| Abstract | Kako se globalna ljudska populacija kreće prema brojci od devet milijardi, nastavlja rasti
pritisak za osiguranjem dovoljno hrane. Iako je poljoprivreda osnovni pokretač globalnih
promjena u okolišu, svake godine propadne ili se baci jedna trećina globalne zalihe hrane.
Samo u Europskoj uniji godišnje se gubi 90 milijuna tona hrane, pri čemu su kućanstva s 53%
najveći pojedinačni sektor po proizvodnji otpada od hrane. Uvažavajući činjenicu da se dvije
trećine te količine odnosi na otpad čiji je nastanak moguće izbjeći, najveću pozornost treba
usmjeriti na ponašanje kućanstava, odnosno potrošača. Kako bi se moglo predvidjeti
ponašanje potrošača, ali i utjecati na izbjegavanje bacanja hrane, važno je spoznati čimbenike
koji utječu na to ponašanje. Iz tog razloga u ovom je istraživanju primijenjena teorija planiranog
ponašanja (TPP), kao najčešće korištena teorija za predviđanje ponašanje potrošača.
Cilj ove disertacije bio je utvrditi količinu otpada od hrane u hrvatskim kućanstvima. Nadalje,
cilj je bio testirati prošireni model TPP u kontekstu postupanja s otpadom od hrane u
kućanstvima, te utvrditi utjecaj znanja, navika i sociodemografskih obilježja članova
kućanstava na količinu i vrstu otpada od hrane.
U istraživanju su kombinirane kvalitativne i kvantitativne metode. Za utvrđivanje količine i vrsta
bačene hrane provedeno je istraživanje o bačenim količinama na uzorku od 118 kućanstava.
Rezultati su pokazali kako ispitanici prosječno proizvode manje otpada od hrane od europskog
prosjeka. Pri tome navike imaju, a znanje nema utjecaj na ponašanje kućanstava s hranom i
količinu i vrstu otpada. Dob ispitanika pozitivno utječe na izbjegavanje nastanka otpada, a
negativan utjecaj imaju visina primanja i broj djece mlađe od 18 godina. Rezultati dubinskog
intervjua koji je proveden na uzorku od 20 ispitanika, korišteni su za formiranje upitnika u
glavnom anketnom istraživanju, u kojemu je sudjelovao 841 ispitanik. Podaci su analizirani
jednovarijatnom i regresijskom analizom te strukturalnim modeliranjem. Rezultati su pokazali
kako je proširena TPP pogodna za predviđanje izbjegavanja bacanja hrane jer stav,
subjektivna norma i percipirana bihevioralna kontrola utječu na namjeru izbjegavanja bacanja
hrane, a namjera je najjači pretkazatelj ponašanja.
Rezultati ovog istraživanja mogu poslužiti kao vrijedna informativna podloga za kreiranje
strategija u svrhu smanjenja količina hrane bačene na nivou kućanstva. |
| Abstract (english) | The introductory part hereof describes the pressure exerted to agriculture and the processing
industry in order to provide for the enough food for the ever growing mankind. Although the
food production is considered as the basic incentive in the global environmental changes,
every year one third of the global food supply still either goes to waste. The Europe Union only
looses 90 million tons of food annually where even 53% of this quantity is produced by the
households. Accordingly it is rather necessary to direct the strongest attention to the behavior
of the consumers.
At the end of the introductory part the goals and purposes are defined. The purpose of this
paper is to establish the quantity of food waste in the Croatian households. Further, it is
considered necessary to test the extended Theory of Planned Behaviour model (hereinafter
TPB) within the household food waste behaviour context and to establish, as well, the influence
exerted by knowledge, the habits and the socio-demographic characteristics of the household
members when speaking of the quantity and the type of the household waste.
