ABSTRACT

Consumer plate waste is a pressing environmental concern. Scholars hypothesize that moral and financial inducements have the potential to reduce food waste at the end of the meal. This study addresses this hypothesis for buffet restaurants, a popular dining option in Asia. ‘All-you-can-eat' consumption leads to higher volumes of food waste at the end of the meal, as the leftovers may not be taken away. This study is the first attempt to examine the effect of the combination of serving styles (self-service buffet bar vs. rolling cart) and inducements (both moral and financial) on food waste, employing a field experiment method. Bulk food waste was recorded for a total of 630 participants. The results provide evidence that there is a significant interaction between serving styles and inducements on food waste volume (Study 1 and Study 2). Specifically, the results indicate that buffet self-service combined with moral persuasion and a discount produces the least food waste (Study 3). Restaurants can employ a variety of methods to address the problem of plate waste by their customers, including serving styles, moral persuasion, and financial inducements in the form of discounts as a reward for eating all that one takes at the buffet bar.

摘要

消费板块的浪费是一个紧迫的环境问题。学者们假设道德和经济上的诱因有可能减少用餐结束时的食物浪费。本研究针对亚洲流行的餐饮选择自助餐厅解决了这一假设。“吃到饱”的消费会导致餐后食物浪费量增加，因为剩菜可能不会被带走。这项研究首次尝试采用现场实验方法来检验服务方式（自助式自助餐吧与滚动推车）和诱因（道德和经济）相结合对食物浪费的影响。共记录了 630 名参与者的大量食物浪费。结果提供了证据，表明服务方式与食物浪费量的诱因之间存在显着的相互作用（研究 1 和研究 2）。具体来说，结果表明自助式自助服务与道德说服和折扣相结合产生的食物浪费最少（研究 3）。餐厅可以采用多种方法来解决顾客浪费盘子的问题，包括服务风格、道德说服和以折扣形式的经济诱因，作为在自助吧吃完所有食物的奖励。