Understanding Food Waste Reduction Behavior oof Young Adults in Developing Countries: Application of TIB And IMB Skills Integrated Model

Authors: Farida Faisal, Mishal Shahid

Approximately one-third of the world food is wasted annually. Food waste is causing drastic economic, social, and environmental damages. Though the young consumers are now more concerned about the consequences of food waste leading to momentous changes in their behavior. This study helps to identify the factors contributing to the reduction of food waste by integrating TIB with the IMB skills model. This research also helps in validating the measuring food waste reduction behavior parsimoniously as a higher order construct consisting of 3R’s i.e., reduce, reuse and recycle. Quantitative data was collected from 385 university students of Pakistan through an online survey. Smart PLS 4 was used to analyze the measurement and structural model. The results of this study indicate that information, habits and intention play a significant role in the reducing of food waste whereas, motivation facilitating conditions and behavioral skills does not play a significant role in food waste reduction. This study also validates that food waste reduction behavior can be used as a high order construct of 3Rs. Based on this research improvements can be made in the universities and food waste management policies can be made to facilitate the university students.