In the chapter Overview of the previous Research the course of the food waste research
development is presented stressing the findings on the main indicators of the household food
waste connected to the consumer behaviour. The emergence of the waste through the
contribution of various supply chain phases in the actual total food waste quantity is explained
and the food waste management system is presented with the main process types. The
definitions of the food waste are offered as well as the quantification and qualification of food
waste originating from the households. The reasons for the food waste occurrence on the
consumers’ levels are given, following from the standpoints, attitudes, habits knowledge and
skills, the socio-demographic facts, the legislature, situation management, consumer and
consumption trends and the marketing and selling strategies. The notion of the attitude and its
role within the TPB is explained in more detail, it being one of the most frequently used theory
for forecasting the consumer behavior.
According to the TPB the behaviour is determined by three elements: attitudes towards specific
behaviour, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control (PBC). Attitude towards specific
behaviour refers to the degree indicating a favourable or unfavourable evaluation of the
behaviour inI question. Subjective norm refers to the perceived social pressure to perform or
to not perform the behaviour, while the perceived behavioral control, refers to the perceived
ease or difficulty when performing the behaviour (Ajzen, 1991). The more positive attitudes,
the higher subjective norm and higher the level or perceived behavioural control. This also
means a higher intention of a certain behavior, while, at the same time, the higher intention
and the higher perceived behaviour control mean the actual behavior presentation. At the end
of the chapter the research where the TPB was used is given and explained when speaking of
the consumer behavior in the area concerned with the food waste.
The chapter Material and Methods refers to the course of the research and the processed data
are presented as well. In order to gain a more complex insight with the research problem the
qualitative and the quantitative methods were combined. In the first step an in-depth interview
has been implemented with a sample of 20 examinees. The findings were used for creating a
questionnaire for the main poll while the research on the quantities of discarded food was
implemented during the second and the thirds step. The poll was pre-tested with a sample
numbering 49 examinees. When choosing the research method concerning the discarded
quantities a sample of five households was used and three methods available in the literature
were predestined – the weighing method, the method of conclusion concerning the waste
quantities and the quantity self-evaluation method. The self-evaluation method, regarded as
the most successful one, was chosen at the end as the research method concerning the
discarded food waste where a number of 118 households followed and reported on the
quantities of food waste created as unavoidable and avoidable waste during seven days. After
the filled in table has been delivered the representative of the household collecting the data
filled in in the questionnaire on the knowledge and the habits when speaking of food treatment
and food waste. The results were analyzed by the manifold regression method. The main poll
was implemented during the third step. The questionnaire which relies on the TBP concerning
the forecast of the behaviour avoiding the discarding of food was distributed through Internet
and thus it was filled in by a number if 841 examinees. The results of the survey were analyzed
by the statistical SPSS programme. Univariant data analysis (frequency and data distribution)
and regression analysis were also implemented. Before the data analysis the scale
measurement reliability was tested using Cronbach alpha coefficient while the Structural
Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to test the models. The statistical programme Onyx was
used to fit the Structural Equation Model.
The Chapter Results and Discussion lists the main results as obtained by the quantitative and
the qualitative survey. The data concerning the reported food waste quantity on the household
level were extrapolated into annual values in order to obtain the annual average Croatian
household waste quantity per capita amounting to 75 kg. Almost one half thereof is represented
by fruits and vegetables (23% each) then follow inedible parts like egg-shells, tea-leaves and
coffee sediments presented as “other” (with 12%), potato, bread and buns (with 9% each),
meat (7%) while in the least amount shared pasta with rice and milk and dairy products,
represented with 4% each, then fish and readymade dishes (3% singly), cakes and cookies
as well as processed fruit and vegetables (2% each). The habits were found to have a certain
influence while the knowledge was found to have no influence at all when considering the
behaviour concerning food and the type and quantity of food waste. The age of the examinees
influences positively the avoidance of waste while the income and number of children under
18 has a negative influence.
