O EFEITO DO USO DE SOBRAS, PLANEJAMENTO DE ROTINAS E DO AFETO NAS INTENÇÕES EM DESPERDIÇAR ALIMENTOS: UMA ANÁLISE SOB A LUZ DA TEORIA DO COMPORTAMENTO PLANEJADO.

Abstract

Brazilian families wasted an average of 128.88 kilograms of food per household in the year 2022, with each individual being responsible for approximately 41.7 kilograms of food waste, representing approximately 0.35 kilograms per day in each household. Identifying the factors that influence an individual's behavior can help develop targeted strategies to mitigate food waste, reducing food insecurity by considering the availability and costs of waste. To better understand the act of wasting food, the Theory of Planned Behavior was used, which considers that an individual's behavior is based on an intention to perform a certain act, and this intention is a function of attitude toward the behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. This study sought to present an adaptation of the TPB model in relation to intentions to waste food among consumers by identifying how attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control are associated with consumers' intentions to waste food and investigating whether the dimensions of affection, use of leftovers, and routine planning increase the explanatory power of the TPB model related to food waste. The final sample resulted in 815 responses from consumers reached by means of an online questionnaire. From the results obtained, 10 research hypotheses were constructed and analyzed by means of structural equation structural equation modeling with partial least squares estimation. The results show that consumer attitudes, the use of leftovers and routine planning have the greatest explanatory power on intentions to reduce food waste. Consumer routines regarding food planning and purchase are important factors and determine the amount of discarded food, and the affect construct showed a positive relationship with the intention to reduce food waste, although with less explanatory power. Reducing food waste is widely associated with food security, since reducing food waste helps feed more people, moderates pressures on natural resources, and reduces the negative impact on the environment.