Ethical consumption and food recovery hierarchy behaviors: a clustering analysis in Japan

Abstract

Consumption and waste disposal decisions can have a profound impact on the environment. The present research is focused on understanding the adoption profiles of pro-environmental behaviors (PEB) within the Japanese population. The scope of the evaluated PEB covered the purchase, usage, and disposal of food products. Ethical consumption behaviors (the purchase of little packaging, organic, eco-friendly and/or refillable goods), food waste prevention actions (leftovers avoidance, meal planning, and food waste reduction/avoidance), and alternative disposal measures (feeding animals, composting, giving food to neighbors) were analyzed. The profiles were found via a two-step clustering technique using self-reported data from a survey done in nine Japanese prefectures. The first step of the clustering algorithm comprised a hierarchical technique, and the second was a K-means with an Euclidean distance. Four significantly distinct clusters were found, namely: sporadic adopters, average practitioners, responsible consumers, and environmentally involved. Approximately 51% of the sample was allocated to the responsible consumers cluster, which was characterized by having more women in part-time jobs or in-house duties and older respondents than the other groups. Environmentally involved tended to be young respondents with children and gardening/farming interest. They were also the ones who ate plant-based meals more frequently and had healthier eating habits.