Towards sustainable food practices: development and validation of a comprehensive household food waste awareness scale

Purpose Household food waste is a significant environmental challenge, requiring awareness, particularly consciousness and measurement for effective control. This study attempts to develop and validate a comprehensive household food waste awareness (HFWA) scale, establishing a baseline for household behaviour interventions. The construct extends beyond simple awareness and captures a multidimensional orientation toward household food waste, including cognitive (knowledge), affective (attitudes and pride) and conative (intentions and behaviours) components. Design/methodology/approach A rigorous multi-stage methodology was employed, including literature review, face validation, semantic validation and statistical empirical validation. Data from 410 households underwent an exploratory factor analysis (EFA), which identified six factors: knowledge, attitude, behaviour, norms, pride in food waste reduction and behavioural intention not to waste food. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) refined the model to a five-factor structure, which was validated using structural equation modelling (SEM) guidelines. Findings The study provides preliminary psychometric support for a multidimensional structure in measuring household food waste awareness, with CFA offering acceptable fit for five key factors: knowledge and skills, attitude, behaviour, pride in food waste reduction and behavioural intention not to waste food. Several sub-constructs exhibit marginal reliability and validity indices, warranting further refinement in future research. The proposed scale draws on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) frameworks as the conceptual basis for item-domain identification and dimension justification, extending their application to the specific context of household food waste measurement. Research limitations/implications The study is limited by a relatively small sample size and by its contextual specificity to Oman and the Arabian Gulf, which affects broader generalisability. Future research should expand and refine the scale across diverse cultural and socio-economic settings. Social implications The HFWA scale has the potential to reshape public perceptions, reinforce social norms and drive behavioural change in household food waste reduction. By promoting awareness and responsible consumption, it contributes to sustainable food practices and community well-being. Originality/value To the best of our knowledge, this study is among the first to develop and validate a comprehensive HFWA scale specifically focused on household-level food waste consciousness in an Arabian Gulf context. It extends TPB and SOR theories by incorporating pride and behavioural intention, addressing gaps in food waste behaviour studies.