Sustainable Consumption and the “Last-Mile” Problem: Cultural and Neural Mechanisms of Near-Expiration Date Bias in Meat Purchases

Food waste poses escalating environmental costs and economic losses, with near-expiration-date bias limiting the effectiveness of discount-based waste-reduction initiatives. This study examines how expiration-date cues, interacting with consumer identity, shape responses to discounted meat products through emotional and neural mechanisms in China and Spain. Combining online (3 × 2) and lab (2 × 2) experimental design, electroencephalography and survey data were collected from two neuromarketing laboratories and online panels. We demonstrate that near-expiration-date cue triggers culturally distinct processing patterns (“transparency-as-trust” in Spain versus “safety-as-risk” in China), which in turn influence purchase intentions. Meat identity moderates these mechanisms differently, revealing divergent psychological pathways behind consumer decisions. By identifying culture-specific neurocognitive responses, this research contributes a novel cultural-cognitive perspective to sustainable consumption behavior. These findings provide actionable implications for retailers and policymakers seeking to align near-expiration product strategies with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 12.3.2.