This article explores the application of Activity Theory (AT) and Bloom’s Taxonomy to inform the design of sustainable behaviour interventions. Activity Theory, with its core concepts of externalisation and internalisation, provides a framework for understanding cognitive processes and user interaction with tools and environments. Bloom's Taxonomy can categorise these processes into higher-order and lower-order thinking skills, offering a structured approach to encourage sustainable actions. Aligning externalisation with higher-order skills and internalisation with lower-order skills expands our understanding of learning and behaviour change. This analysis proposes guidelines for tailored design interventions that consider the cognitive levels of the subject identified by Bloom’s Taxonomy. The purpose of this study is to propose and illustrate a decision-support framework that integrates Activity Theory with Bloom’s hierarchy to guide the selection of sustainable behaviour interventions. Through the theoretical analysis supported by a case-based example, this study operationalises Bloom’s Taxonomy with AT to select appropriate sustainable interventions and aligns these interventions with the components of the AT triangle, allowing a strategy for achieving sustainable behavioural outcomes by addressing tensions in activity systems.

This licentiate thesis focuses on consumer behaviour in packaging-free food systems, examining the challenges and opportunities in reducing packaging waste while addressing environmental and practical concerns. Single-use packaging has a significant environmental impact, leading to growing interest in reducing packaging waste such as through packaging-free grocery systems. However, these systems place much of the responsibility on consumers, requiring changes in behaviour, including the use of reusable containers and integrating packaging-free and traditional shopping methods. These shifts can introduce logistical complexities, such as increased food waste, carbon emissions from hybrid shopping routines, and convenience barriers.

The research is primarily qualitative and applies Activity Theory to analyse consumer interactions with packaging-free systems and conventional grocery practices. It compiles insights from four main studies, which explore the behavioural, contextual, and systemic factors influencing the adoption of these systems. Key challenges include balancing consumer convenience with the environmental benefits of reducing packaging, managing hybrid shopping behaviours, and addressing accessibility and technical barriers. This work presents tensions and harmonies within packaging-free systems, uncovering differences between sustainability goals and current consumer experiences while highlighting areas where these systems align with user behaviours.

This thesis provides a deeper understanding of consumer choices and behaviours within packaging-free systems, setting the stage for conducting a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to analyse environmental impacts, such as carbon emissions, resource use, and food waste associated with different grocery shopping practices. The results reveal distinct consumer groups with varying characteristics, where factors like travel distances, hybrid shopping routines, and cost considerations influence the sustainability of packaging-free shopping. These scenarios can be analysed through a LCA to determine when packaging-free shopping is beneficial. This work raises questions about its actual environmental impact and highlights opportunities for improving refill infrastructure, reusable packaging accessibility, and incentivising sustainable behaviours. 

Denna licentiatavhandling fokuserar på konsumentbeteenden inom förpackningsfria livsmedelssystem och undersöker utmaningar och möjligheter i att minska förpackningsavfall samtidigt som miljömässiga och praktiska aspekter beaktas. Engångsförpackningar har en betydande miljöpåverkan, vilket har lett till ett ökat intresse för att minska förpackningsavfall, exempelvis genom förpackningsfria livsmedelsbutiker. Dessa system lägger dock en stor del av ansvaret på konsumenterna och kräver förändringar i beteende, såsom att använda återanvändbara behållare och integrera förpackningsfria och traditionella shoppingmetoder. Dessa förändringar kan medföra logistiska utmaningar, såsom ökad matsvinn, koldioxidutsläpp från hybridinköpsrutiner och hinder för bekvämlighet.

Forskningen är främst kvalitativ och tillämpar Aktivitetsteorin för att analysera konsumenters interaktioner med förpackningsfria system och konventionella inköpsrutiner. Den samlar insikter från fyra huvudsakliga studier som undersöker de beteendemässiga, kontextuella och systemiska faktorer som påverkar antagandet av dessa system. Centrala utmaningar inkluderar att balansera konsumentens bekvämlighet med de miljömässiga fördelarna av att minska förpackningar, hantera hybridinköpsbeteenden och adressera tillgänglighets- och tekniska hinder. Arbetet identifierar spänningar och harmonier inom förpackningsfria system, där skillnader mellan hållbarhetsmål och nuvarande konsumentupplevelser tydliggörs, samtidigt som områden där dessa system överensstämmer med användarbeteenden lyfts fram.

Denna avhandling ger en djupare förståelse för konsumentval och beteenden inom förpackningsfria system och lägger grunden för att genomföra en Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) för att analysera miljöpåverkan, såsom koldioxidutsläpp, resursanvändning och matsvinn kopplat till olika inköpsrutiner. Resultaten visar att det finns distinkta konsumentgrupper med varierande egenskaper, där faktorer som reseavstånd, hybridinköpsrutiner och kostnadsöverväganden påverkar hållbarheten i förpackningsfria inköp. Dessa scenarier kan analyseras genom LCA för att fastställa under vilka förhållanden förpackningsfritt inköp är fördelaktigt. Arbetet väcker frågor om den verkliga miljöpåverkan av förpackningsfria system och belyser möjligheter att förbättra påfyllningsinfrastruktur, tillgängligheten av återanvändbara förpackningar och incitament för hållbara beteenden.

