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Conference Agenda

Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).

Please note that all times are shown in the time zone of the conference. The current conference time is: 24th Aug 2026, 01:49:04am WEST

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Daily Overview

Session

Behavioral Insights and Biases in Resource Cooperation
Location: B128
Session Chair: Astrid Dannenberg, University of Kassel

Presentation 3

Sequencing behavioural interventions to reduce household food waste. Evidence from a field trial in Fife, Scotland

Marta Buso¹, Sanchayan Banerjee¹, Peter John¹, Campbell Reid², Maggie Pollock²

1: King's College London, United Kingdom; 2: Zero Waste Scotland

Discussant: Astrid Dannenberg (University of Kassel)

One-time policy interventions have been tested to reduce food waste extensively. However, their limitations underscore the need for a more advanced, sequenced policy design that engages citizens as participants in the behaviour change process to help solve the problem of excessive food waste. In this study, we test the effectiveness of two behavioural interventions sequenced together using a step-wedged design, namely, a nudge with or without a thinking prompt, in reducing food waste and generating financial savings. 193 households in Fife Council, Scotland participated in a pre-registered field experiment spanning across 8 weeks (N=1081). All households completed pre- and post-experiment questionnaires and reported actual food waste and grocery bills. In week 3, participants were randomised into a control or a nudge group. The nudge arm received a feedback report comparing the average household food waste with the other participants. In weeks 4 \& 5, the control arm received the feedback report while the nudge group was further encouraged by phone or text to think about strategies that reduce food waste (nudge+). Treatments were withdrawn starting week 6. Both interventions significantly reduced household food waste compared to the baseline, on average. The nudge+ additionally reduced 10g of food waste per household versus the nudge (ns), with a significant lagged effect in the post-treatment period. Planning, storage skills and good disposal attitudes increased after the experiment, without any meaningful financial savings generated. Policy sequencing can improve the effectiveness of behavioural interventions in reducing food waste.