Rivista di Economia Agraria, Anno LXIX, n.

2-3, 2014: 201-209

Francesco Marangon, Food waste, consumer attitudes

Tiziano Tempesta, and behaviour. A study in the
Stefania Troiano,
North-Eastern part of Italy
Daniel Vecchiato
Reducing the amount of wasted food is a key element in
Dipartimento di Scienze developing a sustainable food system.
Economiche e Statistiche, Large quantities of produced food are discarded and, to a
Università degli Studi di Udine large extent, the waste is avoidable. The wastage of food
Dipartimento del Territorio e occurs at all stages of the food life cycle, starting from
Sistemi Agro-Forestali, Università harvesting, through manufacturing and distributing and
degli Studi di Padova finally consumption, but the largest contribution to food
waste occur at home.
Keywords: food waste, sustainable In the past, several studies investigated the amount of
consumption, modern lifestyle food waste in Italy. Nevertheless there is a substantial
JEL Codes: Q01, P46 lack in the knowledge of the reasons linked to waste food
at households.
The aim of this paper is to focus on the consumption
food waste for exploring the reasons of food waste on
family level, which is a significant fraction of total, in
order to overcome food wasting behaviour and point out
options to design prevention measures.

1. Introduction

During recent years there has been increasing international interest in the
amount of wasted food and its negative consequences. Reducing the amount of
food that is wasted is a key element in developing a sustainable food system. In
fact, firstly, food waste represents a monetary loss, secondly, has a social impact as
it contributes towards increases in food prices, making food less accessible for the
poorest and increasing the number of malnourished people (Graham-Rowe et al.,
2014; Stuart, 2009), thirdly, contributes to decreasing the quality level of natural
resources generating also greenhouse gasses (FAO, 2013 and 2014; WRAP, 2011).
Recently the question of the adverse environmental impact of food waste
has shifted from being something of interest to a selected group of researches
only, to a position at the centre of public and institutional attention. This is
due to the diffusion of more precise information about the economic, social
and environmental impacts of the increasing amounts of food wasted especial-
ly in the industrialized countries.
The aim of this study is to explore reasons for household food waste with
special attention to food waste that can be related to households’ behavior,
purchase habits, attitudes and life style.
DOI: 10.13128/REA-16922 © Firenze University Press
ISSN (print): 0035-6190 www.fupress.com/rea
ISSN (online): 2281-1559
202 F. Marangon, T. Tempesta, S. Troiano, D. Vecchiato

2. Background

Large quantities of produced food are discarded around the world (Gus-
tavsson et al., 2011) –as stated by FAO (2011) 280-300 kg per capita per
year in developed countries and 120-170 kg per capita per year in develop-
ing countries – and, to a large extent, this type of waste is avoidable (Ref-
sgaard and Magnussen, 2009; Swami et al., 2011). The wastage of food oc-
curs at all stages of the life cycle of food, starting from harvesting, through
manufacturing and distributing and finally consumption, but the largest
contribution to food waste is from homes (EPRS, 2014; FAO, 2011 and 2012;
Thøgersen, 1996; Williams et al., 2012). According to the literature review,
food losses refer to the decrease in edible food mass throughout the part of
the supply chain that specifically leads to edible food for human consump-
tion. They take place at production, postharvest and processing stages in
the food supply chain (FAO, 2011; WRI, 2013). Food losses occurring at the
end of the food chain (retail and final consumption) are rather called “food
waste” (Parfitt et al., 2010; WRI, 2013). It has been estimated (FAO, 2011)
that in developing countries 40% of losses occur at post-harvest and process-
ing levels, while in industrialized countries more than 40% of losses happen
at retail and consumer levels.
Although consumers were the single biggest contributors to food waste
volume, little is known about the drivers of food waste in households (Stefan
et al., 2013) and more in general only a few studies to date have investigated
on the consumer behavior and on food’s choice. The findings of such research
have indicated that, on the one hand, people share an ethic intention not to
waste food, but, on the other hand, they tend to waste food (Bolton and Alba,
2012).
The reasons of wasting food have been investigated also in Italy to some
degree (Capone et al., 2014; Garrone et al., 2011; Segrè and Falasconi, 2008
and 2011; Waste Watcher, 2013), but there is only little insights about the pos-
sible drivers among Italian households. In fact, although the themes covered
in these researches represent an important starting point there is still a lack
of understanding of the nature of household food waste behavior in Italy. As
sustainable household waste management is becoming an important concern
for local and national authorities also in Italy a good understanding of factors
that contribute to the amount of wasted food seems to be essential if we/they
design effective interventions. For these reasons, in the current study, we aim
at analyzing food waste by focusing on the consumption to explore reasons of
wasting food at family level, which also in Italy is a significant fraction of to-
tal, in order to overcome food wasting behaviour and point out options to de-
sign prevention measures.
Food waste, consumer attitudes and behaviour. A study in the North-Eastern part of Italy203