The results of the poll research pointed to the fact that within the TBP model frame an equally
strong influence is exerted by the attitude when speaking of intention, by the subjective norm,
the observed health risk and the subjective knowledge on food preservation. Some weaker
influence is shown by financial worries connected to discarding food and the habit of planning
connected to food while an even less positive influence on behaviour has been observed when
speaking on intention has been observed with the TBP. It is expected, taking the TBP model
into consideration, that the strongest positive influence on the behaviour will be expressed by
intention, a considerably weaker influence is exerted by the good housekeeper role while and
even less positive influence has been observed with the perceived behavioral control. The
Theory of Planned Behaviour model extended by the financial worry concerning the discarding
of food, the observed health risks, the role of a good housekeeper, planning habits and
subjective knowledge concerning the use of food explain the 70% of the intent and 96% of the
behavior. The results obtained by the SEM method application proved the fact that the attitude,
the subjective norm and the PBC influence the intention not to discard food. It was also
established that the consumers with a highly expressed intention to avoid discarding food
reported less discarded food per household while the intention was found to be the strongest
prediction of behaviour in the explanatory extended TPB model. The same finding was
confirmed by the research on the discarded quantities where the intention was, according to
PBC and the purchase planning and food preparing habit in the households was the strongest
behaviour forecasting predictor.
In the discussion section, besides comparing the results with those of the previous studies, the
business implications were given as well. The research resulted in several important
discoveries on the facts concerning consumers behavior connected to the avoidance of food
waste discarding to be applied in the practice. The Theory of Planned Behaviour was applied
when forecasting the avoidance of food discarding and was for the first time extended with
eight additional constructs. This was the first research where the behaviour of the consumers
concerning the avoiding of food discarding was studied by using the daily journal method
resulting with obtaining the actual quantities and types of the discarded food on the household
level. The results of the research are important for the legislature as they offer the information
on the role of some single facts important for avoiding the discarding of food on the consumers
level but they also indicate the reaching of resolutions which, in the opinion of the consumers,
make such behaviour impossible. On the basis of the research results it is possible to forecast
the reason why the consumers are ready to avoid the discarding of food and to create
according policies motivating such behaviour or leading to the decrease of the discarded food
quantities in the households. Although the attitudes concerning the avoidance of discarding
food are considered as positive it will be necessary to inform the consumers on the importance
of such behavior not only from the saving of the environment point of view but from the
economy, ethical responsibility and the social viability point of view as well. It will also be
necessary to organize and implement the measures motivating such behavior in the
households through a longer period of time.
In the discussion section some limitations of research were given. The key limitation of this
type of measurement is the measure of behavior where the respondents are expressing their
behaviour (self-reported measure). It is considered as probable that the willingness to
participate in such research will be found in the areas with better ecology awareness a fact
which may have resulted with significantly less self-reported quantities of food waste in the
sample households than in the actual situations. Further, the Croatian territory has not been
evenly represented a fact which may influence the accuracy of the results taken the uneven
development of the Croatian regions into consideration. One should also consider the
dominance of the female populations of younger age with high professional qualification and
with high or moderate income. Research was implemented during the summer time period and
thus one cannot disregard the influence of the seasonal examinees’ alimental habits. The TBP
also takes the behavior of single individuals into consideration and thus its constructs were
evaluated on the individual level while during the research the behavior was analyzed on the
household level. However, as the examinee confirmed the fact that he/she is actually
responsible for the purchase of food and food preparing in the household, it is presumed that,
accordingly, he/she is also the party responsible for the food proceeding. The research poll
sample does not reflect the general population as the examinees were educated parties with
higher income. On the other hand the coded statements did not prove to be a best solution
for the extended TBP construct model measurement. The measurement instruments volume
as well as the number of the constructs and the total number of the questions may have brought
to a fatigue among the examinees influencing thus the misinterpretation of the results.
The Conclusion gives the main results emerging from the research as a whole. Thus it was
concluded that the food waste quantity occurring in the Croatian households is lower than the
EU average. The research showed the applicability of the extended Theory of Planned
Behaviour when predicting the food waste avoidance. |
