Food Waste Behavior among Romanian Consumers: A Cluster Analysis

Abstract

The main objective of the current study was to conduct an investigation at the national level in order to identify types of consumers depending on their perception of food waste. To do this, an online survey was carried out on a sample of 2541 respondents. Using a K-means clustering model, three clusters of consumers were identified. Cluster 1, “Careless”, consumers who dispose of food and food waste carelessly, are people who come from rural areas or small cities and have a rather low level of education. They do not have much information on the subject of food waste and do not seem to consider it “a problem”. Cluster 2, “Precautious”, composed of responsible people who do not throw away food, are well-informed and consider that all actors in the agri-food chain have a share in the food waste problem. Those who belong to cluster 3, “Ignorant”, are mostly from urban areas and have a high level of education. They were not raised to prevent food waste and therefore lack such habits as adults. They have a fair awareness of this subject, but they do not consider themselves responsible for food waste. The results obtained indicate the need to continue the awareness and education campaigns initiated at governmental and civil society level.

Households’ Food Waste Behavior at Local Scale: A Cluster Analysis after the COVID-19 Lockdown

“…The sample was composed of 323 respondents from the Apulia region, Italy. In line with several studies [25,58], the majority of respondents were females (66%), while men represented a smaller percentage (34%). The ratio 2:1 is justified since women are conventionally the persons in charge of housekeeping, family and cooking activities [66].…”

“…For instance, [64] identified five different consumers profiles (epicures, traditional consumers, casual consumers, food detached consumers and kitchen evaders) in the United Kingdom, while [65] highlighted four groups among seven, that are conscious-fussy types, conscious-forgetful types and frugal consumer exaggerated cookers, in Italy. Recently, another analysis has been conducted in Romania, where results (careless, precautious and ignorant consumers) highlight the need to increase awareness and educational campaigns at the governmental and civil society levels [58].…”

“…Interpreting "red wasters" according to an Italian study [72], they could be defined as "consumers unaware but not wasteful", which is to say consumers that never consider domestic food waste but do not throw away still edible food. Finally, as regards "green wasters", they have some characteristics of the Romanian "Precautious" and "Igno-rant" consumers [58], which is literally a paradox: either waste-fighters or waste-producers, both concerned with food waste but not interested in what a portion of food means in terms of money, time and resources. In other words, still immature, unconscious and irresponsible.…”

“…Therefore, it could be useful to stress Mediterranean traditions, rediscovering food culture and the culinary habits of the Southern regions. Several studies have tried to identify homogeneous clusters and profile wasters' categories in designing intervention to stimulate behavioral changes [65] and promote awareness and education campaigns [58]. With reference to previous cluster analyses, the "blue wasters" seem to have something in common with English "traditional consumers" identified by [64]: family-orientated, pressed for time but not stressed, price-conscious, slightly interested in innovation (e.g., apps, delivery food), but highly concerned about discarded food and low production of food waste.…”

“…It circulated online across the main social networks (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter). Respondents were asked to participate in an investigation on domestic food waste habits after the COVID-19 lockdown, as well as to share the questionnaire according to the non-probabilistic snowball methodology [25,58]. As stated by previous studies [59][60][61], the snowball sampling method is widely applied in Internet research to reach as many respondents as possible.…”