Factors Affecting Consumers’ Purchasing of Suboptimal Foods during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, global food production and transportation have been largely impacted. Meanwhile, consumers have purchased and stockpiled large quantities of foods due to panic in the early stage of the pandemic, which has resulted in a lot of uneaten, expired foods and has reduced the varieties of foods available in the markets. Due to the lower prices, some consumers have chosen to buy those foods with an earlier production time or inferior quality (suboptimal foods), and the purchase rate of suboptimal foods has increased. Therefore, this study investigated consumer behavior during the pandemic as the research focus, explored the main dimensions that affect consumers’ purchasing of suboptimal foods during the COVID-19 pandemic, tested their correlations, and proposed suggestions for improvement. The results of this study showed that the impacts of Perceived Benefits on Attitude Toward Behavior, Perceived Behavioral Control, and Subject Norm rank 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in importance, respectively, which are all higher than the related impact of Environmental Concerns. For consumers, the most important thing is whether suboptimal foods have consumption motivation for them, which is also the most direct way to make consumers feel the value of suboptimal foods. Furthermore, for consumers, while the environmentally friendly attributes of suboptimal foods are less perceptible than the economic motivations, they still have considerable influence on consumers, and this is even more prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many families have experienced a shock to their income during the pandemic, and consumers are more sensitive and concerned about commodity prices, which also makes lower-priced and more abundant suboptimal foods more popular. However, in the long term, suboptimal foods can have a positive impact on reducing food waste and protecting the environment. When consumers realize this, they will be more motivated to purchase and try suboptimal foods.