Consumers’ Intention and Behavior Associated with Food Waste Reduction: The Case Study in Kaohsiung

Abstract

<p>食物浪費在已開發國家中以消費者層面的個人與家戶最為嚴重，臺灣亦然，但臺灣少見探討消費者減少食物浪費因素之實證研究。本研究以一延伸之計畫行為理論，亦即加入消費者之食物管理計畫變項，分析消費者減少食物浪費的行為受何因素影響。 本研究於2019年4月至5月間在高雄市某量販店愛河店與某超市鹽埕店進行調查，回收204份有效樣本。模型估計採結構方程模型，資料分析軟體為SPSS24版與AMOS24版。</p> <p>分析結果呈現主觀規範與知覺行為控制對減少食物浪費意圖呈顯著正向影響，態度的影響則不顯著。減少浪費之意圖越高，自述之浪費行為亦越少。消費者之食物管理計畫對最終浪費行為呈顯著負向影響，知覺行為控制對消費者之食物管理計畫呈顯著正向影響，而知覺行為控制對最終浪費行為的影響則不顯著。</p> <p>前述結果之意涵有三：一、家庭教育之約束屬主觀規範，若家庭成員致力減少浪費而樹立榜樣，或藉由規勸，可正面影響其他成員；二、透過相關措施培養家庭中主要負責購物與採買民眾訂定消費者之食物管理計畫，可望助於改變浪費行為；三、降低民眾對執行減少浪費行為的不便利性、增加消費者的自主性，例如增加包裝容量的彈性，協助消費者提升知覺行為控制。</p> <p> </p><p>Food waste at the consumer end is most problematic in developed countries, as well as in Taiwan. Nevertheless, there has been very little empirical research on the factors associated with reducing consumers’ food waste in Taiwan. This study makes an attempt to explore the factors that influence consumers’ intentions and behavior regarding food waste reduction via an extended theory of planned behavior (TPB), with a newly-added construct, the consumers’ food management plan.</p> <p>We conducted a survey from April to May 2019. The questionnaires were distributed in the Love River branch of a hypermarket and the Yancheng branch of a supermarket in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. After removing samples with incomplete responses, there remained 204 valid questionnaires from the survey. We applied a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach to perform the estimation. Both SPSS24 and AMOS24 software were employed.</p> <p>The results showed that both subjective norms and perceived behavioral control had significant positive effects, while attitude had no significant effect on the intention to reduce food waste. The intention to reduce food waste has a significant negative effect on food waste behavior. By contrast, the impact of perceived behavioral control on food waste behavior was not significant. Nevertheless, perceived behavioral control had a significant positive effect on the consumers’ food management plan. The food management plan had a significant negative effect on food waste behavior.</p> <p>These findings imply that establishing a good example within a family may positively influence other family members in reducing food waste. Moreover, guiding consumers towards the implementation of food management plans was found to be useful in reducing food waste. Finally, perceived behavioral control could be improved through measures such as reducing the level of inconvenience and increasing consumer autonomy, for instance by increasing the variety of packaging sizes.</p> <p> </p>