International Journal of Food and Nutritional Science International Journal of Food and Nutritional Science International Journal of Food and Nutritional Science International Journal of Food and Nutritional Science 2377-0619Ommega Online PublishersNew Jersey, USA93610.15436/2377-0619.16.936Research ArticleWhat a waste! Developing the food waste-preventing behaviors scale – A useful tool to promote household food waste-preventionWhat a waste! Developing the food waste-preventing behaviors scale – A useful tool to promote household food waste-preventionKarolinSchmidtDepartment of Psychology Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg GermanyEditor* E-mail: karolin.schmidt@ovgu.de
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
20160607201632IJFNS-16-RA-93619052016010720162016Creative Commons Attribution LicenseThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. nbsp emsp emsp 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 rsquo 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 emsp emsp 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 ndash containing 21 items seven subscales and characterized by satisfying scale characteristics ndash could be proposed emsp emsp Apart from some limitations the developed scale can be assumed to have relevant implications for food waste-prevention initiative rsquo s practical work as well as for future research on household food waste-prevention 10