Research project leveraging smart data to support sustainable food choices nets UKRI funding

A UK research project using shoppers’ data from Tesco and Co-op loyalty cards to create an Environmental Food Purchasing Index has secured funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). 

Researchers from the University of Nottingham’s School of Psychology in England will lead the Data Donation for Climate Action project, which has received £362,837 (US$ 469,993) from the UKRI’s Smart Data Accelerator Scheme.

The project will gauge consumer perceptions about food and the environment with the aim to help buyers make sustainable food choices.

“To meet climate targets, we need to make significant changes to the way that we live, and there is a general public drive to be more sustainable, but people need to be supported in making behavior changes,” says professor Alexa Spence, School of Psychology.

“This project will make existing store card data usable for a variety of stakeholders with the potential to enable the public to make more sustainable food choices.”

Spence will lead the project in collaboration with professor James Goulding and Dr. John Harvey from N-Labs at the university’s Business School, Dr. Charles Ogunbode, School of Psychology (Nottingham) and professor Lorraine Whitmarsh MBE, School of Psychology, University of Bath.

Smart data for better food

Under the Data Donation for Climate Action, the team will analyze loyalty cards donated by volunteer participants to develop an index showing the types of food buyers regularly spend money on. Volunteers will also partake in a survey exploring consumer behaviors about food and the environment.

The team will develop a web portal for public use where people can upload their own purchase card data. The interactive tool will enable buyers to view data about the environmental footprint of their purchases, encouraging environment-positive behavior change.

The initiative joins seven other projects funded this year as part of the innovative accelerator scheme and one other project announced by Smart Data Research UK under its £2.3 million (US$3 million) accelerator scheme.

“These innovative research teams are addressing challenges at the intersection of data and society. From understanding how our shopping choices impact climate change to making smart data more accessible to researchers, their work will help us unlock the potential of smart data for the public good,” says Joe Cuddeford, director of Smart Data Research UK.

Researchers are leveraging smart data to study consumers’ everyday interactions with the digital world via mobile apps, sat navs, social media and online shopping globally.

Recently, a US study warned that digital modes of ordering, including kiosks, tablets and apps, often lead to consumers having lower cognitive involvement in placing orders, often leading to unhealthy food choices and increased spending.