Abstract

This paper deals with the issue of food waste as a part of consumer behavior. Due to the absence of conceptual definitions and methodology for monitoring the quantity of food waste, the attention is focused on monitoring the factors that affect consumers purchasing the food and post-buying behavior with food. A survey focused on the subjective attitudes of consumers was carried out in two EU countries – the Netherlands and Slovakia. These countries are members of the EU and differ in their natural, cultural, and socio-economic influences. Based on the similarity of consumer behavior resulting from cluster analysis, the segments are defined to address them more effectively to reduce the amount of wasted food with negative consequences for the environment. Dutch consumers make small purchases as often as consumers from Slovakia. However, they differ in the frequency of purchases for more than 20 €. In the Netherlands, up to 46 % of respondents indicated that they do larger purchases one to two times. There is a neutral attitude to the importance of the price in both countries. Although the Slovaks buy less, they waste more food compared to the Dutch. Besides, they also mention inappropriate storage as a reason. The respondents’ attitudes to food waste were divided by similarities into 5 segments in Slovakia and 5 – in the Netherlands. In Slovakia, the above segments involved young women-wasters, consumers, partial self-suppliers, uninterested loner women, gentle and responsible people with an active approach in the area of waste. In the Netherlands, there are other segments of people such as food-friendly housewives, younger women-wasters, families with children with a neutral attitude to waste, students from big cities, young working uninterested loners. The findings showed factors affecting consumer wasting are country-specific. Thus, it is initial to understand the differences in consumer behavior to set appropriate policies to reduce food waste.

Keywords: consumption behavior, causes of waste, consumer behavior factors, segmentation

JEL Classification: G32, P34.

Cite as: Michalkova, L., Stehel, V., Nica, E., & Durana, P. (2021). Consumer Approach to the Food Waste in Selected EU Countries. Marketing and Management of Innovations, 3, 264-275. https://doi.org/10.21272/mmi.2021.3-22

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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