Project Scelta

Observatory on the purchasing and consumption trends of Italian consumers

What is it?

Project SCELTA – Developing the circular economy by leveraging purchasing trends

This is a CONAI project carried out in collaboration with the Institute of Management of the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa.

The study, based on context analyses and questionnaires addressed to a representative sample of the Italian population consisting of around 1,000 respondents, investigates consumers’ perception of the various dimensions of circularity of products and how this perception influences their purchases.

Sixth edition (2025 data)

La VI edizione si propone come obiettivo quello di analizzare la percezione dei consumatori verso i prodotti “sfusi” e valutare l’utilità o la disutilità attribuita all’imballaggio in diversi contesti di acquisto. A tale scopo, la ricerca si articola in tre esperimenti:

  • il primo esplora le preferenze tra prodotto confezionato e sfuso, osservando come il prezzo e il tipo di contenitore collettivo (dispenser in plastica o sacco di juta) influenzino la scelta e la quantità acquistata;
  • il secondo esamina la preferenza per un packaging minimale rispetto a un imballaggio molto voluminoso in presenza di diverse condizioni di prezzo e di un messaggio ambientale (nudge), applicato a un prodotto con bassa sensibilità legata alla privacy, come un caricabatterie;
  • il terzo approfondisce dinamiche analoghe rispetto al packaging, ma in riferimento a un prodotto percepito come più sensibile dal punto di vista della privacy, come un sapone antimicotico.

Fifth edition (2024 data)

The fifth edition, in addition to analysing pro-environmental purchasing and consumption trends consistent with the circular economy, focused on consumer perceptions regarding:

  • the measures contained in the new European Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR)
  • the (perceived) environmental impact of packaging throughout its life cycle
  • recent regulatory developments on green claims

Fourth edition (2023 data)

The fourth edition focused on two main themes:

  • green claims: assertions in commercial communications that suggest to consumers that the product or service has a positive or less harmful impact on the environment compared to competitors
  • consumption during the inflation period, through an experiment examining how purchasing choices change in response to price variations for products packaged using different solutions:
    • packaging made from virgin raw material
    • packaging made from self-declared recycled material
    • packaging made from certified recycled material

Useful documents - previous editions

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