Confucian Culture as Determinants of Consumers' Food Leftover Generation: Evidence from Chengdu, China

Abstract

Food waste is a worldwide problem due to its effects on carbon emission, water pollution, and arable lands. Previous studies of food waste generation and reduction focus on demographic, psychological, and situational factors, whereas the effects of culture in different countries have been ignored. This paper investigates the influence of Confucian culture on behaviors that waste food, considering additional factors of face saving and group conformity. We used an integrated behavioral intention model combining the TPB model and Lee's modified Fishbein model. The results show that including the constructors of Confucian culture increases the predictive power of the model. Face saving and group conformity are found to significantly influence attitude toward food waste reduction. Face saving can greatly reduce the intention to pack leftovers, and group conformity has a significant effect on the ordering of small portion sizes. Based on these results, we give a discussion and put forward with suggestions to the government and the catering industry. Limitations and implications for future research are provided accordingly.

Food waste management in Shanghai full-service restaurants: A senior managers’ perspective

“…The effect of national culture was repeatedly referred to when explaining the reason for this rejection which is in line with Liao et al (2018). Mianzi does not only hinder requests of Chinese consumers for take-away boxes, i.e.…”

“…This is particularly true for China where portion size may represent an important determinant of food choice. Indeed, the presence of Mianzi implies that smaller portions may not be seen favourably by Chinese consumers, especially when eating out in groups (Liao et al 2018). When probed on this topic, those study informants who claimed to use portion control to mitigate food waste confirmed the possible effect of Mianzi and further clarified that smaller portions would only be provided to customers on request and never proactively offered.…”

“…This brings about wasteful table manners (Zhang 2013). Indeed, when eating out, the Chinese tend to show generosity towards other members of their dining party by ordering large amounts of food (Liao et al 2018). Excessive left-overs are generated in the result (Zeng 2015) seen as symbols of abundance, value/richness, hospitability and gratitude (Zhang 2013).…”

“…It can be assumed that the Chinese dining culture may prevent effective mitigation. The effect of Mianzi implies, for example, that the Chinese may be unwilling to voluntarily change their habits of eating out to make them less wasteful (Liao et al 2018). It is however unknown if/how foodservice operators in China have attempted to minimise this effect in pursuit of food waste mitigation goals.…”

“…Concurrently, restaurateurs were well aware of the significant difficulties associated with the application of this measure, especially in light of the national (dining) culture of China. As Leung (2015) and Liao et al (2018) posit, while the Chinese cultural values, especially Mianzi, encourage food waste generation when eating out they can only change in the long-term perspective. Hence, to facilitate and accelerate this change, some study informants called for more help from the national government of China.…”