Food Waste and Consumer Behavior: A Bibliometric and Review Study and Future Research Directions

TL;DR

This study reviews research on how consumer behavior relates to food waste, identifying trends and gaps to guide future work and policy.

Contribution

The paper provides a comprehensive bibliometric analysis and identifies emerging themes and research gaps in consumer behavior related to food waste.

Findings

The relationship between food waste and consumer behavior is central to sustainability debates.

There is a lack of integration between policies and knowledge about food waste determinants.

Future research should focus on assessing interventions to change consumer food waste behavior.

Abstract

Despite an increasing number of studies on food waste, the research field on consumer behavior and food waste lacks a characterization of research specifically focused on how consumers behave regarding food waste. This study conducted a bibliometric analysis of literature on consumer behavior and food waste, characterizing the research community and identifying themes and emerging issues based on the Web of Science database. This study analyzed the evolution of the field over time and identified the most influential countries, authors, and sources, as well as the international collaboration networks in the area. We also highlighted the thematic trends in the research field of consumer behavior in food waste. In addition, we identified the methodological and contextual gaps cited in the literature in order to provide a future research agenda. This study concludes that the relationship between food waste and consumer behavior has become a pivotal axis of contemporary debates on sustainability, encompassing psychosocial determinants, household routines, and systemic and contextual factors that shape everyday food practices. Our findings also suggest a lack of integration between policies, interventions, and knowledge about FW determinants, calling for future studies to assess the effectiveness of interventions in altering consumer FW behavior. The findings of this study can contribute to the design of marketing campaigns and sustainable strategies for agri-food companies, as well as the development and improvement of public policies in this area.

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