IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v27y2018i1p1-15.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainable Retailing – Influencing Consumer Behaviour on Food Waste

Author

Listed:
  • C. William Young
  • Sally V. Russell
  • Cheryl A. Robinson
  • Phani Kumar Chintakayala

Abstract

The aim of this research was to examine the influence of a UK national retailer on its customers' food waste behaviour. Using six communication channels (in‐store magazine, e‐newsletter, Facebook site, product stickers and in‐store demonstrations), Asda presented standard food waste reduction messages to its customers during two time limited periods in 2014 and 2015. Six national surveys over 21 months tracked customers' self‐reported food waste. Our results showed that the combined communication channels and repeated messages over time had a significant effect on reducing food waste of customers. Surprisingly, customers who said they did not recall seeing the messages also reduced their food waste, showing the wider influence of interventions. Those who saw a food waste reduction message saved an estimated £81 annually from reducing food waste. The main conclusion of this paper is that retailers can influence the pro‐environmental behaviour of customers using conventional communication channels; however, repeat messages are needed in order to have a long‐term impact. © 2017 The Authors. Business Strategy and the Environment published by ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Suggested Citation

  • C. William Young & Sally V. Russell & Cheryl A. Robinson & Phani Kumar Chintakayala, 2018. "Sustainable Retailing – Influencing Consumer Behaviour on Food Waste," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 1-15, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:27:y:2018:i:1:p:1-15
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.1966
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.1966
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.1966?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gunne Grankvist & Ulf Dahlstrand & Anders Biel, 2004. "The Impact of Environmental Labelling on Consumer Preference: Negative vs. Positive Labels," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 213-230, June.
    2. Frederiks, Elisha R. & Stenner, Karen & Hobman, Elizabeth V., 2015. "Household energy use: Applying behavioural economics to understand consumer decision-making and behaviour," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1385-1394.
    3. Chiou‐Fong Wei & Chang‐Tang Chiang & Tun‐Chih Kou & Bruce C Y Lee, 2017. "Toward Sustainable Livelihoods: Investigating the Drivers of Purchase Behavior for Green Products," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(5), pages 626-639, July.
    4. David Tilman & Michael Clark, 2014. "Global diets link environmental sustainability and human health," Nature, Nature, vol. 515(7528), pages 518-522, November.
    5. Peter Jones & Daphne Comfort & David Hillier, 2009. "Marketing Sustainable Consumption within Stores: A Case Study of the UK’s Leading Food Retailers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 1(4), pages 1-12, October.
    6. Young, William & Middlemiss, Lucie, 2012. "A rethink of how policy and social science approach changing individuals' actions on greenhouse gas emissions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 742-747.
    7. Nina Hampl & Moritz Loock, 2013. "Sustainable Development in Retailing: What is the Impact on Store Choice?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(3), pages 202-216, March.
    8. Steve Elliot, 2013. "A Transdisciplinary Exploratory Model of Corporate Responses to the Challenges of Environmental Sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(4), pages 269-282, May.
    9. Christine Göbel & Nina Langen & Antonia Blumenthal & Petra Teitscheid & Guido Ritter, 2015. "Cutting Food Waste through Cooperation along the Food Supply Chain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-17, January.
    10. Chitnis, Mona & Sorrell, Steve & Druckman, Angela & Firth, Steven K. & Jackson, Tim, 2013. "Turning lights into flights: Estimating direct and indirect rebound effects for UK households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 234-250.
    11. William Young & Fiona Tilley, 2006. "Can businesses move beyond efficiency? The shift toward effectiveness and equity in the corporate sustainability debate," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(6), pages 402-415, November.
    12. Hsiu‐Yi Lin & Meng‐Hsiang Hsu, 2015. "Using Social Cognitive Theory to Investigate Green Consumer Behavior," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 326-343, July.
