The effect of consumer perception on food waste behavior of urban households in China

Abstract

Food waste has become a global problem, causing widespread concern in all sectors of society. Many scholars and institutions have researched this issue from different perspectives, but theoretical and empirical research on food waste from the perspective of consumer perception is still limited. Therefore, this study constructs a theoretical framework based on food waste behavior of households and empirically analyzes the effect of consumer perception on food waste by 273 Chinese urban households eating at home. The reliable urban household food waste data are based on a combination of household questionnaire surveys, bookkeeping surveys, weighing surveys, and semi-structured interviews in 2018. The survey site is Zhengzhou City in Henan Province. The results show that the higher urban household consumer perception positive index, the smaller the amount of food waste per capita per meal, and the higher urban household consumer perception negative index, the greater the amount of food waste per capita per meal. These results suggest consumer perception affects urban household food waste behavior significantly. We need to encourage consumers to form a joint effort to change consumer perception about food waste in order to reducing food waste.