Thanks, but no thanks: The influence of gratitude on consumer awareness of food waste

Abstract

Food waste is a major burden on the planet due its effect on increased greenhouse gas emissions (from landfill and lost production) and issues associated with food security. To reduce the human propensity to waste food, behaviour change studies have mostly focused on cognitive aspects of selection and consumption. However, evidence suggests emotional, rather than cognitive, appeals may be a fruitful avenue for reducing food waste. Yet linking food waste, emotions and framing remains an understudied research area. Our research undertakes three quantitative studies to examine the positive emotion (gratitude) as a message component to effect behavioral change. Study 1 demonstrated an advertisement with a ‘gratitude for having’ message led to higher intentions to reduce food waste when paired with loss framed implications (increased environmental damage) than when paired with gain framed implications (less environmental damage). In contrast, an advertisement with a ‘gratitude for not having’ message led to higher intentions to reduce food waste when paired with gain framed implications than when paired with loss framed implications. Studies 2 and 3 further showed that a ‘gratitude for having’ message was more effective when combined to loss framed implications, while ‘gratitude for not having’ message was more effective when combined to gain framed implications, to encourage participants to receive additional information and volunteer to help with food waste than when combined with gain framed implications. The research demonstrates that food waste reduction campaigns should pay attention to how messages are framed. Overall, this research builds on current theory involving food waste and behaviour change, presents a number of areas for future research and discusses managerial implications, particularly to improve social marketing and education campaigns.