Behavioral Patterns and Shopping Habits Play a Bigger Role in Household Food Waste Than Age or Income

Household food waste has always been a confusing problem. People often assume that factors like age, income, or family size explain why some households waste more food than others. But a new U.S. study led by Associate Professor Nevin Cohen offers a much clearer picture, showing that how people think, shop, plan, and cook is actually far more important than simple demographics. This research, published in Foods in 2025, breaks down household food waste behavior using detailed psychological and shopping-related patterns, revealing three distinct consumer groups that waste food for very different reasons.

The study surveyed around 1,000 households across the United States, gathering detailed information about their grocery shopping routines, their attitudes toward waste, how often they throw food away, and which types of food end up in the trash. Instead of treating people as categories based on age or income, the researchers used a clustering method that grouped individuals based on 44 different behavioral factors, including 19 psychological measures from the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and 25 characteristics tied to shopping and food management.

What emerged from this analysis were three surprisingly different types of consumers: Structured Planners, Flexible Planners, and Younger Wasters. Each group shows a unique blend of shopping habits, psychological attitudes, and waste tendencies, and these profiles reveal why standard, one-size-fits-all campaigns to reduce food waste often fail.

The Three Consumer Groups Identified in the Study

1. Structured Planners (40% of households)

These households are the most organized and deliberate when it comes to food management. They rely heavily on meal planning, shopping lists, and a consistent cooking routine. Structured Planners score high on psychological measures that relate to intentional behavior—meaning they actively care about reducing food waste and feel confident in their ability to control what gets thrown away.

Their waste levels are relatively low, averaging about 4.6 waste events per week. They also show strong engagement in food storage, leftover management, and careful grocery purchasing. They waste less across nearly all food categories.

2. Flexible Planners (47% of households)

This is the largest group. Flexible Planners also have generally positive attitudes toward reducing food waste, but they don’t plan as strictly. Their shopping tends to be more spontaneous—adding items on the fly, making occasional impulse buys, and adjusting their cooking habits based on what seems appealing at the moment.

Despite being less rigid in their habits, they still maintain relatively low food waste levels, averaging around 4.4 waste events per week. Their overall behavior suggests they care about waste but prefer a more relaxed approach to food management. Interestingly, their waste levels are very similar to Structured Planners, showing that strict planning is not the only route to reducing waste.

3. Younger Wasters (13% of households)

This is the group that stands out the most. The “Younger Wasters” tend to be younger, of lower socioeconomic status, and often have less education than the other groups. Their food-related behavior is far more casual: minimal meal planning, irregular shopping routines, and less awareness of food-waste reduction practices.

This group wastes significantly more food: approximately 6.7 waste events per week, which is nearly twice as high as the other groups. They waste especially large amounts of proteins, oils, and grains, but not necessarily more fruits and vegetables, which is a surprising twist. They also tend to make more last-minute food decisions, which can lead to overbuying or mismanaging perishable items.

Because proteins and oils are typically the most expensive and resource-intensive food categories, this pattern has both economic and environmental consequences. This finding also challenges a common assumption that lower-income households waste less food because they are more careful with purchases. The study suggests the opposite is possible when planning and food-management skills are weaker.

Why Behavioral Patterns Matter More Than Age or Income

One of the most significant contributions of this research is showing that demographics influence food waste only indirectly. Age, income, or education matter largely because they shape shopping and cooking habits, not because they inherently cause more or less waste.

The Theory of Planned Behavior, which the study relies on, focuses on three big ideas:

Attitude toward reducing waste
Subjective norms, or how much a person cares about social expectations
Perceived behavioral control, meaning how capable they feel of reducing waste

These factors were found to strongly predict how much food a household wastes. In other words, mindset and behavior are much better predictors than surface-level traits like income.

The clustering approach shows that policies targeting only demographics will always fall short, because two households with the same income can behave completely differently when it comes to food.

What the Study Suggests for Reducing Household Food Waste

The findings point to a clear conclusion: food-waste campaigns must be tailored, not generic.

Structured Planners might benefit from tools that help them optimize what they’re already doing, such as apps that integrate shopping lists with recipe planning.
Flexible Planners could be reached through campaigns focused on small changes, like storing leftovers safely or learning how to make quick meals from scraps.
Younger Wasters need support in the areas with the highest impact: planning simple meals, understanding storage basics, and managing proteins more effectively.

For younger or lower-income households, the study suggests offering practical, easy-to-use tools such as meal-planning templates, short video guides on food storage, or community-based cooking classes that focus on efficient use of ingredients.

The most important takeaway is that positioning food-waste reduction as an achievable, useful, everyday practice—rather than a moral obligation—may be far more effective, especially for groups who feel they have less control over their routines.

Additional Background on Household Food Waste in the U.S.

Food waste is a massive issue in the United States, with households being one of the largest contributors. Some broader facts help put this new study in context:

U.S. households waste over 30% of the food they buy, on average.
Dinner is consistently reported as the meal where most waste occurs.
Commonly wasted items include prepared meals, proteins, dairy, and produce, though the exact patterns differ by household.
Research shows that improper storage, overbuying, lack of meal planning, and misinterpreting date labels are major contributors.

There is also evidence suggesting that frequent use of online grocery shopping, subscription-based meal kits, or bulk purchasing can increase waste if not matched with adequate planning.

What this new study adds is an understanding that food waste reduction isn’t just about knowledge or resources—it’s about behavioral patterns shaped by psychology, not just lifestyle.

Why Proteins, Oils, and Grains Stand Out in the Findings

The fact that Younger Wasters particularly waste these categories is important. Proteins (like meat and fish) are expensive, have high environmental costs, and spoil quickly if not stored properly. Oils and grains, on the other hand, are not usually highly perishable, so why are they wasted?

Possible explanations include:

Cooking more food than needed and discarding leftovers
Not storing dry goods properly, leading to pests or expiration
Impulse buying without a plan for how to use ingredients
Less familiarity with meal prep that stretches pantry staples over time

This highlights how knowledge and planning skills can dramatically change waste outcomes, even for shelf-stable foods.

Final Thoughts

This study reveals something essential: reducing household food waste isn’t about who people are but how they behave. By identifying three distinct consumer segments, the research opens the door to more effective waste-reduction strategies that meet people where they are—whether they love planning every meal or tend to go with the flow.

With food waste tied to major economic losses and environmental impact, these insights could help shape more practical and targeted solutions for everyday households across the country.

Research Reference:
Household Food Waste Patterns Across Groups: A Clustering Analysis Based on Theory of Planned Behavior Constructs and Shopping Characteristics