; Kushwah, Dhir, and Sagar 2019; White et al. 2019). However, the literature remains fragmented across analytical levels. By organizing the field around trait orientation, motivational regulation, psychological process, and behavioral outcomes, this essay establishes the need for a more integrated framework of sustainable food behavior. At the empirical level, Essay 2 examines whether different equity-sensitive consumer types are associated with distinct forms of motivational regulation, and whether these forms of regulation shape two dimensions of sustainable food behavior: sustainable food choice and food curtailment. This essay therefore investigates whether sustainable food behavior is better understood as a person-specific motivational process, in which different consumer segments follow different motivational routes toward sustainable food choice and curtailment behavior. At the process level, Essay 3 extends the dissertation by focusing more specifically on food curtailment as a distinct form of sustainable behavior. Unlike sustainable food choice, which often involves selecting among available alternatives, food curtailment requires restraint, reflection, and self-regulation. This essay examines how integrated regulation may promote food curtailment through reflective thinking and self-regulation.

By examining sustainable food behavior through an integrated motivational framework, this dissertation reveals how fairness orientation, motivational quality, and psychological process jointly shape sustainable consumption. The project contributes to marketing and consumer research by moving beyond homogeneous models of sustainable behavior and by showing that sustainable food choice and food curtailment are psychologically distinct outcomes. It also offers practical implications for policymakers, marketers, NGOs, and sustainability-oriented organizations by suggesting that interventions may be more effective when they are tailored to different consumer types and motivational pathways (Sheth, Sethia, and Srinivas 2011; White et al. 2019). Overall, this dissertation advances a more consumer-centered understanding of sustainable food behavior and provides a foundation for designing more precise, inclusive, and psychologically informed sustainability interventions.