The Impact of Religiosity and Food Consumption Culture on Food Waste Intention in Saudi Arabia

Ibrahim Elshaer, Abu Elnasr E. Sobaih, Mansour Alyahya and Ahmed Abu Elnasr
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Ibrahim Elshaer: Management Department, College of Business Administration, King Faisal University, Al-Hassa 31982, Saudi Arabia
Abu Elnasr E. Sobaih: Management Department, College of Business Administration, King Faisal University, Al-Hassa 31982, Saudi Arabia
Mansour Alyahya: Management Department, College of Business Administration, King Faisal University, Al-Hassa 31982, Saudi Arabia
Ahmed Abu Elnasr: Higher Institute for Specific Studies, Future Academy, Cairo 11771, Egypt

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-17

Abstract: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is among the top food-wasting countries worldwide, despite it being considered a religious society. Hence, an important question has emerged “to what extent and by what mechanism can religiosity influence food waste intention?”. This research answers this research question and examines the direct impact of both religiosity and food consumption culture on food waste intention as well as the indirect impact through the constructs of theory of planned behavior. For this purpose, a pre-tested self-administered questionnaire was collected from 1135 restaurant customers in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The results of structural equation modeling (SEM) using Analysis of a Moment Structures (AMOS) showed a very weak negative influence of religiosity on food waste intention. However, food consumption culture has had a high positive significant influence on food waste intention. The results also showed that attitude towards behaviors, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control fully mediate the relationship between religiosity and food waste intention. On the other side, they were found to partially mediate the relationship between food consumption culture and food waste intention. The results have several implications for policy-makers, scholars, and restaurant practitioners.

Keywords: religiosity; food consumption culture; food waste intention; theory of planned behavior; wasted food; Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:11:p:6473-:d:570158

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