Mobile apps for green food practices and the role for consumers: a case study on dining out practices with Chinese and Dutch young consumers

Mobile applications (apps) have become popular among consumers to facilitate theirexisting food practices like cooking, shopping, and dining out. However, the feasibility of usingmobile apps to facilitate sustainability transitions in food consumption is not well researched. In thisstudy, we, therefore, propose a conceptual framework to illustrate how mobile apps can be developedin linking everyday food practices with sustainability transitions. Through the case study of diningout and with the help of focus group discussions, we seek to illustrate that practice theory mightserve as a useful starting point for understanding the dynamics of food practices, their relevantsustainability dimensions, and the ways in which mobile apps can be used for changing currentfood practices into more sustainable ones. Among our main results are the findings that consumersprefer the sustainability food app to be integrated with dominant or mainstream apps, which arealready used by consumers in the context of dining out. Besides being simple, functional, flexible,and rewarding, the information provided by the app should be reliable and trustworthy. Moreover,both science-based and practice-based information is necessary to provide sufficient guidance toconsumers on how changes in food practice can be operationalized and implemented.