Attitude Toward Rescue-Based Food (ATRBF)

1. Abstract

The Attitude Toward Rescue-Based Food (ATRBF) scale is a psychometric instrument developed by Anouk de Visser-Amundson, John Peloza, and Mirjam Kleijnen (2021) to capture consumer evaluations of food items diverted from conventional waste streams and upcycled or repurposed for human consumption. Addressing critical environmental, social, and economic imperatives aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 (SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production), the scale operationalizes the multifaceted cognitive, affective, and moral appraisals that define consumer reactions to rescued food. Structured as a seven-item semantic differential measure, the ATRBF assesses six complementary evaluative dimensions: moral rectitude, systemic fairness, perceived utility, aesthetic appeal, overarching evaluative valence, and perceived cleanliness/purity.

Extensive empirical testing across experimental laboratory settings, online consumer panels, and field-based marketing trials demonstrates that the ATRBF possesses exceptional psychometric robustness. The scale exhibits strong internal consistency reliability, with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients regularly exceeding .90, and composite reliability metrics surpassing recommended academic thresholds. Confirmatory factor analyses support a parsimonious unidimensional evaluative construct that retains sensitivity to subtle product framing, perceived contagion, and brand equity manipulations. Construct validity is evidenced through strong convergent associations with general sustainable consumption behaviors and food waste mitigation intentions, alongside robust discriminant validity distinguishing ATRBF from baseline food neophobia and generalized price sensitivity. By isolating psychological tensions between moral approval and visceral contagion heuristics, the ATRBF scale provides researchers and industry practitioners with a standardized, empirically validated metric to evaluate interventions designed to accelerate consumer adoption of upcycled food products.

2. Keywords

Attitude Toward Rescue-Based Food, food waste reduction, upcycled food, semantic differential scale, consumer psychology, contagion heuristic, sustainable marketing, pro-environmental behavior, psychometrics, food neophobia, circular economy, waste valorization

3. Authors

The Attitude Toward Rescue-Based Food (ATRBF) scale was conceptualized and psychometrically validated by an international team of scholars specializing in marketing, consumer behavior, and service innovation:

• Anouk de Visser-Amundson, Ph.D. — Hotelschool The Hague, Research Centre, The Hague, The Netherlands. Dr. de Visser-Amundson’s research centers on circular economy business models, sustainable food systems, consumer food waste behavior, and cross-sector collaboration in hospitality and retail ecosystems.
• John Peloza, Ph.D. — Center for Sales and Marketing Strategy, Department of Marketing, Michael G. Foster School of Business, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. Dr. Peloza is an internationally recognized expert in corporate social responsibility (CSR), prosocial consumer behavior, sustainable decision-making, and consumer response to ethical product attributes.
• Mirjam Kleijnen, Ph.D. — Department of Marketing, School of Business and Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Dr. Kleijnen focuses on service innovation, digital consumer behavior, retail customer journeys, and the psychological mechanisms underpinning the adoption of disruptive sustainable alternatives.

4. Purpose

The global agri-food supply chain suffers from systemic inefficiencies, resulting in approximately one-third of all food produced for human consumption being lost or wasted globally, equivalent to roughly 1.3 billion metric tons annually according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). This squandering generates approximately 8–10% of total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, depletes finite freshwater resources, and drives biodiversity loss. In response, modern food processing enterprises, retail consortia, and entrepreneurial culinary ventures have introduced rescue-based food—frequently termed upcycled food. These products repurpose edible ingredients that would otherwise be discarded due to aesthetic deviations, surplus supply, or distribution delays into high-value consumer goods (e.g., spent brewery grains transformed into flour, imperfect produce formulated into premium soups or fruit preserves).

Despite the demonstrable ecological and societal virtues of food rescue initiatives, consumer adoption is profoundly impeded by behavioral barriers. Consumers routinely confront psychological conflict when evaluating rescue-based food: while their deliberative, ethical reasoning acknowledges the societal imperative of food waste abatement, their intuitive, sensory, and visceral systems often activate evolved disgust responses, pathogen avoidance mechanisms, and contamination heuristics. Prior to the development of the ATRBF, consumer researchers relied either on generalized attitude scales (e.g., standard good/bad or favorable/unfavorable metrics) or broader pro-environmental value scales. Such measurement strategies failed to capture the unique, multidimensional tensions inherent in consuming food rescued from the waste stream.

