Understanding consumer's acceptability of the technology behind upcycled foods: An application of the technology acceptance model

Abstract

In light of the global overproduction and overconsumption, the circular economy in the agri-food sector is intended as a way out to overcome the alarming problem of food waste. While the literature is mainly focused on the industrial process and its implementation, the acceptance of the technology behind upcycled food remains unexplored. By incorporating elements of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the aim of this article is to adapt the TAM to the upcycled foods to improve our understanding of consumer willingness to accept food products from the circular economy through the study of the acceptability of the innovation behind these products. 726 participants passed the attention control test to ensure a good quality of the data. The resulting data confirmed the important roles of attitude, perceived usefulness, and individual variables as well as the level of innovation in the acceptability of the technology behind upcycling food and allowed an attempt to provide better visibility on the factors that influence the social acceptability of the circular economy as a solution to the problem of food waste. Efforts remain to be made at the consumer level to overcome still-significant psychological barriers to accept the technology behind circular economy when applied in the food sector.