Exploring Factors Influencing Consumer Behavior Towards

Food Waste Reduction in Households in Baguio City

CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

This chapter encompasses several key components, including the introduction, statement of the
problem, hypothesis, scope, limitations, and delimitations, and the significance of the study.

INTRODUCTION

In today’s century, the use of media has become a vitally important part of people’s routine life.
This has become a potential to shift consumer behavior, which could lead to food waste. According to
several studies, approximately 1.3 billion tons, or one-third, of consumable food that was meant for
human use is lost or wasted worldwide.

Any food and inedible portions of food that are taken out of the food supply chain to be
recovered or disposed of (such as composted, unharvested or ploughed crops, anaerobic digestion, bio-
energy production, co-generation, incineration, disposal to landfill, sewer, or discarded to sea) is
considered food waste. Food waste has drawn more scholarly and public attention within the last ten
years. Food waste is regarded as one of the sustainability concerns that requires attention since it has
detrimental consequences on the economy, the environment, and society.

Social media, as it has always defined, plays a vital role in consumers preferences and behaviors.
Through the use and influence of social media, many people develop this so called “compulsive buying”
behavior which mainly contributes to the ever-increasing food waste. Also, people tend to buy food that
are promoted by social media influencers because of its eye-catching characteristics, but turned out to
be not that good once bought- resulting to a food waste. Above all these problems, one of the factors
that made the food waste increase is the influence of social media or simply media in people’s lives.

This investigation tends to explore factors influencing consumer behavior towards food waste
reduction in households through the use of visual communications/ media to raise awareness and
influence household behavior on food waste reduction.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The primary objective of this study is to explore the factors influencing consumer behavior
towards food waste reduction in households in Baguio City. The problem also addressed the subsequent
questions:

1. What are the effects of visual communication/media to the following factors?

1.1 consumer behavior
1.2 food waste
 2. How do the following factors contribute to reducing food waste?
2.1 Media

3. Is there a great factor that influence consumer behavior towards food waste reduction in
households?

HYPOTHESIS

There is no significant factor that influence consumer behavior towards food waste reduction in
households in Baguio City.

SCOPE, LIMITATION, AND DELIMITATION

The primary objective of this study is to explore the factors influencing consumer behavior
towards food waste reduction in households in Baguio City. This includes the effects of visual media to
consumer behavior and food waste. Furthermore, this study aims to investigate how sufficient buying
and controllable buying contribute to reducing of food waste in households.

There are various factors that are associated between the consumer behavior and the visual
media to raise awareness on the household’s behavior on waste reduction. This study will rely on self-
reported data obtained from groups and questionnaires which may be subject to biases introduced by
respondents or influenced by social desirability.

The study's delimitations encompass the specific parameters that have been set, such as the
target population under investigation and the methodology employed to choose the sample. These
measures are implemented to guarantee that the sample is both representative and devoid of any
potential biases. Therefore, it is imperative for the researcher to take into account the potential cultural
and contextual variations that could influence the consumer behavior and the influence of visual media
to household behavior on food waste reduction.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study's main goal is to investigate the variables impacting Baguio City households' food
waste reduction consumer behavior. This covers how visual media affects food waste and consumer
behavior. Additionally, this study looks into how controlling and purchasing enough food might help
households cut down on food waste. Additionally, the analysis offered in this study will provide
significant insights for future researchers and will provide benefits to the following individuals or groups:

To the Household Members. It will be beneficial to them for they will be aware of the effects of
food waste not just in their household, but also in the entire community.

To the respondents. They will be fully aware of the effects of media to them by making them a
compulsive buyer which results to a globally problem.
 To the researchers. They will be given the opportunity to study and explore this globally huge
challenge that has been experiencing all over the world.

THEORITICAL AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

This study's foundation is the theory of planned behavior (TPB), which holds that a person's
behavior is mostly dictated by their purpose to engage in that action, which is impacted by their
attitude, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms. According to the TPB framework,
consumers' intention to consume sustainably will be shaped by their perception of their capacity to
adopt sustainable behaviors (perceived behavioral control), social influences (subjective norms), and
awareness and comprehension of sustainable practices (attitude), which will ultimately result in the
implementation of sustainable consumption behavior.

