Given the need to reduce food waste, information-based intervention campaigns that present messages to individuals are crucial and likely part of the solution. However, the subject matter of these messages has been under scholarly debate. Although empirical evidence is lacking, scholars and practitioners have recently focused on environmental messages even though, traditionally, others have advocated for taste- or financially-oriented messages. With two experiments, totaling 1,656 participants, we contribute to the resolution of this debate. We examined how environmental and taste-oriented messages affect behavioral intentions to reduce food waste and to plan meals (Experiment 1) and how environmental and financially-oriented messages affect interest in food waste reduction efforts (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, we found that a message linking meal planning to tackling climate change elicited more future meal planning intentions and more general intentions to reduce food waste than the control condition. We also found that an environmental message was more effective in increasing general intentions to reduce food waste and as effective in increasing future meal planning intentions, than a message that linked meal planning to tasty food. In Experiment 2, we found that an environmental message promoted more interest in food waste reduction efforts than no message and was as effective as a message that conveyed the financial burden of food waste. We discuss implications for future intervention campaigns and research.

鉴于需要减少食物浪费，向个人传达信息的基于信息的干预活动至关重要，并且可能是解决方案的一部分。然而，这些消息的主题一直在学术界争论不休。尽管缺乏实证证据，但学者和从业者最近关注的是环境信息，尽管传统上其他人提倡以品味或经济为导向的信息。通过两个实验，共有 1,656 名参与者，我们为解决这场辩论做出了贡献。我们研究了以环境和口味为导向的信息如何影响减少食物浪费和计划膳食的行为意图（实验 1），以及以环境和经济为导向的信息如何影响人们对减少食物浪费的兴趣（实验 2）。在实验一中，我们发现，与控制条件相比，将膳食计划与应对气候变化联系起来的信息引发了更多的未来膳食计划意图和更普遍的减少食物浪费的意图。我们还发现，与将膳食计划与美味食物联系起来的信息相比，环境信息在增加减少食物浪费的总体意图以及增加未来膳食计划意图方面更有效。在实验 2 中，我们发现环境信息比没有信息更能促进人们对减少食物浪费的兴趣，并且与传达食物浪费的经济负担的信息一样有效。我们讨论了对未来干预活动和研究的影响。