IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i6p3479-d772406.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effect of Plate and Decoration Color on Consumer Food Waste in Restaurants: A Case of Four Chinese Cities

Author

Listed:
  • Panpan Zhang

    (School of Economics and Trade, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450001, China)

  • Shaopeng Fu

    (College of Economics and Management, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China)

  • Xiaojie Liu

    (Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China)

Abstract

Food waste hampers global food security, rational use of global resources and environmental sustainability. Food waste is becoming a global problem, especially on restaurants, and it is particularly important to explore more effective measures to reduce food waste. Color psychology studies show that color can influence human behavior, but how colors may affect consumer food waste behavior has not been thoroughly investigated to date. In this study, we aim to investigate whether food plate colors or restaurant decorations affect food waste behavior using a large-scale field survey in four Chinese cities (2160 samples across Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Lhasa). Our results show that the per capita food waste of all consumers in the surveyed restaurants was 80.21 g per meal, whereas the per capita food waste of those with warm-color plates was 61.83 g per meal. The results suggest that warm plate colors are associated with reduced restaurant consumer food waste. We also show that the restaurant decoration color was found to correlate significantly with the reduced amount of food ordered per capita per meal (both warm and cool colors). Cool colors for plates and decoration have a negative effect on the weight of per capita per meal food eaten. Additionally, other characteristics of consumers, such as their age, education, and income levels, and other factors, such as for the purposes of meals, were found to affect food waste behavior. Our case study suggests that further investigation into the role of color psychology may be warranted to help mitigate consumer food waste.

Suggested Citation

  • Panpan Zhang & Shaopeng Fu & Xiaojie Liu, 2022. "The Effect of Plate and Decoration Color on Consumer Food Waste in Restaurants: A Case of Four Chinese Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-14, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:6:p:3479-:d:772406
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/6/3479/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/6/3479/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Xu, Zhigang & Zhang, Zongli & Liu, Haiyan & Zhong, Funing & Bai, Junfei & Cheng, Shengkui, 2020. "Food-away-from-home plate waste in China: Preference for variety and quantity," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    2. Babin, Barry J. & Hardesty, David M. & Suter, Tracy A., 2003. "Color and shopping intentions: The intervening effect of price fairness and perceived affect," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 56(7), pages 541-551, July.
    3. Russell, Sally V. & Young, C. William & Unsworth, Kerrie L. & Robinson, Cheryl, 2017. "Bringing habits and emotions into food waste behaviour," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 107-114.
    4. Min, Shi & Wang, Xiaobing & Yu, Xiaohua, 2021. "Does dietary knowledge affect household food waste in the developing economy of China?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    5. Panpan Zhang & Dan Zhang & Shengkui Cheng, 2020. "The Effect of Consumer Perception on Food Waste Behavior of Urban Households in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-14, July.
    6. Stewart, Hayden & Yen, Steven T., 2004. "Changing household characteristics and the away-from-home food market: a censored equation system approach," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 643-658, December.
    7. Gang Liu, 2014. "Food Losses and Food Waste in China: A First Estimate," OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Papers 66, OECD Publishing.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Li Jia & Guanghua Qiao, 2022. "Quantification, Environmental Impact, and Behavior Management: A Bibliometric Analysis and Review of Global Food Waste Research Based on CiteSpace," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-24, September.
    2. Y. Feng & C. Marek & J. Tosun, 2022. "Fighting Food Waste by Law: Making Sense of the Chinese Approach," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 457-479, September.
    3. Long Qian & Feng Li & Xia Zhao & Hongbo Liu & Xiaojie Liu, 2022. "The Association between Religious Beliefs and Food Waste: Evidence from Chinese Rural Households," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-15, July.
    4. Ding, Yawen & Min, Shi & Wang, Xiaobing & Yu, Xiaohua, 2022. "Memory of famine: The persistent impact of famine experience on food waste behavior," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    5. Yi Luo & Dong Huang & Fangfang Cao, 2022. "The Impact of Family Members Serving as Village Cadres on Rural Household Food Waste: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-14, February.
    6. Aparna Sundar & James J. Kellaris, 2017. "How Logo Colors Influence Shoppers’ Judgments of Retailer Ethicality: The Mediating Role of Perceived Eco-Friendliness," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 146(3), pages 685-701, December.
    7. Fang, Feifan & Zhao, Yinyu & Xi, Zemiao & Han, Xinru & Zhu, Yuchun, 2023. "The impact of famine experience on middle-aged and elderly individuals’ food consumption: Evidence from China," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 26(C).
    8. Delgado, Luciana & Schuster, Monica & Torero, Maximo, 2017. "Reality of Food Losses: A New Measurement Methodology," MPRA Paper 80378, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Sanae Tashiro, 2009. "Differences in Food Preparation by Race and Ethnicity: Evidence from the American Time Use Survey," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 36(3), pages 161-180, December.
    10. Dang Vu, Hoai Nam & Nielsen, Martin Reinhardt, 2022. "Understanding determinants of the intention to buy rhino horn in Vietnam through the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Theory of Interpersonal Behaviour," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    11. Grandi, Benedetta & Cardinali, Maria Grazia, 2022. "Colours and price offers: How different price communications can affect sales and customers’ perceptions," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    12. Wei Zheng & Hongliang Qiu & Alastair M. Morrison & Wei Wei & Xihua Zhang, 2022. "Landscape and Unique Fascination: A Dual-Case Study on the Antecedents of Tourist Pro-Environmental Behavioral Intentions," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-20, March.
    13. Francesco La Barbera & Mario Amato & Roberta Riverso & Fabio Verneau, 2022. "Social Emotions and Good Provider Norms in Tackling Household Food Waste: An Extension of the Theory of Planned Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-12, August.
    14. Mosteller, Jill & Donthu, Naveen & Eroglu, Sevgin, 2014. "The fluent online shopping experience," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(11), pages 2486-2493.
    15. Seah, Sharna Si Ying & van Dam, Rob M. & Tai, Bee Choo & Tay, Zoey & Wang, May C. & Rebello, Salome A., 2022. "An evaluation of the healthier dining programme effects on university student and staff choices in Singapore: A cluster-randomized trial," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    16. Martinez, Luisa M. & Rando, Belén & Agante, Luisa & Abreu, Ana Maria, 2021. "True colors: Consumers’ packaging choices depend on the color of retail environment," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    17. Fujioka Soichiro & Fukushige Mototsugu, 2019. "The Future of Demand for Food Away from Home and Prepared Food: Cohort and Age Effects in Japan," Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, De Gruyter, vol. 17(1), pages 1-17, May.
    18. Fu, Shengfei & Florkowski, Wojciech, 2016. "Polish Household Consumption of Tobacco and Alcohol: A Censored System," 2016 Annual Meeting, February 6-9, 2016, San Antonio, Texas 229795, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    19. Lingfei Wang & Yuqin Yang & Guoyan Wang, 2022. "The Clean Your Plate Campaign: Resisting Table Food Waste in an Unstable World," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-17, April.
    20. António Miguel Martins & Susana Cró, 2021. "The Impact of Tourism on Solid Waste Generation and Management Cost in Madeira Island for the Period 1996–2018," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-16, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:6:p:3479-:d:772406. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.