Previous studies have explored consumer perspectives on natural cosmetics (Amberg & Fogarassy, 2019), yet scant attention has been given to the aesthetics of cosmetic packaging. Visual elements, such as colors and materials, play a pivotal role in shaping consumers’ aesthetic experiences, influencing both everyday and luxurious perceptions. In contemporary contexts, aesthetics extend beyond conventional notions of beauty to encompass ecological and ethical considerations (Saito, 2018). This multidimensional approach is reflected in sustainability studies, which introduce the concepts of “thin” and “thick” aesthetics (Lehtinen, 2021; Saito, 2018), addressing visual attributes and deeper, abstract meanings related to ecological and social aspects of products.

Employing the snowball method, we recruited interviewees and conducted six paired interviews (n = 12) to delve into Finnish consumers’ perceptions of the visual (thin) and sustainable (thick) aspects of cosmetic packaging. Utilizing content analysis, we uncovered that consumers derive pleasure from the decorative elements of packaging, aligning their aesthetic judgments with the thin dimension. Simultaneously, consumers evaluate packaging materials and colors through a sustainability lens, contemplating the ecological impact of the product within the thick dimension.

Introduction:
Consumer education (CE) has long been an integral part of home economics. The United Nations recommended that CE “should, where appropriate, become an integral part of the basic curriculum of the educational system, preferably as a component of existing subjects” (1985/2016;43). What better place than home economics?
Well, it wasn’t that clear-cut. Consumer issues require multiple perspectives. While home economics provides CE, many students never have the subject. Thus, making CE a cross-curricular theme seems viable. In Germany, several states put this into practice. Therefore, our research question is: What does making CE a cross-curricular theme mean for home economics?

Method:
The online survey[1] (N=370; quantitative and qualitative analyses) investigates whether and how teachers at different school types and subjects in Baden-Württemberg state implement CE.

Findings:
The results underline the differences between trained and untrained teachers in home economics in terms of consumer topics in other subjects, sources of information, teaching methods etc.

Conclusions:
All subjects have more or less potential to foster CE. We conclude that the professionalization of all teachers is needed (in this case especially for topics of home economics).

[1] Part of cLEVER-project (www.leitperspektive-verbraucherbildung.de), funded by MLR (Ministry of Food Rural Affairs and Consumer Protection)

Introduction:
Urgent transformation processes toward a healthy and self-determined society that consumes and produces the necessary development of competencies for the active participation of all stakeholders. The implementation tasks are complex for educational institutions because the future-oriented competencies affect all levels of learning and the lifelong learning impact chain.

Methods:
Our presentation offers participants the opportunity to get to know an approach of participatory concept development for low-threshold learning formats. This concept was tested as part of a three-year consumer education project developing 30 language-sensitive materials and 10 development-evaluation workshops.

Findings:
Language-sensitive learning materials and didactic concepts support people with low-literacy to (re)participate in the process of lifelong learning and to manage their lives in a self-determined way. The tested and evaluated practical examples relate to Food & Consumer Literacy and are available as free-download materials, some are translated and adapted in English, ready for transfer in your country.

Conclusion:
With our learning materials, it is possible to offer educational opportunities to people who are vulnerable because in order to reach these people, located educational programs are necessary to support a lifelong learning impact chain. Additionally, the materials are available in over 140 multi-generational homes at the communal level.

One of the biggest challenges facing consumers across the globe today is how to protect privacy. Data are collected with every transaction consumers make. With every new technology come new considerations for collecting and using consumer data. Most consumers are unaware of the extent to which information is collected, shared and sold. The European Union has taken the lead on policy globally, giving its citizens a measure of consumer protection, while the United States lags. Most in the United States do not have much protection because Congress has not passed comprehensive national legislation. Instead, states are designing their own approaches with varying involvement and influence of the entities that collect, share and sell data, and whose goal is to maintain access and control over as much data as possible. In this analysis of consumer data privacy policy across the world, comparisons of approach, coverage, private right of enforcement, and practical impact will be addressed. Home economists need to be among those influencing consumer data privacy policy, helping consumers understand proposals, and empowering consumers to influence law and then use it. This is not a task that can be ignored, it is already late to be seeking consumer data privacy protection.

