Domestic Food Waste and Covid-19 Concern: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic rapidly and dramatically disrupted household behaviours in almost all areas and, among these, eating behaviours and daily food patterns have also been radically altered. All reported changes have potential effects in terms of food waste, which is a global problem that mainly occurs at household level. Many scholars attempted to understand the antecedents of food waste in the framework of Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). In this paper we follow this strain of research by focussing on two different behaviours, suggested by the Waste Framework Directive of the EU, namely (a) reducing servings and (b) using leftovers, which may be predicted by the intention to reduce food waste. An online questionnaire containing the key constructs of the TPB and the concern towards the pandemic was administered to a sample of 201 Italian consumers. Results show that the TPB model was confirmed for both behaviours while the Covid-19 concern had no direct effect. However, in the case of portion reduction, there is a significant interaction between concern and intention not to waste food. That is, the effect of intention on reducing servings is increasing as the level of concern increases. Therefore, some indications on how to address food waste policies are drawn.

Automated summary

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to significant disruptions in household behaviors, particularly in eating behaviors and daily food patterns. Many scholars have attempted to understand the causes of food waste in the context of the Theory of Planned Behavior. Results from a study among Italian consumers show that reducing food servings and using leftovers can be predicted by the intention to reduce food waste, with an interaction effect between concern towards the pandemic and the intention not to waste food found in the case of portion reduction.