“Quite a pickle”: understanding how consumer sustainability behavior influences willingness to pay for sustainable food products and services

Purpose This paper examines the relationship between consumers’ perceptions of sustainability in the foodservice industry and willingness to pay, identifying customer satisfaction and loyalty as mediators. The purpose is to establish how foodservice businesses can attract and retain consumers to sustain their performance amid the global market uncertainties and low consumer confidence. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected from 204 diners in the UK foodservice industry to test the study’s hypothesized relationships using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS 4. Findings The findings show no significant relationship between diners’ environmental perceptions and willingness to pay. The findings further show that customer satisfaction and loyalty mediate the relationship between environmental perceptions and willingness to pay. The findings of the conditional analysis reveal that the mediated relationship is moderated by economic sustainability, with distinct economic sustainability conditions identified under which the mediated relationship is most significant. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to the current knowledge in sustainability research by establishing whether consumer expressive sustainability behavior translates into a willingness to pay. The paper identifies a set of theoretical and managerial implications to help foodservice businesses and scholars implement sustainability initiatives. These implications relate to conceptualization, theoretical and methodological approaches in sustainability research. Originality/value This study enhances the understanding of how consumers’ perceptions of sustainability contribute to willingness to pay and the competitiveness of foodservice businesses. It enables targeted marketing by segmenting consumers based on their sustainability views.