EXPRESS: Shame or pride? The effect of emotional appeals on overordering intentions in social dining

Abstract

Food waste is a significant global issue in which the hospitality industry plays an increasingly important role. In behavioral economics, emotions can serve as interventions to promote sustainable customer behavior. However, the effectiveness of self-conscious emotions, such as shame and pride, in reducing food waste in social dining contexts remains uncertain. Using the cognitive appraisal theory of emotion, we examine how shame and pride appeals influence customers’ overordering intentions (OOIs) in the Clean Your Plate Campaign in China. Our findings suggest that shame appeals associated with waste and pride appeals linked to frugality effectively reduce OOI by arousing impression management motivation. Additionally, including authoritative information in these appeals significantly enhances the interactivity of emotional appeals and impression management motivation and further reduces OOI. This study fills the research gap of emotions in overordering decision-making, offering practical guidance for preventing food waste and promoting environmental sustainability.