What a Waste ! Developing the Food Waste - Preventing Behaviors Scale – A Useful Tool to Promote Household Food Waste - Prevention

By causing high amounts of household food waste, German households contribute significantly to serious global threats for the environment. Unfortunately, current information campaigns, conducted by several food waste-prevention initiatives, often lack in recipient’s perceived relevance of provided recommendations on how to prevent household food waste by improving the performance of relevant food waste-preventing behaviors. Therefore, an efficient (online) tool/ measuring instrument (the food waste-preventing behavior scale) was developed in order to improve the effectiveness of these information campaigns. By conducting two preliminary studies (Nt1 = 217; Nt2 = 206) and examining data with exploratory factor analyses an initial version of the food waste-preventing behaviors scale (consisting of 14 items) was composed and evaluated regarding relevant scale characteristics. Due to some limitations and opportunities for further optimization of this initial version regarding these characteristics, a third study (Nt3 = 312) was conducted. In order to extend as well as to consolidate the initial scale-version, additional items were integrated and examined by another factor analysis. Based on this procedure, a developed version of the food waste-preventing behaviors scale – containing 21 items, seven subscales and characterized by satisfying scale characteristics – could be proposed. Apart from some limitations, the developed scale can be assumed to have relevant implications for food waste-prevention initiative’s practical work as well as for future research on household food waste-prevention. *Corresponding author: Karolin Schmidt, Institute for Psychology Otto-von-Guericke-University, Magdeburg, Germany; Bldg. 24, R 301; Tel: +49 391 671 1955; E-Mail: [email protected] Received Date: May 19, 2016 Accepted Date: July 01, 2016 Published Date: July 06, 2016