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This paper aims to demonstrate how the design of data visualisations can act as a tool to support social marketing messages in prompting behaviour change to reduce food waste using the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) as a theoretical framework. It also responds to a lack of consumer-led insight to develop campaigns in reducing food waste.

The research uses data collected by the End Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre (EFW CRC) in Australia to determine which text-based campaign messages are most likely to prompt people toward reducing food waste. Behaviour change messages were first identified through workshops with 11 food waste experts, then explored through online focus group discussions with 18 participants from three food-wasting market segments. The messages were further tested via a quantitative survey among 1,000 decision makers in Australian households in their own homes, with the top three performing messages examined using summative content analysis.

The significant findings were that participants want to see 1) evidence of how adopting new behaviours would lead to financial savings and benefit the environment, and 2) concrete steps to reduce food waste. When examined through the ELM, the findings suggest that tools that encourage both cognitive and peripheral processing as a means of persuasion, like data visualisations, may be useful for changing food-wasting behaviours.

Applying principles from the field of communication design to the ELM has uncovered the potential for a cross-disciplinary approach to enhance theoretical frameworks for understanding consumer engagement with messages. This process in turn, may lead to the development of more effective behaviour change marketing strategies.

Six principles for using data visualisations in a social marketing campaign are proposed: personal relevance, ease of use, emotional storytelling, context, prioritising the message itself and long-term usage.

This study proposes that data visualisations could enhance the effectiveness of social marketing campaigns by leveraging consumer-derived insights and the persuasive capacity inherent in their theoretical underpinnings.

This paper aims to stimulate the pursuit of waste-free food consumption and develop guidelines to avoid irresponsible consumer behaviours. In doing so, the paper answers the questions: How much food is thrown away by Australian households? What are the causes of food wasted? And, how motivated are Australian household members to reduce food waste?

An online survey was completed by a demographically representative sample of 5,272 households in Australia to address these questions. Using the state-wise data set and a structural equation modelling technique, this paper analyses behavioural and socio-demographic factors that influence household food waste in Australia.

The study identified that inedible food waste was the most common waste that people threw away (69%). The second-largest contribution towards waste came from meal leftovers (44%). The study identified household members not finishing their meal and cooking too much food as the leading causes of food waste from meal leftovers. Furthermore, household food members were unable to identify whether the food was safe to eat, uncertain whether they would eat prepared food that was saved for later consumption and remained confused about when to discard food. Finally, 42% indicated a high level of motivation to reduce food waste, while 34% indicated a moderated level.

This study's findings contribute to the practical challenges associated with the measurement of food waste in households. Further, the study provides insights to policymakers and practitioners to develop customised interventions to reduce household food waste.