A theoretical framework for explaining the determinants of food waste reduction in residential households: a case study of Mashhad, Iran

Food waste has influenced food security for poor people, food safety, economic development, and the environment. The objective of this paper is to examine the food waste reduction behavior in a sample of Iran households. The study used the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as its conceptual framework and further attempted to extend the TPB by incorporating the addition of new variables (e.g., marketing addiction, the perceived ascription of responsibility, moral attitude, waste-preventing behavior, and socio-demographic characteristics). Data was gathered using a systematic random sampling technique and analyzed with structural equation modeling (SEM). The sample size used in the study was 382. The results revealed that TPB and Extended Theory of Planned Behavior (ETPB) models exhibited a reasonable fit to the data. If key goals are to predict intention to reduce food waste (IRFW), the TPB is preferable due to a smaller quantity of comparison criteria. However, if the key goal is to explain IRFW, the ETPB is preferable due to higher R2 compared with others. Besides, the variable “waste-preventing behavior” was the most significant variables influencing the intention to reduce food waste. Socio-demographic characteristics such as age, level of education, and income were found to be statistically significant predictors of intention. Finally, the implication for management and the scope for future research have been discussed.