Consumers and food waste - a review of research approaches and findings on point of purchase and in-household consumer behaviour (original) (raw)

Review Consumer-Related Food Waste: Causes and Potential for Action

2015

In the past decade, food waste has received increased attention on both academic and societal levels. As a cause of negative economic, environmental and social effects, food waste is considered to be one of the sustainability issues that needs to be addressed. In developed countries, consumers are one of the biggest sources of food waste. To successfully reduce consumer-related food waste, it is necessary to have a clear understanding of the factors influencing food waste-related consumer perceptions and behaviors. The present paper presents the results of a literature review and expert interviews on factors causing consumer-related food waste in households and supply chains. Results show that consumers' motivation to avoid food waste, their management skills of food provisioning and food handling and their trade-offs between priorities have an extensive influence on their food waste behaviors. We identify actions that governments, societal stakeholders and retailers can undertake to reduce consumer-related food waste, highlighting that synergistic actions between all parties are most promising. Further research should focus on exploring specific food waste contexts and interactions more in-depth. Experiments and interventions in particular can contribute to a shift from analysis to solutions.

‘Not in My Bin’: Consumer’s Understanding and Concern of Food Waste Effects and Mitigating Factors

Sustainability

About one third of all food produced for human consumption is wasted. Along with a lively debate on food loss and waste definition and quantification, growing attention is dedicated to the faceted dimensions of consumers’ food waste. Drivers, effects, and mitigating factors have been mainly studied in isolation, with limited attention paid to their interrelationships. This study aims to contribute to a better understanding of the underlying relationship between the causes of food waste and consumers’ perception of their role and of their concern on food waste effects and mitigating factors. The article draws on a survey submitted to 938 respondents while shopping at a supermarket in Italy in 2015. Data were processed by principal components to identify latent dimensions of consumer behavior, and a cluster analysis was performed to identify homogenous groups of consumers. Results emphasize the complexity of the relationship between consumers and food resources. They suggest that whil...

Sustainability, 2015

A consumer behavioural approach to food waste Article information

Abstract Purpose – Food waste occurs in every stage of the supply chain, but the value-added lost to waste is the highest when consumers waste food. The purpose of this paper is to understand the food waste behaviour of consumers to support policies for minimising food waste. Design/methodology/approach – Using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) as a theoretical lens, the authors design a questionnaire that incorporates contextual factors to explain food waste behaviour. The authors test two models: base (four constructs of TPB) and extended (four constructs of TPB plus six contextual factors). The authors build partial least squares structural equation models to test the hypotheses. Findings – The data confirm significant relationships between food waste and contextual factors such as motives, financial attitudes, planning routines, food surplus, social relationships and Ramadan. Research limitations/implications – The data comes from an agriculturally resource-constrained country: Qatar. Practical implications – Food waste originating from various causes means more food should flow through the supply chains to reach consumers’ homes. Contextual factors identified in this work increase the explanatory power of the base model by 75 per cent. Social implications – Changing eating habits during certain periods of the year and food surplus have a strong impact on food waste behaviour.

Consumer Attitude and Behaviour Towards Food Waste

Journal of Agribusiness and Rural Development, 2016

This paper presents the attitudes and behaviour of young consumers towards food waste based on a pilot qualitative research and data published in the literature. Qualitative research was conducted with the use of focus grou p method, with approximately 8-10 selected students per group. Four focus group sessions were held, with open discussion led by a moderator and the scenario containing problematic issues. The study included a total of thirty-seven students, aged 22-25 years. Studies have shown that negative attitude of household towards food waste is not frequently refl ected in consumers' behaviour, despite their fundamental knowledge on how to reduce food waste. Respondents emphasized the need for educational campaigns. Properly selected and presented information will stimulate both consumer's attitude and behaviour.

Household Food Waste Behavior: Avenues for Future Research

Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2016

Drawing from previous studies, this review proposes a research agenda in regard to household food waste, a neglected topic within the field of consumer behavior. This phenomenon has remarkable social and environmental relevance when one considers that it occurs at the end of the food chain, and thus, wastage at this stage implies losses of resources required for food production. This study aims to provide a framework and solutions for conducting future research in this area. Academic opportunities identified suggest that further theorizing is needed related to consumer food waste, in addition to studies aimed at testing the impact of communication initiatives on behavioral change and at providing a standardized methodology to measure consumer food waste.

Consumer Behaviour and Food Waste: Understanding and Mitigating Waste with a Technology Probe

Foods

Globally, nearly one third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted. This equals a total of 1.3. billion tonnes per year, which is a large, unnecessary burden for the environment and the economy. Research and development have delivered a wealth of resources for understanding food waste, yet little is known about where food wasting occurs in the home. The study begins with a literature review of articles that deal with food waste and consumer behaviour, reflecting on their definition of ‘waste’, approach, findings and recommendations. Having noticed a lack of convergence in the literature, and an absence of research into digital technologies for the study of food waste, the potential for incorporating novel technology probe methodologies is explored. Building on the proliferation of internet of things devices, the ‘smart bin’ is introduced as an effective intervention for making visible routine household food wasting practices. These data were then triangulated with u...

Consumers and food waste - a review of research approaches and findings on point of purchase and in-household consumer behaviour (original) (raw)

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