新冠肺炎疫情带来的不确定性对家庭食物浪费的影响——基于有调节的中介模型

Impact of Uncertainty Caused by COVID-19 on Household Food Waste—Based on a Moderated Mediation Model

粮食减损降耗和防止食品浪费,是保障国家粮食安全、推动可持续发展的必然要求,而家庭是整个食物供应链中浪费产生的最大来源,但目前鲜有文献对家庭食物浪费进行实证研究,且新冠肺炎疫情带来的不确定性对其的影响也被较少探讨。因此,本研究旨在构建一个有调节的中介模型来明确二者的关联性,并考察动机、机会、能力、收入等因素在其中的作用。本文利用232名中国消费者的问卷调查数据,结果发现:① 不确定性对家庭食物浪费有显著的正向影响,表明对于受不确定性影响大的群体,其生活方式和消费习惯更易因限制性措施发生改变进而带来更多食物浪费;② 在不确定性影响家庭食物浪费过程中,动机因素(意愿、态度、规范、知觉行为控制)、机会因素(时间可用性、购物频率、购物习惯)与能力因素(烹饪技能、计划管理能力、储存知识)都发挥了完全中介作用;③ 收入正向调节机会对家庭食物浪费的影响,表明家庭收入水平的差异可能是不确定环境下家庭食物浪费行为的重要影响因素。研究结果揭示了新背景下家庭食物浪费形成的驱动因素,为改善“舌尖上的浪费”提供了重要参考。

Reducing grain loss and preventing food waste are inevitable requirements to ensure national food security and promote sustainable development. In fact, families are the largest contributor to food waste, however, at present, there are few empirical studies on food waste in household and the impact of uncertainty brought by COVID-19 has also been less discussed. Therefore, this study aims to construct a moderated mediation model to clarify the association between the two, and to investigate the role of motivation, opportunity, ability and income. Using questionnaire data from 232 Chinese consumers, we find that: 1) Household food waste is significantly positively influenced by uncertainty, indicating that those who are greatly affected by uncertainty are more likely to change their lifestyle and consumption habits due to restrictive measures, which will lead to more waste;2) During the process of uncertainty influencing household food waste, motivation factors (willingness, attitude, norms, perceived behavior control), opportunity factors (time availability, shopping frequency, shopping habits) and ability factors (cooking skills, planning management skills, storage knowledge) all play a fully mediating role;3) Income positively moderates the impact of opportunity on household food waste, suggesting that differences in household income levels may be an important component on household food waste behavior under uncertain environment. The results reveal the contributing factors on household food waste in new background and provide references for promoting “waste on the tongue”.