Determination of consumers' attitude and behaviour on food waste prevention: The case of İzmir

The aim of this study is to reveal the awareness of consumers living in İzmir regarding food waste and their attitudes and behaviors towards prevention of food waste. For this purpose, data have been evaluated by survey method from 150 household members which live in Buca, Karabağlar, Bornova, Konak and Karşıyaka district. In data analysis, firstly the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the consumers were revealed and then their attitudes and behaviors related to food waste prevention were analyzed. As a result of the analysis, factor analysis was applied to combine various different expressions and put forward a new expression. Multinominal Logistic Regression (MLR) analysis was used to investigate whether new factors were effective on food wasting status. According to the research results, 70% of the consumers are women and 30% are men. Average monthly kitchen shopping expenses of consumers were calculated as 908.33 TL. 4.7% of consumers stated that they waste food and 63.3% stated that they sometimes waste food. 32% of consumers stated that they do not waste food. A significant relationship was found between the new factors created by Factor Analysis and food wasting status. The issue of food waste becomes important both in terms of economic and socio-cultural awareness and also in the development of strategies for reducing and preventing waste. This study will provide important data for future studies by presenting consumers' awareness and attitudes and behaviors related to food waste in the household and providing data to be used in developing recommendations for reducing and preventing waste. Keywords: Food Waste, Factor Analysis, The Theory of Planned Behavior, İzmir.