“Cook and eat” meal kits from pre-packaged food delivery services provide exact portions of ingredients required for specific recipes, promoting sustainability by eliminating food waste in the cooking process. However, these services often overlook some of the current consumer behaviours associated with their use. This study aims to explore consumer behaviour regarding the use of meal kits in the Swedish context, with a particular focus on the sustainability of these behaviours. Applying activity theory as the theoretical framework, this study explores how consumers interact with meal kits during the ordering, cooking, storing and disposal and identifies potential areas for service and packaging improvement to promote sustainability. The methodology used includes a combination of qualitative survey (24 answers), in-depth interviews and observations with 4 households to gather data about consumer cooking practices and perceptions and self-reporting from 3 of the authors. Specifically, the study focuses on the operational layer of activity theory, analysing the routine actions and adjustments consumers make while interacting with meal kits, which directly and both consciously and unconsciously impact food waste and its sustainability. Considering the harmonies and tensions found between the consumer, the meal kit, including the recipe, the food, and the packaging, and the homemade meal, the findings show that while meal kits ease the cooking process and save time, they are perceived as having excessive packaging and do not completely eliminate food waste as promoted. Design suggestions include considering returnable packaging systems, offering ingredient replacement options, providing freezable and microwavable recipes, and including new cooking guidelines such as taste-testing steps. These changes can better align them with consumer needs, and potentially reduce the impact of consumer use, reducing food waste and increasing the sustainability perception of the system.

New food delivery systems with returnable packaging are currently being implemented to reduce the amount of single-use packaging waste. This study aims to study the behaviour of the users of these services, gaining a better understanding of the environmental impact of the usage process by considering the users' doings. A simplified life cycle assessment is conducted based on qualitative data gathered through interviews, surveys, and user diaries. This assessment is taking, as a reference, a Spanish company which offers returnable packaging, and it involves the participation of consumers who use this type of packaging. The study applied the outcomes of the returnable packaging usage process and compared them with single-use packaging, considering different consumer choices, such as transportation for collecting the packaging. The results of the analysis show a significant percentage of CO2 allocated to the container transport compared to the other activities carried out throughout the cycle of use of the packaging such as its cleaning, or how it is handled together with the food. Based on these findings, a preliminary packaging design is proposed, considering the design lens for sustainable behaviour and the less environmentally sustainable behaviours identified in the analysis data. Understanding the environmental impact of the different steps in the process of using these packaging enables the optimisation of the service and packaging so that the user can take and recognise more sustainable alternatives when ordering returnable packaging.

In an era where food packaging plays a dual role in both reducing food waste and contributing to global packaging waste, this study presents an analysis of packaging-free systems. As governments and organizations attempt to address the environmental impact of single-use packaging, packaging-free alternatives have emerged as a promising solution. However, there is a need for a comprehensive assessment of environmental sustainability and its alignment with consumer behaviours and preferences in this growing type of grocery system. Considering this need, this study employs an integrative literature review process, selecting 51 research articles. This selection was classified into three principal areas: the characteristics of packaging-free services, the dynamics of consumer behaviour and patterns from a household perspective. This review evaluates the effectiveness of packaging-free systems, exploring the factors that drive consumer adoption, the obstacles to transitioning and the relevance of theoretical frameworks like the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and practice theory (PT) in understanding and assessing the sustainability of these alternatives. The result of this study is the identification of significant research gaps and opportunities, leading to a comprehensive research agenda. This agenda emphasizes the need for a more refined understanding of consumer classifications that extend beyond standard demographic metrics, delving into aspects like household structures, dietary preferences and regional variations. The study highlights the limited scope of existing literature by advocating for a holistic grocery analysis that blends packaging-free and conventional shopping practices to understand more realistic grocery scenarios, as not all products are available in packaging-free alternatives. It also underscores the importance of integrating environmental assessments with consumer behaviour studies to see the sustainability of the systems beyond reusable containers. Additionally, this research sheds light on the relatively unexplored area of online packaging-free services, questioning the sustainable implication of incorporating online alternatives in grocery practices, and suggests a broader application of theoretical frameworks, including activity theory (AT) as a new perspective to achieve a new understanding of these systems. Lastly, contributing to the overall understanding of packaging-free systems, the study concludes with a SWOT analysis that briefly identifies strengths in environmental sustainability and consumer awareness, balanced against weaknesses like data gaps and complex consumer decision-making processes.