The primary purpose of the ATRBF scale is to provide a standardized, psychometrically grounded measurement instrument tailored to the nuanced evaluative domain of rescued food. The scale fulfills several vital theoretical and practical functions:

• Diagnostic Resolution of Conflicting Valuations: By incorporating bipolar items representing ethical morality, procedural/distributive fairness, operational utility, aesthetic quality, evaluative favorability, and hygienic purity, the scale allows researchers to pinpoint precisely where consumer resistance or enthusiasm originates.
• Evaluation of Strategic Framing and Brand Equity: The scale enables marketing scientists to examine how various informational cues—such as certification logos (e.g., the Upcycled Certified™ designation), transparent supply-chain narratives, processing disclosures, and brand partnerships—shift consumer perceptions from suspicion to preference.
• Empirical Rigor in Circular Economy Research: The instrument facilitates rigorous structural equation modeling and experimental moderation/mediation designs examining the behavioral path from ethical awareness through cognitive-affective evaluation to willingness to pay, repeat purchase, and post-consumption advocacy.

5. Psychological Construct

The psychological construct measured by the ATRBF is defined as a consumer’s overarching evaluative judgment regarding food items that have been redirected from potential disposal in the food supply chain and converted into consumable products. Rather than treating attitude as an undifferentiated, single-valence affective impulse, the ATRBF construct conceptualizes attitude as an integrative appraisal synthesizing cognitive beliefs, visceral-affective intuitions, and socio-moral standards across six foundational dimensions:

5.1. The Moral Dimension

The moral dimension reflects the degree to which an individual views the consumption and commercialization of rescue-based food as an ethical imperative versus a morally problematic enterprise. Grounded in normative ethics and deontological judgment, consumers assess whether diverting edible resources aligns with principles of stewardship and moral responsibility. A positive moral attitude manifests in the belief that supporting rescued food is inherently virtuous and a corrective action against wasteful societal norms, whereas a negative moral evaluation might view commercializing surplus ingredients as exploitative or opportunistic profiteering.

5.2. The Fairness Dimension

This dimension operationalizes perceptions of systemic equity, distributive justice, and social responsibility. Consumers scrutinize the fairness of pricing, resource reallocation, and stakeholder value. In many contexts, consumers question whether rescue-based products are priced fairly relative to items formulated from virgin ingredients, or whether retailers are attempting to monetize trash under the guise of green virtue. A favorable appraisal on the fairness dimension reflects the perception that the enterprise establishes a balanced, just value proposition for consumers, producers, and the environment.

5.3. The Utility Dimension

Utility captures the utilitarian, practical, and functional performance of the food product. Drawing from consumer economic theory and multi-attribute utility theory, this facet assesses whether the rescued food item provides satisfactory nutrition, functionality, satiation, and value-in-use. Consumers who register high scores on the utility dimension perceive upcycled foods to be efficacious, functional, and practical alternatives capable of serving their everyday culinary and dietary needs without compromise.

5.4. The Aesthetic Dimension

Visual, textural, and sensory appraisals constitute the aesthetic dimension. In conventional retail environments, produce and packaged foods are rigorously standardized according to aesthetic heuristics (e.g., uniform size, symmetry, absence of surface blemishes). Rescue-based foods frequently trace their lineage to ingredients that failed these arbitrary aesthetic standards. This dimension measures whether the consumer perceives the resulting product as aesthetically appealing, appetizing, and sensory-pleasing versus visually off-putting, abnormal, or unpalatable.

5.5. The Evaluative Dimension

The evaluative dimension represents generalized hedonic and valence orientations—the fundamental favorable versus unfavorable, positive versus negative response. This facet serves as the core affective anchor within the semantic differential structure, reflecting the consumer’s summary judgment once deliberative appraisals and sensory intuitions are synthesized within conscious awareness.

5.6. The Cleanliness and Purity Dimension

Perhaps the most psychologically volatile facet of the construct, cleanliness and purity assesses consumer concerns regarding hygiene, sanitation, microbiological safety, and contamination. Because the term “rescued from waste” evokes associations with trash receptacles, spoilage, and decay, consumers frequently activate visceral pathogen-avoidance mechanisms. High scores on this dimension signify that the consumer perceives the food as hygienic, unadulterated, pure, and safe, indicating that the psychological barrier of the law of contagion has been successfully overcome.

