A Match Made in Heaven? Do Religious and General Appeals Instill Hope for Reduction of Food Waste

Globally, approximately 30% of food is wasted, leading to severe social, environmental, and financial consequences. Household interventions are crucial, given that most waste occurs at this level. Despite various message trials for waste reduction, the impact of incorporating religious appeals into general messages and their relation to hope remains underexplored due to the complexities of the food waste context. This research fills this void by conducting four experiments to investigate the impact of religious (vs. general) and communal (vs. agentic) appeals on consumers’ intention to reduce food waste. Participants were randomly exposed to various appeals to assess how the appeals should be matched to increase intention to reduce food waste. Results show that religious appeals are less effective than general appeals in increasing behavioral intention, and that in order for food waste to be reduced, general appeals should be paired with communal (vs. agentic) appeals. The study also shows that state hope is the underlying mechanism of this effect. This research contributes to the literature on religious appeals, communal (vs. agentic) appeals, and hope theory.