A 21-item multidimensional scale measuring consumers' motivations to avoid food waste across four conceptually distinct dimensions: environmental (concerns about food waste's impact on the natural world), moral (guilt and ethical concerns relating to food scarcity and waste), financial (concern about the monetary cost of discarded food), and social (anxiety about how others perceive one's food waste behaviour). Developed through a three-study program combining qualitative item generation with UK consumer samples, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, test–retest reliability assessment, and predictive validity testing in both UK and USA samples. The scale is explicitly formative at the top level — the four subscales should not be combined into a single composite score — while each subscale is a reflective construct. Designed to segment consumers by motivation type and to evaluate the effectiveness of food waste reduction interventions.
Ribbers, D., Geuens, M., Pandelaere, M., & van Herpen, E. (2023). Development and validation of the motivation to avoid food waste scale. Global Environmental Change, 78, 102626.
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