BRAM BELLONI
“Why do people buy what they buy? This question is still at the heart of my research”
seem to be more aware of products pur chased during promotions. For example, they are quicker to freeze the items.” So, super discounts do not make us any more wasteful. Still, the young woman is not yet convinced. She takes up one of the blue packets in her hands and squints. Hidden behind the flap are the ingredients, printed in small letters. If it had had ‘made in Chernobyl’ on it, she could not have thrown the packet back into the white bit faster than she does now. Resolutely, she walks away from the pile of dehydrated dough with palm fat, sugar, and salt. If only everyone shopped that conscien tiously. Politicians would like nothing more, in view of rising healthcare costs. That is why more and more traces of (gov ernment) campaigns to make us consume more healthily are becoming visible in supermarkets. But are these initiatives going to work? If anyone can answer that, it is Van Lin. His blond hair reached his shoulders when
Tilburg University Economics and Management | Research Special | New Scientist | 23
