Typology of university students regarding attitudes towards food waste

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the knowledge, awareness and concern of young consumers towards avoidable and “edible” food waste, and identify groups of individuals based on their attitudes. In addition, this study describes demographic and behavioural characteristics of each group. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected by a questionnaire conducted among university students in Croatia. Factor and cluster analyses were applied to identify the groups of individuals with similar attitudes towards food waste. Findings Results show that there are five factors that represent the knowledge, awareness and concern about food waste of young people – awareness of food waste problem; concern about economic aspects of food waste; health concern; concern about environmental impact of food waste; and awareness and concern about expiration date. Based on those factors, four groups of consumers were identified: consumers concerned about economic effects of food waste; unaware consumers neglecting food waste; well-informed consumers; and fully aware consumers, but not ready to take health risk. Practical implications The results of the study can be used by marketers and policy makers when planning food waste reduction activities to focus their campaigns towards consumer niches, based on the typology of young consumers. Originality/value This study provides a typology of university students based on their knowledge, awareness and concern about food waste in Croatia, as an example of a transition and new EU member state, where the issues about food waste are relatively new and underexplored topic.