As a multifaceted concept, media literacy is anticipated to be crucial in forming the TPB

antecedents of sustainable consumption. Customers' understanding and attitude toward sustainable
consumption, for example, may be improved by increased media accessibility and usage, which may
expose them to more information and messaging about sustainable practices, such as the
environmental effects of food production and waste.

Thus, this study makes the hypothesis that the many facets of media literacy will favorably affect
awareness, intention, and, eventually, behavior related to sustainable consumption. These theories
allow for the design of the current study's conceptual framework.
 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

In recent years, a significant amount of scholarly study has been conducted to investigate and
explore the factors influencing consumer behavior towards food waste reduction in households.

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

One of such studies of consumer buying behaviour has been conducted by Acebron et al (2000).
The aim of the study was to analyze the impact of previous experience on buying behaviour of fresh
foods, particularly mussels. In their studies the authors used structural equation model in order to
identify the relationship between the habits and previous experience on the consumer buying decision.
Their findings show that personal habits and previous experience on of the consumers have a direct
impact on the consumers’ purchase decision in the example of purchasing fresh mussels. They also
found that the image of the product has a crucial impact on the purchasing decision of the consumer
and further recommended that the product image should continuously be improved in order to
encourage the consumers towards purchasing.

Another study conducted by Variawa (2010) analyzed the influence of packaging on consumer
decision making process for Fast Moving Consumer Goods. The aim of the research was to analyze the
impact of packaging for decision making processes of low-income consumers in retail shopping. A survey
method has been used in order to reach the research objectives. In a survey conducted in Star Hyper in
the town of Canterville 250 respondents participated. The findings of the research indicate that low-
income consumers have more preferences towards premium packaging as this can also be re-used after
the product has been consumed. Although the findings indicate that there is a weak relationship
between the product packaging and brand experience. However, it has been proven by the findings of
the research that low-income consumers have greater brand experience from the purchase of
‘premium’ products when compared to their experience from purchasing ‘cheap’ brand products.

The literature has shown that household food waste is a function of consumer behaviour, a
point that has been elaborated by the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) (Oehman et al., 2022). TPB, a
widely used social psychological theory developed by Icek Ajzen in 1991, provides a framework for
understanding the determinants of food waste behaviours and designing effective reduction strategies
(Lin and Guan, 2021). The TPB serves as a framework for deciphering human behaviour, particularly in
the context of food waste. Numerous studies have discussed the demographic and socioeconomic
factors that influence food waste and strategies for waste reduction (Fami et al., 2019). However, no
systematic review has mapped the intersectionality of the three components of TPB in food waste
behaviour. Related reviews have focused on food loss and waste (El Bilali et al., 2022), food generation
and industrial uses (Girotto et al., 2015), strategies for improving anaerobic digestion of food waste
(Rodriguez-Jimenez et al., 2022), management and prevention of food losses and waste in low- and
middle-income countries (Mmereki et al., 2024) and determinants of food insecurity (Varela et al.,
2023). Hence, this systematic review is relevant as it deploys TPB to explore complex cases of household
food waste within diverse demographic and socioeconomic contexts.
FOOD WASTE

Food waste is a global problem

and getting serious in
developed countries (Russell et
al.,
2017). A report shows that we
are producing 25% more food
than we need, and this will
indirectly cause global warming
due to excess production from
factories (Shellenberger,
2020). Approximately 11% of
the greenhouse gas emission
resulting from the food system
can be diminished if everyone
starts to adopt food waste
prevention behaviour to protect
the
environment (Smith, 2015).
Wasted food can be divided into
two categories: food loss and
food waste (Abiad and Meho,
2018). Food loss refers to food
that is lost before leaving the
farm while food waste refers to
edible items that are thrown
away along the supply chain.
Food waste is one of the causes
of climate change because
when wasted food goes to the
landfill and rots, it produces
methane, which is also known
as a greenhouse gas more
harmful
than carbon dioxide (Abiad and
Meho, 2018).
Food waste is a global problem and getting serious in developed countries (Russell et al.,2017). A
report shows that we are producing 25% more food than we need, and this will indirectly cause global
warming due to excess production from factories (Shellenberger,2020). Approximately 11% of the
greenhouse gas emission resulting from the food system can be diminished if everyone starts to adopt
food waste prevention behaviour to protect the environment (Smith, 2015). Wasted food can be divided
into two categories: food loss and food waste (Abiad and Meho, 2018). Food loss refers to food that is
lost before leaving the farm while food waste refers to edible items that are thrown away along the
supply chain. Food waste is one of the causes of climate change because when wasted food goes to the
land fill and rots, it produces methane, which is also known as a greenhouse gas more harmful than
carbon dioxide (Abiad and Meho, 2018).

