Consumer Perceptions of Food Packaging in Its Role in Fighting Food Waste

Abstract

Consumers are vital stakeholders in creating and reducing food waste. However, limited research into consumers’ perceptions of food waste and food packaging is available to inform research, packaging design or policy so that sustainable consumption practices among consumers might be better encouraged and enabled. By applying multivariate linear modelling to a sample of 965 Australian consumers, this study investigated consumers’ perceptions of packaging and packaging’s relationship to food waste. Overall, consumers perceived packaging waste as a more serious environmental issue than food waste. Most consumers did not consider food waste as an extreme environmental issue. Consumers’ perceptions of the seriousness of food waste also influenced their perceptions of packaging designed to reduce food waste. Significant differences between men and women and older and younger consumers were found regarding the relationship between packaging and food waste as well as food waste as an environmental issue. This study provides a detailed understanding of consumers and packaging, and it alerts designers and decision-makers to the differing attitudes towards food and packaging waste as well as the likelihood of consumers taking up more sustainable consumption practices.

Mapping the intersections of sustainability, circular economy, and consumer behavior: A bibliometric review on food waste

“…Increased demand for food during periods such as festivals and New Year celebrations may also lead to a periodic increase in food waste [10]. Besides, individuals consider the environmental damage of packaging waste and wastage to be more important than the issue of food waste [16].…”

Food waste: a changing landscape

“…A key point in the marketing of upcycled foods is reassuring consumers on quality, environmental benefit 24 and communicating clearly and transparently 25 . As such, if the product itself has an environmental benefit but the packaging is not kerbside recyclable, or not recyclable, then the dissonance might actually deter people from purchasing 26 , considering that the consumer who is interested in buying an upcycled food cares about sustainability.…”

Exploring Food Waste Conversations on Social Media: A Sentiment, Emotion, and Topic Analysis of Twitter Data

“…Research has shown that consumers perceive packaging (particularly plastic) as harming the environment [86]. Packaging is also seen as a more-serious environmental issue compared to food waste [87], which is why it is surprising that tweets assigned to the packaging topic had a high proportion of positive tweets. The predominantly positive framing of this topic indicates that the tweets may have recognised this connection and be potentially focused on opportunities to use packaging to reduce food waste and benefit the environment.…”