Sharing Leftover Food with Strangers via Social Media: A Value Perspective Based on Beliefs-Values-Behavior Framework

An emergent effort to reduce wasted food is to share uneaten food with others via social media. However, the following question arises: Are those unknown people willing to take my leftovers? Few studies address the above question. Hence, developing a comprehensive model that explains the acceptance of leftover food from strangers (LFFS) via social media warrants research attention. Considering the dual roles LFFS recipients play—namely, both peer-to-peer (P2P) technology user and service consumer—the study embraces diverse motivational factors across research disciplines to explain LFFS acceptance. Drawing on technology and marketing research, the study develops a value-based model to investigate consumer acceptance of LFFS via social media. The study examines the effects of two prominent consumers’ beliefs (cognitive interaction and affective trust) on their context-specific value perception (conditional and epistemic values) toward LFFS, and the impact of these perceived values on the acceptance of the leftover food from strangers. The study employed a two-stage data collection approach and collected 663 usable questionnaire packets from two major metropolitan areas in Taiwan. Using a Structural Equation Model (IBM SPSS Amos) to analyze the data, the results indicate that trust and interactivity relate positively to consumer perceived value (both conditional and epistemic) of LFFS. Furthermore, both conditional and epistemic values mediate the relationships between the proposed consumer beliefs and LFFS acceptance. The research helps create a sustainable society as sharing uneaten food with other unknown social community members provides a connected, diverse, and sustainable life.