3. Methodology

As food waste is the result of multiple, interacting activities (Cohen et al.,

2014; Graham-Rowe et al., 2014; Quested et al., 2011, 2013), we aim at under-
standing this issue at household level by identifying a number of the main fac-
tors affecting food wasting.
To achieve this objective we conducted a survey through the distribu-
tion of an anonymous questionnaire to households. The questionnaire was
pre-tested in a preliminary pilot study. The data were obtained during a two-
month period started in October 2013 using two data collection methods: on-
line questionnaire forms (350) and face-to-face questionnaires submitted by
the researchers (162) so as to reach all relevant age groups. Altogether 512 re-
sponses were collected. For the data analysis, we used 490 completed question-
naires. However, since the survey was based on a non-probability sampling
frame, we might not use the results for statistical inference.
Since our hypothesis is that people’s attitudes and individual behaviour
may influence the quantity of food waste, in the questionnaire many different
statements regarding attitudes to food waste, as well as purchase habits, were
investigated and specific questions to the respondents were posed. Moreover
individual socio-economic position was estimated using specific questions.
As we were interested in investigating the main explanatory factors in pre-
dicting the probability of wasting food in a family, we have elaborated a logis-
tic model. The dependent variable was a dummy, whose value was one if the
interviewed stated that usually his/her family wastes part of food they weekly
buy and zero otherwise.

4. Results

4.1 Sample characteristics and waste attitudes

Examination of the sample socio-demographic characteristics indicates a

majority of female respondents (59%; Census data: 51%) compared to males
(41%; Census data: 49%). Each relevant age group is represented (from 15 years
old), 58% of the respondents had successfully completed high school and 27%
held a University or postgraduate degree. More than half (59%) are employed,
26% are housewives or students and 9% pensioners (“other” 3%). A vast major-
ity (89%) live in the North-Eastern part of Italy. Fifty per cent was the person
mainly responsible for shopping.
Interviewees were also asked to identify their first and second choice of
shop they use for their main grocery shopping. The majority undertakes their
204 F. Marangon, T. Tempesta, S. Troiano, D. Vecchiato

main shopping from hyper- and supermarkets. We also asked them to declare
if they waste food: 56% stated they do not. We noticed that the more respond-
ents spend during the week, the more they waste. Moreover if respondent is a
woman or an elder the probability to produce waste decreases. Fifty-five per
cent affirmed they do not waste food. The respondents who usually waste
food, throw mainly food and vegetables away. The majority of respondents
(89%) stated that the problem of food waste is important, while 31% asked for
more information about how to better store food in order to avoid waste.

4.2 Economic analysis: backward stepwise regression

The model was estimated using the SPSS© (14th version) program with a
backward stepwise regression procedure (Tab. 1). All variables were significant
at the standard level (95% confidence interval) with the exception of ”once-a-
week regular shopping” (p=0.082) and “grocery shopping” (p=0.062).
Although the model is able to correctly estimate the probability of 64.7%
of cases, it provides some interesting insights about the factors affecting food
wasting.
It has been detected that purchasing behaviour can influence food waste.
In fact, food wastage is higher for families that purchase from supermarkets
and hypermarkets, that make once-a-week shopping and spend more than 100
euros per purchase.
It seems also that packaging could play an important role in producing
food waste, in particular as regard packages that contain a quantity of food
larger than real needs.
Moreover, food waste can be related to respondents’ and families’ socio-
economic and demographic characteristics. In detail, the wastage of food de-
creases with age, but increases with growing educational qualification and
family size.
From these results, it seems to be possible to state that family composi-
tion and habits are the main factors that can explaining the wastage of food.
Consumers with higher educational qualification devote a lot of time to work.
This characteristic is particularly common in younger families with higher
number of children. These people have no enough time to devote to shop-
ping and have to concentrate purchases during a morning or afternoon once
a week, to shop from hyper - or supermarkets, where it is possible to choose
among several goods in order to satisfy different family needs. By means of
the model, it is possible to estimate that the probability of wasting food in
such a family, with graduated components, aging less than 30 years, with two
children, making once-a-week shopping and spending more than 100 euros is
Food waste, consumer attitudes and behaviour. A study in the North-Eastern part of Italy205

Tab. 1. Estimated model explaining waste food probability in the home

Variable B E.S. Wald df Sig. Exp(B)

I think that waste is an important problem -0,992 0,325 9,305 1,000 0,002 0,371
Too big packages 0,639 0,229 7,787 1,000 0,005 1,894
Under age 31 1,175 0,461 6,491 1,000 0,011 3,239
Age 31 - 45 years 1,219 0,467 6,813 1,000 0,009 3,383
Age 46 - 60 years 1,055 0,449 5,513 1,000 0,019 2,871
Family size 0,208 0,102 4,108 1,000 0,043 1,231
Years of education 0,097 0,035 7,774 1,000 0,005 1,102
Supermarket and hypermarket shopping 0,638 0,342 3,479 1,000 0,062 1,893
Once-a-week shopping 0,359 0,206 3,019 1,000 0,082 1,431
Food purchase: more than € 100,00 0,474 0,214 4,902 1,000 0,027 1,607
Constant -3,586 0,757 22,428 1,000 0,000 0,028

