IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/operea/v20y2020i2d10.1007_s12351-017-0352-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Impact of consumers’ understanding of date labelling on food waste behaviour

Author

Listed:
  • Luiza Toma

    (SRUC)

  • Montserrat Costa Font

    (SRUC)

  • Bethan Thompson

    (University of Edinburgh)

Abstract

This research analyses the impact that the level of understanding of date marking (among other influences) has on the food waste behaviour of consumers in the European Union focusing on a comparison between European Union countries. The data were extracted from the Dataset Flash Eurobarometer 425: Food waste and date marking (European Commission in Flash eurobarometer 425: food waste and date marking, European Commission, Brussels, 2015) and structural equation models to estimate the strength of these influences on behaviour. The results show that socio-demographics (age; education; occupation); behavioural control (perceptions regarding the need for better and clearer information about ‘best before’ and ‘use by’ date labelling on food products; frequency of checking date labels when shopping and preparing meals); and understanding of ‘best before’ and ‘use by’ labels have significant effects on behaviours related to lower food waste (use of senses instead of labels to decide whether to eat or throw away food e.g., non-perishable foods from own kitchen cupboard with no ‘best before’ date indicated on the label which were not bought recently; or food products which must be used within a certain number of days after opening and are past that; and the need for ‘best before’ dates on non-perishable foods, such as rice, pasta, coffee or tea). The stated understanding of date labelling is a key influence in all models and explains a consistent fifth (ceteris paribus) of the variance in behaviour.

