ifkad articles

The Impact of Food Waste Treatment Claims on Consumer Attitudes and Behavioural Intentions

Philip Jonitz, Luca Fraccascia, Devrim Murat Yazan

Food waste is a global problem, affecting all areas of sustainability, that has already triggered various calls for actions via research, public, societal and private initiatives. The goal of this research was to analyse the impact of on-package food waste treatment claims on the consumer attitude and behavioural intentions toward the presented food company. A positive correlation between the communication of food waste measures and consumer attitude and behavioural intentions can motivate further activities against food waste. A digital survey was structured and conducted with an online survey tool in order to measure the major constructs, regarding the attitude towards the company, the purchase intention, and the willingness to pay premiums. All participants were first randomly presented a fictitious food product with a description about a food waste treatment claim and afterwards they completed the questionnaire. The answers of 256 participants have been analysed. Food waste treatment claims were found to have a significant influence on the attitude towards the fictitious company in three out of four cases. The influence on the purchase intention was only measured to be significant in one case. On the contrary, we found a significant influence on the willingness to pay premiums for the products in all experimental conditions. The results of this research demonstrated that descriptions, including the topic of food waste, can have a positive impact on consumers attitude and behavioural intentions. This offers empirical evidence that consumers see an additional benefit in buying products from companies that proactively engage in actions against food waste. Additionally, the coherence of sustainability strategies of companies was pointed out as a key element in creating competitive advantages.

IN: Proceedings IFKAD 2021 – Managing Knowledge in Uncertain Times
PP: 1024-1045