Consumers'Attitudes and Behaviors Toward Circular Food Supply Chain Practices and Sustainable Food Purchase Intention: Evidence from China

Stella Despoudi (), Keyue Wu (), Evaggelia Nedelkou () and Jiayi Zhu ()
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Stella Despoudi: University of Western Macedonia
Keyue Wu: Warwick University
Evaggelia Nedelkou: University of Western Macedonia
Jiayi Zhu: Warwick University

Circular Economy and Sustainability, 2025, vol. 5, issue 5, 4469-4486

Abstract: Abstract Food supply chain entities have been redesigning their supply chains to become circular. Consumers started to consume food consciously and make more sustainable purchases. Research indicated that there might be an attitude-behavior gap in environmental research. Chinese consumers were heavily affected by COVID-19, which might have impacted their shopping behavior and circular economy actions. This research investigates the attitudes and behaviors of Chinese consumers' regarding their knowledge of circular economy, environmental motivations, and sustainability awareness on sustainable food purchase intention and circular economy practices adoption during COVID-19. Six hypotheses are developed based on the literature review, and a survey questionnaire is deployed. The findings demonstrate that consumers' propensity to engage in sustainable consumption and circular economy behaviors increases directly to their knowledge of such networks. Consumers are more likely to adopt circular economy practices if they have knowledge of the circular food supply chain. However, being environmentally motivated and aware of sustainability does not lead to the adoption of circular economy practices by Chinese consumers. An attitude-behaviour gap is identified regarding the adoption of circular economy practices regarding food packaging. The study’s findings highlight the areas that food supply chain entities and managers should focus on to improve their supply chain’s circularity and consumer engagement. In the end, future research avenues are provided.

Keywords: Circular economy; Sustainable food supply chain; Consumers; Food purchase intention; COVID- 19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s43615-025-00573-9

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