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Published on: July 24, 2017
Decoding the Drivers of Consumer Choice for Near-Expired Meat in Digital Retailing: Economic Incentives, Food Safety,
Wen-Shin Huang1, Cai-Wei Lin1, Kuang-Ling Lai2
1Department of Business Administration, Chaoyang University of Technology, Taichung 413310, Taiwan.
Foods (Basel, Switzerland)
|August 13, 2026
Summary
Consumers are more likely to buy near-expired meat via apps due to price discounts, not environmental concerns. Retailer credibility and transparency are key to overcoming food safety fears in digital clearance strategies.
Area of Science:
- Consumer Behavior
- Digital Retail
- Food Waste Management
Background:
- Investigates consumer purchase intentions for near-expired fresh meat in a digital retail setting.
- Addresses the challenge of food waste within mobile commerce platforms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore factors influencing consumers' willingness to purchase high-risk, near-expired fresh meat through a supermarket mobile app.
- To integrate the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to understand digital adoption for food clearance.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a framework combining TAM and TPB, including price discounts and safety concerns.
- Collected data from 418 users of a major Taiwanese supermarket chain.
- Analyzed data using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM).
Main Results:
- Perceived usefulness significantly influenced app usage attitude; environmental concern had no significant effect.
- Price discounts were the strongest driver of purchase intention.
- Unexpectedly, heightened food safety concerns increased purchases, attributed to retailer credibility.
Conclusions:
- Highlights a disconnect between environmental awareness and digital purchasing behavior.
- Retailer credibility is crucial for mitigating safety concerns with near-expired food items.
- Recommends prioritizing inventory transparency and economic incentives, leveraging institutional trust in digital clearance strategies.
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