Determinants of consumers' food management behavior: Applying and extending the theory of planned behavior

Approximately one quarter of the food supplied in the world is wasted across the food supply chain. Almost half of this amount is related to household food waste, which results from mis-management of consumption. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the consumer food management behavior in order to reduce food waste. Survey data were gathered among 405 Iranian respondents who were responsible for food preparation in their households and were aged from 15 to 64 years old, by using an extended theory of planned behavior (TPB). In addition to measuring the constructs of planned behavior theory, the feeling of guilt construct was incorporated to the model. The extended model was derived and examined through structural equation modeling (SEM). Results showed the usefulness of using the extended model of planned behavior in predicting intention to reduce food waste and food consumption management. Moreover, attitude, perceived behavioral control, feeling of guilt, subjective norm and intention of not wasting food were the drivers of managing food consumption and avoiding food waste. Besides, results showed that intention to reduce household food waste is predictable by attitude, subjective norm and feelings of guilt constructs. At the end, implications of the study for changing consumers' food management behavior are discussed.