    13. Danyi Qi & Brian E Roe, 2016. "Household Food Waste: Multivariate Regression and Principal Components Analyses of Awareness and Attitudes among U.S. Consumers," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(7), pages 1-19, July.
    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. Aschemann-Witzel, Jessica & de Hooge, Ilona E. & Almli, Valérie L., 2021. "My style, my food, my waste! Consumer food waste-related lifestyle segments," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    2. Izabela Karolina Horoś & Tonia Ruppenthal, 2021. "Avoidance of Food Waste from a Grocery Retail Store Owner’s Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-22, January.
    3. Talwar, Shalini & Kaur, Puneet & Kumar, Sushant & Salo, Jari & Dhir, Amandeep, 2022. "The balancing act: How do moral norms and anticipated pride drive food waste/reduction behaviour?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    4. Hannah Barker & Peter J. Shaw & Beth Richards & Zoe Clegg & Dianna Smith, 2021. "What Nudge Techniques Work for Food Waste Behaviour Change at the Consumer Level? A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-18, October.
    5. Prakash Singh & Lokesh Arora & Abdulaziz Choudhry, 2022. "Consumer Behavior in the Service Industry: An Integrative Literature Review and Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-30, December.
    6. Felipe Caro & A. Gürhan Kök & Victor Martínez-de-Albéniz, 2020. "The Future of Retail Operations," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 22(1), pages 47-58, January.
    7. Clara Cicatiello & Emanuele Blasi & Claudia Giordano & Angelo Martella & Silvio Franco, 2020. "“If only I Could Decide”: Opinions of Food Category Managers on in-Store Food Waste," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-19, October.
    8. Elnur Nabivi, 2020. "Implementation of Green Marketing Concept Through Social Media Activities: A Systematic Literature Review," Journal of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour in Emerging Markets, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Management, vol. 2(11), pages 55-67.
    9. Aoife Brennan & Sarah Browne, 2021. "Food Waste and Nutrition Quality in the Context of Public Health: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-26, May.
    10. repec:ags:aaea22:335672 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Carmen Bălan, 2020. "How Does Retail Engage Consumers in Sustainable Consumption? A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-25, December.
    12. Ulrich Jürgens, 2023. "Does Food Shopping Behaviour Determine Food Waste Vulnerability in Private Households? Quantitative Analysis on Case Studies from Germany," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-26, March.
    13. Raphaëlle Stewart & Monia Niero, 2018. "Circular economy in corporate sustainability strategies: A review of corporate sustainability reports in the fast‐moving consumer goods sector," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(7), pages 1005-1022, November.
    14. Stephanie Marwood & Noreen Byrne & Olive McCarthy & Ciara Heavin & Peter Barlow, 2023. "Examining the Relationship between Consumers’ Food-Related Actions, Wider Pro-Environmental Behaviours, and Food Waste Frequency: A Case Study of the More Conscious Consumer," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-30, February.
    15. Regina Frei & Lisa Jack & Sally‐Ann Krzyzaniak, 2020. "Sustainable reverse supply chains and circular economy in multichannel retail returns," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 1925-1940, July.
    16. Dai, Jiatong & Gong, Siyu, 2024. "Sustainable messaging strategies and consumer food waste: The congruence effect between message framing and state anxiety," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    17. Maria-Georgeta Moldovan & Dan-Cristian Dabija & Liana Stanca & Cristina Bianca Pocol, 2024. "A Qualitative Study on the Consumer Behaviour Related to Food Waste: Romanian Perspectives through Word Cloud and Sentiment Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-27, 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. Young, William & Russell, Sally V. & Robinson, Cheryl A. & Barkemeyer, Ralf, 2017. "Can social media be a tool for reducing consumers’ food waste? A behaviour change experiment by a UK retailer," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 117(PB), pages 195-203.
    2. Prasad Siba Borah & Courage Simon Kofi Dogbe & Nyankomo Marwa, 2024. "Generation Z's green purchase behavior: Do green consumer knowledge, consumer social responsibility, green advertising, and green consumer trust matter for sustainable development?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 4530-4546, July.