Predicted
Right predicted percentage Yes waste Right
0,00 1,00 percentage

Yes waste 0,00 209 64 76,6

1,00 103 97 48,5
Global percentage     64,7

Nagelkerke
-2 log likelihood Cox and Snell R-squared
R-squared
580.165 0,13 0,17

76%. On the contrary, among senior consumers with lower educational quali-
fication (primary degree), belonging to single-family units, making shopping
at several shops, the probability decreases at 11%.
Nevertheless, it seems worthwhile noting that the opinion about the im-
portance of eliminating wasting could drastically cut wastage probability. For
example, referring to younger households, the probability decreases from 76%
to 54%.
The estimated model points out that family structure and purchase hab-
its created by the modern socio-economic model gradually widespread in Italy
affect food wasting. On the one hand, waste attitudes seem to be an aspect
206 F. Marangon, T. Tempesta, S. Troiano, D. Vecchiato

dominating food waste, as consumers who consider food wastage as being

a big problem tend towards decreasing their waste, on the other hand, food
waste problem is mainly due to structural characteristics of households. Al-
though young respondents perceived food waste as a problem in urgent need
of solution and seem to have high self-consciousness, their consumption style
produces waste.
Actually, activities undertaken for increasing consciousness among con-
sumers about the impact of their lifestyle in order to decrease household food
waste seem to have only partially determined a certain effectiveness. Never-
theless, areas for future research and engagement to reduce the quantity and
impact of food waste are wide, in particular as regards the opportunities
linked to the increase of awareness enabling consumption style change.

5. Conclusions

The generation of food waste at home is a complex issue, relating to con-

sumer personality and individual differences (Swami et al., 2011). It could be
influenced also by shopping habits and kitchen practices (Stefan et al., 2013).
Furthermore, the types of food consumed, their packaging and how they are
bought can affect the quantity of wastage (Capone et al., 2014).
As a large quantity of avoidable food waste has been generated also in
Italy, the paper developed an analysis of consumers’ attitudes and behaviour
in order to increase research knowledge about drivers of food waste in Italian
households, to support institutional intervention aimed at improving consum-
ers’ awareness about the importance of reducing household food waste.
Although the households that participated did not represent the aver-
age population, this study has provided useful information about drivers that
influence households’ behavior with respect to food waste. In detail, it has
highlighted specific factors that may motivate household food waste. In fact,
results showed that attitudes, age, and income affect waste behavior signifi-
cantly. Moreover, the findings identify the relationship between household
waste production and consumption styles pointing out some structural drivers
linked to modern lifestyle that seem to be able to influence consumers’ food
waste. As expected based on previous research (Stefan et al., 2013), planning
and shopping routines are important predictors of food waste behavior. In
addition, socio-economic and demographic household characteristics make a
significant contribution toward food wastage explanation. This finding seems
to imply that activities undertaken to raise consumers’ awareness could have
only partially effectiveness. However, as we still lack knowledge as regards
for example what kind of attitudinal and control beliefs are the most impor-
Food waste, consumer attitudes and behaviour. A study in the North-Eastern part of Italy207

tant in relation to food wastage (Stefan et al., 2013), it seems that highlight-
ing the benefits of reducing household food waste by providing more informa-
tion could support people to reduce food waste (European Commission, 2014;
Segrè, 2012; Williams et al., 2012). A number of studies stated that consumer
engagement and working with retailers and food manufacturers to help con-
sumers to buy the right amount could improve food wasting (Graham-Rowe et
al., 2014; Quested et al., 2011). Moreover, it seems that institutional interven-
tion could affect consumers’ stated attitudes (Cohen et al., 2014): in particu-
lar, if dialogue can stimulate new thoughts and encourage people to act more
altruistically (Refsgaard and Magnussen, 2009) it could be useful to increase
co-operation between food value-chain actors. Consequently, findings provide
insight about the elements of consumer behavior and practices that can be dis-
cussed and influenced to reduce household food waste and its environmental
and economic impacts, also if structural lifestyle characteristics may be barri-
ers not easy to be overcome. The elements that the study has identified could
be seen as potential aspects to be targeted in household food waste minimiza-
tion institutional initiatives, remembering also the importance of facilitating
the donation of wholesome surplus food to reduce waste and to support sus-
tainable consumption (Segrè, 2012).
Considerable amount of research remains to be done to explain better the
phenomenon of food waste, which, in any case, represents a relatively new re-
search field (Katajajuuri et al., 2014). Future research is required to better un-
derstand consumer behavior, in order to provide people with practical tools
to improve their habits. In particular, it seems that multidisciplinary research
would increase the opportunities of identifying best practices and effective
ways to implement waste reduction.

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