The results of this study support the assumption that food shape influences Chinese consumers’ purchase intentions. In line with H 1 , purchase intentions decrease when the food deviates from
the norm; consumers are more likely to purchase normally shaped fruits and vegetables than moderately or extremely abnormal food. However, we demonstrate some important boundary conditions
for this effect by noting that environmental concern and social trust can drive consumers’ purchase intentions toward abnormal food. Environmental concern contributes directly to higher purchase intentions for abnormal food, in support of H 2 . Social trust does not interact with food shape abnormality though, so regard-less of participants’ trust in government and scientists, their purchase intentions do not change. We therefore must reject H 3 . In
line with H 4 , our results suggest that when consumers score high in social trust and have high environmental concerns, they are more inclined to purchase extreme abnormal food than are people
with low environmental concern and low social trust. A common retail practice is to discard food that deviates from the norm. Despite the abolishment of official quality standards, food retailers fear that consumers will object to food abnormalities, but this separation also contributes to food waste. To our knowledge, no previous study has investigated this relationship in China. Our results demonstrate a positive relationship between environmental concern and purchase intentions for abnormal food, which means there are some Chinese consumers who will buy abnormally shaped food; with the increasing concerns about the environment , this segment is growing.Retailers may be well advised to rethink their policy of excluding
food with shape abnormalities, because an increasing share of consumers is willing to buy them.
Our results do not confirm that social trust is a sufficient condition for participants to engage in environmental behavior though. Instead, we argue that environmental concern is the most likely driver of purchase intentions toward abnormal food when people have high levels of social trust. This study accordingly extends research into individual trust differences and how trust contributes to environmental behaviors. As previous research has suggested, companies should make sure they deliver environmental policies that are truly trustworthy. However, one
needs to recognize that overcoming people’s mistrust of government, scientists, and food industries are long term processes and will require gradual and more transparent but equitable relationships between consumers and institutions of governance. Therefore, governmental institutions, food producers, and retailers all can contribute to increasing the level of social trust in the food sector, which can lead to more environmentally friendly consumer
behavior.
The results of this study support the assumption that food shape influences Chinese consumers’ purchase intentions. In line with H 1 , purchase intentions decrease when the food deviates fromthe norm; consumers are more likely to purchase normally shaped fruits and vegetables than moderately or extremely abnormal food. However, we demonstrate some important boundary conditionsfor this effect by noting that environmental concern and social trust can drive consumers’ purchase intentions toward abnormal food. Environmental concern contributes directly to higher purchase intentions for abnormal food, in support of H 2 . Social trust does not interact with food shape abnormality though, so regard-less of participants’ trust in government and scientists, their purchase intentions do not change. We therefore must reject H 3 . Inline with H 4 , our results suggest that when consumers score high in social trust and have high environmental concerns, they are more inclined to purchase extreme abnormal food than are peoplewith low environmental concern and low social trust. A common retail practice is to discard food that deviates from the norm. Despite the abolishment of official quality standards, food retailers fear that consumers will object to food abnormalities, but this separation also contributes to food waste. To our knowledge, no previous study has investigated this relationship in China. Our results demonstrate a positive relationship between environmental concern and purchase intentions for abnormal food, which means there are some Chinese consumers who will buy abnormally shaped food; with the increasing concerns about the environment , this segment is growing.Retailers may be well advised to rethink their policy of excludingfood with shape abnormalities, because an increasing share of consumers is willing to buy them.Our results do not confirm that social trust is a sufficient condition for participants to engage in environmental behavior though. Instead, we argue that environmental concern is the most likely driver of purchase intentions toward abnormal food when people have high levels of social trust. This study accordingly extends research into individual trust differences and how trust contributes to environmental behaviors. As previous research has suggested, companies should make sure they deliver environmental policies that are truly trustworthy. However, oneneeds to recognize that overcoming people’s mistrust of government, scientists, and food industries are long term processes and will require gradual and more transparent but equitable relationships between consumers and institutions of governance. Therefore, governmental institutions, food producers, and retailers all can contribute to increasing the level of social trust in the food sector, which can lead to more environmentally friendly consumerbehavior.
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