Suggested Citation

  • Luiza Toma & Montserrat Costa Font & Bethan Thompson, 2020. "Impact of consumers’ understanding of date labelling on food waste behaviour," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 543-560, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:operea:v:20:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s12351-017-0352-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s12351-017-0352-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12351-017-0352-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12351-017-0352-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Buzby, Jean C. & Farah-Wells, Hodan & Hyman, Jeffrey, 2014. "The Estimated Amount, Value, and Calories of Postharvest Food Losses at the Retail and Consumer Levels in the United States," Economic Information Bulletin 164262, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    2. Juliane Jörissen & Carmen Priefer & Klaus-Rainer Bräutigam, 2015. "Food Waste Generation at Household Level: Results of a Survey among Employees of Two European Research Centers in Italy and Germany," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-21, March.
    3. Mena, Carlos & Terry, Leon A. & Williams, Adrian & Ellram, Lisa, 2014. "Causes of waste across multi-tier supply networks: Cases in the UK food sector," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 144-158.
    4. Peschel, Anne & Grebitus, Carola & Steiner, Bodo & Veeman, Michele, 2016. "How does consumer knowledge affect environmentally sustainable choices? Evidence from a cross-country latent class analysis of food labels," MPRA Paper 69864, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Carter Weis & Anjali Narang & Bradley Rickard & Diogo M. Souza-Monteiro, 2021. "Effects of Date Labels and Freshness Indicators on Food Waste Patterns in the United States and the United Kingdom," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-15, July.
    2. Ghinea Valentina Mihaela & Cantaragiu Ramona Elena & Ghinea Mihalache, 2020. "FEED - Modeling the relationship between education and food waste," Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, Sciendo, vol. 14(1), pages 755-768, July.
    3. Ovidija Eičaitė & Gitana Alenčikienė & Ingrida Pauliukaitytė & Alvija Šalaševičienė, 2021. "Eat or Throw Away? Factors Differentiating High Food Wasters from Low Food Wasters," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-16, September.
    4. Rosalinda Nicastro & Petronia Carillo, 2021. "Food Loss and Waste Prevention Strategies from Farm to Fork," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-23, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Thyberg, Krista L. & Tonjes, David J., 2016. "Drivers of food waste and their implications for sustainable policy development," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 110-123.
    2. Elżbieta Goryńska-Goldmann & Michał Gazdecki & Krystyna Rejman & Joanna Kobus-Cisowska & Sylwia Łaba & Robert Łaba, 2020. "How to Prevent Bread Losses in the Baking and Confectionery Industry?—Measurement, Causes, Management and Prevention," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-24, December.
    3. Jiang, J.-Q. & Yu, T. & Wang, Z.-H. & Qi, D.-M & Huang, W.-Z, 2018. "Analyzing the Size and Affecting Factors of Household Food Waste in China," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277551, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    4. Brenna Ellison & Linlin Fan & Norbert L.W. Wilson, 2022. "Is it more convenient to waste? Trade‐offs between grocery shopping and waste behaviors," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(S1), pages 75-89, November.
    5. Raquel Diaz-Ruiz & Montserrat Costa-Font & Feliu López-i-Gelats & José M. Gil, 2018. "A Sum of Incidentals or a Structural Problem? The True Nature of Food Waste in the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-19, October.
    6. Lucie K. Ozanne & Paul W. Ballantine & Aimee McMaster, 2022. "Understanding Food Waste Produced by University Students: A Social Practice Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-20, August.
    7. Ren Jie Zhang & Brian Lee & Hung-Hao Chang, 2019. "What Is Missing in Food Loss and Waste Analyses? A Close Look at Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Markets," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-13, December.
    8. Tromp, Seth-Oscar & Haijema, René & Rijgersberg, Hajo & van der Vorst, Jack G.A.J., 2016. "A systematic approach to preventing chilled-food waste at the retail outlet," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 508-518.
    9. Jean C. Buzby & Jeanine T. Bentley & Beth Padera & Cara Ammon & Jennifer Campuzano, 2015. "Estimated Fresh Produce Shrink and Food Loss in U.S. Supermarkets," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 5(3), pages 1-23, August.
    10. Marzena Tomaszewska & Beata Bilska & Danuta Kołożyn-Krajewska, 2022. "The Influence of Selected Food Safety Practices of Consumers on Food Waste Due to Its Spoilage," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-22, July.
    11. Heng, Yan & House, Lisa, 2022. "Consumers’ perceptions and behavior toward food waste across countries," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 25(2), March.
    12. Mechthild Donner & Anne Verniquet & Jan Broeze & Katrin Kayser & Hugo de Vries, 2021. "Critical success and risk factors for circular business models valorising agricultural waste and by-products," Post-Print hal-03004851, HAL.
    13. Hosni, Hanin & Giannakas, Konstantinos, 2022. "An Economic Analysis of a “Portion Size Reduction” Policy," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322331, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    14. Christina Tsouti & Christina Papadaskalopoulou & Angeliki Konsta & Panagiotis Andrikopoulos & Margarita Panagiotopoulou & Sofia Papadaki & Christos Boukouvalas & Magdalini Krokida & Katerina Valta, 2023. "Investigating the Environmental Benefits of Novel Films for the Packaging of Fresh Tomatoes Enriched with Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Compounds through Life Cycle Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-22, May.
    15. Schmidt, Thomas G. & Baumgardt, Sandra & Blumenthal, Antonia & Burdick, Bernhard & Claupein, Erika & Dirksmeyer, Walter & Hafner, Gerold & Klockgether, Kathrin & Koch, Franziska & Leverenz, Dominik & , 2019. "Wege zur Reduzierung von Lebensmittelabfällen - Pathways to reduce food waste (REFOWAS): Maßnahmen, Bewertungsrahmen und Analysewerkzeuge sowie zukunftsfähige Ansätze für einen nachhaltigen Umgang mit," Thünen Reports 73,2, Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute, Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries.
    16. Delgado, Luciana & Schuster, Monica & Torero, Maximo, 2017. "Reality of Food Losses: A New Measurement Methodology," MPRA Paper 80378, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Johnson, Lisa K. & Dunning, Rebecca D. & Gunter, Chris C. & Dara Bloom, J. & Boyette, Michael D. & Creamer, Nancy G., 2018. "Field measurement in vegetable crops indicates need for reevaluation of on-farm food loss estimates in North America," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 136-142.
    18. Shahin Ghaziani & Delaram Ghodsi & Gholamreza Dehbozorgi & Shiva Faghih & Yeganeh Rajabpour Ranjbar & Reiner Doluschitz, 2021. "Comparing Lab-Measured and Surveyed Bread Waste Data: A Possible Hybrid Approach to Correct the Underestimation of Household Food Waste Self-Assessment Surveys," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-16, March.
    19. Sabine Ludwig-Ohm & Walter Dirksmeyer & Kathrin Klockgether, 2019. "Approaches to Reduce Food Losses in German Fruit and Vegetable Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-21, November.
    20. Lingfei Wang & Yuqin Yang & Guoyan Wang, 2022. "The Clean Your Plate Campaign: Resisting Table Food Waste in an Unstable World," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-17, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:operea:v:20:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s12351-017-0352-3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.