Food Waste and Sustainable Consumption in Food Delivery Applications: An Extended TPB Perspective from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Food waste is a growing global concern that threatens sustainability and food security, with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aiming for a 50 % reduction in food waste. Although household and institutional food waste have been widely studied, the role of food delivery applications (FDAs) remains underexplored. FDAs often encourage overordering through convenience, promotional incentives, and digital accessibility, which may significantly contribute to food waste. This study applies and extends the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) by incorporating trust, shopping routines, and leftovers reuse behavior to better capture consumer dynamics in this context. Using data from 296 FDA users in Ho Chi Minh City and analyzing it through PLS-SEM, the results show that shopping behavior is positively associated with attitude, perceived behavioral control, trust, and leftovers reuse routines. These findings highlight the importance of cognitive and habitual factors, offering theoretical contributions to sustainability research and practical strategies for reducing food waste while supporting FDA profitability.