The field of nutrition and consumer education is subject to the same multiperspectivity and multidimensionality as all lifeworld phenomena. Additionally, its theorization and practice is subject to many implicit challenges, such as heterogeneous lifeworlds, normative models, corresponding pre-concepts of learners and beliefs of teachers. Home economics teachers are faced with the challenge of exploring complex lifeworld phenomena and designing adequate educational content. In nutrition ecology, qualitative modelling has been developed as a scientific method for capturing the complexity of lifeworld phenomena. Our presentation explores the potentials of applying qualitative modelling in nutrition and consumer education on three levels: factual-analytical development of the complex lifeworld phenomenon, didactical transformation of corresponding scientific knowledge into educational content and on the methodological level as a learning path in school and university.

This presentation will seek to summarise literature on practical education pedagogy, assess challenges and opportunities, while identifying research gaps to guide innovative pedagogy adoption and further research in this field. The presentation will propose a comprehensive approach to practical pedagogical frameworks that will prioritised constructivism, creativity, and collaboration.

The objective of the presentation will be present what frameworks are currently available in the literature. Overall, the presentation will present a forward looking educational approach for education that emphasises responsiveness, creativity, and collaboration in preparing students for the future.

The methodology used for the data in this oral presentation involved a scoping review. It was rigorously standardised by three researchers, which, in turn, heightened the reliability of the evidence generated.

The presentation is intended to underscore the imperative for future research in the domain of practical pedagogy. It will emphasise the necessity for educational stakeholders to address the imperatives of practical pedagogy, with the ultimate aim of optimising the efficacy of teaching and learning practices.

Introduction: Teaching out-of-field is a global challenge for the home economics profession. While rates of out-of-field teaching are increasingly visible, the implications for optimal delivery of home economics pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) are largely unexamined. This study compared in-field and out-of-field home economics teachers’ perceptions of their effectiveness as teachers.

Method: An online survey elicited 194 responses from an international cohort of in-field and out-of-field home economics teachers. Convergent mixed methods were used to analyse the data into themes and subthemes.

Findings: Negative impacts of out-of-field teaching were overwhelmingly represented in the data. Impacts include teacher feelings of diminished effectiveness and self-efficacy when teaching out-of-field, and feelings of exhaustion and frustration when supporting other out-of-field teachers. In-field teachers also identified "watered down" content, ineffective assessments, and poor student learning outcomes when ill-equipped out-of-field teachers take classes.

Implications: Mitigating the negative impacts of out-of-field teaching may include increased professional learning opportunities, dedicated support, safety training, strategic hiring of qualified staff and whole school reorientation toward positive school cultures to support upskilling out-of-field teachers. Essential PCK included lesson planning, appropriate content, behaviour and time management, authentic assessment, safety and skill development. Training of more in-field teachers is the most desirable way forward.

The study sought to determine the influence of demographic factors on customers’ menu choice decisions in star-rated hotels in Nakuru County in Kenya using the descriptive survey research design. The relationship between the demographic variables (gender, age, level of education and occupation) and customers’ menu choice decisions was analysed using the Chi-square technique. A total of 188 customers took part in the study. Results indicated that on a 5 point Likert scale, mean scores for constructs under menu choice decisions varied between 4.13 and 4.21. Customers rated their decisions to choose menus with foods from their cultural background/food origin and foods with good aroma and flavour differently by gender (p<0.05), age (p<0.05) and level of education (p<0.05). By occupation, customers rated the origin of food (p=0.000) and appearance and colour of food (p=0.015) significantly different. Consequently, the origin of food and aroma and flavour of food are key determinants in customers' menu choice decisions by gender, age and level of education. Further, one’s occupation significantly influences their menu choices concerning the origin, appearance and colour of food. Therefore, star-rated hotels should pay attention to customers’ gender, age, level of education and occupation during menu development to improve sales and profits.