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Identifying motivations and barriers to minimising household food waste

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  • Graham-Rowe, Ella
  • Jessop, Donna C.
  • Sparks, Paul

Abstract

The amount of food discarded by UK households is substantial and, to a large extent, avoidable. Furthermore, such food waste has serious environmental consequences. If household food waste reduction initiatives are to be successful they will need to be informed by people's motivations and barriers to minimising household food waste. This paper reports a qualitative study of the thoughts, feelings and experiences of 15 UK household food purchasers, based on semi-structured interviews. Two core categories of motives to minimise household food waste were identified: (1) waste concerns and (2) doing the ‘right’ thing. A third core category illustrated the importance of food management skills in empowering people to keep household food waste to a minimum. Four core categories of barriers to minimising food waste were also identified: (1) a ‘good’ provider identity; (2) minimising inconvenience; (3) lack of priority; and (4) exemption from responsibility. The wish to avoid experiencing negative emotions (such as guilt, frustration, annoyance, embarrassment or regret) underpinned both the motivations and the barriers to minimising food waste. Findings thus reveal potentially conflicting personal goals which may hinder existing food waste reduction attempts.

Suggested Citation

  • Graham-Rowe, Ella & Jessop, Donna C. & Sparks, Paul, 2014. "Identifying motivations and barriers to minimising household food waste," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 15-23.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:recore:v:84:y:2014:i:c:p:15-23
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2013.12.005
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Everitt, Haley & van der Werf, Paul & Seabrook, Jamie A. & Wray, Alexander & Gilliland, Jason A., 2022. "The quantity and composition of household food waste during the COVID-19 pandemic: A direct measurement study in Canada," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 82(PA).
    2. Zheng, Han & Chen, Kai & Ma, Zhuoyuan, 2023. "Interactive effects of social norms and information framing on consumers' willingness of food waste reduction behavior," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    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. Priefer, Carmen & Jörissen, Juliane & Bräutigam, Klaus-Rainer, 2016. "Food waste prevention in Europe – A cause-driven approach to identify the most relevant leverage points for action," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 155-165.
    5. Beausang, Ciara & Hall, Clare & Toma, Luiza, 2017. "Food waste and losses in primary production: Qualitative insights from horticulture," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 177-185.
    6. 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.
    7. Schmidt, Karolin, 2016. "Explaining and promoting household food waste-prevention by an environmental psychological based intervention study," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 53-66.
    8. Wang, Feiyang & Shreedhar, Ganga & Galizzi, Matteo M & Mourato, Susana, 2022. "A take-home message: workplace food waste interventions influence household pro-environmental behaviors," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115762, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Jabeen, Fauzia & Dhir, Amandeep & Islam, Nazrul & Talwar, Shalini & Papa, Armando, 2023. "Emotions and food waste behavior: Do habit and facilitating conditions matter?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 155(PB).
    10. Principato, Ludovica & Secondi, Luca & Cicatiello, Clara & Mattia, Giovanni, 2022. "Caring more about food: The unexpected positive effect of the Covid-19 lockdown on household food management and waste," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 82(PA).
    11. Graham-Rowe, Ella & Jessop, Donna C. & Sparks, Paul, 2015. "Predicting household food waste reduction using an extended theory of planned behaviour," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 194-202.
    12. López-Mosquera, Natalia & Lera-López, Fernando & Sánchez, Mercedes, 2015. "Key factors to explain recycling, car use and environmentally responsible purchase behaviors: A comparative perspective," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 29-39.
    13. 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.
    14. Richter, Beate & Bokelmann, Wolfgang, 2017. "Explorative study about the analysis of storing, purchasing and wasting food by using household diaries," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 181-187.
    15. Delley, Mathilde & Brunner, Thomas A., 2017. "Foodwaste within Swiss households: A segmentation of the population and suggestions for preventive measures," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 172-184.
    16. Papargyropoulou, Effie & Fearnyough, Kate & Spring, Charlotte & Antal, Lucy, 2022. "The future of surplus food redistribution in the UK: Reimagining a ‘win-win’ scenario," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    17. Reijnders, L., 2014. "Phosphorus resources, their depletion and conservation, a review," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 32-49.
    18. 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.
    19. Khalil, Mary & Northey, Gavin & Septianto, Felix & Lang, Bodo, 2022. "Hopefully that’s not wasted! The role of hope for reducing food waste," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 59-70.
    20. Piras, Simone & Righi, Simone & Setti, Marco & Koseoglu, Nazli & Grainger, Matthew & stewart, Gavin & Vittuari, Matteo, 2021. "From social interactions to private environmental behaviours: The case of consumer food waste," SocArXiv 7k4vy, Center for Open Science.
    21. 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.
    22. Elizabeth A. Minton & Kathryn A. Johnson & Maricarmen Vizcaino & Christopher Wharton, 2020. "Is it godly to waste food? How understanding consumers' religion can help reduce consumer food waste," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 1246-1269, December.
    23. Russell, Sally V. & Young, C. William & Unsworth, Kerrie L. & Robinson, Cheryl, 2017. "Bringing habits and emotions into food waste behaviour," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 107-114.

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