Consumer intention to avoid food waste is determined by various socio-demographic and psychographic/psychological factors. While many of these factors have been well studied, some remain under-researched. This is the case for religious values and family upbringing that may represent strong antecedents of personal norms towards food waste avoidance. This study tests the role of these factors on a sample (n = 566) of consumers in Poland, a society with strong religious traditions and family ties. The results indicate that religious values play an important role in family upbringing which, by influencing personal social and environmental motives, mediates the effect on personal norms to avoid food waste. This suggests that religious leaders should be engaged in the design of food waste prevention campaigns specifically targeting parents. This is to trigger a cross-generational spillover effect whereby family morals on food waste avoidance are transferred from parents to children and reinforced by religious values. The research results were published in the article: Religious values and family upbringing as antecedents of food waste avoidance (Filimonau V., Mika M. , Kubal-Czerwinska M., Zajadacz A., Durydiwka M., 2022). Global Environmental Change,
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959378022000851
This study made a two-fold contribution to knowledge. From the theoretical perspective, the study reinforced an understanding of the psychographic/psychological factors that could reduce self-reported (food waste) FW in households, supermarkets, and foodservice provision. Specifically, the study showcased the important role of religious values and family upbringing in shaping personal motives not to waste food and to subsequently determine personal norms to avoid FW. The survey measures developed and tested for these theoretical constructs in the current study can be used in future research on antecedents of public attitudes and behavioural intentions to avoid self-reported FW in the context of households, grocery retail and hospitality. The practical contribution of this study is that it showcased the need to integrate such factors as religious values and family upbringing in the design of FW prevention campaigns with strong religious traditions. Religious leaders and religious institutions, such as churches, mosques, and synagogues, can play an important role in encouraging consumers to avoid FW. Likewise, (grand) parents represent important agents that can shape personal norms among modern consumers. (Grand)parents should therefore be involved in public campaigns on FW prevention. This involvement can be through the facilitation of a cross-generational spillover effect, but also via the design of persuasive communications and consumer choice architecture interventions, such as in-store (in the case of a supermarket) and/or on table (in the case of a restaurant) displays. These displays can remind consumers of the need to avoid FW as encouraged by their (grand)parents. The strength of the message can be enhanced by linking it to the religious values of food, especially in highly religious societies.
Future studies should aim at replicating this current project in other food consumption markets. The new measurement scales developed in this exploratory study for such variables as religious values and family upbringing should be re-tested in other markets to re-confirm these scales’ validity. These markets should be represented by those with strong religious traditions (for example, Italy, Spain, or Mexico), but also by those where these traditions have been significantly reduced throughout history (for instance, Switzerland or Germany).