Excessive Food Buying in Saudi Arabia Amid COVID-19: Examining the Effects of Perceived Severity, Religiosity, Consumption Culture and Attitude toward Behavior

Abu Elnasr E. Sobaih ()
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Abu Elnasr E. Sobaih: Management Department, College of Business Administration, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsaa 31982, Saudi Arabia

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 4, 1-15

Abstract: The current study builds on both the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) to examine why consumers in Saudi Arabia engage in excessive food-buying behavior amid COVID-19. The study tests the direct impact of food consumption culture, perceived severity of COVID-19, and religiosity on excessive food-buying intentions and the indirect effect through attitudes toward excessive food buying. The results of the inner model using SmartPLS4 showed that the perceived severity of COVID-19 has a direct significant positive effect on attitudes toward excessive food buying and excessive food-buying intention. Despite food consumption culture being found to have no direct significant effect on excessive food-buying intention during the pandemic, it has a direct effect on attitudes toward excessive food buying. Surprisingly, religiosity was found to have a positive effect on consumers’ attitudes and excessive food-buying intentions. The results confirm that consumers misunderstood Islamic religious principles regarding food consumption, which does not accept excessive buying or food waste. Attitudes toward excessive food buying were found to mediate the relationship between food consumption culture, perceived severity of COVID-19, religiosity, and excessive food-buying intention. The results of the study are discussed and implications are highlighted for academics and policymakers.

Keywords: food security; COVID-19; perceived severity; food consumption culture; religiosity; personal attitude; food loss and waste; pandemic responses (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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