Household Food Waste Awareness in Relation to Motivations

The current study investigates which motivations to reduce food waste influence respondents' likelihood to accurately self-assess food waste quantities. Some studies suggest that motivations to prevent household food waste influence respondents' behaviors, but others highlight that routine and daily life often represent an obstacle to acting consistently. To this end, this study observed if a certain set of motivations actually influences the perceived quantity of food waste produced; in other words, if the motivation to reduce food waste is a driver of coherent behavior and awareness. The results were drawn from weekly food diaries and then compared with online questionnaires run on a sample of 388 households. A random forest has been performed to identify the relevant variables, able to predict the food waste self-assessment. The results show that no specific motivation is related to a better awareness of food waste quantities, nor to the actual waste average.