Price subsidies and demand mismatch: exploring the impact of food delivery coupons on household food waste

Introduction The household consumption stage is a major hotspot of food waste. With the development of information technology, online food delivery has reshaped the traditional dining patterns of households, yet there is a lack of micro-level evidence on whether price subsidies in online food delivery exacerbate household food waste by distorting consumer demand. Methods This paper incorporates hunger sensation and aversion to food waste into the consumer behavior framework, constructs a structural discrete choice model, and uses 872 survey responses to empirically evaluate the impact of food delivery coupon usage on household food waste. Results The results show that coupon usage increases household food waste by 87.2%. The impact of coupon usage by women on household food waste is 36% higher than that by men. The higher the household income, the more household food waste is induced by coupon usage. Food delivery coupons with a face value of less than 10 RMB lead to the most significant household food waste. Hunger sensation amplifies the facilitating effect of coupon usage on household food waste, while the psychological aversion to food waste exerts an inhibitory effect on this relationship. Discussion This study expands the application of consumer behavior theory in the field of food loss and waste, and provides new empirical evidence for understanding the micro-mechanisms of household food waste against the backdrop of information technology.