Segmenting U.S. Consumers by Food Waste Attitudes and Behaviors : Opportunities for Targeting Reduction Interventions

Reducing food waste in households can be accomplished by changing several types of behavior (e.g., meal planning, food shopping, food storage, food preparation, leftover management) and by leveraging several sources of consumer motivation (financial, environmental, norm adherence). Interventions are likely to achieve greater efficacy at a lower implementation cost if they target the behavior and motivation most applicable to particular consumer segments. However, little is known about the patterns of consumers in the United States when it comes to household food waste attitudes and behaviors. We analyze the food waste attitudes and behaviors of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers and identify four distinct consumer segments: Conscientious Conservers (22% of households, 10% of total food waste generated), Harried Profligates (26% of households, 38% of waste), Unrepentant Drink Wasters (21% of households, 10% of waste), Guilty Carb Wasters (31% of households, 33% of waste). For each segment we identify and discuss the constellation of attitudes, behaviors and characteristics that distinguish them from other groups and then postulate intervention and communication strategies that may prove fruitful for targeting messages in a manner that advance national food waste reduction goals in a cost-effective manner. For example, resources spent on targeting the Harried Profligates segment, who report 45% more wasted food than the sample average yet hold multiple attitudes conducive to supporting food waste reduction, may be a strong investment so long as interventions can support this cluster’s lack of planning skills in a manner that does not exacerbate the time pressure they report facing in day to day life