Overcoming barriers to sustainable development: Evaluating what information frameworks matter and how they work in reducing consumer food waste

Abstract

The alarming food waste in restaurants exacerbates the deteriorating global food security crisis and hinders the achievement of sustainable development goals. What information interventions can restaurants provide to effectively reduce consumer food waste? This question remains unresolved. To this end, based on the extended Stimulus‐Organism‐Response (SOR) theory, this study conducted two experiments to investigate which information frameworks are more effective in reducing consumer food waste behavior (FWB) in restaurants and how these interventions trigger consumers' intrinsic psychological mechanisms. Study 1 (N = 643) found that feedback‐based information has a significantly greater inhibitory effect on FWB than prompt‐type information, with the strongest effect observed when feedback‐based and loss information are coupled. The results of Study 2 (N = 608) confirmed that anticipated guilt mediates the partial paths between information frameworks and FWB. Additionally, moral face consciousness moderates the relationship between anticipated guilt and FWB, whereby for individuals with a stronger moral face consciousness, the inhibition effect of anticipated guilt on FWB is greater. This study contributes to the current theory and literature, providing valuable recommendations for restaurant managers and policymakers on how to effectively utilize information interventions to reduce food waste, thereby mitigating the global food security crisis and promoting social sustainability.