Food waste and food losses are an interesting topic in almost the last decade. Food waste and
food losses can be defined from a variety of individual and group perspectives, whether by type, food
waste formation process or origin of food waste and existing food losses (Mena et al. 2011). Food waste
in the world is currently about one-third of food for human consumption produced in the world, every
year around 1.3 billion tons are lost or just wasted. Then, food that is wasted is causing enormous losses
in various countries, both developed and developing countries. In industrialized countries it is estimated
that 670 million tons of food are wasted and 630 million tons of food is wasted in developing countries
with the highest levels of food coming from tubers, vegetables and fruit (FAO, 2011). Food waste can
come from intentional or unintentional behavior. Foods that spill or rot before reaching the final
product or retail stage are called food losses. These food losses can be caused by various things such as
problems at harvest, storage, packaging, transportation, market mechanisms, and institutional and legal
frameworks. While food that is suitable for human consumption but not consumed because it is
damaged or disposed of by consumers is called food waste. Because the occurrence of food waste is due
to the poor rules for marking food in and out, so that a lot of food is wasted because of expiration,
improper storage, and buying or processing (Kophi Sulsel, 2018).

MEDIA

Social media has become a vitally important part of people’s routine life. Ellison et al. (2007)
concepted social media as “a platform that allows individuals to present themselves, express
themselves, and establish or maintain with others”. Scholars may pay more attention to the utility
properties of social media, namely the use of social media. In China, the number of monthly active
accounts of Wechat has reached 1.327 billion, an increase of 2 % year-on-year. It has achieved almost
full coverage of the Chinese population. Nonetheless, the rising prominence of social media has slowly
exposed its adverse impacts. Materialism, epitomizing consumer value seen as the inclination to
juxtapose items with others for envy and admiration (Richins and Dawson, 1992), coupled with
obsessive purchasing habits, is growing in prevalence among numerous consumers.

Numerous researches work indicate that the way consumers exhibit themselves and advertise
on social media could intensify this trend (Aragoncillo and Orús, 2018, Kamal et al., 2013, Kasser, 2014,
Pu et al., 2021, Voramontri and Klieb, 2019, Xiang et al., 2016). Additionally, the pattern of excessive
consumption could spread to food-related sectors, potentially aggravating the issue of food waste.
Social media is identified as a major contributor to food impulse buying (Aragoncillo and Orús, 2018).
The widespread fascination with food on social media platforms explains this phenomenon (Zhai and
Han, 2022). The gourmet-themed super topics on Weibo have amassed 1.27 million posts. Presently,
consumers are not just recipients of food-related information but also actively create and share it with
their friends and family. Such behaviours clearly overstate the significance of social media in interactions
related to food.
 Consumer motivation to buy stems from favourable critiques and endorsements from celebrities
on digital platforms, with social media presenting fresh avenues to fulfill materialistic desires and
objectives (Miah et al., 2022; Ozimek et al., 2024). Our approach involved integrating the use of social
media and materialistic tendencies to influence compulsive purchasing behaviours. The problem of food
waste among consumers is multifaceted. Our hypothesis is that the use of social media, especially, will
influence the patterns of food waste among consumers, with previous studies offering grounds to
hypothesize both adverse and beneficial impacts. Compulsive buying is also an important behavioural
factor for consumer food waste. This paper contributes to the literature on sustainable behaviour,
encouraging consumer behaviour change towards sustainability, especially food waste. Numerous
studies have focused on investigating the measurement of food waste or the determinants of food
waste generation. Nonetheless, research focusing on the effects of social media and other elements on
food wastage is scarce. We established a theoretical framework to analyse the relationship between
social media usage and food waste. In the case of Shanghai, the theoretical model has two layers. Firstly,
our investigation focused on the impact of social media usage on compulsive buying through the
augmentation of materialistic values. We hypothesize that the way people exhibit themselves and
compare on social media could motivate them to fulfill their material desires, resulting in obsessive
buying. Secondly, we turned our focus to the relationship between social media use, compulsive buying
behaviour, and food waste. We speculate that social media could indirectly intensify food wastage by
inciting obsessive purchasing habits, resulting in excessive buying and needless consumption.