Billions of tons of food are wasted every year, and governments and companies often try to fight the problem with campaigns or nudges like “save” or “reuse” reminders. But a new study suggests those quick fixes don’t work; what really matters is whether people already live by frugal habits.
Researchers at the University of Portsmouth tested whether subtle “frugal priming” cues could encourage participants to save more food. Ninety-five people were exposed to either frugal or materialistic prompts before completing a food-saving task. The results, published in Food Quality and Preference, showed no meaningful effect from the prompts. Instead, the strongest predictor of food-saving behavior was ingrained frugality, a long-standing tendency to conserve resources and avoid waste.
“Our findings suggest that quick nudges and priming cues are not enough to shift food waste behaviour,” said study lead author Steven Iorfa, a PhD research student at the University of Portsmouth. “It’s people’s ingrained, everyday frugal habits that make the real difference.”
The study also revealed that people with strong frugal habits were less influenced by materialistic cues, which otherwise increased wastefulness among participants with lower frugality.
This finding raises questions about the effectiveness of common awareness campaigns. While previous studies suggested frugal messaging could reduce waste, this new research suggests those strategies only work if they connect with values people already hold.
“Frugality is more than a budgeting tactic,” Iorfa said. “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.”
With one-third of all food produced globally still lost or wasted and more than 2.3 billion people experiencing food insecurity, the authors argue that cultural change, not short-term fixes, will be key to tackling food waste in the decades ahead.
This research did not receive specific grant funding from public, commercial or nonprofit sources.