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Consumer Receptiveness to A Water Footprint Label (WaFL) for food in U.S. grocery stores: findings from a national survey


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Created: Aug 08, 2026 at 3:35 a.m. (UTC)
Last updated: Aug 08, 2026 at 4:10 a.m. (UTC)
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Abstract

Diminishing water supplies and rising societal demand amid climate change necessitate innovative water resources management tools. As food production is a major water consumer globally and in the United States, improving water efficiency of food production is essential for both water security and food security. Building on the success of eco-labels in the market and the promising research on carbon footprint labeling, we propose a water footprint label (WaFL) for food in U.S. grocery stores. Across several survey questions with different framings through our online survey of U.S. consumers, 35% to 82% of respondents expressed receptiveness towards such a label. The preferred labeling format is numerical, and the highest trust is expressed in a voluntary program regulated by U.S. Department of Agriculture while the lowest trust in company self-reporting. Survey respondents expressed a willingness to pay extra for access to water consumption information of their groceries. However, increased education is still needed to familiarize consumers with the water footprint concept in order to drive water-conscious purchases; furthermore, hypothesis bias could hinder the translation of this expressed willingness to pay into an actual consumer premium in stores. Overall, U.S. consumers appear ready for WaFLs, but we recommend pre-launch outreach and follow-up monitoring for a successful introduction and continued improvement in water literacy. Findings from this survey will inform further studies and pilot testing in grocery stores before broader adoption.

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Coordinate System/Geographic Projection:
WGS 84 EPSG:4326
Coordinate Units:
Decimal degrees
Place/Area Name:
the United States
North Latitude
71.5000°
East Longitude
-172.5000°
South Latitude
24.5000°
West Longitude
-66.9000°

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Funding Agencies

This resource was created using funding from the following sources:
Agency Name Award Title Award Number
Arizona State University faculty startup fund None

How to Cite

Ao, Y. Z., Famiglietti, J. (2026). Consumer Receptiveness to A Water Footprint Label (WaFL) for food in U.S. grocery stores: findings from a national survey, HydroShare, http://www.hydroshare.org/resource/32796e4707ea4725ae7ea3eff5e3c08b

This resource is shared under the Creative Commons Attribution CC BY.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
CC-BY

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