Impact of social media on food waste behavior among Beijing residents

Abstract

[Objective] This study explores the impact of social media on residents’food waste behavior through information interaction mechanisms. [Methods] Using Beijing residents as the research subjects, a questionnaire survey was conducted from August to September 2023, yielding 501 valid samples. An agent-based modeling approach was employed to construct a complex system of residents’food waste behavior from the perspective of information interaction. By integrating structural equation modeling, susceptible-infected-recovered model, and environmental footprint accounting method, this study analyzed the impact of social media on residents’food waste behavior and compared it with other information interaction channels. [Results] (1) Social media became the primary source of information on food waste for Beijing residents (approximately 50%). (2) Traditional food waste behavior analysis frameworks underestimated the impact of subjective norms. (3) System simulation results showed that, compared to no information interaction, social media-based information interaction more rapidly reduced the daily frequency of waste behavior (from 0.35 times/day to 0.20 times/day) and the daily waste amount (from 16.67 g/day to 9.51 g/day), and lowered the daily carbon footprint (36.63 g/day), water footprint (29.99 dm3/day), and ecological footprint (26.04 dm2/day) caused by food waste. Furthermore, compared to traditional information interaction channels, social media-based information interaction resulted in better and faster reductions in food waste. [Conclusion] Through information interaction mechanisms, social media can significantly improve Beijing residents’food waste behavior and reduce environmental footprints. Future efforts should focus on optimizing multi-channel information interaction systems, fully leveraging the interactive advantages of social media, and driving broader participation in conservation behaviors through a“ripple effect”approach to reduce food waste and its associated environmental impact.