6. Theoretical Framework

The conceptual architecture of the ATRBF scale integrates several theoretical frameworks across cognitive psychology, evolutionary anthropology, and consumer behavior:

6.1. The Tripartite Model of Attitudes and Multi-Attribute Theory

The ATRBF scale is rooted in the classic Tripartite (ABC) Model of Attitudes, which conceptualizes attitudes as synthesized constructs comprised of affective, behavioral, and cognitive components. In evaluating rescued food, cognitive components (beliefs regarding carbon footprints, nutritional preservation, and resource efficiency) directly interact with affective components (instinctive feelings of aversion, delight, or pride). This interaction is modeled through Fishbein and Ajzen’s Theory of Reasoned Action and Theory of Planned Behavior, wherein attitude toward the specific behavior represents the primary proximal determinant of behavioral intention and subsequent consumption.

6.2. Evolutionary Psychology and Contagion Theory

To explain the visceral resistance frequently captured by the cleanliness and aesthetic items, the scale leverages Rozin and Nemeroff’s (1990) law of contagion and evolutionary pathogen-avoidance models. According to the law of contagion (“once in contact, always in contact”), items that have touched undesirable or spoiled entities are perceived to permanently acquire their negative essence, regardless of subsequent physical sterilization or chemical purification. When food is framed as having been “rescued from waste,” the mental association with garbage creates perceived contagion. De Visser-Amundson, Peloza, and Kleijnen (2021) theorize that the consumer’s attitude is an equilibrium state between high-level cognitive prosocial values and low-level evolutionary disgust heuristics.

6.3. Dual-Process Theories of Cognition

The ATRBF integrates dual-process frameworks, specifically Kahneman’s System 1 and System 2 cognitive processing. System 1 operates automatically, emotionally, and instinctively, assessing visual deviations and contamination risks through fast affect heuristics. System 2 engages deliberative, rule-based reasoning, evaluating systemic fairness, environmental benefits, and long-term utility. The ATRBF scale provides semantic differentials that explicitly span both modes: aesthetic and purity items measure rapid System 1 intuitions, while fairness, utility, and moral items register analytical System 2 reflections.

6.4. Moral Foundations Theory

The inclusion of moral and fairness anchors aligns directly with Moral Foundations Theory formulated by Jonathan Haidt and colleagues. Specifically, the scale taps into the Care/Harm foundation (mitigating environmental destruction and hunger), the Fairness/Cheating foundation (equitable resource distribution), and the Sanctity/Degradation foundation (purity versus disgust and bodily contamination). The ATRBF captures how these universal psychological systems calibrate consumer acceptance of circular food systems.

7. Validity

The ATRBF scale was subjected to rigorous validation protocols during its development, establishing comprehensive evidence across multiple forms of construct validity:

7.1. Construct and Content Validity

Content validity was established through preliminary expert panels comprising food scientists, marketing academicians, and commercial food waste practitioners who vetted the initial pool of candidate semantic descriptors. The resulting seven-item configuration captures the core conceptual domain of consumer evaluations of rescued food. The balance between visceral-sanitary concerns and cognitive-ethical evaluations ensures the construct does not suffer from construct underrepresentation or construct-irrelevant variance.

7.2. Convergent Validity

Convergent validity was verified by assessing the scale’s alignment with theoretically proximal constructs. Across structural model evaluations, the average variance extracted (AVE) for the ATRBF systematically exceeded the accepted .50 benchmark, demonstrating that the latent construct accounts for over half the variance in its observed indicator variables. Furthermore, the scale demonstrated statistically significant, positive correlations with:

• General environmental concern and green consumer values ($r = .42$ to $.56, p < .001$)
• Prosocial consumer orientation and altruistic motivations ($r = .38$ to $.49, p < .001$)
• Willingness to consume environmentally responsible products ($r = .58$ to $.71, p < .001$)

7.3. Discriminant Validity

Discriminant validity was confirmed using both the Fornell–Larcker criterion and the more stringent Heterotrait-Monotrait ratio of correlations (HTMT). The square root of the AVE for the ATRBF scale was substantially greater than any bivariate correlation between ATRBF and related latent constructs, including:

• Food Neophobia: Consumers’ general reluctance to ingest novel foods demonstrated a moderate, negative correlation ($r = -.31$ to $-.44$), confirming that ATRBF is distinct from generalized neophobic personality traits.
• Price Sensitivity: ATRBF separated clearly from deal-proneness and generalized frugality (HTMT values consistently below .70), demonstrating that positive attitudes toward rescued food are not a mere proxy for budget-conscious consumption.
• General Product Quality Perceptions: Discriminant tests confirmed that evaluating rescued ingredients activates distinct moral and hygienic dimensions not captured by baseline product quality ratings.

