- One-off prompts encouraging people to be more frugal don't change food waste habits, according to new research
- Subtle cues like "save" or "reuse" on awareness campaigns or restaurant menus do not significantly change participants' food-saving behaviour
- Materialistic cues which emphasise consumption and abundance increased wastefulness in less frugal people, but had little effect on those with strong frugal habits
Household food waste, a focus of government targets, supermarket campaigns and consumer nudges, are best reduced by fostering lasting habits of frugality and not short-term interventions, according to new research by the University of Portsmouth.
The study , published in Food Quality and Preference, tested whether the use of subtle cues such as words or images to encourage people to "save" or "reuse" - known as frugal priming - could influence food waste behaviour.
95 participants were exposed to either frugal or materialistic prompts before completing a food-saving task. Researchers found no significant effect of frugal priming on participants' willingness to avoid waste. Instead, the strongest predictor of food-saving behaviour was habitual frugality - individuals' long-standing tendency to conserve resources and avoid unnecessary purchases.
The study also revealed that people with high frugal tendencies were less swayed by materialistic cues, which otherwise increased wastefulness among participants with low frugality.
"Our findings suggest that quick nudges and priming cues are not enough to shift food waste behaviour," said Steven Iorfa, lead author and PhD research student at the University of Portsmouth. "It's people's ingrained, everyday frugal habits that make the real difference."
The research comes at a time of huge global challenges. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that a third of all food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted, even as more than 2.3 billion people faced food insecurity in 2023. With the world population projected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050, reducing waste is seen as vital for food security, environmental sustainability and achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The research findings raise questions about the effectiveness of common interventions such as awareness campaigns or restaurant menu nudges. While previous studies suggested that frugal messaging could curb waste, the new research indicates that such strategies may only work if they tap into pre-existing frugal values.
Instead, the authors argue, policymakers and campaigners should focus on cultivating long-term cultural norms around frugality, for example, through education, community engagement, and policies that de-emphasise materialism.
"Frugality is more than a budgeting tactic," said Steven Iorfa. "It's a mindset that encourages people to see waste as inconsistent with their values. If we want lasting change, we need to promote frugality as a social norm, not just rely on one-off prompts."
The study highlights that reducing food waste is not simply a matter of regulation or consumer awareness, but of deeper behavioural change. By embedding frugality into everyday life, researchers argue, societies may have a better chance of cutting the billions of tonnes of food wasted globally each year.