    3. Guang-Wen Zheng & Abu Bakkar Siddik & Mohammad Masukujjaman & Syed Shah Alam & Alvina Akter, 2020. "Perceived Environmental Responsibilities and Green Buying Behavior: The Mediating Effect of Attitude," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-27, December.
    4. William Young & Matthew Davis & Ilona M. McNeill & Bindu Malhotra & Sally Russell & Kerrie Unsworth & Chris W. Clegg, 2015. "Changing Behaviour: Successful Environmental Programmes in the Workplace," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(8), pages 689-703, December.
    5. Daniel N. Warshawsky, 2019. "The Challenge of Food Waste Governance in Cities: Case Study of Consumer Perspectives in Los Angeles," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-22, February.
    6. S. Wiley Wakeman & George Tsalis & Birger Boutrup Jensen & Jessica Aschemann-Witzel, 2022. "Seeing the Issue Differently (Or Not At All): How Bounded Ethicality Complicates Coordination Towards Sustainability Goals," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 178(2), pages 325-338, June.
    7. Wenjie Li & Muhammad Yaseen Bhutto & Idrees Waris & Tianyang Hu, 2023. "The Nexus between Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility, Green Intellectual Capital and Green Innovation towards Business Sustainability: An Empirical Analysis of Chinese Automobile Manufactur," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-20, January.
    8. Peter Morris & Desley Vine & Laurie Buys, 2018. "Critical Success Factors for Peak Electricity Demand Reduction: Insights from a Successful Intervention in a Small Island Community," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 33-54, March.
    9. Sue Hornibrook & Claire May & Andrew Fearne, 2015. "Sustainable Development and the Consumer: Exploring the Role of Carbon Labelling in Retail Supply Chains," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(4), pages 266-276, May.
    10. Ricci, Elena Claire & Banterle, Alessandro, 2020. "Do major climate change-related public events have an impact on consumer choices?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    11. Abbade, Eduardo Botti, 2020. "Estimating the nutritional loss and the feeding potential derived from food losses worldwide," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    12. Irene Blanco-Gutiérrez & Consuelo Varela-Ortega & Rhys Manners, 2020. "Evaluating Animal-Based Foods and Plant-Based Alternatives Using Multi-Criteria and SWOT Analyses," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-26, October.
    13. Castro, P. & Pedroso, R. & Lautenbach, S. & Vicens, R., 2020. "Farmland abandonment in Rio de Janeiro: Underlying and contributory causes of an announced development," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    14. Rami Al Sidawi & Teo Urushadze & Angelika Ploeger, 2020. "Changes in Dairy Products Value Chain in Georgia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-29, July.
    15. Rambabu Lavuri & Abhinav Jindal & Umair Akram & Bhukya Koteswara Rao Naik & Alrence Santiago Halibas, 2023. "Exploring the antecedents of sustainable consumers' purchase intentions: Evidence from emerging countries," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 280-291, February.
    16. Deborah F Coldwell & Karl L Evans, 2017. "Contrasting effects of visiting urban green-space and the countryside on biodiversity knowledge and conservation support," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(3), pages 1-18, March.
    17. Birgit Kopainsky & Anita Frehner & Adrian Müller, 2020. "Sustainable and healthy diets: Synergies and trade‐offs in Switzerland," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(6), pages 908-927, November.
    18. Christopher Jeffords, 2014. "Preference-directed regulation when ethical environmental policy choices are formed with limited information," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 573-606, March.
    19. Adam A. Prag & Christian B. Henriksen, 2020. "Transition from Animal-Based to Plant-Based Food Production to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Agriculture—The Case of Denmark," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-20, October.
    20. Jihyo Kim & Suhyeon Nam, 2021. "Do Household Time, Risk, and Social Preferences Affect Home Energy Retrofit Decisions in Korea?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-18, April.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:bla:bstrat:v:27:y:2018:i:1:p:1-15. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    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.