DJS Research Sustainability Case Studies

Food waste comms campaign

Business challenge: Many people in the UK may not be receptive to tips and advice about how to reduce their food waste because they simply do not see wasted food as an issue – they might not be aware, or they might not care enough to address it.

Our client (a climate change NGO) wanted to kickstart a national campaign to make the UK aware and care about the food they waste.

Our approach: The research was grounded in the Transtheoretical behaviour change model, which asserts that for any given behaviour the population is distributed across five ‘states’ of change (pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance). We conducted four online focus groups with citizens in a ‘Contemplative’ mindset with regard to food waste behaviour change and tested a series of potential communication campaign messages. Follow up depth interviews some weeks after the groups ascertained what messages/images had been retained by citizens over time.

Outcome: Our research provided our client with a clear direction for their campaign messaging to ensure it left a powerful and lasting response and the greatest likelihood to nudge Contemplators towards the goal of reducing their food waste.