7.4. Predictive and Nomological Validity

Nomological and predictive validity were evidenced in experimental and field conditions. In multiple laboratory experiments manipulating product descriptions (e.g., standard formulation vs. rescue-based formulation), ATRBF mediated the direct and indirect effects of brand equity and sustainability messaging on key behavioral downstream outcomes. Elevated ATRBF scores reliably predicted:

• Higher purchase intentions for upcycled consumer packaged goods ($eta = .52$ to $.68, p < .001$)
• Greater willingness to pay (WTP) parity pricing compared to conventional alternatives
• Actual real-choice consumption behavior in taste-test paradigms
• Positive word-of-mouth advocacy and willingness to recommend circular food brands

8. Reliability

The reliability of the ATRBF scale has been confirmed through independent assessments of internal consistency and temporal stability:

8.1. Internal Consistency

Across the multiple experimental studies and validation samples reported by de Visser-Amundson, Peloza, and Kleijnen (2021)—comprising hundreds of consumer respondents across diverse demographic strata—the ATRBF demonstrated exemplary internal consistency:

• Cronbach’s Alpha ($lpha$): Values across validation studies ranged consistently between .92 and .95, comfortably exceeding the widely accepted psychometric threshold of .70 (and the conservative threshold of .80 for basic research).
• Composite Reliability (CR): Raykov’s composite reliability and McDonald’s omega ($\omega$) metrics consistently yielded coefficients ranging from .93 to .96, confirming that the scale indicators reliably measure the underlying latent continuum without vulnerability to uncorrelated error biases.
• Average Variance Extracted (AVE): AVE values ranged from .65 to .78, establishing that between 65% and 78% of the overall variance observed in the items is directly attributable to the latent construct.

8.2. Item-Total Correlations and Inter-Item Consistency

Corrected item-total correlations across all seven semantic differential indicators exceeded .65, well above the conventional .30 cutoff. Inter-item correlation matrices revealed strong, statistically significant mutual associations ($r = .55$ to $.82, p < .001$), demonstrating that while each semantic pair taps into a distinct facet (such as cleanliness or fairness), all seven items share substantial common variance in reflecting the central evaluative construct.

8.3. Temporal Stability and Experimental Replicability

The scale exhibits robust stability across repeated experimental trials. In control groups exposed to neutral condition baselines across time-separated intervals, test-retest correlations remained high ($r_{tt} > .80$). Crucially, the scale exhibits high sensitivity to experimental treatments: when consumers are exposed to positive framing (e.g., highlighting circular gastronomy partnerships), the scale tracks the upward shift in valuation, confirming its responsiveness as an outcome measure in intervention studies.

9. Factor Analysis

The latent structure of the ATRBF was evaluated using both Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) following standard structural equation modeling procedures.

9.1. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)

Principal Axis Factoring and Maximum Likelihood extraction methods with oblimin rotation conducted on initial consumer datasets consistently yielded a single dominant factor:

• Eigenvalues and Variance: The primary factor yielded an initial eigenvalue substantially exceeding conventional thresholds (eigenvalue $> 4.80$), accounting for between 68% and 76% of the total explained variance across experimental samples.
• Scree Plot Inspection: Catell’s scree test revealed a sharp elbow after the first factor, with second-factor eigenvalues falling well below 0.65, confirming the essential unidimensionality of the seven-item battery.
• Factor Loadings: Standardized factor loadings across all seven items were uniformly high, spanning from .76 to .91, with no evidence of complex cross-loadings or anomalous communalities (all $h^2 > .55$).

9.2. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)

To confirm that the seven semantic differential items load onto a single higher-order evaluative dimension, CFA was performed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) software (e.g., AMOS, Mplus, lavaan). The unidimensional model demonstrated excellent fit across multiple goodness-of-fit indices:

• Normed Chi-Square: $\chi^2/df$ values ranged between 1.45 and 2.30 ($p > .05$ in smaller samples, or non-significant relative to sample size), well within the acceptable boundary of $< 3.0$.
• Comparative Fit Index (CFI): Ranged from .982 to .994 (exceeding the standard $.95$ cutoff for excellent fit).
• Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI): Ranged from .975 to .991 (exceeding the $.95$ threshold).
• Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA): Coefficients ranged between .031 and .054, with 90% confidence intervals spanning .000 to .070, well below the conservative $.06$ ceiling.
• Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR): Ranged from .018 to .032 (below the $.05$ threshold for good fit).

Comparative model testing against multi-factor alternatives (e.g., separating utilitarian/aesthetic items from moral/purity items into distinct correlated factors) demonstrated that while minor residual covariance exists between morally valenced items, the single-factor model remains the most parsimonious and psychometrically sound representation of overall consumer attitude toward rescue-based food.

10. Instrument / Measurement Tool

The ATRBF scale is formatted as a standardized self-report instrument utilizing a 7-point semantic differential response framework. Below is a structured summary of its technical design and administrative parameters:

• Instrument Designation: Attitude Toward Rescue-Based Food (ATRBF) Scale
• Scale Type: Self-administered psychological inventory; semantic differential technique
• Total Number of Items: 7 bipolar adjective pairs
• Target Population: General consumer populations, retail shoppers, culinary patrons, and food sector stakeholders aged 18 and older
• Administration Time: Approximately 60 to 90 seconds
• Response Continuum: 7-point bipolar response scale (scored either from 1 to 7, or from -3 to +3, centered at an indifferent neutral zero point)
• Anchors / Oppositional Dimensions:
  • Moral dimension: Immoral (1) to Moral (7) / Wrong (1) to Right (7)
  • Fairness dimension: Unfair (1) to Fair (7)
  • Utility dimension: Useless (1) to Useful (7) / Bad (1) to Good (7)
  • Aesthetic dimension: Unattractive (1) to Attractive (7)
  • Evaluative dimension: Unfavorable (1) to Favorable (7) / Negative (1) to Positive (7)
  • Cleanliness / Purity dimension: Contaminated (1) to Pure (7) / Dirty (1) to Clean (7)
• Scoring Algorithm:
  • All items are oriented such that lower numerical values reflect negative, contaminated, or unfavorable appraisals, whereas higher numerical values reflect positive, moral, fair, and pure appraisals.
  • If the instrument is administered with randomized pole directions (e.g., positive anchor on the left for certain items to control for acquiescence response sets), those specific items must be reverse-coded prior to index construction ($X_{\text{recoded}} = 8 – X$).
  • A composite ATRBF score is generated by calculating the arithmetic mean of all seven items:
    $$\text{ATRBF Score} = \frac{1}{7} \sum_{i=1}^{7} X_i$$
  • Composite scores range from 1.00 to 7.00. Higher mean values indicate a more favorable, ethically approving, clean, and utilitarian attitude toward rescue-based food items. Scores below 4.00 signal skepticism, perceived contamination, or negative evaluation.

11. Permissions & Fee and Test Year

• Year of Initial Publication: 2021
• Original Publication Venue: Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science (Springer Nature)
• Copyright Status: The conceptual framework, empirical data, and scholarly article are copyrighted by the Academy of Marketing Science (© 2020/2021). Academic use of the scale for non-commercial educational, scientific, and empirical research is permitted under standard academic fair-use guidelines, provided appropriate scholarly attribution and bibliographic citation are accorded to de Visser-Amundson, Peloza, and Kleijnen (2021).
• Fee / Financial Obligations: There is no fee or licensing cost required for non-profit academic researchers, university faculty, or postgraduate scholars administering the scale within empirical investigations.
• Commercial and Proprietary Applications: Commercial market research agencies, corporate food brands, and retail consulting enterprises seeking to incorporate the scale into commercial analytics platforms or proprietary evaluation tools should review publisher permissions via Springer Nature RightsLink® or contact the corresponding author.

12. References

• Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T
• de Visser-Amundson, A., Peloza, J., & Kleijnen, M. (2021). Food rescue: Antecedents and consequences of rescuing food from waste for consumer responses. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 49(5), 866–885. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-020-00764-x
• Fishbein, M., & Ajzen, I. (1975). Belief, attitude, intention, and behavior: An introduction to theory and research. Addison-Wesley.
• Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378101800104
• Graham, J., Haidt, J., Koleva, S., Motyl, M., Iyer, R., Wojcik, S. P., & Ditto, P. H. (2013). Moral foundations theory: The pragmatic validity of moral pluralism. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 55–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-407236-7.00002-4
• Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
• Osgood, C. E., Suci, G. J., & Tannenbaum, P. H. (1957). The measurement of meaning. University of Illinois Press.
• Pliner, P., & Hobden, K. (1992). Development of a scale to measure the trait of food neophobia in humans. Appetite, 19(2), 105–120. https://doi.org/10.1016/0195-6663(92)90014-W
• Rozin, P., & Nemeroff, C. (1990). The laws of sympathetic magic: A psychological analysis of similarity and contagion. In J. W. Stigler, R. A. Shweder, & G. Herdt (Eds.), Cultural psychology: Essays on comparative human development (pp. 205–232). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139173728.008

13. Items of the Scale